"Egypt has a dilemma: its politics are dominated by democrats who are not liberals and liberals who are not democrats.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Mr. Morsi’s Islamist movement, accepts — indeed
excels at — electoral competition. Voters in 2012 gave it a far
stronger grip on power than poll numbers had suggested. But that was
foreseeable: though outlawed, the group built an effective political
machine, starting in the 1980s, as individual members ran (as
independents) in legislative and professional labor-union elections,
even though Mr. Mubarak always found artifices to deny them real power.
Fair elections have improved the Brotherhood’s campaign skills. But it
hasn’t fully committed to pluralism or to equal rights for minorities.
It participates in democracy, but doesn’t want to share power.
Many in the opposition, on the other hand, believe fiercely in minority
rights, personal freedoms, civil liberties and electoral
coalition-building — as long as the elections keep Islamists out of
power. In other words, they are liberal without being democrats; they
are clamoring fervently for Mr. Morsi’s ouster and want the military to
intervene. But they have proved themselves woefully unequipped to
organize voters. Though my heart is with their democratic goals, I must
admit that their commitment to democratic principles runs skin deep."