- Voltaire
This sums up the central problem of politics--the best policy rarely survives the gauntlet of political constraints. Instead, politicians must compromise and settle for the attainable-- "the art of the possible". Then, of course, they are attacked by their base, who point out the gaps between campaign rhetoric and actual behavior in power. This is problem that Obama is now facing, and it is the fundamental problem that all practitioners of politics eventually face.
Comments
I completely agree with the brief analysis here - it is often an incomplete fulfillment that "the art of the possible" brings to the political promise. Power, and a chance to engage in that "art" is very hard to attain without a vision that goes boldly beyond the confines of what is practically "realizable" and peeks into the metaphysically possible - the "vision". A great leader, a great politician is inadvertently driven by a vision, a utopian final ideal of some sort. When Obama talked about the need "to perfect our Union" in his campaign speeches I believe he had that vision, that highly important utopian force to back him up in front of the voters. There is something bizarre in perpetual human longing for the unattainable that seems to play a very big (yet tacit, underlying) role in the political process.
