Others thought that I was being

I made this same argument in a letter I sent to the left-leaning blog Daily Kos inSeptember 2005, after a number of advocacy groups and activists had attacked some ofmy Democratic colleagues for voting to confirm Chief Justice John Roberts. My staffwas a little nervous about the idea; since I had voted against Roberts’s confirmation,they saw no reason for me to agitate such a vocal part of the Democratic base. But I hadcome to appreciate the give-and-take that the blogs afforded, and in the days followingthe posting of my letter, in true democratic fashion, more than six hundred peopleposted their comments. Some agreed with me. Others thought that I was being tooidealistic—that the kind of politics I was suggesting could not work in the face of theRepublican PR machine. A sizable contingent thought that I had been “sent” byWashington elites to quell dissent in the ranks, and/or had been in Washington too longand was losing touch with the American people, and/or was—as one blogger later putit—simply an “idiot.” 　　Maybe the critics are right. Maybe there’s no escaping our great political divide, anendless clash of armies, and any attempts to alter the rules of engagement are futile. Ormaybe the trivialization of politics has reached a point of no return, so that most peoplesee it as just one more diversion, a sport, with politicians our paunch-bellied gladiatorsand those who bother to pay attention just fans on the sidelines: We paint our faces redor blue and cheer our side and boo their side, and if it takes a late hit or cheap shot tobeat the other team, so be it, for winning is all that matters. 　　But I don’t think so. They are out there, I think to myself, those ordinary citizens whohave grown up in the midst of all the political and cultural battles, but who have found away—in their own lives, at least—to make peace with their neighbors, and themselves. 　　I imagine the white Southerner who growing up heard his dad talk about niggers thisand niggers that but who has struck up a friendship with the black guys at the office andis trying to teach his own son different, who thinks discrimination is wrong but doesn’tsee why the son of a black doctor should get admitted into law school ahead of his ownson. Or the former Black Panther who decided to go into real estate, bought a fewbuildings in the neighborhood, and is just as tired of the drug dealers in front of thosebuildings as he is of the bankers who won’t give him a loan to expand his business. 　　There’s the middle-aged feminist who still mourns her abortion, and the Christianwoman who paid for her teenager’s abortion, and the millions of waitresses and tempsecretaries and nurse’s assistants and Wal-Mart associates who hold their breath everysingle month in the hope that they’ll have enough money to support the children thatthey did bring into the world.