Word: reformer
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...good for everyone else as well - to mistake what is in our own best interest for the common good. We see this every day in ways large and small. In the case of someone like Timothy McVeigh, the consequences are monstrous and tragic; in the case of campaign finance reform, they often become farcical...
...then there is campaign finance reform. I don't claim that campaign finance reform is equivalent to Gandhi's quest for Indian independence (although you could argue that it was also in his self-interest), but it is a rare example of politicians who are motivated by something other than narrow and immediate self-interest...
...That is why John McCain's quest for reform has intrigued almost every journalist in America as well as millions of voters. It is the man biting the dog. It's the fish out of water. It's downright counterintuitive. That's why we're fascinated. Here you have a conservative Republican from a conservative state who is fighting against an institution - soft money - that disproportionately benefits himself and his own party...
...There could be some Thursday-night connection between what John McCain wanted - a victory for campaign finance reform - and what Trent Lott wanted, which was a few Republican moderates to help send his president off on Easter recess with a brand-new budget. In any case, a foot-dragging Tom Daschle got the budget disruption he wanted by spilling McCain-Feingold over into next week, but whatever magic the Republicans worked to get their tally to 50 will go down as Lott's great coup...
...happen. And with Wall Street and Main Street living through a downturn and understandably wondering if Washington really intends to do anything to help, it might even be good governance for Bush. He could use a little stature reinflation these days, especially now that the success of campaign finance reform is in danger of bringing idealism back in style...