Recap

Ok, not much new here. The same tired attack lines, Obama's unflappability.

A couple of points:

Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, believed in the federal government's supremacy over the states. They also believed in an elite, ruling class. Modern conservatives are only Federalists in that they believe in the elite ruling class. Of course, in my humble opinion, the Civil War was ultimately over federal supremacy. The underlying issue was slavery, but the ideological fight was over whether or not the federal government had the right to tell states to fall in line. The federal government won the war. To me, that should have ended the argument. I realize that this is a very simplistic analysis, but it cuts to the heart of the matter. Thematically, our country's history after 1865 can be seen through the prism of federal assertion of power. Labor Reform, Civil Rights, Voting Rights all fit thematically into government assertion of supremacy. States rights advocates scream bloody murder whenever the federal government wants them to do something, yet comes running to the teat of the federal coffers when they run out of money, and cry foul if restrictions are placed on those monies.

For all the crying about earmarks, one would think that the federal budget was weighed down by the immensity of bridges to nowhere. But it is those kinds of "sweeteners" that get more important policies enacted. It buys votes, which is necessary both for legislators, who can go back to their constituents and point to this money they got, and to the country as a whole.

As far as transparency in government goes, Fareed Zakaria made and excellent point in his book, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, that "sunshine laws" which supposedly offer more transparency to government actually undermine the democratic system. Since the average person doesn't spend their time sifting through the intricacies of the government, they don't get much benefit. However, lobbying groups do. I encourage everyone to read it.

In summation, if Obama hasn't wrapped up this election with his performace tonight, then Americans really have been damaged by four years of Bush far more than we thought.