Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The Ragin' Cajun

So President Bush came and spoke at George Washington University yesterday. Seats were available for the first 100 law students to RSVP by email... problem is the announcement was emailed out last Thursday while I was airborne over Kansas. I think most of the law school had probably responded by the time I got around to it. Lucky for me there was a consolation prize. For those of us slow on the draw, the Ragin' Cajun himself, Mister James Carville was on campus to offer an alternative view of the world. Behind in all my classes and fresh off an unproductive Spring Break, I figured I had nothing better to do so I went.

Entertaining as usual, Carville spoke off the cuff about being "just a damn Democrat" and what exactly he felt the party needed to do to regain power. He pushed the idea of "progressive patriotism" as an alternative to the reflexive protectionism some are embracing in reaction to the Iraq war (Here's a good synopsis on Carville's views). He also took questions for good 1/2 hour. Interestingly, Carville isn't the idealogue many would have you believe. His responses on everything from the Patriot Act to our obligations abroad were all measured. I actually found him quite pragmatic. This shouldn't be suprising though, you figure he has to be to have had a working marriage with Mary Matalin for the past 13 years.

All in all it was an enlightening morning. And, as it turns out, I didn't really miss all that much on the George W. Bush front. Apparently he just talked about how well the war in Iraq is going. I hear it was a pretty short speech.

6 comments:

Sammy Pow said...

I wonder what Carville would've done if Will Ferrel was there to debate him.

melbo said...

So what do you think, Marc? After listening to his game plan, will he be the one to save the Dems from themselves?

Marc said...

Carville's not the sort that aspires to political office, so he's not the Moses that's gonna lead the Dems out of the wilderness.

Marc said...

Not that past transgressions seem to be much of an impediment to public office (see Bush and Clinton), but he's got some baggage too... here are a couple of choice quotes a ran across:

“Yeah, I graduated with a 4.0… blood alcohol level.”

“I didn’t just experiment with marijuana – if you know what I mean.”

Maui said...

Will Ferrel probably would have kicked his ass agian, seriously you don't mess with the TANK!

Marc said...

Carville Update: Apparently Carville and his wife Mary Matalin have signed on to do a reality show called Election on the Lifetime network. The premise? They'll each be counseling competing candidates in a Class President election.