This may be the most important election of our
lifetimes, conservative opinion leaders keep insisting. We stand on the
precipice of socialism; we can either plunge over or be led gingerly
back from the brink by... the governor who pioneered the individual
mandate. Oh, and also his running mate, one of "only six Republicans who
voted yes on the auto bailout and both bank bailout votes," as Tim
Carney reported yesterday.
In fairness, there are some important differences between Romney-Ryan
and Obama-Biden on economic policy. Romney and Ryan at least see the
need to downplay their past sins; for President Obama and Vice President
Biden, bailouts and mandates are matters of principle and marks of
pride.But on other core questions of federal power — in areas where the president has much more discretion than he does over the budget — there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the two tickets. Among those questions: Can the president launch wars at will, subject American citizens to military detention and assassinate them via drone strike?
