I've been telling people that I think a really strong case any candidate for President should make given the climate in DC these days is to say clearly and loudly, "My administration will be about competence, objectivity, professionalism, etc." or something along those lines. As though designed to appeal directly to me and folks who think in similar ways, here is a very inspiring article from the Boston Globe regarding recent comments by Obama.
Here you go, the article is here.
And here's a quote from it (from Obama):
"It's easy to be cynical -- to believe that change isn't possible; that the odds are too great; that this year is bound to be no different from the last. But I also know what I've seen and what I've done," he said. "I know that for me, reform isn't just the rhetoric of a campaign; it's been a cause of my career."
I saw the article on Democratic Underground... and I recommend checking it out highly. This is the kind of thing candidates should be talking about, namely REAL reform that will have an impact on making government work well. People can squabble all they want over how much government should be involved in this or that, but my thing is this: whatever the government does, it should aim to do extremely well.
Some people act like business is somehow specially endowed with the capability of achieving lofty goals like efficiency, innovation, etc. by nature of competition, but I think this notion is crap. Accepting this argument completely undermines the idea of a government in the first place by in effect saying that anything government does is damned to be mediocre from the start. I believe competition has a value and a place, but also that society can build institutions designed to demand excellence in both execution and results. Anyway, let's get outside crap arguments and stay in the realm of talking about achievable reforms that we should all rally behind.
Cheers, and happy Friday.
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