Judge Him by His Laws

[SoxFan]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303303.html

People who complain that Barack Obama lacks experience must be unaware of his legislative achievements. One reason these accomplishments are unfamiliar is that the media have not devoted enough attention to Obama's bills and the effort required to pass them, ignoring impressive, hard evidence of his character and ability.

<snip>

Taken together, these accomplishments demonstrate that Obama has what Dillard, the Republican state senator, calls a "unique" ability "to deal with extremely complex issues, to reach across the aisle and to deal with diverse people." In other words, Obama's campaign claim that he can persuade us to rise above what divides us is not just rhetoric.

[Strawman]

1. Good article

Who can make change happen on these issues we care about like health care? That's a good standard for evaluating these candidates. Whether that kind of legislative skill that was effective in Illinois: that brand of arm twisting and cajoling can work from the White House, I don't know. I'm sure each candidate can make a case that they will be the most effective at actually getting things accomplished. The next question is how do they do that? By watering down reform to the point that it is meaningless in order to pass it through Congress so they can claim an empty "bipartisan" accomplishment, or by demonstrating real political skill to achieve genuine progress?