12-17-2018, 03:33 AM
(12-16-2018, 08:39 AM)David Horn Wrote:(12-16-2018, 07:14 AM)pbrower2a Wrote: The Des Moines Register has a poll of Democrats on their preferences in the primary. At this point, I will leave ot to you to sort out who has any advantage as a Democratic front-runner.
What Democrats want:
90% -- someone who will restore good relations with longtime US allies
90% -- someone with a strong moral compass
87% -- someone who understands policy and politics
89% -- someone who will unite the country
90% -- someone who respects decorum
93% -- someone who will tell the truth even if I don't agree
81% -- someone who represents the future of the Democratic party
1% -- don't know
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/...312541002/
Iowa Democrats clearly want someone as different from Donald Trump on substantive issues and personal character as is possible.
I understand the motivation to pursue the ideal anti-Trump, but really? The last person we need leading the country is Plaster Saint 3.0. Jimmy Carter is a wonderful human being. He set a great moral standard, but he was a terrible president. BHO had zero scandals. He didn't get much done either. We need a dynamic visionary and charismatic leader who can set goals and get the people behind them. I have no idea who that might be: maybe Beto O'Rourke. But one thing's for sure, saints and crank-turners need not apply. I think we've had plenty of each, and neither type cancels-out scumbags, of which we have also had our fill.
Ideal? Most of this should be taken for granted, and in a wholesome society, people reasonably expect such and get it. Good relations with America's longtime allies was the norm with both the elder and younger George Bush. Strong moral compass? Such marks a good person, and I question whether a rogue would ever be a good President. Knowing policy and politics? 5there are things worth knowing in any endeavor. Respecting decorum? Likewise, this is something that we should expect to take for granted. Telling the truth even when such is inconvenient? Integrity creates fewer problems than does deceit. This is not to say that the President is to disclose all. A conservative Republican should reasonably demand all of this. Trump gives us none of this.
In view of the cyclical nature of American politics, a rehash of a New Deal agenda might now work if it gets a chance. Such would of course not neglect minorities as was necessary in the 1930s out of fear that Southern whites might turn to fascism to protect white privilege in its crudest form. I do not care whether this Democrat represents the recent past of the Democratic Party or the future. If it is right it will suggest the future -- maybe with younger politicians as President.
Uniting the country? Such is a pipe dream, but we seem to be in the latter part of a 4T... and the generational cycle typically forces unification of some national agenda. It may not be what we like, but it will do so. Trump had his chance, and failed.
We could have had a conservative agenda in which the political mood establishes an ethos that first come profits, then comes investment, then come jobs, then the jobs pay better, and we are all happy as we recognize the bounties of competitive 'free enterprise'. Trump has offered nothing more than crony capitalism, and by doing such he has thrown away the opportunity for conservatives to reshape the fundamentals of American life for at least eight years.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.