Thursday, December 14, 2006

The Newness Wears Off

Beginning with the premise that "one can be an intriguing novelty only once," George Will argues that now is the time for Barack Obama to take his shot at the presidency. Describing Obama's voting record as a U.S. Senator as consistently far to the left, Will suggests that the potential candidate manages to be both doctrinaire and congenial, making him sort of a left wing version of Ronald Reagan.

One might point out in response that Reagan was in the public eye of the nation far longer than Obama has been. Reagan spoke at the Republican convention in 1964, ran for the Republican nomination for President in 1968, and came within a whisker of beating Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976 before actually winning the office in 1980. Obama's current rock star status may not hold up any better than Howard Dean's did in 2004 or Gary Hart's did in 1984.

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