Polemics of head and heart: time to realize a voter has both
By Brad Rourke

WASHINGTON - Among certain opinion-makers, it is fashionable to talk about how "bankrupt" the division between left and right is, pointing out that it is the "middle" of America that holds the key to the future. Most Americans even identify themselves as "moderates."

Others stress the polarization between "red" and "blue" America, saying that today there is little room for anything but red and blue, right and left, Republican and Democrat.

Who's right? The partisans of the middle, or the adherents to partisanship? Is there a center, or has the electoral divide swallowed it up?

The answer is "neither."

Today, the divide is not between right and left. It is between the head and the heart.

On the one side are the heads, living in the realm of policy and intellectual rigor. The heads look at outcomes, perform stakeholder analyses, and think hard about what the smartest public choice is on any of a host of issues. More important, they support the choices they make through appeals to the intellect. "Our ideas are smart," go their arguments. "On balance, these are the best policies because they result in the best outcomes."

But arrayed against the heads is the team of sentiment. The hearts look at each possibility and ask, "Does it feel right? Will I be morally comfortable taking this action?" The heart partisans think about what their gut tells them, what their role models might do, and what "message" they will be sending to children. And, they support their choices with arguments that tug at the heartstrings: "These choices are the right ones because they are inherently moral and bespeak the aspirations of America," they say.

In today's political constellation, the Democrats are the heads, and the Republicans are the hearts.