VDH describes these two conflicting views as "Gloomy, frustrated utopians and oddly upbeat optimistic pragmatists . . ." Liberals are the former, conservatives the latter.
I agree with him that these two views cannot be reconciled easily. We're just going to have to duke it out between now and November.
However, being the oddly upbeat optimistic pragmatists that we are, I think the majority of voters will want to be on our side. Clearly, it's the best choice.
Who among us likes to be constantly flogged with their shortcomings and mistakes?