THE BIGGER PICTURE
‘By 1424,’ Wikipedia tells us, ‘Cambridge University library owned only 122 books – each of which had a value equal to a farm or vineyard.[1]‘
To a ten-year-old, 600 years is an eternity. To me, who merely acts like a ten-year-old, it is just ten of my lives-so-far laid end to end.
We are hurtling through history at an ever more rapid rate (remember, Kurzweil: technological progress will be 32 times more dazzling these next 50 years than the last) . . . desperately in need of steady hands to keep from spinning out of control.
Speaking of which . . .
ANOTHER REPUBLICAN FOR OBAMA
Now we learn that former Bush White House Press Secretary and Texas Republican Scott McClellan will be voting for Obama.
Scott McClellan . . . Susan Eisenhower . . . Julie Nixon Eisenhower . . . Colin Powell . . . Christopher Buckley . . . Michael Smerconish . . . former National Review publisher Wick Allison . . . former Senator Lincoln Chaffee . . . former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach . . . Fairbanks Alaska Mayor Jim Whitaker . . . Lilibet Hagel . . . Lennar CEO Stuart Miller . . . the Chicago Tribune for the first time in 161 years . . .
This is not politics as usual. There is no corresponding list of lifelong Democrats jumping ship for Senator McCain and Governor Palin.
Many life-long Republicans, conservatives and libertarians are seeing in Barack Obama the kind of honest, steady, open-minded, inspirational – perhaps transformational – problem-solver we need to get us through this mess.
Let your Republican, conservative, and libertarian friends know they are equally welcome – and that we need them.
And one more thing in that regard:
FEAR OF ‘ONE-PARTY RULE’
Now is not the time to favor government gridlock.
Now is not the time to protect the status quo.
For those who do fear ‘one-party rule,’ there are two reasons, I think, not to:
- The first is that without 60 Democratic Senators, the Republican Party retains a veto.
- Even with 60 – a long-shot – that number includes centrist Democrats . . . and Joe Lieberman who caucuses with the Democrats but is constantly by Senator McCain’s side. These centrists, too, would have an effective veto.
- The second and more important reason is that Senator Obama would not propose, or sign, anything crazy in the first place. He clearly sees the need to govern “from the center” and bring people together.
- On economics, you will have the kind of policy borne of advisors like Warren Buffett, Paul Volcker, Bob Rubin, Larry Summers, Hank Paulson – and Bill Clinton. These are not socialists.
- On military matters, you will have the kind of policy borne of advisors like former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell and former Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark. These are not pacifists.
- On the Supreme Court, six of the last eight Justices were appointed by Reagan, Bush, and Bush. (Senator McCain promises more of the same: “clones” – his word – of George W. Bush’s appointments, if elected.) So I don’t think anyone need be concerned they will be outnumbered.
TWO MINUTES WITH OBAMA
With Obama we would get a man determined to reach the best possible solutions to difficult problems. I like that his campaign’s mantra has been, “Obama, no drama.” Rather than drama, his campaign has been about working toward difficult goals (like winning the nomination, and now, perhaps, the Presidency) – with a clear vision, a steady hand, and a lot of smart teammates – and, touch wood, achieving them. We could use the same thing in the White House.
If you’re still on the fence, take two minutes to hear it from the candidate himself.
