Which tendency dominates?

The Democrats are having fun at Republican expense over the alleged GOP mishandling of a bill that would extend the police-state provisions of the Patriot Act. The leadership figured it was a no-brainer. Aren’t we for law enforcement and against crime? The rank-and-file knew better than refused to go along. And the bill went down to defeat What’s going on here is not a “mishandling” but an ideological split between libertarian impulses and authoritarian ones. This will have to be decided if the Republicans are ever able to make a contribution to cutting back government.