Vision vs Pandering

There is a great piece at HumanEvents.com talking about what Obama should have done to distance himself ideologically from Rev Wright and the ills and evils of Liberation Theology(read Marxists hiding a gun behind a picture of a Bible).

It really supports something that has been bothering me for quite some time and was echoed in a section I read from The Downing Street Years last night. In the book PM Thatcher talks about Jimmy Carter, not that I have been thinking about Jimmy Carter, but rather look at Carter as the quintessential mold of a naive liberal. I am amazed at how perceptive she is and how insightful her views into American politics are. Her impression of President Carter was that he was a very kind and genuine person, she actually liked him a lot. However she was disappointed at his lack of vision for his own country. Rather than knowing where he wanted to take the US he was more concerned with fighting fires and dealing with individual issues. This is a huge contrast to PM Thatcher and her clear goals when she came into office. Truly everything she did and all of her interactions as the PM of England were based on her vision for where her country needed to go. It was inspiring.

It emphasizes what we AREN'T hearing from the candidates right now, particularly on the left. All we hear is pandering. It's all about what they are going to do for this group, or that group, or for EVERYBODY! The speech that McCain made yesterday comes the closest to someone actually trying to cast their vision for the country. Unfortunately I didn't like all of what he was trying to envision. But, at least he seems to have A vision.