Krugman on Republican Extremism

From yesterday's column:

"In the short run, Republican extremism may be good for Democrats, to the extent that it prompts a voter backlash. But in the long run, it’s a very bad thing for America. We need to have two reasonable, rational parties in this country. And right now we don’t."

The first sentence echoes what I said here. I don't know what I think about the rest of the quoted paragraph. Do we need two reasonable, rational parties? It seems to me that one reasonable, rational party is quite enough so long as that party holds power. William F. Buckley Jr. struck me as the very personification of reason and rationality, and yet I wouldn't want him or anyone who thought remotely like him in office setting policy. I'd rather have my conservative opponents acting like a pack of crazed buffoons than smart, suave, Mephistophelean Buckley clones. Crazed buffoons are easier to beat.

The other advantage to the extreme rightward shift of the GOP is that it lessens the degree to which Democrats need to cater to the middle. To the degree that the Republican Party starts to look like the political wing of the Michigan Militia, Democrats can pursue an activist, progressive agenda without fear that they'll lose centrist voters to the Republicans.

To hell with bipartisan cooperation! The Republicans cannot be negotiated with, lets crush them instead.