Saturday, April 28, 2007

Thoughts of the campaign trail.

I've been reading about the campaigning that both Clinton and Obama are doing. Hillary has been very pointed and blunt in her criticism of Bush and Obama is not quite as direct, though he is implying some feelings of dissatisfaction with the current administration.

A lot of people are unhappy with Bush, including myself. The problem I have with any politician running to replace the current administration by campaigning against it is that it just gives the signal that nothing is changed. If I criticize how someone is doing a job and I'm trying to take their place, my criticism implies that I would do it without making mistakes.

But the truth is, whoever takes Bush's place is going to make mistakes. One of the things that is good about Bush is that he can stand his ground. Going to the extreme with someone who cannot stand their ground is not good either. Compromise is not always good and it isn't always bad.

It's easy for those who oppose the war to demand withdrawal. I think that the plan to withdraw should be the mission of the incoming administration, though. I would suspect it's a long process and should probably be done by a team of people who are going to be around for more than a year in order to get it done right.

God help the Democratic party if it's them. They are screaming for withdrawal, they may be given the opportunity to show the rest of the world just how difficult it is to withdraw. Then, when they discover how complicated it really is, they can stand there with egg on their face. Or just spend their term blaming the previous administration.

I hope that doesn't happen. I hope that the new person, whoever he may be, picks up the torch and does things intelligently and deliberately. I actually think that Clinton, Obama or Guiliani could handle it. I don't think anyone else has what it takes to do the job. I'm pretty encouraged, though, that we actually have three strong contenders with some leadership skills. Very encouraged.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I feel like Obama is running against Bush. Every time I see a headline on him it's "Obama Says Bush Administration this" or "Obama Slams Bush on that". I think they should all just ignore slamming Bush. They're not running against him.

One thing I admire about Bush is that he has his opinion of what he thinks is right, and he isn't swayed. I don't agree with him most of the time, and most of the time I think he is crazy or his idea or opinion idiotic. But at least he stands by himself and doesn't sway just because the public is against him. I'd rather have somebody who does what he thinks is right, rather than people who waffle just to get votes.

A Girl From Texas said...

I, too, like that Bush doesn't sway. My frustration with him, though, is that he has alienated so many different people. Because he has alienated so many people, he's not getting the support he needs for the war.

I didn't like the "anything but bush" campaign they did last year because I didn't see that as a solution to anything.

iroamaround said...

This is a little out of the blue, but you left a note on a post I did about my family some time ago and I just saw it (it was about a year ago and I was reading through some back entries looking for some bit of info and I saw it – though I don’t remember seeing it before) anyway, it does seem that we have some family in common : ) Diane and Hugh have been wonderful to me since I was lucky enough to reconnect with them and I have enjoyed getting to know them (and Thomas). I didn’t get to go to Grandpa John’s funeral, so I don’t think we’ve ever met, but I thought I would return the hello.