Marking Period 3: Monday #5

Throughout the various articles I've read written by Clarence Page for his column "Page's Page" in the Chicago Tribune, I have come to see Page as an independent thinker with generally liberal leanings.  His articles, or at least the ones I read, deal with politics:  he criticized the supercommittee's attempts to decide how to handle national debt; he noted the Tea Party Movement's apparent loss of sway; he harshly criticized Donald Trump's GOP debate; and he, despite labelling himself as an independent, noted the independent voter's loss of sway.  There appears to be a trend here:  Page continually proves using credible sources and his own deductive nature where in the government the powers lies:  the people.

This is a very idealistic point of view, suggesting that voters have control.  Yes, our government was created "by the people, for the people," but corruption and Democrat-Republican squabbles have undermined the strength of the system in a far more obvious way.  In the first article I read, Page believes the supercommittee failed to come to an agreement because the mere twelve members couldn't bear to compromise any one of their party's desires.  In the second, Tea Partyists were losing strength because they were compromising their ideals in search a larger goal:  unseating Obama and putting a proper Republican in his place.  In the third article, Page explains his opposition to Trump's debate in that voters are in the Television Age more swayed by what they see on TV than anything.  In the fourth, he determines whether the surge of new independent voters may or may not sway the 2012 election in one direction or the other.

Just as the people in question in each article are diverse, so too are their opinions.  Page, with a mix of objectivity and sarcasm, errs on the side against Republican policy.  He states in the first article I read that he is in support of Obama's taxes-and-cuts plan.  He labels himself an independent voters in the fourth article I read.  Although he is never shown berating the Republican party, it is safe to assume he is probably the kind of independent that sides with Democrats.  A well-informed man, he utilizes sources ranging from college studies to well-known news conduits to prove his points, suggesting he also expects an informed readership.  He does not often resort to ad hominem attack, his judgments are supported, and overall I find him liberal and unafraid to show it.