Leadership in Politics - Where has it Gone?

[pstripling]

Where has the leadership gone in America? Nobody, on either side of the aisle (conservative or liberal) seems willing to stand up and proclaim that they believe in something and move forward to advance that agenda. President Bush seems willing to move forward with some things that he feels are important (war on terrorism), yet he vacillates on others (immigration). It seems that most politicians are afraid to take a stand. Heaven forbid someone might disagree or get their feelings hurt if they feel differently. It seems that no one in politics wants to deal in absolutes. By no means is this a new development, it has been happening for quite a while but I see it getting worse as our society gets more “sensitive or enlightened”. What will it take for this to change?

[lehighguy]

Politics is about power. The people in power want to keep power to personally enrich themselves. Once you realize this, everything makes sense.

[Beer and Pizza]

You assume that politicians have strong opinions on every issue. Bush came from a border state, he may have mixed ideas of the proper way to handle immigration.

Plus he has limited political capital. He tried to reform social security but the Democrats blocked him. Many presidents retreat into those issues that can be handled in the Executive branch when they fail to have any congressional cooperation.

Checks and balances means that many issues take forever to resolve because you have to get broad agreement to do anything.

How can this change?

Giving the President a filibuster proof Senate is one way. /images/graemlins/grin.gif