Raising Hell
Friday, June 13th, 2008 By Mike Maurer
It’s always fun to attend a political convention or a central committee meeting of a party. Most of the time, the believers berate the pragmatists. And why not? Power versus principle, it’s a great debate. Power without principle is contemptible; principle without power is pretty, but pointless, except as art.
Ohio Democrats are probably reasonably happy, if they can avoid thinking about Marc Dann, and they can, can Dann, that is. But if you care about principle, maybe they shouldn’t be.
The budget increase, or a portion of it, anyway, has been smaller the last two budget cycles than at any time in recent history, there have been important achievements in gun rights and property rights, and the state supreme court isn’t insane for the first time in a couple of decades. All of those things run contrary to the basic view of government being the superior tool to accomplish societal goals.
But the Democrats have taken over Congress, and are salivating over the presidency, so it’s an easy time to believe that their policies will grow stronger.
Ohio Republicans, on the other hand, haven’t spoken about principles since Lord knows when. Yes, important things have been achieved, but those came largely in spite of, not because of, party leadership (remember Bob Taft negotiating voucher ceilings downward?)
In any case, it’s always interesting to watch the central battle, and given that Illinois is home to Barack Obama and is a solid Red state (which is to say, Red as in Red Scare), it’s educational to watch the trials and tribulations of a marginal political party there that most people don’t know about. They’re called “Illinois Republicans,” and they hold their convention in the off-campus apartment of the president of the student chapter of the University of Chicago Federalist Society. ChampionNews is following the carnival.
Tags: Democrats, Politics, Republicans
