The primary process is winnowing the list of candidates nicely, and it looks like we're going to have the presidential race many of us had hoped for, Ronald Reagan vs. John F. Kennedy:
I remember another such time, in the 1960s, when I came to the Senate at the age of 30. We had a new president who inspired the nation, especially the young, to seek a new frontier. Those inspired young people marched, sat in at lunch counters, protested the war in Vietnam and served honorably in that war even when they opposed it.
They realized that when they asked what they could do for their country, they could change the world.
That was Teddy Kennedy, of course, endorsing Barack Obama for president. Republicans have been falling all over themselves to invoke Reagan, but the politician who most recently praised him was . . . Barack Obama.
Yeah, change. The future.
Comments
Electing a young man to be leader of the free world just cuz he makes you "feel good" is a really foolish proposition. I think Obama is probably a great guy, inspirational, well intentioned and honest, but way underqualified for the highest office in the land.
His comparison to JFK should give thinking people pause, not because the comparison isn't valid, but rather because history shows us (despite all the hype of camelot etc) JFK didn't really accomplish a whole hell of a lot in his time in office.
Don't sell the value of "inspirational" leadership short. It is true that JFK may not have been able to do all that we, who were inspired by him, hoped for, but, sadly, he only had a 1000 days or so in office.
And for those who were inspired by Ronald Reagan -which didn't include me -wasn't it better to be for something than against everything for a change?
The point being that, regardless of your political leanings -left or right-, leadership that is "inspirational, well-intentioned and honest" should sound pretty good to you. It does to me.
And, as far as qualifications are concerned, probably the most qualified non-incumbent candidate to run for president in my lifetime was Richard Nixon. I rest my case.
Well CED..."The point being that, regardless of your political leanings -left or right-, leadership that is
Well, Mr. Zank, there's experience and then there's experience. It seems to me that a lot of the candidates out there who tout their experience don't know the difference between having 25 years of experience and one year of experience 25 times.
And having spent a good deal of my working career dealing with the automotive industry -GM included-, I think the scenario you describe might not be that bad an idea.