Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Rhetoric v. Reality   [Mark Hemingway]

Here's Richard Cohen in today's WaPo:

"Just tell me one thing Barack Obama has done that you admire," I asked a prominent Democrat. He paused and then said that he admired Obama's speech to the Democratic convention in 2004. I agreed. It was a hell of a speech, but it was just a speech.

On the other hand, I continued, I could cite four or five actions — not speeches — that John McCain has taken that elicit my admiration, even my awe.

I'm not sure if Cohen is on the same page as I am with regard to what it is he admires about McCain (he cites campaign finance reform), but I think he's asking the right question. Matt Yglesias, however, seems quite worked up about Cohen's column. In part, that's because Cohen doesn't give Obama credit for opposing the war, which is an understandable, if debatable, criticism coming from someone who's against the war. But then there's this:

Now in an ideal world candidates for office might release statements, speeches, documents, etc. about their policy ideas. People could scrutinize these ideas. Most people, of course, might be too busy to plow into detail. But a professional newspaper columnist, at least, would be able to sit down and really dig into what Obama is proposing to do on taxes versus what McCain is proposing to do. 

Cohen's entire premise is that a candidate's past actions are a more valuable guide for how someone will govern than the nebulous assurance provided by campaign "statements, speeches, documents, etc." So why again is Yglesias insisting Cohen give Obama credit for his stated intentions rather than his comparaitively small record of achievement?

UPDATE — Jennifer Rubin weighs in on the Cohen column:

I suppose Cohen did not get the Obama directive: he has not–absolutely not–reversed himself on anything. ( Except the money thing, but the Republicans made him do that.) And after all that Cohen concludes: “I know that Barack Obama is a near-perfect political package. I’m still not sure, though, what’s in it.”

I must say, I doubled checked the date on Cohen’s column to make sure it wasn’t from February. I mean, is this now only coming to light?

07/29 11:32 AMShare