Compromise or Capitulation?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 at 2:01PM
The words Ted Sorensen used to write JFK's inaugural speech still ring true in politics today.
"So let us begin anew – remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."
That quote was written in 1961 by John F. Kennedy's speechwriter, Ted Sorenson, who died last week. Used in JFK's Inaugural Address, the quote seems fitting to recall as all of us recover from an election that often focused more on acrimony and allegation than high-sounding public policy themes.
One question to ask is whether those who ran for election can make the transition from electioneering to governor. Another, posed recently by a reporter on a network news and public affairs show: "Does compromise mean capitulation?"
About 10 years ago, General Colin Powell said he would not run for President because he "bemoaned the loss of civility in politics."