‘Extremism Fatigue’ in Politics? Get Used To It

Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on Jun 9, 2022

Masters seemed to be following a recipe from another Trump endorsee, Rep. Madison Cawthorn. Less than two days after his stunning defeat in North Carolina’s primary after one term in office, Cawthorn took to Instagram to post a defiant, typo-riddled promise to stage a “Dark MAGA” comeback.

“I am on a mission now to expose those who say and promise one thing yet legislate and work toward another, self-profiteering, globalist goal,” Cawthorn said. “It’s time for the rise of the new right, it’s time for Dark MAGA to truly take command.”

Whoo-oo-oo, I’m scared. Not.

But don’t get the idea that Republicans are the only party with a flamboyantly extremist fringe.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the famously progressive New York Democrat, posted an Instagram story recently to defend using the word “Latinx” to describe Hispanic men and women, slamming her Democratic colleagues who she said “rail against” it.

That’s true. Consultant James Carville and numerous pragmatic Hispanic leaders have criticized the term as popular among partisan elites but almost unknown and even hated among rank-and-file Hispanic voters, according to polls and anecdotal evidence.

Yet, AOC defended the term, saying, “It’salmost as though it has not struck some of these folks that another person’s identity is not about your reelection prospects. Like, this is not about you.”

No, but you don’t have to be a righteous partisan to understand that it is all about winning, which is not something that follows language that sounds elitist, presumptuous or out-of-touch with the voters you want to reach.

But, then there’s nothing new about factional disputes in the party that historically included Andrew Jackson and Jesse Jackson. (Yes, children, we should all know the old Will Rogers quote by now. “I don’t belong to an organized party; I’m a Democrat.”)

Extremism in politics reminds me of a couple of research studies around the 2016 election cycle that found voters in the U.S. and Europe complaining of “scandal fatigue.” The more scandals, interestingly enough, the more voters were desensitized to the scandals.

That seemed to be demonstrated later on by Trump’s first campaign, which seemed to not only be riddled with scandals, but able to thrive on them. The more he was criticized, they more his loyal following grew.

Whether we see more extremism in politics depends on how successful these primary campaigns happen to be. One thing is clear, though. Not all voters are looking for more food fights.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)