Where Have You Gone, Dwight D. Eisenhower?

With all the media attention focused on the continuing Republican tragi-comedy of the primary races, a story that to me deserves much more attention got buried.  Long-time liberal anti-war Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich lost his primary bid in a newly combined congressional district.  More significantly, his opponent (who now faces an election against none other than Joe the Plumber) is clearly a much more moderate - sometimes conservative - Democrat than the fiery Kucinich.  

Here's the conundrum:  It seems that, as the political heat gets turned up, Republicans move further to the right, but Democrats move further toward the center.  The effect is to move the entire country to the right.  Yesterday's solidly conservative Republicans would be today's centrist Democrats.  A case in point is Dwight Eisenhower, who was the Republican President while I made the journey from an innocent 9-year-old to an opinionated 17-year-old.  Eisenhower came from Kansas, and embodied all the conservative Republican values of the day.  But he also helped dethrone Joseph McCarthy, expand Social Security, develop the Interstate Highway System, and protect civil rights.  He was a former five-star general who eventually warned the country about the "unwarranted influence ... of the military-industrial complex."  He couldn't possibly fit in today with the likes of Romney, Santorum, or Gingrich.

Kucinich's exit from the political scene disturbs me as much as the disappearance of sensible Republicans like Ike.  Eight years ago, my wife and I had the pleasure of meeting Kucinich in a setting where we took part in a small one-on-one discussion.  He took the time to listen to our views and answer all of our questions without rushing us off.  I found him to be as sincere in his beliefs as he was passionate in his causes.  His departure from government will be yet another symptom of the wholesale movement of the country to the right.  I will miss having him in Congress ... but I think I miss the old-guard Republicans even more.

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