50PoundHead
Hessmania Forever
I guess I've been around the game too long and Washington is a cesspool of impropriety compared to what we have in Minnesota (as a lobbyist, I'm pretty much prohibited from even taking a legislator to lunch with our very tight restrictions). Tit-for-tat has always been part of the game, but that doesn't mean this kind of stuff should be swept under the rug. I think what a lot of old guard politicians don't understand in the era of new media and the 24/7 news cycle is that "business as usual" doesn't necessarily mean good business anymore. For the record, a legislator I worked for once said to members of the caucus (in private of course) about dealing with lobbyists (before our tightened restrictions): "If you can't eat their food, drink their booze, and f*ck their women and still say 'no' to what they are asking for, you shouldn't be here."
As for my earlier comments about Hillary being a centrist, perhaps I should have used the term pragmatist (although I think she is closer to the center than the graph posted by Hawk would indicate).
Hawk, I think you're mistaken if you think she was to the left of Obama in 2008 and clearly Sanders was far to the left of her in 2016. She undoubtedly tacked to the left during her campaign for the nomination and she needs to stay further to the left than what her personal preferences likely are through November to keep the younger portion of the Democratic base at least marginally interested in voting. But if she wins, governing will likely be a different matter and the composition of Congress will certainly play a role in what she will view as possible. I think she would set out modest goals to move portions of the Democratic platform forward (college costs, health care, maybe something on the minimum wage) and be a bit more aggressive on the foreign policy front (read the portions of Panetta's book about her disagreements with Obama on America's military posture for more on that).
As for my earlier comments about Hillary being a centrist, perhaps I should have used the term pragmatist (although I think she is closer to the center than the graph posted by Hawk would indicate).
Hawk, I think you're mistaken if you think she was to the left of Obama in 2008 and clearly Sanders was far to the left of her in 2016. She undoubtedly tacked to the left during her campaign for the nomination and she needs to stay further to the left than what her personal preferences likely are through November to keep the younger portion of the Democratic base at least marginally interested in voting. But if she wins, governing will likely be a different matter and the composition of Congress will certainly play a role in what she will view as possible. I think she would set out modest goals to move portions of the Democratic platform forward (college costs, health care, maybe something on the minimum wage) and be a bit more aggressive on the foreign policy front (read the portions of Panetta's book about her disagreements with Obama on America's military posture for more on that).
