Ted,
re: I thought people in this country fell mostly in the center of the political spectrum.
I still believe that. Only the intellectually lazy, or the political zealots, buy 100% into the Democrat/Liberal or Republican/Conservative extremes. For example, I'm sure there are many folks that call themselves conservatives that are pro abortion, and many liberals that are anti gun control.
The two parties spend 90% of their time and funds on marketing, they are selling a product, no different than Coke and Pepsi, except the pols probably spend a lot more on focus groups and polling. They are going to say whatever they think will carry a majority in any given election. The problem is that we have no clue anymore how these guys are going to act once they get in office. Bush campaigned as a compassionate conservative; turns out he's is neither compassionate nor conservative.
Fanning the flames of divisiveness is in the best interest of both parties; you have to differentiate your product if you want to build brand loyalty. In the end, I think Americans want a President that will do very little, and just let the world make slow steady progress towards being a better place to raise your kids.
I like Eisenhower because he built the Interstate system; now that's a tangible contribution. Kennedy and the space program is another example. The guys that start discretionary wars I don't like, a bunch of kids and innocents die, and it saddles our economy with debt.
The next president should be all over alternative, renewable energy. Wind power is now cheaper than coal, solar is very, very close. Starting the country on the road to clean and renewable energy would a very tangible accomplishment, but it's not sexy enough to get on the front page of the NYT; it's good policy but lousy marketing.
If you've got any intellectual stamina you make up your mind on individual issues, you don't let these guys buy your vote by marketing inflammatory issues. At the end of the day, you want a guy that will do less harm than good, and that leaves us a little better off than he found us. If's he's marketed as a liberal or a conservative doesn't make much difference once he gets in office.
John |
