The cult of the presidency Tom Smith

Much true in this essay.

People who get inspired by government don't know a lot about government.  Well, some do, and they are really scary.  But most are just "young people", whether chronologically young or not.

I fear Senator Obama is our next president, and we are in for an orgy of self-congratulation that will make the Oscars look like medieval self-flagellation.  It will make that party the Israelites had before Moses showed with the tablets, look like tea time at the Waldorf.  Then we will be told that though we are cretinous, benighted Republicans or worse, he shall be our president too, a president for all Americans.  It is going to be awful.  There is some hope in the fact that Obama seems to be a complete opportunist, which should limit his ideological excesses somewhat.  He is likely though to at least experiment with doing what he thinks is right, and that could do a lot of damage.  It could be years before he gets his belated education in why government doesn't work, assuming such education is even possible.  Most really ambitious people aren't that interested in learning anything, unless it is directly related to their careers.  That's part of what makes extremely ambitious people so tedious.

I know, McCain could win.  I just don't think it's likely.

I hate to say this, but I think it's going to make us miss Bill Clinton.  The man is a moral jellyfish, but that means he floats toward the political center, even as his libido goes crashing about. 

Comments

[USD Law Student]

Let's hope the democratic party can avoid, or at least mitigate, the self-congratulatory and arrogant atmosphere that sometimes follows a unificaion of government. It is distatasteful, polarizing, and erodes the civility of political discourse no matter which party comes to power.

[krome]

After the 8 years of vitriol from the out of power folks, I expect them not to mitigate the problem but to aggrivate it enthusiastically.

[james wilson]

I believe you, Mr. Smith, are describing our future very accurately. It may be that we will not be cured of an illness before suffering it to the fullest. Or perhaps the illness will finish us off this time.
Presidential candidates are among the most ambitious people on earth. Even so, I see this in McCain again and again--he would rather show contempt for conservatives than be President. No man has ever won this office without the support of his base.
It is simple to envision in his concession speech-- that he looks forward to working with his good friend Obama, and he genuinely will.
You will not remember now, Mr. Smith, but I wrote you several years ago to ask why you carried so much skepticism toward neo-conservatives, and you took the trouble to reply that it was your earlier experience around them in your time back east that caused you to be cautious. We are forwarned before we are convinced. Well, McCain is lock stock and barrel the result of a twenty year neo-conservative project, guided and promoted by the Weekly Standard.

[USD Law Student]

Indeed I would expect a further hardening of McCain's foreign policy positions. Perhaps only as contrast to his rather confused (and confusing) positions on economic policy (balanced budget 2000 or laffer curve 2007), social issues (against gay marriage AND against a gay marriage amendment), executive powers (against torture v. for waterboarding), judicial nominees (likes Roberts, Alito but supports judicial nominee filibuster), and energy (carbon cap v. cut the gas tax). Sometimes he looks like Bush, sometimes he looks like Gore, sometimes he looks like Dobbs (ok, just looks like, not as far as policy, maybe it;s the jowls).

[dearieme]

You have few months left for educating Obama. How best to do it?