tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post2240442342126964417..comments2024-03-24T11:30:08.199-07:00Comments on Can you believe?: Election meditationsJohan Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-90336344307841600632008-11-02T22:29:00.000-08:002008-11-02T22:29:00.000-08:00Hello, Bill! There's a side of me that is ready to...Hello, Bill! There's a side of me that is ready to acknowledge that anyone who runs a credible presidential election campaign is already a hardball politician, whatever actual pitch he (she) throws. That side of me prefers to remember that politics is simply very elaborate dominance behavior in our community of human animals. Idealists like me are, practically speaking, congenitally disqualified.<BR/><BR/>The other side of me would still like to be part of a community that exercises whatever influence it can aggregate in order to be sure that the hardball politician who wins is the one whose remaining values are the ones most likely to benefit the nation and world. To carry out this desire it isn't necessary to pretend that the person is perfect or that the opponents are fatally flawed.Johan Maurerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13771067774042071617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7217199.post-65243005480329540272008-11-02T05:27:00.000-08:002008-11-02T05:27:00.000-08:00Maybe it's less about our money than the candidate...Maybe it's less about our money than the candidate's money. By spurning public financing and raising the unprecedented amount of $600 million for his campaign, Obama was able to blanket the country with advertising and finance a campaign organization far surpassing anything seen before. He gambled that Americans wouldn't care about his ethics, and that he could buy the election. The gamble looks like it will succeed.<BR/><BR/>OTOH, it may be better for McCain that he couldn't compete in advertising, given that the ads he did have were so loathsome. McCain gave up his ethics in a different way, throwing out absurd charge after absurd charge.<BR/><BR/>A pox on both of their houses.Bill Samuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00752443575410023776noreply@blogger.com