Anyone who really knows me, knows that I'm a bit of an odd duck politically. I waddle to the left frequently in one of the most conservative professions in America. So the Obama-teasing from my clients is starting to begin in earnest, and while I will point out most of it is straight from the Limbaugh / Rove school of lampoon (non-issues are the best issues), I will say there is a decided pattern: The Illinois Senator's common "issue refinement" or what those in GOP circles call "flip-flopping."
That's where this blog comes in.
This blog is about change. And it isn't necessarily about one kind of change, or agenda-driven change, or change on principal, or change in America, or some soapbox platform. It's about: change.
Obama is showing himself to be an elastic pragmatist. This week he gave an unsettling endorsement for off-shore drilling, which the angler in me (he did this in Titusville, FL, a favorite fishing haunt of mine) wretched over. But his point for it was again, one of refinement: there is no secret that America presently needs more oil, and if investments are made in pursuing cleaner drilling strategies, innovation generally leads to better things.
So on the issue of refinement, here are my two "consider 'em" recommendations for America's next VEEP.
Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City.
Condoleeza Rice, present Secretary of State and Piano Virtuouso (so says the Aspen Summer Music Festival this weekend).
If we're really about change, then let's bring change to the highest office in the cabinet and to the presidency of the senate. Let's bring in a voice that really doesn't see eye to eye with much but one that either 1.) substantially increases the economic reform abilities and bi-partisanship workmanship necessary for any president in 2008 or 2.) shows that despite direct and frequent criticism of the present administration, the best way to solve tomorrow's problems is with someone intimately familiar with the problems in a present tense. Bringing America together can't be done through a partisan lens.
Change isn't about throwing out the old and bringing in the new. The phrase "throwing out the baby with the bath water" has origins from the Pilgrim colonies in the 17th Century when the Pilgrims would bathe monthly... the youngest bathed last, and by that time the water was so filthy, you couldn't see the baby. Applying that logic today is ridiculous. But it seems that is the fear of those opposed to any kind of change. It's dirty bath water - level change. I don't think that's the case. Big change is necessary in America, and that's evident this year on both sides of the political spectrum. But big change is far more effective if you boil the frog slowly. You boil the frog slowly when there is a willingness to embrace voices that come up with new ideas or hold different principles. Because fundamentally, we are one country, one team heading (hopefully) in a common direction.
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