Interesting bit from George Packer:
The fall of Arlen Specter and the rise of Rand Paul don’t make an overnight revolution in American politics. Instead, they continue trends that have been with us for a while: the decline of party establishments, the erosion of the center in Congress, the power of media (mainly conservative) to control the political agenda. We are seeing the rise of the politician as electronic loner, brought to power in a system that looks more like direct democracy than republican government.
Packer's assessment isn't on point for he is too close to the trees not only to acknowledge the existence of a different forest, but to realize its depth. My take on recent events in American politics isn't a worrisome move toward direct democracy, but rather toward identity politics. This trend is strengthened by the central players' realization that the people are too disillusioned with politics for them to talk about issues, without giving them some red meat, which is this case is either something to love or in most cases to have It wasn't by chance that Obamabots needed to have Sarah Palin as much as they needed to love Obama or that now fans of Rand Paul are equally Obama's haters because American politics nowadays is solely about personalization and identity, about the true red blood Americans or sophisticated and cultured Americans vs. the fakers or the American idiots.
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