IN the past, the Democrats and the Republicans have expressed contrasting emphases in American politics. It is a commonplace of the political science text that the Democrats have stressed “interest” politics, putting together various groups and blocs and giving to each enough by way of rewards to keep it loyal to the ticket. The Republicans, on the other hand, have leaned to the rhetoric of WASP idealism. They have tended to appeal to principles rather than interests—and this is true whether one thinks of Hoover, or Taft, or Landon, or Eisenhower, or Goldwater, or Stassen. They have not been mere “politicians”—they have been moralizers.
But I think that these traditional styles are in the process of giving way to something new, and, if more interesting, also more ambiguous and dangerous—to a politics of aesthetic enjoyment and spectatorial pleasure.
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