05.11.06
Cobblers Should Make Shoes
All sad, but all so true.
The Republicans talk about cutting spending, but they increase it–a lot. They stand for making government smaller, but they keep making it bigger. They say they’re concerned about our borders, but they’re not securing them. And they seem to think we’re slobs for worrying. Republicans used to be sober and tough about foreign policy, but now they’re sort of romantic and full of emotionalism. They talk about cutting taxes, and they have, but the cuts are provisional, temporary. Beyond that, there’s something creepy about increasing spending so much and not paying the price right away but instead rolling it over and on to our kids, and their kids.
So, the normal voter might think, maybe the Democrats. But Democrats are big spenders, Democrats are big government, Democrats will roll the cost onto our kids, and on foreign affairs they’re–what? Cynical? Confused? In a constant daily cringe about how their own base will portray them? All of the above.
Where does such a voter go, and what does such a voter do? It is odd to live in the age of options, when everyone’s exhausted by choice, and feel your options for securing political progress are so limited. One party has beliefs it doesn’t act on. The other doesn’t seem to have beliefs, only impulses.
What’s a voter to do?
…
The oddest thing about Republicans and Democrats in power is that they always know the technical facts, always know about fund raising, always know what the national committee is saying about getting turnout. But so often they don’t know the message or even have a message. Which is funny, because they’re in the message business. They’re like shoemakers who make pretty shoeboxes but forget to make the shoes.
Read it all: OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan
Fannie McFee said,
May 12, 2006 at 2:51 pm
What is your PERSONAL opinion?
Jeff said,
May 12, 2006 at 3:55 pm
My opinion? As if that isn’t the entire point of having my own blog?
My opinion is that both Republicans and Democrats need to stop defining themselves by the amount of power they can achieve. They need to return to their core principles and then actually act on them. Instead their goal is to try to please everyone and we all know what happens when one tries to do that.