Comments on: Wonky Democrats

By: M1EK

M1EK — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:29:46 +0000

Last two commenters are deluding themselves - he admitted that Dole was a wonk, and I doubt very much whether he agrees with Dole's politics.

By: R. Alex

R. Alex — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:59:59 +0000

I think a lot of Mr. Klein's perspective can be explained by the notion that if a politician agrees with him, they must have seriously immersed themselves in the issue and are therefore a wonk and if a politician disagrees with him then either they are dumb or are ignorant of the many arguments that prove that Klein and his ilk are correct and there fore are not a wonk.

By: charles austin

charles austin — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:30:24 +0000

So Mr. Klein thinks his side is full people with positive attributes and the other side is full of people without those positive attributes. Deep thinking there.

But is it better to have a leader or a doer as president. Just how important is "the vision thing" in a leader? Should the president be a CEO or a COO? How many policy wonks really know the difference between those two terms and have practical experience with people who have served as each?

What if you change the nature of the question a bit and ask whether Repuiblicans or Democrats tend to nominate people deeply committed to principles rather than policy? The answers look rather different for most of the contestants or presidents. Top of the list of most significant change would have to be Bill CLinton. But strangely enough, Jimmy Carter comes off looking better under this test. Even if I don't share his particular beliefs I will credit him with having them and sticking to them.

By: Bithead

Bithead — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:23:00 +0000

Each has its virtues; each has its flaws. I think you'll probably get more wonks among micro-managers.

... And, certainly, Hillary Clinton qualifies as a micro manager, to the point of meglomania.

Another possible asterisk to the list - Jimmy Carter was running against the hapless & doomed Jerry Ford. Few leftys this side of Karl Marx's zombified corpse could have failed in that contest...

I suppose that to depend entirely on which Jimmy Carter we're talking about. Are we talking about the Jimmy Carter that basically nobody knew prior to his election as president? Or are we talking about the Jimmy Carter that everyone came to know as the unmitigated disaster in both domestic and foreign policy, that he was?

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:03:55 +0000

Democrats and Republicans typically expect different things from presidents. Democrats tend to prefer micro-managers. Consider LBJ, Carter, and Clinton. Republicans incline more to a top management model e.g. Eisenhower, Reagan, GWB.

Each has its virtues; each has its flaws. I think you'll probably get more wonks among micro-managers.

By: legion

legion — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 22:03:31 +0000

Another possible asterisk to the list - Jimmy Carter was running against the hapless & doomed Jerry Ford. Few leftys this side of Karl Marx's zombified corpse could have failed in that contest...