For the record, observations in this blog about Democratic and Republican politicians are in no way an indication of my personal political views.
Trump made some noise and is now bowing out just in time for Gingrich to take over in the noise-making department. I like both men. They just suffer from the terrible political liability of sincerely held and much too openly expressed opinions. The fact remains that they are both highly intelligent and both would probably steer the US economy with skill. Alas, like most Americans, I couldn't bring myself to vote for either.
Romney would make an excellent president of America's economic affairs (can't vouch for his abilities in other areas), but his pragmatic political successes from Massachusetts days now bedevil his wooing of the GOP establishment. This is Romney's basic political problem and goes far to explain why he has been such a disingenuous communicator on the campaign trail.
Ultimately, he's just stuck with a successful past hurting his hopes for a successful future. Although maybe, just maybe he could turn the Massachusetts embarrassment into a selling point in the general election. That would take some gymnastics, however, and I don't think Romney is a good enough communicator (or scam artist, for the Romney haters among us) to pull it off.
I still think Romney has a lot going for him. If we had no political parties and presidential candidates had to individually come up with their own personal solution to our nation's economic woes, I wager Romney would produce the most workable and financially pragmatic plan. Feel free to disagree. You would have good reasons for it, I realize.
Philosophically, the bottom line is that America desperately needs more pragmatism and less dogmatism. Obama actually does quite well on the pragmatic scale, but like Romney he can only do so much wedded to the dogmatic demands of his party.
Practically, the bottom line is that healthcare will be forever more universal in America. How much more can't be said, but Republicans who talk about repealing all of Obama's healthcare package are grandstanding, nothing more. Is this good, bad, or a mixed bag? Probably the latter, but regardless, the meat of Obama's healthcare is here to stay.
4 comments:
Cogent analysis. Sadly, as much as I would like to disagree with something so we could have a good discussion, I find myself concurring on every point.
Can I vote you in for president? actually, I take that back, you might not have enough time for cuddling if you were president. besides, I'm not sure if bunnies are allowed to run for president. Do you think they have a clause for that in the constitution?
Joel: Too bad! Yeah, the founding fathers resisted political parties for good reason, but parties seem an inevitable product of any democracy.
Christy: I think we'll have to hold a bunny caucus on this grave matter of such political import. I'm sure the discussion will be most enlightening even if it gets grossly off topic--as I expect it most certainly will:)
I read this post carefully and though I cannot truthfully say I know that much about politics, I do think politics is interesting and found your opinions to be well thought out and make sense. I'm not sure how healthcare figured into the end, but no matter, it was just as valid a paragraph. People like to grandstand a lot, especially when they feel the most helpless/useless. The best part overall, however, was Christy's comment - it really made me laugh out loud! I really like your wife Barry,very good choice; I often am reminded what strong work that was on your part. ;) (Though I suppose it's more lucky than choosing :)
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