DESPITE humble expectations, the election of 2000 has turned out to be a redefining moment in American politics, as the major parties flashed their souls before an awestruck and sometimes horrified nation. As the city slicker said to his country cousin after his first glance at animal husbandry, the spectacle can be life-changing.
Indeed, the Florida spectacle may do the Republicans much more good than the Democrats, no matter who wins the highly coveted Oval Office. The problem for the Dems is that the utter crudity of their Florida operation makes it much more difficult to maintain the longstanding belief that theirs is the party of the people, as well as the party of superior intelligence. Florida made it clear that the Democratic party thrives on a deep internal inequality, one in which an educated elite commands a large army of foot soldiers, many of whom are definitely slack of jaw but quite willing to engage in supreme acts of debasement to please their bosses.
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