Getting Along, or Just Going Along?
By Rich Tucker
Friday, June 29, 2007

In politics, as in football, the real key is the straight-ahead application of brute force.

Oh, sure, there’s a certain amount of finesse involved in both pursuits. Quarterbacks aim to drop in a perfect pass and running backs can always juke their way into the open field. But in football, the bigger, rougher team tends to win. Note, for example, that even with Barry Sanders’ elusive running, his Lions didn’t win many games.

For politicians, playing tough means being willing to say or do whatever is necessary to win. And, sadly, in the political realm, liberals tend to be much more aggressive than conservatives.

All too often, right-wingers try to build consensus. We want to “extend an olive branch across the aisleâ€