Back! And more Able to Post

Yes, my one or two loyal readers will be delighted to discover I now have internet in my home. Which means more commentary as available.

So let's talk about what's on everyone's mind: the election of Scott Brown to the US Senate. Naturally, the best coverage came from Stacy McCain, at his new site. Lots of good analysis all around, and I must say- the Daily Caller doesn't suck. Sorry, Mr. McCain. I know you dislike Tucker Carlson.

So what can yours truly add to the discussion? A Canadian perspective, naturally. What does Scott Brown's election mean to those of us on this side of the 49th? It's a tired old saw in Canadian politics that parties run elections from the wings, and govern from the centre. It's generally true. Conservative (CPC) policies are very similar to Liberal (LPC) policies, which is why in the grand scheme our parties tend to win based on the popularity of the Leader. They make their promises and then get judged on how well they keep them. Mr Harper is currently beating the snot out of Mr Ignatieff because we know exactly what he stands for and what he will do. He'll play fast and loose with procedure to get what he wants. Mr Ignatieff? He vacillates too much to pin down. Better the devil you know, etc.



What does this have to do with Mr Obama? Everything. Mr Obama prided himself on being "the screen onto which Americans project their dreams". He was the all things to all people candidate. He overwhelmed the youth vote because quite frankly my age group is about optics, as we have little to no experience with reality. This was a great election strategy, because all groups felt some connection to the candidate. But it's a one shot deal. You see, once it comes time to govern, you simply cannot be all things to all people. Mr. Obama has made the error of placating the people who will vote for him anyway. His promises of transparency? Well, a Christmas day senate vote puts that one down. How about disagreeing without being disagreeable? Mocking a candidate because he likes trucks is fairly disagreeable. I'm not even going to get into the idiocy that is his healthcare bill, except to say that it almost killed Bill Clinton, so what makes him think it's safe for him?

The vast majority of any democratic public generally wants politicians to leave them alone. Reasonable taxes, a responsible elected body, and some decent services. Yes, healthcare is an issue in America. But it is not an excuse to dramatically transform all aspects of society. Let's list a few policy blunders: Americans are kind of bi-polar about sex. On TV? Absolutely. In schools? Forget it. I checked out some of the "textbooks" the ironically named Safe Schools Czar wants published, and even I blushed. And I'm very nearly a Libertine even by Canadian standards. How about Homeland Security? The handling of the Fort Hood Shooting? Yes, calling veterans terrorists at a time when pretty much every middle class American has a relative in the military was a brilliant move. Or the Undie-Bomber? Yes, the system works, except when it doesn't. What's the budget for brave Dutch tourists this year? And let us not forget that Canada, major supplier of your oil, comedians and flexible multilingual troops is now considered to be equally suspect to Mexico, the provider of most of your illegal immigrants and drugs. Not to mention the pathetic job the administration has done vetting any of its candidates for anything

The point is this- people voted for Mr Obama, and his democrats, out of anger at the status quo and because they didn't really know exactly where on the political spectrum Obama fell. Maybe they were hoping he didn't fall anywhere; a new era and all that. Now we all know he is firmly, and distantly, on the left. His rhetoric is no longer impressive, and what could have been forgiven as inexperience is now seen as incompetence.

Making independents angry is bad, and Mr Obama has done it. Making people in your own party angry enough to switch sides is bad, and the DNC is doing it daily. Doing both? Well, 2010 should be an interesting year.