Well! This Is A Fine Kettle Of Fish.

       How come Eric Cantor lost his primary election? He was majority leader in the House of Representatives for goodness sakes. He was a conservative, I really mean that, he was. He was pretty far right. Who could be more far right and still get elected in America? Well, as it turns out, there are lots of folks farther right and that's why he got beat. There were some other things I think, like not paying enough attention to his home district, but still. He outspent his rival by something like 50 to one. But his opponent latched onto two issues and beat Cantor over the head with them. Immigration which the base didn't want and that old beltway lament.
       But here's my question. Here's what I wonder about. It seems like the Tea Party Right is moving far, far to the right causing the Democrats to move somewhat to the left and meanwhile what's left of the Republicans along with some independents somewhere near the center right. This sounds like a fair matchup except that those far right folks are concentrated in the deep south and the very rural midwest. They hold sway in a lot of states with few citizens and that gives them the potential for a lot of congressional seats. Probably more seats than their numbers warrant.
       What that leaves is an America that is so split that nobody will have a clear majority. Even if the Republicans hold both houses, they will be too fractured to govern. And the chances are that the Democrats are still likely to hold onto the White House. And Republicans will hate the next president as much as they do the current one. What exists in our country today was never considered by our founding fathers. In fact I think I hear them all turning over in their graves and groaning. It's not that there aren't ways to fix this mess, it's just that nobody's willing to give an inch let alone the mile that's necessary.