Rather than tangle with these complications, our political leaders have preferred procrastination to action. They create agendas they know are anathema to their adversaries, prompting each side to vilify the other. Politics focuses increasingly on “keeping your base happy,” as opposed to governing.

The seeds of stalemate are planted. Political theater triumphs over policy. Nastiness and polarization increase. Congressional Republicans and Democrats vote along party lines, making bipartisan support for major measures impossible. Politicians revert to familiar behaviors. Democrats create entitlements (e.g., the Affordable Care Act); Republicans cut taxes.

President Trump is the logical conclusion of these tendencies. With his tweets, he has devalued political discourse and aggressively divided, rather than unified, voters.