Why is politics so vitriolic?

I think I am beginning to understand why there is so much hate in politics these days. When the conservatives were out of power, they were fighting for their own rights from outside. Defending yourself is easy. It's your money, it's your property, it's your state, your schools...etc. You don't have to get angrily defensive about your position, because possession really is 9 tenths of the law.

The progressives, however, are trying to take over some of what you consider to be your possessions. They have to make the case that:
a) you stole what you have (which is why we have federal and state regulations)
b) you don't deserve what you have (taxes take care of this)
c) you don't need what you have (even more taxes take care of this)
d) others deserve what you have more than you do (the rest of the taxes are here)

It's a hard argument to make. This weekend on BookTV (C-SPAN2), I was amused to hear several different people argue that rural areas have disproportionate representation, and a disproportionate share of the Electoral College vote. Think about that. Electoral College votes are based on the number of representatives and senators you have. Wyoming has 3. California has 55. Imagine trying to argue, as Thom Hartmann and Brian Mann did, that California is not only under-represented, but that it was so under-represented that it was like disenfranchising the entire state of Colorado! Gee, I always though that 55 was much bigger than 3. As a politician, am I going to try to win 3, or 55?

So it's no wonder the progressives need stridency and hysterics to make their points. Over the years they have gotten used to bumper sticker slogans (Bush Lied, Thousands Died) and you cannot make some of their more intricate points with bumper stickers. Their base are people who don't know how to vote (think hanging chads and eliminating those horrible voting machines that are just too complicated) and the liberal affluent. They need to reach the middle class. What they really need is to learn that they cannot reach the middle class by being sly, and making specious arguments. I'm open to arguments I'm not paying enough taxes. But it will take a reasoned argument to wrest more money, or my vote, for the purpose of raising my taxes.

So where are the reasoned arguments from reasonable people? Silenced by Kossacks and scared by the attack on Lieberman, they are being very quiet right now. Instead the airwaves are full of Hartmanns and Frankens and Huffingtons, aiding the Rangles and Pelosi's of the world to fool people into supporting them. It may be working, the polls are tending to a Democratic take-over of the House. Maybe it's a good thing. Give the Democratics 2 years to implement their plans, and watch the Republicans come back in 2008 when the public at large see the fruits of their labors taken from them. Oh well, I can dream.....