Some Democrats sarcastically brought popcorn. Earlier this year, Republicans in the House of Representatives needed fifteen rounds of votes — despite their new majority — to elevate their own leader, Kevin McCarthy, to the House Speaker. The opposition expressed its disunity painfully. Only President Joe Biden’s party had to look.

On Tuesday, Democrats experienced the inevitable next act of this scenario. McCarthy lost his mantle nine months later after eight radical Republican rebels lost confidence in him. With the House without a Speaker, it’s unclear how quickly a successor will be found — an embarrassing first for the US.

The Democrats could have protected McCarthy from this regime, but preferred to keep their opponent’s ‘Civil War’ raging. The ruling party certainly has legitimate reasons for this. In his short tenure, McCarthy almost willingly allowed himself to be held hostage by the Trumpist faction of his group. They preemptively reject any compromise with the Democrats. They control the Senate and the White House, so negotiations were inevitable from the start. But by opening a criminal investigation against Biden, McCarthy wanted to lose his last bit of goodwill with the governing party without providing any solid evidence for that tough move. Only under pressure from a fast-approaching economic disaster — a threatened government shutdown this week, a state bankruptcy last summer — did McCarthy then do business with Democrats.

And yet Democrats may still lose California. Whoever comes after him; The next Republican president will tend to yield even more strongly to the all-or-nothing politics of the radical faction. Candidates registered so far promise nothing but return of ‘old’. Grand Old Party.

Typically, the year before a presidential election and with a divided Congress, little meaningful legislation is expected. Thirteen months away from Election Day, Washington is now at a complete standstill. This is despite the fact that the challenges facing America (the burgeoning migration crisis along the southern border, a possible recession, the ongoing opiate crisis, the faltering support for Ukraine) have not abated.

Democrats with a small ‘d’ should not be happy about the current confusion among Republicans. It exposes a certain rot that Congress also experienced long before Donald Trump hijacked the party. McCarthy was dismissed by party members who had abandoned any ambition to engage in constructive politics. They represent “deep red” districts that are safely in Republican hands and only have to worry about their primary race, in which only the most motivated voters turn out. To please them, their rhetoric and stances are becoming increasingly radical.

It’s this Tinamiek has been polarizing for decades — even among Democrats, albeit to a lesser extent. Action can be taken against this. Some states are already experimenting with electoral systems that give a stronger voice to the political center. It may also have a moderating effect if an independent party draws the constituency boundaries rather than politicians.