Is it better to be both idealistic and pragmatic?

The Benjamin Franklin “autobiography” journal assignment for this weekend made me wonder whether there are any current events that involve both an idealistic and pragmatic approach, just as Franklin had an idealistic dream, and worked to solve it using a pragmatic method. I then thought about the election and the candidates, John McCain, and, Barack Obama. I did some research and found that McCain is primary looked upon as an idealist, and Obama is referred to as, “Obama the Pragmatist”. McCain is idealistic due to his, “Wars must be won. Country comes first…” (Rogers) attitude. While Obama is defined as a pragmatist as he seems to take a realistic approach to various things such as taxes, and the war. But because Franklin used both an idealistic and pragmatic approach to solve his conflict, I began to wonder whether both these candidates may be swaying to far to one particular side, maybe instead of defining themselves as either pragmatic, or idealistic, the candidates could settle somewhere in the middle. Because McCain is arguably overly idealistic, certain sources suggest that idealism may be hurting his campaign because the country is in a financial crisis now, and people want realistic answers. Similarly to when F.D.R. gave the people realistic answers to help attempt to solve an idealistic problem, instead of Hoover’s idealistic standpoint that suggested The Great Depression would solve itself. Obama’s pragmatic approach may also potentially hurt his campaign, as people occasionally want to hear great idealistic proposals, as opposed to always hearing something realistic. So maybe, like Franklin, who used both a pragmatic and idealistic approach to help solve the moral behavior problem, the presidential candidates could settle somewhere in the middle between the two extremes in order to be more successful. The difference between idealism and pragmatism may not always be black and white, maybe there is a gray area where the candidates can settle in order to become more successful. Benjamin Franklin had an idealistic dream and worked to solve it using pragmatic steps, it seemed to work for him, so maybe it can work for the next president of the United States of America.

There also seems to be a place and time for each view. For example, if the country was not in such a economic crisis right now, maybe McCain's method of idealism would work more effectively. However, because people do want realistic answers to their constant financial problems, Obama's pragmatic approach is becoming more successful. However, I still believe that the candidates would be more successful by taking both a pragmatic and idealistic approach to solve problems.