The blur

Mary and I thought Barack did a terrific job on John Stewart last night: assertive about his accomplishments without being strident. Confident. Relaxed. Engaging. I think he knocked the ball out of the park with one of his core constituencies that need to be knocked on the head: younger voters.

I'd read two reviews of the interview before I even saw it. One was critical, saying the president lowered himself by appearing on a comedy show and sneering that Stewart actually called him Dude at one point. The other said mostly what I said above, but took his alloted 500 words to say it. I'm guessing the reviews pretty much reflected the author's previous attitudes.

Mary and I were talking about how unable Republicans and conservatives in general are to say anything the least positive about Obama. I absolutely can't stand George Bush, but we both recalled that we thought he put forward a very good plan for immigration reform. If anybody had bothered to ask, we would have had no problem saying so at the time.

I also thought he was unusually good at clearing brush for a president, and I wasn't afraid to say so. For a Texan, though, he looked decidely uncomfortable on a horse.

A large majority of Democrats worked with him on getting immigration reforms passed, but they were defeated by his own party. These days, though, it's political suicide for a sitting Republican to say anything remotely in agreement with Obama. Even some Democrats are running on how much they opposed his initiatives. I can only hope people will grow out of this all-or-nothing politics and get back to an era when cooperation and comity were considered to be virtues, not vices.

In any case, as the blur of the last four days before the election gets more and more crazy, Mary and I are heading out for a few days in our new trailer. (Built in Oregon and bought in Klamath Falls: once again, we're doing our part for the recovery, but do we get a huge tax break? No. Damn you Top Two Percent!!)

I'm glad we'll be missing out on all the news and commentary, though I'll miss the ongoing coverage of the various Tea Party crazies: Christine O'Donnel! Who needs parody?

When we get back, it will all be over but the year or so of post-election parsing. Then we can start the campaigns for the next election, including the presidential. Sarah Palin says she's in unless someone else wants it. Hell, make that two of us.

Can't wait.

(Eugene Robinson is very good today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/28/AR2010102805899.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

)