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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kumar who wrote (22841)	1/3/2004 9:25:24 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793912

"The Note" is back! NEWS SUMMARY The Note has made several New Year's resolutions, which we will unfurl throughout January, but there two you need to know about today. First, we resolve to give you some pretty cool new stuff this month, including wildly expanded weekend coverage (As Paul Mason and John Roberts can tell you, the weekend is 2/7th of the week … .), and lots of Note-y streaming video delivered in all sorts of ways. Second, we resolve to give you a more global perspective on American politics, turning this morning for our paradigmatic headline and this lead to Ben McConville of the Scotsman ("Scottish news direct from Scotland"): "With 16 days to go before his first test at the polls, the question gripping Washington is: 'Who can stop Howard Dean from becoming the Democratic presidential candidate?'" And that question seems right now to pivot NOT off of Dean's positions (Too left? Too right?) or his campaign organization (You won't really believe what he is building in Iowa, and the large crowds he drew in New Hampshire yesterday are sort of mind boggling … .). No, what those auditioning to be the Dean Alternative have seized on for the home stretch are The Doctor's temperament and electability. Will nomination voters care about these matters enough to deny Dean the Democratic Party nod? And assuming that one or two challengers emerge as Dean Alternatives, will they be able to make the case better than the group gang-up is doing now? If you know the answers to those questions, you possess the wisdom of Howard Fineman, the judgment of Matt Cooper, the experience of David Yepsen, the sagacity of Ron Brownstein, the puckishness of James Pindell, and the confidence of Chris Matthews. Or, alternatively, your name is Ron Fournier. Dean has a new policy: no responding personally to the attacks of his rivals, but that is going to be hard to sustain at tomorrow's Des Moines Register debate. Indeed, after some campaign and journalistic weather delays, the road show has moved (mostly) from New Hampshire to Iowa, where today, Howard Dean holds four "Caucus for Change" events in Iowa including stops in Storm Lake, Emmetsburg, Fort Dodge and Boone. Rep. Dick Gephardt holds seven "Countdown to Victory" events in Iowa including stops in Dubuque, Maquoketa, Clinton, Davenport, Marshalltown, Baxter and Des Moines. Senator John Kerry highlights his plan to strengthen family farms at Care4Iowa Congress in Des Moines, Iowa. Gen. Wesley Clark campaigns in New Hampshire. On Monday, Gen. Clark will lay out a major domestic policy proposal in Nashua, N.H. Senator John Edwards delivers a speech explaining why he can bring real change to America from the steps of city hall in Nashua, N.H. Rep. Dennis Kucinich campaigns in Austin, Tex. Senator Joe Lieberman, Rev. Al Sharpton and Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun have no public events. President Bush is in Crawford, Texas with no public events. He is scheduled to return to Washington, D.C. today. abcnews.go.com

To: kumar who wrote (22841)	1/4/2004 7:38:45 AM
From: frankw1900	Respond to of 793912

Please explain to me, why "we vote them out" has not apparently worked It does work. Things would be even worse if we didn't vote them out. Seriously. Democracy, especially in the US, is set up so government doesn't work very well and particularly so laws don't get passed quickly. One thing sensible people don't want is a legislature that sits continuously - God only knows what they might get up to. This is especially important in places with parliamentary as opposed to republican governments. A sensible person wants to see his MP and especially his PM roistering in fleshpots, or going on foreign trips, or attending conferences, (but fleshpots are a safer option), a good part of the time. Keeps them from causing too much trouble. A really good elected rep is one who is lazy but enjoys schmoozing and is smart enough to hire a competent assistant who knows his way around the constituency and another who really knows her way around the capital. The other thing is that in the US as in Canada and most democratic Commonwealth countries and in Northern Europe the basic view is that "if it's not forbidden, it's allowed," (so send those aides to N Korea). Because we're far more feckless than the French we don't get into nearly as much trouble.

To: kumar who wrote (22841)	1/4/2004 8:49:44 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 793912

Please explain to me, why "we vote them out" has not apparently worked... I started to respond and then saw what a good job Frank already did so I'll cut it short. Two points. First, what is the alternative? We need to foster the freest press we can manage and we need the sunshine laws that MSI is always going on about. As long as we know what they're up to, they can't get too far out of hand. Every system of government has its tradeoffs. Sure beats coups and assassinations. Second, remember that whenever your representative does something you don't like, he doing something that some other constituent likes quite well. The other constituent is entitled to representation just as you are.