Sunday, May 22, 2005

Are Senate Centrists a Weak-Willed Bunch?

David Brooks thinks so. Brooks clearly supports the idea of a Centrist compromise on filibusters, but he is incensed that Centrists haven’t been able to agree on a deal.

While Brooks is needlessly harsh in his condemnation, he has a point. If saving the Senate from the nuclear option is so important to these middle-of-the-road Senators, why can’t they bite the bullet and make the deal? They have the power. They don’t need approval from the partisans in their party.

This is a moment that will either show that the middle can still wield real power or that the middle has lost nearly all power. Let’s go Centrists. Let’s get this done.

2 Comments:

At 11:09 PM, Blogger Shay Riley said...

I didn't think that Brooks was needlessly harsh at all. He told it as it is. And Sen. John McCain's appearance on FOX's Sunday show illustrated some of the points contained in Brooks' commentary.

 
At 7:21 AM, Blogger Alan Stewart Carl said...

What I didn't like was his statement that partisans are more effective--even though they are, I don't think partisan tactics are very often the answer for Centrists and I don't think Brooks does either. Centrists are used to building consensus and making sure all sides get to at least argue their point. I thought Brooks was being needlessly harsh when he implied that this method of debate itself was somehow weak. But I completely agree with his point.

 

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