7/01/2004 04:23:58 PM|||Nathan Moore|||

Jacob Levy seems to be close to abandoning George W. Bush.

Being a rather logical fellow in most instances, this approach by Levy flusters me. An excerpt

I know a lot of Libertarians are leaning Democratic this year because they oppose the Iraq War. I'm leaning that way in part because I supported it, and thought it was a truly important project. Some combination, or some complicated interaction, of terrible incompetence; an absolute prioritization of political over policy considerations; and a serious contempt for outside, contrary, disinterested, or expert opinion have made a serious mess of Iraq, trade policy, fiscal policy, and much else besides.

The enemy of excellence is perfection. Certainly, as we operate in a two-party system, one must take the good with the bad when voting for a major party candidate. To vote for anyone other than a major party candidate is to throw the election through inaction, and is not affirmatively helping to decide the outcome.

The truth is, in a historic perspective, Iraq is not a mess. If political considerations were tantamount to Bush, he would never have gone into Iraq to begin with. He has staked his entire presidency on the war in Iraq. A huge gamble, to be sure, and largely an unnecessary one. Levy's preference to a more intellectual administration is, whether he believes it to be or not, a pining for the return of a Clintonesque set of policies and policy decision-making, where analysis was preferred over decisive action, and where paralysis set in where decisive action was required.

I'm not happy with the steel tariffs either, which amounted to nothing more than a cheap political ploy. But once again, perfection is not the goal. The foreign policy is working. It's just not pretty while in process.

|||108871760279306865|||A Vote by Levy is a Vote for Kerry