In today's Times, David Brooks writes that the age of the neoliberal is over.
Neoliberals had a good run in the 1980s and 90s. Championed by journals such as the New Republic, neoliberals were a new breed of liberals -- young, funny, practical.
On policy matters, the neoliberals were liberal but not too liberal. They rejected interest-group politics and were suspicious of brain-dead unions. They tended to be hawkish on foreign policy, positive about capitalism, reformist when it came to the welfare state, and urbane but not militant on feminism and other social issues.
Brooks hears the bells tolling for the neolibs, especially in the blogosphere. There's always some tension between the liberal blogosphere v. the New Republic bloggers.
Kevin Drum, who is actually older than most bloggers, says the difference is generational. Klein’s mind-set, he says, was formed in the 1970s and 1980s, but “like most lefty bloggers, I only started following politics in a serious way in the late ’90s.” Drum says he’s reacting to Ken Starr, the Florida ballot fight, the Bush tax cuts, the K Street Project and the war in Iraq.Drum and his cohort don’t want a neoliberal movement that moderates and reforms. They want a Democratic Party that fights. Their tone is much more confrontational. They want to read articles that affirm their anger. They are also further to the left, driven there by Iraq on foreign policy matters and by wage stagnation on economic matters.
In the face of all these challenges, the New Republic has changed. Marty Peretz is out. The magazine is now biweekly. Its tone is much more old style liberal.
Brooks is right. The world is growing more left.
The blogger v. Peretz fight was one indication of the growing leftiness of the Democrats, but there are also other indications. Last week's public opinion polls on universal health care is another sign. And November's elections.
Are we going back to an old-style liberal, as Brooks suggests? Some yes and some no. I don't see a lot of pro-union posts on the liberal blogs. These bloggers do not show much reverence for traditional Democratic party allies, like the teachers' unions. There's definitely strong support of feminist goals. They are very vocally pro-gay marriage, as are many of the libertarian blogs. They are very much against the war in Iraq.
However, as I flip through the rolodex in my brain of liberal blogs, I also see many differences. I'm not sure if there is enough consensus in thought amongst the liberal bloggers to make too many generalizations.
We're most likely in the midst of a transition period. Liberals are sorting out the old ideas and the new ones. The public is choosing its priorities. Anti-war feelings are sweeping over the entire Republican agenda and turning heads to the left. I can't wait to see how far things are going to swing.