Who To Listen To And Who To Ignore

Listen to the thirty percent in the middle. The one third on the right and the one third on the left will never alter their views. It has and, always will be, the swing voter that will run the country. Sometimes power shifts right or leftward, but only with the swing voters' permission does it sway at all.

The disaster in New Orleans can be filtered through typical commentary. Liberals, who espouse the need for greater centralization of government think that the Feds should have done more. Conservatives, who believe in greater local control and responsibility think that it was up to New Orleans to be better prepared for disaster. But, lo and behold, the guys in the middle got it right. Independents in a recent national poll (you know, one of those WashingtonPostUSATodayNewsWeek etc. polls) stated that they essentially blame everybody up to and including the local civilians who failed to clear out!

But this will not stop partisan hackery. Remember we have midterms in 2006 and those contests have already begun. And, in an election cycle, whatever is current becomes political. Whatever is popular will be "what I will do" and whatever is unpopular will be "what I never would have done." If politicians want to do the right thing they'll listen to the middle on this one. But I think they won't do that - so let the lying begin!

Good luck to us all.