George Will is worth reading
This entry was posted on 12/18/2006 6:21 PM and is filed under US Politics.
I have found George Will to be one of the most level-headed of the "pundits." Or even-handed. Whatever the quality may be, I am sure it is hyphenated. Commentators capable of dispassionate reason are in short supply these days.
Anyway, this column,
Four reasons Obama should run for president in '08 seems to me a good example of Will's ability to step away from natural bias to provide solid analysis.
Obama is a true blue liberal, but Will deals with the facts as facts. Or so it seems to me...
"New Hampshire was recently brightened by the presence of Barack Obama, 45, who, calling the fuss about him ''baffling,'' made his first trip to that state, and not under duress. Because he is young, is just two years distant from a brief career as a state legislator and has negligible national security experience, an Obama presidential candidacy could have a porcelain brittleness.
But if he wants to be president -- it will not be a moral failing if he decides that he does not, at least not now -- this is the time for him to reach for the brass ring. There are four reasons.
First, one can only be an intriguing novelty once. If he waits to run, the last half-century suggests that the wait could be for eight years (see reason four, below). In 2016, he will be only 55, but there will be many fresher faces.
Second, if you get the girl up on her tiptoes, you should kiss her. The electorate is on its tiptoes because Obama has collaborated with the creation of a tsunami of excitement about him. He is nearing the point when a decision against running would brand him as a tease who ungallantly toyed with the electorate's affections.
Third, he has, in Hillary Clinton, the optimal opponent. The contrast is stark: He is soothing; she is not. Many Democrats who are desperate to win are queasy about depending on her. For a nation with jangled nerves, and repelled by political snarling, he offers a tone of sweet reasonableness."
You'll have to follow the link to read the fourth reason. My point is made. I do not think I would be able to treat the potential candidacy of such a misguided politician with such cool detachment.
