I was all in a tizzy about getting that post in before 11, and I forgot a couple things that should probably be mentioned.
Topics where I'm most comfortable with the president being a trustee: foreign affairs, technical/scientific issues, civil rights issues, economic/ job growth issues.
Topics where it's probably better for the president to be a delegate: ...basically everything else? Stuff like gun rights and education policy, for example. Also, if the president would like to be reelected, it's probably important for him to act (at least somewhat of) a delegate on the issues people care most about. According to a Pew Poll* done in January, the policies most rated as a "top priority for 2011" were the economy, jobs, terrorism, education, and social security. Hmm. Tricky. Knowing what issues people think are important isn't enough; you also have to know what it is people want done about the situation. Take 'jobs', for example. Yeah, we all want there to be more jobs and lower unemployment. But is there a broad consensus on how to make that happen? And if there's not, does simply acknowledging the issue and coming up with some sort of plan qualify you as a delegate? If the people are saying "we need more jobs" (but they don't have any concrete message about how) and Barack Obama's all "here's my plan for more jobs!" does that make him a delegate? Or is he only a delegate if people are like "here is our plan for reducing unemployment" and he says "ok, i'll put this plan into action right now!" The delegate / trustee schism doesn't seem to work very well with this example.
I feel like this added paragraph was more confusing than enlightening, but I wrote it, so I might as well put it up...I feel like I had an important thought somewhere in there. Or I just wanted to show that I had more facts and figures. (cause i know you guys are totally impressed by the fact that I've now linked you to two sets of stats instead of just one.)
*http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1865/poll-public-top-policy-priorities-2011-health-care-reform-repeal-expand
your right about people calling on obama for more jobs but have no plan to execute. the people cannot expect the president to save them from tough times. all he can do is promote policy that allows people to go out and earn on their own. also like you said how can we really know what issues are most important. that is what the president has to figure out.
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