jeudi, janvier 10, 2008

Moderation is sexy

I have to admit that I really like the New York Times columnist Gail Collins. She is funny without being snarky, like Maureen Dowd. This column about why Hillary won in New Hampshire tells us that the political press is just as clueless as we are-which is kind of fun. Heck, I think they are having the time of their lives.

But stuck in between the gentle jibes at Hillary, Fred, John and the state of South Dakota is a significant comment about Barack Obama and his exhortation to politeness.

This country is sick of the hostility of the past seven years. It continously seems, whether Democrat or Republican, as though one party would do anything to keep the other one from any legislative achievements. As the members of Congress achieve their petty little gotchas, the economy tanks, global warming surges, and the Middle East boils.

Learning to talk to, instead of around or behind one another, is actually a big part of the solution.
So, yes, in his own moderate way, Obama is bringing sexy back!

2 commentaires:

Charlie a dit…

I'm glad Obama is talking about civility in politics. And it's possible that by talking about it, he'll be able to affect the tone of the election. Possible, not likely.

Bush had a reputation for working well across the aisle when he was Gov of Texas. Before that, Clinton talked about bipartisanship every chance he got. But Washington politics has become a take-no-prisoners war, and no matter how much Obama talks about playing nice, I doubt he'll be able to actually change the attitudes of the Congressional power brokers.

But I agree that Obama's appeal, and Huckabee's, too, is that they are saying they want to find ways to end Congressional gridlock and end the fighting in Congress. Let's hope they succeed.

Wallacewriter a dit…

I agree with you, Charlie. There are lots of people in DC wedded to the bad old ways.

But it's not such a bad thing to appeal to the better angels of our nature, as he does.

It's like raising kids to be polite. While they might not always behave well, at least the children know what the standard is.