Monday, November 13, 2006

Partisan Politics and Idealogues


Hat tip to Cox and Forkum for the cartoon. You can read their related commentary and links HERE.

I don't expect members of opposing political parties to act like best friends. Partisan politics is inherently contentious, and that's only natural. Yet one would hope that on issues of bi-partisan interest, like national security, they could find some common ground. Given the current players, is that realistic?

Yesterday, in my post: Nancy Pelosi, Democrats and Flexibility, I speculated that perhaps Pelosi had stretched herself as House Minority Whip, and might now become more flexible, and that the Democrats might actually try working with President Bush. I now doubt the former, but still hope for the latter, mostly because of the Blue Dog Democrats (I've updated yesterday's post accordingly).

The San Francisco Democrats I've known tend to be leftist idealogues, more interested in advancing their idealogy at any cost, than they are in working on compromises with people with opposing views.

In this past election, many Blue Dog Democrats were elected. It will be interesting to see who will be able to exert the most influence, the Leftist Idealogues, or the Blue Dogs. I fear that the party leadership is dominated by the Leftist Idealogues, who only wish to harness the Blue Dogs to use to their own ends. Yet I think the Blue Dogs may turn out to be a force to be reckoned with. I hope so, we shall see.
     

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