Harbinger?

If the Republican takeover of the Wake County school board last year was a sign of what’s to come in this year’s elections, will this week’s train wreck on the board be a sign of what’s to come next year – in Raleigh and Washington?
 
Campaigning is much easier than governing, as President Obama and congressional Democrats have learned.
 
As I blogged earlier, True Believers truly believe that, when they win an election, it means the voters at last have come to realize the genius of the True Faith.
 
And they’re almost always wrong. Especially in today’s politics, where the governing emotions are fear and anger.
 
The new school board majority won because voters were upset with the old board. Voters wanted change. But they didn’t exactly know what change meant.
 
President Obama can tell you how hard it is to translate the political slogan of “Change” into specific legislation – or a specific student assignment plan.
 
It’s easy to predict what Republicans will do next year if they win big this fall: They will try to legislate their ideological beliefs (or principles, depending on your point of view).
 
That will mean specific changes the voters don’t like, the voters will get mad, and the cycle will repeat itself.
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Gary Pearce

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Harbinger?

If the Republican takeover of the Wake County school board last year was a sign of what’s to come in this year’s elections, will this week’s train wreck on the board be a sign of what’s to come next year – in Raleigh and Washington?
 
Campaigning is much easier than governing, as President Obama and congressional Democrats have learned.
 
As I blogged earlier, True Believers truly believe that, when they win an election, it means the voters at last have come to realize the genius of the True Faith.
 
And they’re almost always wrong. Especially in today’s politics, where the governing emotions are fear and anger.
 
The new school board majority won because voters were upset with the old board. Voters wanted change. But they didn’t exactly know what change meant.
 
President Obama can tell you how hard it is to translate the political slogan of “Change” into specific legislation – or a specific student assignment plan.
 
It’s easy to predict what Republicans will do next year if they win big this fall: They will try to legislate their ideological beliefs (or principles, depending on your point of view).
 
That will mean specific changes the voters don’t like, the voters will get mad, and the cycle will repeat itself.
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Gary Pearce

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