Grist for the mill here but Clinton never apologized for getting a blow job from Monica Lewinsky, or for lying about it. And he came through pretty strong.

I think you're on to something here. People don't like to admit they've done wrong to other people. Americans would rather be strong and wrong than weak and right (a Clinton quote). The better move is to nail somebody for their poor judgment. When a politician refuses to apologize for the Iraq war, you don't say, "Candidate X should apologize for getting us into Iraq..." You should say, "Candidate X thinks the Iraq war is going great (even if they don't say that)... I don't think that shows good judgment. Do you?" The refusal to apology can be turned into a refusal to criticize the current policy (even if the candidate is, in fact, criticizing the current policy.) You gain the upper hand not by purity of past action but by militance of current rhetoric.

I don't know about the theory, but I'm sure tired of hearing Edwards apologize for his vote on the war.

He's sorry. We get it. 'Nuff said.

I agree and Hillary is the ONLY ONE who is standing her ground. I loved it when she told them to find another person to vote for when they hounded her on her vote.

Bill did great even thought he said he didn't have sex with that woman. If you are "liked" you will always be liked he knew that and like you said did great!

It seems like the interesting part of this pathology lies not with the candidates, but the public. Elrod quotes Clinton about being strong and wrong, but I see no strength in being wrong. Much of America's strength in the world derived from being right: freeing slaves, enfranchising women and blacks, promoting democracy and justice. Christianity is the dominant religion in our culture, and it values repentence and forgiveness as the key to salvation. Science also values correction and improvement as the primary vehicle for advancement, and one of the more interesting discoveries in the study of complex systems and neural networks is the importance of error as a way to prevent the system from getting stuck in local optimums far from the global optimum.

With so much of our history and philosophy teaching us that progress and improvement comes from admitting mistakes, why do we value ideological rigidity and prejudice in those we elect to make decisions for us? Perhaps politicians can exploit this weakness by refusing to apologize for their errors, but that still leaves me wondering why we are suckers for the con.

The LV and Bill and Hillary lovefest continues....

Troll."

Well, she has the money, the name and Bill...three nice bullets in her gun. As for the others, unless Al gets in and most think he won't she has the best chance at beating "whatever" they run.

Who is Bill?

Troll "a lawn object sold or found near tourist towns"

As for Hillary, she can win this thing. Some right wing sites are saying hollywood is moving their money to other candidates but the upside is she has a wonderful "history" of service in her state and more than enough money to make up for whatever is moved.

It is a long haul to 08 but we believe when the dust settles she will be the candidate the party will back, her husband has a 90% approval rate among democrats which does not hurt at all!

It'd be nice if the Democrats nominated someone who was right on the war. Too much to expect?

rikki,
You are completely correct, in theory. It would be great if we could vote for somebody who can frankly admit their mistakes. It would even be "Christian" to embrace those seek forgiveness. This may rankle a few feathers but here goes: most Americans are not Christians in this broad sense - including especially those who call themselves Christians. They don't really cherish forgiveness, just officially sanctioned performances of "forgiveness" without any actual contrition. Why do you think it takes so long to apologize over slavery? Because a lot of people just aren't that sorry about it. Why do people still fly rebel flags? Do you think they really believe that the Confederacy was all about "state's rights," and that somehow armed rebellion against the US government is standing up for freedom? Maybe some among the gullible do, but most know damn well that the flag stands for defiant white supremacy whether or not their own ancestors owned slaves or even fought for the Confederacy. Why do so many people believe in the death penalty? Surely a forgiving people woudn't believe in it. But we aren't a forgiving people. We're authoritarian to the core and we admire appearances of strength - regardless of where it's coming from. This is all especially true among Republicans. One reason so many conservatives back Giuliani right now, despite his seemingly liberal positions on social issues, is that he conveys an air of authoritarianism. He looks like he can smack down some lily-livered liberal. Of course when the dress comes out, the whole charade may be over...

That doesn't mean we need a constant apology for the war. Over time it just becomes an empty gesture of performance like all other political apologeia. But the larger point is that Americans just don't like their leaders admitting fault. America must be perfect... Only those who hate America point out its faults... You get the picture.

Bubba's reaction to LadyVols puzzled me at first. Then I remembered Bubba can see people's IP addresses, so I'm guessing he knows something I don't.

www.lesjones.com

Just curious but is this site run by the dude who once had a blog called "South Knox Bubba?" If so, now I know why I like it so much because I always loved SKB.

SKB, Thanks!

Johnny,
I think you're right. I remember in the Spring of 2003 when Howard Dean was cleaning house in the Democratic Primary polling in places like Arizona and South Carolina. All I was thinking was...how? Well, his name was out there and he was campaigning. That was it. The 2008 campaign is so young right now and the various establishment types (in both parties) haven't put their eggs in any basket yet. I do think, however, that Giuliani has appeal to authoritarian types - including those who reject his social positions.

Did y'all see the MTSU poll?

I've got a summary over at Facing South.

Rudy has a slight lead over McCain in TN at the moment.

The MTSU poll is encouraging. There's widespread dissatisfaction with the Republican brand right now. Giuliani has some support because he's not a typical Republican. More than a quarter of Tennesseans know nothing about Obama. I bet the same number of Tennesseans know that Giuliani is thrice married and supports gun control, late-term abortion rights, gay civil unions and amnesty for illegal immigration. When they find that out, they'll like Obama more and Rudi less. Count on it.

"The MTSU poll is encouraging. There's widespread dissatisfaction with the Republican brand right now. Giuliani has some support because he's not a typical Republican. More than a quarter of Tennesseans know nothing about Obama. I bet the same number of Tennesseans know that Giuliani is thrice married and supports gun control, late-term abortion rights, gay civil unions and amnesty for illegal immigration. When they find that out, they'll like Obama more and Rudi less. Count on it."

So, the important thing is which team you are on? Do I have that right?