Blog of the Moderate Left

I’m not sure I remember a political primary quite like the 2012 GOP primary. There have been primaries with weak fields (the 1988 Democrats, the 1992 Democrats, the 1996 GOP, the 2008 GOP), and there have been candidates who have gained traction, only to implode (Gary Hart, Pat Buchanan, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani).

There’s a reason that people almost never make the jump from the private sector to major elected office. For all the blather about career politicians, politics is a skill, and an incredibly difficult one. The ability to craft one’s message, communicate it with consistency, and avoid blunders is not one that comes easily to most people.

Since the Minnesota Twins won the 1991 World Series, Minnesota’s major league teams have had seven chances to get to another championship game. The Vikings came within a missed field goal of the Super Bowl in 1999, then  within a mere six touchdowns in 2001. The Twins lost in the ALCS to Los Angeles of Hollywood of Reseda of Anaheim of California in 2002.

In 1981, newly-elected President Ronald Reagan had the opportunity to appoint his first justice to the Supreme Court. It was an important appointment for a variety of reasons, not least because he would be replacing Justice Potter Stewart, a centrist who had supported Roe v. Wade.