Editorial: The great political oxymoron

We are in the middle of a disastrous war that seems without end.  We watched corruption run amok in a number of Executive Branch institutions.  We saw first-hand the lack of competence in responding to a major natural disaster.  We witnessed our reputation around the globe diminish drastically.  Our national debt is sky-rocketing; our schools lack funding; and the opportunity gap between investors and most families is widening.  Still, more so than any other time since I began following politics as a young adult, I am head-over-heels optimistic about our country's future.

I see more and more people -- Republicans, Democrats and independents -- relearning that  political debate is supposed to be discussion about policy, not the cultural issues that divide us.  As the New York Times' Maureen Dowd wrote recently, "We may say a final, welcome goodbye to the wedge issues that havedivided Americans by race, ethnicity and religious conviction."

Translation: people are waking up to reality.  For six years, we flirted with Machiavellian-style wedge politics.  No more.  People think it is getting old.  Only 28% of the country, according to the latest Newsweek Poll, supports this President and his brand of politics -- that is significant.

Conservative constituents in Republican districts all throughout the country are telling their GOP representatives that we need to accept defeat and get out of Iraq, as the gang of 11 moderate House Republicans told Bush last week.  Trends like these underscore our country's new embrace of reality.

People are thinking more critically on their own -- due in large part to the wealth of information on the internet.

So while leadership has suffered for the last six years, we can look forward to the next campaign season because it will be much different than the one in 2004.  Yes, there will be a fair share of political attacks on both sides.  But the most effective attacks will focus on policy and competence, not on who forgot to go hunting last weekend.  No more picking your president based on which candidate you would be most likely to see at your neighborhood barbecue.  It's about effectiveness and authenticity, not photo-ops and rhetorical muscle.

At the moment, as a country, we are one giant political oxymoron.  Although challenges and disturbing circumstances look us in the eye, as a public we are thinking more clearly by putting reality over ideology -- that is a sign of progress.  It truly is the best of times and the worst of times.

Comments

[granny]

Nice going, and thank you, Todd. What a nice Mother's Day gift.

[Chief Editor: Todd]

And happy Mothers Day to you too, Granny!