Controlling the Levers of Government

In his column this week, George Will plugs One Party Country, the new book by Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times, who argue that the Democrats face a steep uphill climb in attempting to wrest control of government from the GOP. Here's the part I found interesting:

Hamburger and Wallsten know that "all presidents, at least since John Adams," have rewarded friends and handicapped adversaries, but they credit "[Karl] Rove and his lieutenants" with an unprecedentedly ambitious politicization of "the day-to-day functioning of the executive branch." Republicans theoretically favor much less government. But they use business skills of market segmentation to defeat Democrats by mastering the favor-dispensing and constituency-assembling power of the sprawling government that Democrats did so much to build and justify. Conservatives might say that while Democrats, whipsawed by Republicans wielding the power of big government, are getting what they deserve, Republicans do not deserve the dominance they are thereby achieving.