How do you follow Reagan/Bush with
Others see a nation closely divided in which one team gets the upper hand in one battle and the other in the next — like a classic sports rivalry.
But what if the voters are smarter and more savvy than the talking heads give them credit for being?
What if we actually know what we want in a president?
I look at this election and I see voters giving
The Trump voters came out of the hills and hollers as they did four years ago (in some cases in greater numbers). But this
time Democratic voters were mobilized, too — especially in cities like
And yet, no blue wave.
How do the
Here's how: By being more in touch with the country than TV bloviators. And by having a wider and deeper sense of the country than its coasts.
Most Americans don't want to defund the police, or demonize them, or obliterate statues of
And we don't like the speaker of the House disrespecting the president any more than we like the president disrespecting the speaker.
In other words, the voters embraced decency and civility in 2020 but rejected the precious nonsense. They want, as they have
through most of the history of the country, a pragmatic government of the center. It may be center-right, like Reagan or one
of the Bushes. It may be center-left, like
We want the president to govern from the center.
We want
I also think we know what we want in presidential character. It may seem more a matter of knowing it when we see it than being able to describe it. But I think what we want can be described. And I think it is four things:
First, we want the president to be able to articulate our common vision and values — especially in moments of national expectation
or crisis. He or she needs to be a head of state in those moments.
Second, we want the president to protect the common good. As
Third, notwithstanding a healthy skepticism about "progress," and how we measure it, we expect the president, to the extent that it is possible, to lead us forward, not backward. As Obama once said, "Better is still better."
Finally, the president must have a very particular kind of courage — the courage to help the country see the need for initiatives
we never considered. I am thinking here of JFK and the space program and
The venerable old rocker
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Keith C. Burris
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(TNS)
Previously:
• 11/10/20: Resolved: The nation is just not into woke
• 10/16/20: Many years in this racket, I'm convinced I've learned how the press covers and the public perceives national leaders is that we usually test for the wrong qualities
• 09/23/20: Issues anyone?
• 08/21/20: Believing in the country
• 08/13/20: Shells full of nuts
• 06/03/20: The fabric is fraying: Redemption is becoming a thing of the past
• 05/20/20: Treasure of the West: Recklessness and ignorance has imperiled due process in America
• 01/20/20: Joe McCarthy won the Dem debate
Keith C. Burris is executive editor of the Post-Gazette, and vice president and editorial director of Block Newspapers.