Another hat in the NCGOP ring

But it was rather odd to hear a Democrat running for President promise a "line by line" examination of the federal budget and elimination of programs currently in existence. My point is that this is not the typical rhetoric of left-leaning politicians.

As far as personal responsibility, I think you would have to agree that the progressive social ethic is more rooted in the idea of communal responsibility rather than personal responsibility. It would be fair to say that the President intoned both on the campaign trail.

James, I sense a bit of hostility. Everyone here has good reason to be suspicious of me considering my point of view and the fact that I work for a political organization many of you oppose vehemently. I appreciate that you even allow me the forum to speak. You have every reason and ability to silence dissent if you so choose. The fact that you don't shows that you are fair-minded and tolerant and I don't intend to take advantage. I would never be so rude as to come into a person's home and insult them to their face.

I think both parties have shown a propensity for deficit spending as long as we are getting the things we want. No one is left blameless when it comes to fiscal responsibility issues. The difference occurs because of the general disagreement between liberals and conservatives about the proper size and scope of government. Democrats tend to spend more because of the philosophical differences between the two parties. If you spend more, it's harder to balance the budget. The President used more of the "line by line" and "eliminate waste" rhetoric than most Democrats. I think it helped him with voters.

When someone says something like "true personal responsibility is communal responsibility," that's when I look at them and say... OK, you know meaningless platitudes don't count as real arguments, right? Words have definitions. Let's try to stay in the general vicinity of them. It makes it much easier to communicate. It is perfectly legitimate to take the position that communal responsibility is the most important kind. But let's not pretend like there is not room in the universe for both concepts.

I guess my question is: how long are you prepared to settle for your "somewhat" agenda? Because as an outside observer it doesn't seem like the folks here are "somewhat" campaigning for the Democrats in office. I don't think there's any question that NC isn't blue without progressives and without sites like BlueNC. You give them your blood, sweat, and tears and they give you the scraps from their table. It just seems to me that if you are looking to enact a progressive agenda, I'm not your biggest foe.