Node Of Evil - Fair And Balanced Reporting

Friday, October 08, 2004

 
Presidential Debate Two -- The Return of the Democrat



I'm still trying to parse the debate a bit, but one of the things that struck me was how Kerry has been able to reach out to voters of all stripes and appeal to his base at the same time. We at the Node like this ability, because solving real-world problems requires that kind of thinking. A President who is serious about pursuing terrorists needs to know how to let people understand that there's a difference between fighting terrorists and declaring war on Islam. Bush has been unable to effectively articulate this distinction, despite his attempts to the contrary. As I've watched and read about the debates, it's become apparent that John Kerry really does believe he can reach across all those divides that keep the U.S. from acting effectively in the world. Whether he can actually deliver is an open question, but the preliminary results look promising. In that sense he is, to me, alot like Howard Dean, whose problem-solving abilities were very apparent.

Some time ago I wrote about "see-saw politics." The basic idea is that there would be a very strong partisan reaction to the Bush administration, and that that reaction would in turn inspire a strong partisan reaction to the Democrats, and etc. This situation, I believe, is not good for making policy because there's no stability. If the sitting President passes a number of bills that the other party finds odious, the other party will, once it gains power, do all it can to counteract those bills. The threat is that important legislation a.) won't get a proper hearing based on the facts on the ground, and b.) if it is effective, will be repealed in a wave of partisan backlash against everything associated with the last President.

I think John Kerry has the ability to cross this divide and provide the U.S. with the stability necessary to effectively tackle the important issues. My opinion on this isn't fully-formed, but he shows infinitely more promise on this front than President Bush.

Andrew 11:31 PM : |

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