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Michael Tomasky gives us some of his thoughts on post-partisanship. Specifically, he'd like to see more of it out of Barack Obama
See, that's kind of interesting, there.
In the wake of Iraq, Katrina, Abramoff, DeLay, the mortgage crisis, the bridge to nowhere, a crippling deficit, $4+ gas, Pakistan sheltering al Qaeda and bin Laden: Running and Hiding Season 7, is there anyone out there who isn't a well-placed DC insider who genuinely thinks that the public perception of what Republicans do in national office is lowering taxes and being too tough on our enemies?
I mean, this guy's pretty well placed and he clearly doesn't
so what on earth could have caused Mr. Tomasky to write two such very different (not to say diametrically opposed) analyses of the race within a month of each other?
Well, the first was written for the pro-war, Bush-cheerleading, NCLB-loving* happy warriors at the Washington Post. The second was written for the liberal guardian.co.uk, where Tomasky writes about US politics for the british.
Do you suppose Janus ever gets a headache?
*the Washington Post Company makes most of its money from Kaplan, Inc. (of Testing Center fame), which is a preferred provider for NCLB
I would like to see Obama return to the post-partisan, one-America idea himself. It's an electoral winner and a governing essential, should he be elected.
It's an electoral winner because Democrats can't really triumph in divide-and-conquer elections. No, it's not that they're too noble for them. It's just that they're not as good at it as the Rove Republicans are, and progressive core positions don't translate as well into fear-mongering rhetoric. The Democrats fear-monger pretty effectively about Social Security -- as well they should -- but beyond that, it's hard to scare people into fearing that the other guy is going to cut your taxes too much or be too tough on our enemies.
See, that's kind of interesting, there.
In the wake of Iraq, Katrina, Abramoff, DeLay, the mortgage crisis, the bridge to nowhere, a crippling deficit, $4+ gas, Pakistan sheltering al Qaeda and bin Laden: Running and Hiding Season 7, is there anyone out there who isn't a well-placed DC insider who genuinely thinks that the public perception of what Republicans do in national office is lowering taxes and being too tough on our enemies?
I mean, this guy's pretty well placed and he clearly doesn't
The election isn't about Obama
It's about John McCain and the failed policies and stale ideas of the Republican party
...Some leading conventional-wisdom meisters, like Time's Mark Halperin, like to say that this race is completely about Obama. When they say that, you can hear them setting themselves up as Obama's judge and jury, just waiting for him to trip up so they can say that he's failing to "close the deal" and there are just "too many questions" about him, as they nudge their readers toward McCain, a media darling for many years now.
Well, there is some truth to it. The race will be, to a certain extent, probably a considerable extent, about white voters' comfort with Obama. But it's not all about Obama. It's also about an unnecessary war that was based on lies. It's about a lousy economy and a housing boom that went bust. It's about $4-a-gallon gas. It's about America's dreadful reputation in the world. It's about federal inaction on a wide range of problems, most notably healthcare and climate change, but a bushel of smaller things besides. It's about 84% of Americans thinking the country is on the wrong track.
In other words, it's about the Republicans - their stewardship (failed), and their ideas (stale). And it's about how committed McCain is to that stewardship and those ideas.
Those - a race about Obama and a race about what the GOP has done to the country - are two different races. And Obama is more likely to win the second one.
so what on earth could have caused Mr. Tomasky to write two such very different (not to say diametrically opposed) analyses of the race within a month of each other?
Well, the first was written for the pro-war, Bush-cheerleading, NCLB-loving* happy warriors at the Washington Post. The second was written for the liberal guardian.co.uk, where Tomasky writes about US politics for the british.
Do you suppose Janus ever gets a headache?
*the Washington Post Company makes most of its money from Kaplan, Inc. (of Testing Center fame), which is a preferred provider for NCLB
