Nick Lemann, New Republic
EVERYBODY THESE DAYS is always complaining about hyper-partisanship, but the truth is that a much older complaint about American politics still has a lot of validity: that it takes place within a very narrow range of acceptable views, compared with the politics of most other democracies. How many major elective offices could you have won, as recently as four years ago, if you openly supported gay marriage? How about if you believed that capital gains and earned income should be taxed at the same rate? Or that Social Security eligibility should begin at age seventy? Or that there should be a...