Hopes Quickly Fade For a Postpartisan Era

Wall Street Journal ^ | October. 14, 2008 | Gerald F. Seib

[Reagan Man]

Idealists once looked at this presidential campaign, between two candidates who fancy themselves as free of conventional party ties, and thought it might produce the election that finally pulls Washington out of the deep rut of partisan divisiveness it fell into in the 1990s.

Today, three weeks before Election Day, it sure doesn't look that way.

Instead, partisan animosity is growing rather than waning. Democrats charge, essentially, that the McCain campaign is engaging in character assassination against their candidate, Barack Obama. The Republican National Committee says it is spending $2 million to beef up security at campaign offices because of acts of vandalism and "violent intimidation tactics" by Obama supporters. Campaign rallies are turning ugly; charges of racism are starting to appear.

[Red Badger]

If no “partisanship” is the objective, then why the hell have parties in the first place?..............

[weegee]

The only way Obama and his supporters will achieve the “unity” they claim they want to bring is by locking half of the nation up in gulags for political re-education.

[silverleaf]

Does Cuba have problems with partisanship?
I don’t think so.

Look at the peace and love that result when progressives run a single party government!

[Jeff Head]

2008 MCCAIN-OBAMA ISSUE COMPARISON CHART

[weegee]

They want a supermajority in Congress, full loading of the retiring SC justices, and the White House.

there is no partisanship in a majority dictatorship.

[stuartcr]

I believe a big part of this partisan divisiveness is due primarily to the advent of mass, international communications, ie, internet and cable news shows.

[bereanway]

Bipartisanship to a great degree is responsible for the mess we fing ourselves in today. I’d much rather have partisan bickering than knuckling under and allowing the marxist, fascist agenda of 0 to come full bloom.

[ripley]

uncle adolph, chairman mao, pol pot, ho chi minh, uncle joe stalin, v. i. lenin.....all presided over unity.

(heaven help us)

IMHO

[ClearCase_guy]

The Left will never work with a Republican president. If McCain wins, there will be blood in the streets, and the Democrats will hate him more than they ever hated George W. Bush.

If Obama wins, the Left will declare a manadate and expect the Republicans to line-up behind all Democrat proposals and will demonize anyone who dares to oppose the new president.

There is no hope of a post-partisan future, so we must prepare for a struggle against entrenched opponents.

[nathanbedford]

A major party candidate for the presidency of the United States of America is found to have for the entire length of his adolescent and adult life confederates who are 1) self acknowledged communists 2) televised raging anti-Semite and anti-American hatemonger 3) braggadocio unrepentant domestic terrorist bomber and a murderer of policeman 4) felon convicted of bribing politicians.

And this author finds fault with the candidate who pointed out only the smallest part of this?

[Secret Agent Man]

That’s because this is the real world, and in the real world, people who have strong opposing views and believe they are right don’t just chuck their beliefs and start working with the other side.

It’s idealistic naiveity. It’s the storyline from a some utopian fictional tome.

You have to short-circuit your own conscience to think something like this is a good idea. You can be damn sure it also is a trick. The liberals NEVER compromise their beliefs. They only want YOU - not them - to compromise on your beliefs. If your beliefs were strong enough, you wouldn’t compromise. That’s how they view it. You never give an inch. And then, only give an inch if you are pretty certain you’ll get a mile.

[tbpiper]

pulls Washington out of the deep rut of partisan divisiveness it fell into in the 1990s

He's off a bit. It would be the 1790's and earlier. Our politics have always been highly partisan.

[ssaftler]

The point is that We the People gain more when Republicans and Democrats can agree to disagree. What we’ve seen in the past 15 years is that Republicans and Democrats agree to be disagreeable.

[Billthedrill]

Instead, partisan animosity is growing rather than waning. Democrats charge, essentially, that the McCain campaign is engaging in character assassination against their candidate, Barack Obama.

Yeah, especially Sarah Palin, who the Dems and the media have treated so very nicely. I'm afraid that pointing out Obama's pathologically hate-filled followers and incipient class warfare comes under the Truman dictum "I never gave them hell. I told the truth and they thought it was hell."

[adorno]

If no “partisanship” is the objective, then why the hell have parties in the first place?

Good point.

I've been saying the same thing for most of my voting years. And I've been saying the same thnig when I was a democrat and now as a conservative.

With no parties, people wouldn't feel a loyalty to any party, and they would just be voting for the better of whatever choices are available.

Furthermore, there would be no fights in congress for control by any party, not for committees, and not for leadership by party.

One of the best benefits, polling would be a lot fairer, with no weighting for party registrations.

With party being the driving force for people's choices, the well-being of the country often fell behind the well-being of the party.

With so many benefits to "no parties", dissolution of parties should be a law. Perhaps somebody needs to start petitions all over the country for dissolution of parties.

[andy58-in-nh]

The Democrats' idea of "partisanship" is when anyone opposes them. For that reason, they seek, as a matter of strategy, to eliminate practical opposition to their objectives. While Republicans busy themselves with efforts to build consensus and solicit public approval, the Democrats are planning to crush them. That is why they usually win and we usually lose.

The election is still three weeks away and Congressional Democrats are already strategizing over how to implement their agenda, including a re-imposition of the Fairness Doctrine and taxation of Internet content. The election is a mere formality in the scheme to extend their existing political hegemony.

Liberals already control 95% of the the news media, Congress, most government agencies, almost all colleges and universities, and virtually the entire entertainment industry. Conservatives have talk radio and some of the Internet and (for the moment) the Executive Branch of government. Liberals want them back and - make no mistake - they intend to take them.

[ModelBreaker]

The problem in Washington is not “partisanship.” It is a “non-partisan” looting of our nation’s wealth by both parties. This has been pretty much the state of affairs since the New Deal.

The parties argue. But the real argument is over which party gets to feed more freely at the piggy trough. To do that, both groups need to have lots of tax money and a big, powerful government.

[TexanToTheCore]

A little slow on the uptake aren’t you, Gerry?

[norton]

"The only way Obama and his supporters will achieve the “unity” they claim they want to bring is by locking half of the nation up in gulags for political re-education."

No need.

They'll simply make certain that wrong thoughts are punished, not allowed in the workplace and assured to cancel any hope of advancement.
School exams will continue to stress PC and socialist concepts. Scholarships will flow to those who 'get their thinking right'.
This time we'll see a serious purge of non-lefty bureaucracy in DC; plum positions for supporters and boondocks for Bush people. Pink slips for those not protected by socialist federal service rules.
Choice duty will be the special missions named to make nice with Iran, Syria, North Korea, and Mexico. Russia will probably remain the bad guy just for appearance.
Not only no drilling in ANWAR but precious little else for Alaska.
No more border fences and penalties for anti-illegal 'racism'...Arparo will be looking for work if not tried for misuse of authority.
Leiberman is toast.

Besides, everyone who does work will be working so damn hard to cover taxes and inflation that protest won't only be useless, it'll be a luxury.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when the military comes home; look for new roles for reserves and 'guard, damn little in the way of new equipment, and dead ends for any notable combat commanders.
Oh - if you haven't already reloaded it you won't be able to afford it and if you ever registered a semi-auto or big bore rifle don't expect to hang onto it.

"We don' need no stenkin' gulags, we got postpartisan consensus."