A Higher Standard
The mid-term elections went well for Democrats last November. They won back congress and were vindicated by public decree that the direction, demeanor and behavior of the Republican leadership was unacceptable. Unfortunately, Democrats seem to be focused on winning the Presidency in 2008 more than the problems that face the nation at hand. With new power to change the course of government policy the best known Democrats have left town for Iowa and New Hampshire. Joe Biden stuck his foot in his mouth talking about a fellow Democrat. Barack Obama can’t help but remind people how little federal experience he has by saying that if he were in office in 2003 he would not have authorized the war in Iraq. John Edwards could benefit from saying something stupid just so he could get his name in the papers. It’s funny the one candidate with the most time to campaign is doing the worst at getting his message out. Hillary, meanwhile, can’t bring herself to admit that trusting the President to manage the war was a mistake in judgment. She’s afraid of appearing weak on national defense but instead comes across as stubborn and unable to adjust to the situation at hand. We have had such a president in office for the past 6 years. Hillary does not do herself any favors by emulating his approach.
As the candidates for 2008 continue to bungle their own campaigns Nanci Pelosi is hard at work as speaker. She has organized her fellow Democrats and Republicans worried about loosing their jobs in 08’ to pass legislation in the House that likely won’t pass the Senate and is even less likely to be signed by the President. Much of the agenda is made up of good legislation that could help the country in several ways, but the exercise is empty if these ideas can’t pass through the entire process. Bipartisanship means more than political leveraging toward the next election. Compromise and cooperation serve our country better than ideals and certainty of vision. All of our leaders have the strength to fight for their principles, but do they have the courage to trust in another’s point of view? It is through partial victories and half measures that problems are solved in our bureaucratic form of government. All American’s may, at some level, wish it were otherwise. We should not let our dreams and belief that we have all the answers get in the way of the hard work of facing political reality and finding common ground.
All political perspectives are guilty of this kind of intransigence. Democrats are no more guilty of certainty in the face of obscurity than Republicans. Bungling the job of running the government is easy to do. Performing all the tasks of running for office and solving the problems of the nation is very hard. If we give Democrats 12 years of unchecked freedom to continue in this direction it is likely that we will have another November implosion as we saw with Republicans. In November, voters shifted the balance of power in congress and asked for something better. Democrats have a responsibility to surpass the behavior of legislators that came before them. What’s the point of an election if the electorate can’t take the time to hold their feet to the fire and demand results? It is what they promised and we should accept nothing less.
As the candidates for 2008 continue to bungle their own campaigns Nanci Pelosi is hard at work as speaker. She has organized her fellow Democrats and Republicans worried about loosing their jobs in 08’ to pass legislation in the House that likely won’t pass the Senate and is even less likely to be signed by the President. Much of the agenda is made up of good legislation that could help the country in several ways, but the exercise is empty if these ideas can’t pass through the entire process. Bipartisanship means more than political leveraging toward the next election. Compromise and cooperation serve our country better than ideals and certainty of vision. All of our leaders have the strength to fight for their principles, but do they have the courage to trust in another’s point of view? It is through partial victories and half measures that problems are solved in our bureaucratic form of government. All American’s may, at some level, wish it were otherwise. We should not let our dreams and belief that we have all the answers get in the way of the hard work of facing political reality and finding common ground.
All political perspectives are guilty of this kind of intransigence. Democrats are no more guilty of certainty in the face of obscurity than Republicans. Bungling the job of running the government is easy to do. Performing all the tasks of running for office and solving the problems of the nation is very hard. If we give Democrats 12 years of unchecked freedom to continue in this direction it is likely that we will have another November implosion as we saw with Republicans. In November, voters shifted the balance of power in congress and asked for something better. Democrats have a responsibility to surpass the behavior of legislators that came before them. What’s the point of an election if the electorate can’t take the time to hold their feet to the fire and demand results? It is what they promised and we should accept nothing less.
posted by kamuizot at 10:53 AM
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