A contentious unity.

• Author: Bresler, Robert J.
• Position: State of the Nation - Editorial

SURFACE APPEARANCES are as deceptive in politics as they are in most things. During the Eisenhower years, commentators were either disparaging or marveling at the great American consensus. Yet, beneath the seemingly contented and apathetic surface of the 1950s were deep strains of discontent among blacks, embittered youths, and threatened white Southerners. In the next decade, these rumblings would burst through the surface and shatter the illusion of unanimity.

Now, unlike 50 years ago, the appearance is of division and disruption. Any observer of the current political dialogue has to shudder at its venomous quality. Bush hatred and Dean bashing--before he dropped out--have been central themes of the current presidential campaign; Ann Coulter's Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism and Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right have commanded lofty positions on best-seller lists; Sen. Ted Kennedy (D.-Mass.) charges Pres. George W. Bush with recklessly plotting the war in Iraq for the benefit of Halliburton and other rich Texas associates; former presidential hopeful Howard Dean considers Attorney General John Ashcroft the most dangerous threat to American civil liberties since Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R. Wisc., 1947-57); and conservative radio talk show hosts spend endless hours bashing liberals as spineless, decadent, and lacking in patriotism.

Liberal metropolitan America and conservative Middle America seem to inhabit different cultural universes with one celebrating tolerance and diversity and the other tradition and faith. It would be easy to conclude that Americans are constantly at each other's throats and that our political and societal differences are insurmountable. Today's toxicity is just as misleading as the illusion of tranquility during the 1950s. Much of this contention is political theater. It sells books, boosts TV ratings, and enflames the hard core of the left and right. It also masks a more reassuring reality. This is not the 1960s when the issues of the Vietnam War and civil rights tore families apart and caused cities to burn. Since that tumultuous decade, the U.S. has constructed a political consensus much broader and deeper than the chattering classes would have us believe.

Although some of our recent presidents have incited strong feelings of either support or opposition, none has steered too far from the center. Richard Nixon and Gerald...