I keep going back and forth.
That pundit on Charlie Rose I saw the otherday made a really great point, but it's not quantitative by any means --that a campaign between McCain and Obama is going to create a kind of discourse that's long been missing from presidential campaigns in this country. An elevated level of political substance. Instead of a dirty, mud-covered Clinton McCain bloodbath. And I think he's mostly right. I think the kind of discourse we're going to see against the Clinton's --and leveled by them -- is going to be foul-smelling stuff that will bring us back to the polarization of the previous 2 elections. I don'twant to see that. Yet I'm not so swayed by the Obama is more electable thing. Because I'm not really sure that's true against McCain. I think, even though for Hillary it hasn't worked, an 'experience and substance' argument from McCain will actually be effective against Obama. Plus, Obama doesn't have the Commander in Chief weight that Hillary does. And that really means something for all those people still scared to pu over more attacks.
Waffling over here ...
posted by rubigimlet @ 2/13/2008 07:15:00 PM
3 Comments:
Stop waffling! Obama can do it. The reason Huckabee keeps getting so close to upsetting McCain in all these primaries (one's open to independents) is because independents keep going over to vote for Obama. In every primary, red states included, Obama is outperforming McCain 2-1. In a general election I am convinced Obama would win independents over McCain where Clinton would lose them.
Also, McCain might say he has experience. It seems that experience though is relegated to military matters only as this exchange with a reporter (FROM LAST YEAR) would indicate:
Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”
Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”
Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”
Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. [Speaking to Press Secretary Brian Jones], would you find out what my position is on contraception — I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”
Q: “But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Would you say: ‘No, we’re not going to distribute them,’ knowing that?”
Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) “Get me [Sen. Tom Coburn’s] thing, ask [senior adviser John Weaver] to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”
End
Obama, like he did the other night, has to mention Bush in every single breath as McCain. Every single time he took a shot at a McCain policy he said "the Bush/McCain" policy.
Plus, the supposed war hero POW McCain who's pretended all this time that he's against torture decided to vote against a resolution in the Senate yesterday banning waterboarding. Pathetic way to pander to your base there Mr. Maverick.
Also...I don't think a contest between McCain and Obama will be civil long with McCain taking shots like this at Obama “I don’t seek the presidency on the presumption that I am blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need.”
I'll stop now.
damn it chris you make a lot of sense. yes, mccain is a shadow of the man whose moxie might've won me in 2000. but i still have questions. jay and i had a delightful discussion on your comments tonight at dinner which i'm going to try to fashion into a forthcoming post.
That's very exciting that I made sense for once.
Here, I can't keep her to myself anymore. I must share her with the world. She must be seen to be believed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW6h_KmFDxw
And have you seen this John McCain parody video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gwqEneBKUs
Anyway, I think McCain is in a mess. To get the people on the right to vote for him he has to move away from all the positions that make him appealing to independents. And he has to get the right to come out big for him because Obama is going to draw so many new voters and independents that McCain needs ALL the right to come out for him (He wouldn't need so much of the right if Clinton were the nominee). Obama doesn't have that problem...the whole of the left is behind him regardless. He can move toward the center and not lose them. McCain can't move center and keep the right (Again, if Clinton were the nominee he could move center and the anti-Clinton right would still come out).
Plus McCain has the problem of so many Republicans grudglingly admitting that, even if they don't agree with him...they can't help but like Obama. There was a story yesterday, that a chief advisor to McCain will step down if Obama is the nominee because he refuses to campaign against him because he likes him.
K. Done now.
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