Three recent political thoughts

Okay, here are three recent political thoughts:
1) Obama says he wants to change Washington, which, given the polarized politics of the past 10 years (at least), seems to be a good thing. However, I also saw that Obama was recently rated *the* most liberal senator. To me, what would really change Washington is to have leadership that knows how to GET ALONG and GET THINGS DONE. Having a skewed-in-a-direction president is just politics as normal. We need someone who knows how to find the middle ground and work across the aisle. That would be a welcome change.

2) I hate how some politicians blame everything on the Iraq War. I heard a speech the other day by Obama where he said because of the Iraq War, we don't have money for schools, after-school programs, highway repairs, environmental research, universal healthcare, etc. etc. When the I-35W bridge collapsed in Minnesota, you even heard opportunistic/cynical politicians blame the Iraq War for it (it actually was because of extra weight due to a repair crew and a design flaw, if I remember correctly). To blame everything on Iraq is a false argument - people complained about not enough money well before Iraq.

3) Finally, McCain has been getting alot of flak recently for saying that economics was not his strength. After years of Democrats complaining about hubris and arrogance in the White House, here we have a candidate admit that he actually has a weakness (the original Wall Street Journal article said McCain's openness was refreshing), and now his opponents attack him for it. (So what do they want: arrogance or openness?) To me, it seems like old Washington politics to take a positive and make it into a negative. BOo to Obama.