Anna Quindlen‘s latest Newsweek column makes it easier to understand the fundamental flaws in her understanding of American politics.
In urging people to “pay close attention” and get serious about the presidential race ? in other words, to realize that any sane person must vote for Barack Obama ? Quindlen assigns far too much importance to the president’s role in our lives:
The country is in a mess. And in November its citizens must decide who has the integrity, the intellect, the principles to steer us out of it.
Well, no, not really. This country’s citizens will decide in November which person they believe should best serve as president. That person will play a powerful role, but he cannot “steer” the country out of anything.
Nor would either candidate be “insightful” or “intellectual enough to manage the nation,” another of Quindlen’s goals. Only dictators and communists try to manage entire nations. The best we can hope for from a president is relatively successful management of the executive branch of the federal government.
