… Political commitments are molded by a wide-ranging array of forces from economic security to the type of job a voter holds to his or her place in a status hierarchy or a community. This complexity, and the built-in potential for new fissures, means that any political coalition — whether it’s constructed on the model of a big tent or of a working partnership — is inherently fragile. How well equipped is the Democratic party to smooth over differences between its wealthiest and its poorest supporters, its most culturally liberal and its most culturally traditional voters? Does the Republican Party have the ability to fracture this new Democratic coalition? [cont.]
Tom Edsall (Columbia U.), New York Times