Campaigning vs. Governing 

Campaigning vs. Governing

A nice observation on Jack Balkin's site by Mark Graber: W, and perhaps all the politicians who have been put under the microscope by Katrina, are much better at campaigning than governing. They like it better, and they admire success in it more. Success in a campaign gives a quick rush, combined with a sense that a lot is happening fast, affecting a lot of people--like an advertising campaign. Governing tends to be slower and more boring, and W notoriously doesn't like being briefed on, doesn't like reading about it, and probably doesn't like talking about it.

In his play The Knights, Aristophanes presents a famous Athenian politician as a shameless demagoge who has made one great discovery: the demos likes a comfortable pair of shoes. He always hastens to make sure the demos gets what it wants. A successful campaign feels like that--you've given the all-powerful people exactly what they want.

As Graber says, whoever you think is most at fault, local/state officials or federal officials, it's the difference between an F and a D-.