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persecution by political opponents, it cuts a jagged gash in the nation’s social fabric. Conservatives who are committed to the notion that liberals represent the interests of an alien class of people who hate and oppress “real Americans” tend to be averse to any kind of political compromise. Distrusting the intentions of their opponents, they assume that liberal policies are not well-intentioned proposals to help the country but merely schemes to disenfranchise and persecute white Christian conservatives: health care reform is a form of slavery reparations; same-sex marriage is an excuse to destroy families; season’s greetings are an attempt to abolish Christmas. Such conservatives have also retaliated against their own political representatives who compromise with the enemy, regarding them not as moderates or mavericks but traitors to their class. If you are concerned about the partisan fervor that has turned Capitol Hill into a war zone, look to persecution politics for the culprit.

“The Jackass Quotient”

So what can we do about it? Some reformers have advocated structural solutions, arguing that the current primary system favors extremist candidates. Party primaries tend to draw the most passionate voters, who therefore gain a disproportionate voice in the selection of nominees.

One proposal for solving this problem is California Proposition 14, known as the Top Two Primaries Act. In June 2010, California passed a ballot measure that amended the state constitution to adopt an open primary system in which all registered voters can participate. The top two candidates then run against each other in the general election. Moderates like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger championed the measure in the hope that it would give nonpartisan independents a greater say in selecting nominees for the general elections. Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter predicted that the initiative would reduce “the jackass quotient” among legislators.5 (If it truly expels the jackasses from government, this initiative will count as the greatest political reform since the invention of democracy—which is not necessarily that high a bar.)

The trouble is that no one knows whether it will work as planned. The experts are divided, and as Gail Collins of the New York Times observed, “It’s a good rule of thumb to figure that anything approved in a California referendum will make things worse.”6 Similar systems in the states of Louisiana and Washington have had inconclusive results. Washington State only implemented its system in 2008, but Louisiana, which used a runoff system for decades, has had no shortage of jackasses. For instance, David Duke, one of America’s greatest living jackasses, finished a strong second in Louisiana’s open primary for senator in 1990 and again in the 1991 governor’s race.dd

The problem with trying to address persecution politics through structural change is that the core problem is not structural but societal. Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University, predicted that Proposition 14 “will have no effect on partisanship and polarization because the fundamental cause of these is that the electorate is deeply partisan and polarized. Tinkering with the election rules doesn’t change that.”7 Moreover, as Duke’s success in Louisiana demonstrated, a charismatic demagogue can win plenty of votes regardless of the electoral system if the voters are receptive to his tactics. And in an open primary, mainstream candidates may well divide the moderate vote, allowing extremist candidates with committed constituents to break through.

Another structural proposal to thwart the right wing is to create a more favorable environment for third parties. For instance, the distinguished columnist and writer Thomas Friedman has called for “a Tea Party of the radical center” along with electoral changes that would support it.8 To this proposal, I say: watch out what you wish for. Consider the special election in New York where the Conservative Party candidate knocked out the Republican nominee and came close to winning the