Hometown Guy Does Good

Based on the recommendation of a friend, I picked up a copy of "The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics" by Matt Bai, and have been reading it this afternoon. I noticed in the acknowledgements that Matt has some awfully nice things to day about one of Macon's own, Jay Carson. Bai, calls Jay, who has worked for both Tom Daschle and Bill Clinton, "one of the great young talents in the Democratic Party." Some of you from Macon will remember Jay and his parents who now live in North Carolina. Jay's dad, Jim, was an attorney here for years and active in Democratic politics.

On a separate note, the book is a very interesting look at the evolution of the modern progressive movement and it's impact on the Democratic Party. Just published in 2007, it's filled with campaign trail stories and covers the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress, so it is an interesting read that makes a compelling point. Here's a quote to get you started:

I was surprised to discover, as I tried to understand the progressive revolt, that most of it's leaders were trying to understand it, too. What they were still searching for in those early days of the movement was an argument, some compelling case for the future of American government. They aspired to win, but to what end?....

A kind of lingering unease shadows the land, and the movement that dominates the next generation of American politics will be the one not that exploits this emotion, nor that tries to soothe it away but that articulates some new and persuasive argument for how we meet the future.

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