Will a serious presidential candidate please stand up?
POSTED BY: Geezer
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 4, 2024 20:47
VIEWED: 3049
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...says the Editorial Board of the Washington Post.
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AS THE PRESIDENTIAL campaigns officially kick off, with the Republican convention week and the Democrats assembling the week after, many voters are exasperated and tuning out.
The unrelenting ugliness of television ads is one cause, as those of us with the mixed privilege of living in a swing state such as Virginia (or in its media market) know well. But there’s also a sense of disappointment in the candidates — a sense that they are smaller, and their campaigns are smaller, than the issues and challenges facing the country.
In the case of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, part of what underlies the unease is an uncertainty about core beliefs. Every politician will change positions over a career; you’d worry if he or she didn’t. But few have covered as much ideological ground as the former Massachusetts governor: on abortion, stem cell research, health-care reform, gun control, immigration, gay rights, climate change and more.
It may seem a small thing, but when a man who’s been hunting twice can blithely say that he’s been a hunter “pretty much all my life,” it makes people wonder what is real. His attacks on primary opponents Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich for revealing even a sliver of pragmatic concern for undocumented immigrants suggested an ethos of winning at any cost and a deficit of principle. The sketchiness of his policy proposals since then only aggravates the concern.
In President Obama’s case, there’s a different sort of disappointment. The country has a pretty good sense of the man by now and generally likes him. But he has not, as many had hoped, fully inhabited the presidency, in the sense of rising above the pettiness and partisanship that he diagnosed so eloquently before assuming office.
Simpson-Bowles is the shorthand for the most commonly cited failing in this sphere, referring to the bipartisan budget deal that Mr. Obama commissioned but then could not bring himself to embrace. That was emblematic of a reluctance to provide leadership, abroad (with Syria, for example) as well as at home.
Is there hope for something bigger, more edifying, more statesmanlike, from the candidates? We’d like to think so.
One reason is that both candidates are men of toughness and intelligence. Mr. Obama has proved as much in office. In the teeth of an economic gale, he helped stabilize the nation’s finances and succeeded in extending health-care coverage to millions of uninsured. His stewardship of foreign affairs, while disappointing in numerous ways we haven’t hesitated to mention, has been sober and thoughtful.
Mr. Romney has a heavier burden of proof, but he comes with an accomplished résumé and an understanding of how to get things done. His selection of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate, much as we take issue with Mr. Ryan’s fiscal priorities and even his arithmetic, bespeaks an openness to debate entitlement reform that the country badly needs.
And the country needs a serious campaign; it is facing life-or-death questions. Is al-Qaeda dead, or nearly so, leaving the United States free to move on to other challenges, such as China’s rise, or does Islamist radicalism still present a breeding ground for existential threats? Can the United States influence whether the Arab Spring evolves toward greater democracy or toward theocratic rule and sectarian conflict? Can Iran’s nuclear ambitions be cooled peacefully, and if not, do they really justify a war? If so, why, and what would the consequences be?
Do the candidates believe that the United States remains the world’s indispensable nation, and what does that mean in Syria or the South China Sea? What would either candidate expect to achieve in Afghanistan?
We are facing existential questions at home, too. Is the kind of economic growth the country enjoyed in the 1960s and 1970s gone for good, or can it be rekindled? Can poverty be ameliorated and prosperity more evenly shared? As the nation’s population ages, can the government right-siNOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
interestingly balanced piece from the well known left-wing MSM liberal mouthpiece.
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"And of course all the partisans here will pull out bits that criticize their opponents and ignore the bits that criticize their champions, ignoring that both sides have got problems they're trying to cover with slung mud rather than face. "
And you are as partisan as anyone here, and completely willing to ignore anything that paints your chosen candidates as less-than-desirable.
"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero
Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"
Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
And you are as partisan as anyone here, and completely willing to ignore anything that paints your chosen candidates as less-than-desirable.
Name my chosen candidates, Mike.
While you're at it, we still have the question of what you think I agree with a White Republican, or disagree with a Black Democrat, about.
Or will you just slink off once again.
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Well Geezer, you DO have a well-known habit of one-sided criticism.
Don't make me pull out the quotes I have, or you'll be sorry.
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Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
Well Geezer, you DO have a well-known habit of one-sided criticism.
Don't make me pull out the quotes I have, or you'll be sorry.
He's also got a well-known habit of yelling out insults and claiming he's leaving the site, and then failing to follow through on his promises. He refers to it as "slinking off", and he's got a good bit more practice at it than I...
"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero
Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"
Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
He's also got a well-known habit of yelling out insults and claiming he's leaving the site, and then failing to follow through on his promises. He refers to it as "slinking off", and he's got a good bit more practice at it than I...
Name my chosen candidates, Mike.
While you're at it, we still have the question of what you think I agree with a White Republican, or disagree with a Black Democrat, about.
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Quote:
Interesting you say that, as it goes a long way toward reflecting your own biases. Personally, I find nothing wrong with the article and agree with it almost completely...I don't think anyone here is an "Obama champion" or thinks he has done an exceptional job, or has ever said so. In fact, I think those who would choose Obama over Romney/Ryan have been pretty clear that there are any number of things they disagree with Obama on, while it's those like Raptor who have absolutely refused to find ANY negative in Romney/Ryan, and consistently laud them to the skies.
And of course all the partisans here will pull out bits that criticize their opponents and ignore the bits that criticize their champions, ignoring that both sides have got problems they're trying to cover with slung mud rather than face.
I do disagree with the author that whoever wins will have to compromise, given it is the right's stated intent not to compromise, and their actions have reflected that. I don't believe they will compromise even if (gawd forbid) Romey were elected. They've said as much. Ryan has started right out with "Ryan: No Compromise On Sequester If Romney Wins" ( http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-mitt-romney-defen
se-sequestration.phpThat's just my opinion, however.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Geezer:Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
He's also got a well-known habit of yelling out insults and claiming he's leaving the site, and then failing to follow through on his promises. He refers to it as "slinking off", and he's got a good bit more practice at it than I...
Name my chosen candidates, Mike.
While you're at it, we still have the question of what you think I agree with a White Republican, or disagree with a Black Democrat, about.
Well, I could go back and dig up all that info, but then you'd only whine and complain about me "going down to the grey file cabinets again".
Let's suffice to say that I've yet to hear you criticize any candidate who gets labeled "conservative", and I've yet to hear you disagree with any white Republican, or agree with any black Democrat. (Voter ID laws come to mind...)
Maybe you can go to your files and prove me wrong, but I doubt it.
"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero
Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"
Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."
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I think it's the fact that a 'liberal' outlet is critical of Obama, that Geezer expects to rankle.
Geezer, how about YOU say what YOU think President Obama has done badly.
It's not personal. It's just war.
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