Compare and contrast:
In 2000, Bush offered a political reconciliation: Elect me and the bitter partisanship will come to an end. "I don't have enemies to fight," he said at his 2000 convention, "and I have no stake in the bitter arguments of the last few years. I want to change the tone of Washington to one of civility and respect."And Obama’s a rock star while Bush is Iraq stuck.
That was a promise that today no one could plausibly claim Bush meant in the first place, but it was just what many Americans wanted to hear. In a similar way--and sincerely, it appears--Obama is offering a national reconciliation. Bush made an argument about who he was--upstanding, moderate, uninterested in partisan sniping. Obama makes an argument about who we are, in the hopes that we can get beyond what divides us even though we disagree, and move to a new era of comity, perhaps not in Washington but in our own lives. Whether a politician can accomplish such a thing is not particularly relevant; the question is how much people want to believe what he says.
2 comments:
I listened to Clinton talk yesterday at Georgetown University about his "Common Good" philosophy. Basically, politicians making decisions that have the greatest positive impact on the greatest number of Americans. It was really uplifting and promising to hear someone talk about stuff like this. I think Obama's an interesting guy with a lot of good ideas and a nice approach to our similarities as people (instead of our differences).
Thanks Dave.
i came across with this yesterday...
http://www.copytaste.com/pu5f7nn
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