Will and Quindlen usually split appearances on Newsweek?s last page, but both columnists had a chance to offer a ?Last Word? in the magazine?s 124-page ode to President-elect Barack Obama.
Since Will actually appears last, eager readers who devour the magazine from front to back will end their reading with a sober assessment of a flawed presidential selection process:
The Founders? intent ? was to prevent the selection of a president from being determined by the ?popular arts? of campaigning, such as rhetoric. The Founders ? ?were deeply fearful of leaders deploying popular oratory as the means of winning distinction.? That deployment would invite demagoguery, which subverts moderation. ?Brilliant appearances,? wrote John Jay in The Federalist Papers 64, ?? sometimes mislead as well as dazzle.?
Those thrilled by the prospect of an Obama presidency should remember that the same electoral process produced a George W. Bush presidency. Will reminds us that the Founders had a good reason to take extra precaution in protecting American liberty.
