O.K., I admit it. After tonight, I'm going to miss Jeb Bartlett almost as much as the Big Dog. Almost.
Waxing nostalgic about "The West Wing" today has reminded me of Aaron Sorkin's first great creation of a fearless progressive president, Andrew Shepherd in "An American President:"
http://www127.pair.com/...
In that press conference, Shepherd puts the smackdown on his republican opponent and lays out the difference between a candidate who wants to win in order to govern for the common good, and a candidate who just wants to win. And that reminds me of the core reason for Bush's total failure as president, and the over-arching meta-meme that the Dems need to use to frame the '08 campaign:
Bush is the Republican President, the Neo-Con President, the Right-wing President, the Red State President.
Isn't it time for an AMERICAN president?
David Gergen brought this up indirectly on one of the talking head shows this weekend. Somebody asked him about the expected efforts to use gay marriage to energize the winger base: would it be enough to get Chimpy's poll numbers up in time for the election?
Gergen said yeah, it would help him with the base again, but it wouldn't be enough. He said:
"Remember, Bush isn't just President of the Conservatives, he's got to convince people he can govern the whole country. Gay marriage won't do it."
Even Newt said today that the country was sick of the partisanship (this coming from one of the great bombthrowers of all time), and if they wanted to win, the republicans would have to show that they were willing to work with the Dems to get things done. He talked about his relationship with Clinton-- of course they were politcal enemies, and Newt made Clinton's life hell, but they also took it to the mats together and hammered out legislation for the good of the whole country.
Now we have a selected president that has never stopped being a partisan, never stopped campaigning for the party, never stopped demonizing half the citizens of the country and questioning their patriotism, condemning entire states ('Taxachusetts,' Vermont, California), dismissing segments of the people as unimportant (the poor, Blacks) or evil, dangerous, and unworthy of rights (gays).
Over all the microthemes of the next election, we need to be running a candidate who can unite the country, work with the reasonable republicans to get the job done, and put the people above the party.
Isn't it time for an AMERICAN president?