It's clear that no one can ever implement everything they want to. The key questions are (1) is this guy even going to try to do what he says? (2) Do I actually want him to do this? and (3) is he flexible enough to compromise and get results? In most cases, politicians engage in situational ethics and say whatever they think people want to hear to get elected. The higher one goes, the greater the likelihood that there is something massively unethical, perhaps even criminal, going on. Nixon just got caught, but LBJ was almost certainly worse. Reagan, Clinton, Obama - they've all done things that were unsavory at best. As I said to a friend today on Facebook, people with an acute sense of morality should look away while the sausage is being made.


I think that the mark of a great President is knowing just how much political capital you have, allotting it wisely and being willing to compromise. Reagan and Clinton did that magnificently, and Obama and Carter have been complete fools. However, in almost all cases, what they have delivered on is not what they promised. It's like promising the voters filet mignon and giving them a steamed lobster instead (in the case of Reagan and Clinton; in Obama's case, a McNugget).


I tend to vote Republican despite my libertarian views because economic issues are more important to me and the Republicans seem to understand how money is made far better than the Democrats. Clinton and George W. Bush have made this identification harder, but prior to Clinton and after W. it's been pretty clear.


It's more partisan now, but I think that it's always been the same (hence my subject line). I just read about the War of 1812 and the way politics was characterized was almost identical to the present day, so not much has changed in 200 years. We just gloss over the ugly things after about 25 years or so (maybe even less) so people sound more principled and historic than they really were. Looking back at Lincoln in the Civil War, I see a genius but also a consummate politician who had scores of enemies - he nearly lost the 1864 election.