The Best is the Enemy of the Good

This is a stray bit from the two posts below (see them for links).
Brad DeLong vs Barbara Ehrenreich argues in effect that
the best is the enemy of the good. She prefered Nader to Gore but insisting on Nader or Bush she (marginally) helped Bush.
Brad DeLong vs Robert Waldmann might argue that
the best is the enemy of the good. I prefer payroll tax reform to an increase in the minimum wage, but insisting on payroll tax reform or nothing I would marginally increase the chance of getting nothing for the working poor (if anyone were reading this).

We must compromise if we seek the left wing of the possible which has moved right since 1965 and if we seek decent policy not based solely on politics.

I think a good policy proposal can easily lead to bad policy. Consider welfare reform. As originally proposed by the Clinton administration it might have been a good policy. The compromise between Clinton and congress was not good policy. How about Sharon's Wall ? There once was a proposal to build a wall on the 1948 cease fire line. This would have been a good wall. However, the current wall is just as tall but somewhere else. When making a policy proposal, one has to try to imagine what will emerge from the political process. Proposing a good policy can be a very bad proposition.