From what we've heard about George W., he has a lot issues that

The words of Barbara Olson — “From what we’ve heard about George W., he has a lot of issues that he wants to run on. They’re positive. They’re good. He thinks he’s got a good vision for America.” — are spoken with the breath of politics, yet they carry a lesson as old as statesmanship itself. They remind us that the strength of a leader rests not only in ambition, but in the vision that he offers to his people. Without vision, a nation wanders; with it, even a flawed man may inspire hope.

To speak of issues and to say they are positive is to declare that the foundation of leadership must rest upon promises of improvement, not simply fear or division. Olson, speaking of George W. Bush in the days when his star was rising, sought to show that he carried with him not only rhetoric, but a plan — the kind of vision that rallies a people to believe in their future. For a nation is stirred not by words alone, but by the conviction that tomorrow may be greater than today.

The ancients themselves looked to leaders who could embody such vision. Consider Pericles of Athens, whose Funeral Oration called his people not to dwell on sorrow but to hold fast to the greatness of their city. Or recall Abraham Lincoln, who in a time of deep division bound his words to a vision of unity, declaring that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” In both examples, leaders drew upon ideals larger than themselves to guide their nations through trial.

But Olson’s words also remind us of the delicate balance between promise and reality. A leader may proclaim positive intent, may even believe in the goodness of his vision, yet history will measure him not by what he hoped, but by what he achieved. For visions unfulfilled are but dreams; only deeds carve them into stone. Thus, the weight of politics rests always on the shoulders of action, where ideals are tested by the furnace of reality.

Let the generations remember: nations thrive when their leaders lift their eyes to a horizon beyond themselves. To run on promises is easy; to realize them is the labor of a lifetime. Barbara Olson’s words, though born in the politics of her day, echo the timeless need for leaders to offer more than power — to offer a vision for America, or for any land, that ennobles, uplifts, and points the way toward unity and hope.