Word: moynihans
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With Daniel Patrick Moynihan's death, Washington lost another member of an all but extinct breed: the politician as unapologetic intellectual. The former New York Senator, who died Wednesday at 76 from complications arising from a burst appendix, was known for his sharp wit and his nimble mind. He was also known for his refusal to toe to the party line. As such, he was occasionally a thorn in the side of both parties, frustrating liberals and conservatives alike. He defied easy categorization, and brought an academic sensibility to a town better known for its sensationalism...
...wasn't just his advanced degrees and his Fulbright scholarship that set Moynihan apart - there are plenty of intelligent members of Congress. Moynihan stood out because of his insistence on intellectual honesty and his unwillingness to walk away from a looming debate, no matter how messy it promised to be. Moynihan offered challenging, groundbreaking - sometimes even successful - solutions to perennial public policy dilemmas, including welfare and racism...
...Moynihan, along with a few colleagues, including the late Paul Wellstone and current Rhode Island senator Lincoln Chafee, were able to win voters' confidence without having to compromise their messages, or their intellect. Whether he was led by political instinct or innate conviction, Moynihan believed fiercely in the importance of serious, multi-layered debate, a skill that continues to dissipate as the daily sound bytes shrink...
...Rather than pin our national hopes to politicians at ease with nuance, most of us seem to crave average thinkers with average ideas. And that's a shame, because all of us should feel encouraged and comforted, rather than threatened, by the presence of great thinkers in Washington. As Moynihan proved over the course of nearly forty years in government, great minds are well-used in the messy and essential arena of public service...
...that outlays for alternative campaigns are growing rapidly--and that Madison Avenue has little choice but to seek new ways to push products. After tightening their belts during the recession, clients are increasingly wondering what exactly their hefty ad budgets are getting them and "demanding greater accountability," as Steve Moynihan, managing director of ArnoldMPG, puts it. "Advertising is only one part of the communications mix and not the whole arsenal," says Seth Matlins, who runs marketing for Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency, which helped land Coke a high-profile role on Fox Broadcasting's summer talent-contest hit, American...