Will Obama, if elected, govern as a middle-of-the-road “centrist” or as a strong left-wing zealot?
My prediction: The latter. Why? Because: (1) He will have a left-wing Congress, in power so far as the eye can see (so too would a President McCain); (2) He has one of the most liberal voting records in the U.S. Senate short of Ted Kennedy; and (3) to get to the Presidency, he will be on such a psychological power trip that there will be no stopping him. We saw this with Bill Clinton’s first two years in office, if you remember. However, there was a vocal and stern Republican minority waiting in the wings to take over, back then. Today’s Republican Party is a shambles, in worse shape than at any time in its history, as the nomination of John McCain proves.
We have reached a point in American politics where it’s more clear than ever. The battle is not between liberals and conservatives, or Democrats and Republicans. They agree on everything important, and, increasingly, everything unimportant. The real battle is between those who want to expand government power into the realm of dictatorship, or those who want to reduce government power to its original, Constitutional limits: that is, to protect individuals against fraud and violent force. It’s the battle between those who believe the government that governs least governs best; and those who think that government must be hired to provide everything in sight.
In a way, the political mess we see today is good. It’s the beginning of the end of the old order. It’s the beginning of the end of the relevance of the two major political parties, although not the end of political ideas. It’s actually the beginning of a real political debate that will go on for years and determine whether the United States goes into the twilight or emerges stronger than ever. It’s change, but not the kind Obama has in mind.