We may not know who our next president is going to be, but here’s one thing that’s almost certain: He or she will take office with roughly half of the electorate—unhappy and mistrustful. The notion that the president speaks for a broad coalition of Americans who are willing to set aside their differences on behalf of a compelling new vision for the country? It’s vanished.
I’ve spent a lot of time pondering where it went, and though I still haven’t found an answer, I do know this: It’s not only Washington’s—or even the political class’s—fault.
We don't have many consensus-building mechanisms in our political culture. A lot of groups that used to help do this are weaker now.
