A Blow to the Oligarchy

“The tight grip of oligarchy upon the American political system slipped a little last night in New Hampshire,” David Frum writes.

“On the Democratic side, voters cast their ballots for one of the most implausible candidates in modern presidential history — less because his rhetoric was so mesmerizing or his program so inspiring than as a protest against an expected winner perceived as a lavishly compensated servitor of organized wealth.”

“On the Republican side, the upset was, if possible, even more stunning. For 20 years and more, Republican presidential contests have operated as a policy cartel. Concerns that animate actual Republican voters — declining middle-class wages, immigration, retirement security — have been tacitly ruled out of bounds. Concerns that excite Republican donors — tax cuts, entitlement reforms—have been more-or-less unanimously accepted by all plausible candidates. Candidates competed on their life stories, on their networks of friends, and on their degree of religious commitment… This year’s Republican contest, however, has proved a case study of Sigmund Freud’s ‘return of the repressed.'”