Hacker Owes Me Some Crow

It is ironic that the book that most closely resembles Off Center in its combination of political science and partisanship is John Judis and Ruy Teixeira's Emerging Democratic Majority. Just as that book's central thesis has proven to be overblown, one cannot help but wonder if Hacker and Pierson have jumped the gun in declaring American democracy to be under assault. As I write this, President Bush's approval ratings are dangerously low, public hostility to Congress is at a level unseen since 1994, and prominent GOP power brokers are facing the specter of criminal prosecutions. If the Republicans manage to gain seats in the 2006 elections, I will eat crow and give Hacker and Pierson their due; until then, my suspicion is that the center will hold better than they think.