Sebastian Mallaby Has Had Enough
| Sun Sep. 7, 2008 10:54 PM PDT
SEBASTIAN MALLABY HAS HAD ENOUGH....Sebastian Mallaby, not exactly a raging liberal, on the transformation of John McCain from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde:
McCain used to be a real straight talker. On campaign finance, spending earmarks, Iraq and immigration, he has fought bravely for his principles; and that record might have been a trump against an opponent who has taken almost no such risks. But we are now witnessing what might be called McCain's Palinization. McCain once criticized Christian conservatives as agents of intolerance, but he has caved in to their intolerance of a pro-choice running mate. McCain claims to be devoted to his country, yet he would saddle it with a vice president who is unprepared to serve as commander in chief. In the same sad way, McCain has caved in to his party's anti-tax fanatics. The man of principle has become a panderer. The straight talker flip-flops.
The question is: how many other people are going to finally notice this? The second question is: how many will care? Tune in a couple of months from now for the answer.
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Comments
I love the fact that Kevin's West Coast time zone lets him post on the next day's Post and Times the night before. And as an insomniac on the East Coast I get to read commentary on the days news before it is even news on my coast.
I love the new media.
The question is: how many other people are going to finally notice this? The second question is: how many will care? Tune in a couple of months from now for the answer.
A lot of people will notice, and they will care ... a lot. the Republican base loves the fact the McCain is finally dumping his decadent liberal values and adopting true republican social "conservatism".
1. Too few to matter.
2. Too few to matter.
Sadly, the Dems are going to lose one more time.
If both the Dem nominees are going praise McCain before every time they say anything bad about him or his policies, for most people will the effect of the latter is neutralized by the praise.
"Obama seemingly doesn't care about what the electorate says."
I don't recall the electorate speaking with enough of a unified voice to support that claim.
Do you have evidence that the electorate "said" he must choose Hillary? I recall a lot of division on that topic.
When Obama chose Biden instead of HRC, he was making a very loud point that he cared more about doing this thing his way than about winning.
Hillary's $20+ million campaign debt made her a non-starter as a choice for VP. The Obama campaign would have had to absorb her crippling campaign debt.
Also, what makes people think Hillary wanted to be VP anyway? To me it looks very apparent that she preferred to position herself to run a 2012 "I told you so" campaign.
The lingering bitterness by PUMAs looks like a self-indulgent temper tantrum by people who are more concerned with playing the victim than, you know, actually fighting for the issues that Hillary spent her entire political life fighting for.
Please get over yourselves before the Supreme Court is lost to an overwhelming conservative majority for the next 30 years and the Republic takes one more giant steps towards bankruptcy and totalitarian theocracy.
McCain has always been an opportunist, tacking this way and that for apparent advantage as the political wind shifts. I've never understood why some people thought him principled. And as for "straight talk" -- in his case that's been a euphemism for "incapable of diplomacy", not for "speaking truth to power".
Kevin, Joel Hanes is right; you probably know this but how in the world is it that so many, especially in the politically involved media, do not? Like Mallaby.
I live in Arizona and was here when McCain arrived, been watching him and have seen and occasionally been around him ever since. He has always been a craven panderer that would do or say anything that is necessary to further his own interests. Always. This is nothing new. It just looks that way because he is having to deal with multiple issues at the same time in public because of the national race; where before he only had to float on a few at a time to suit the situation at the time.
Submitted by wmmbb (not verified) on Mon Sep. 8, 2008 3:52 AM PDT.
McCain's behavior is simply frightening, as it is irresponsible, and dare I suggest profoundly unpatriotic. Bush after all has excuses that McCain has no claim to.
In the normal course of events, I could not careless who American chose to be their President, except now the decision has implications for the rest of us.
Surely, McCain's action has undermined whatever legitimacy the two-party system might have had?
This election is over. The pander worked, the American people--those who even bother to vote--are too stupid to care. The last 8 years of Republican rule mean nothing when you've got a sexy, sassy evangelical on the ticket. Image is everything. Fenceposts can be presidents in this country.
I'm sad to agree with many of the views mentioned here...I don't think enough people will CARE...Dems do not seem to have that desire for the FIGHT and Obama as leader demonstrates the same...Biden is much too polite and will be deballed by Palin who requires "respect" to even be interviewed. All the talk will NOT trump the petty surface view of far too many of our electorate who do not understand the issues and are too lazy to become informed...rather focus on number of houses, outfits, glasses, snarky remarks and outright LIES (that go unchallenged)in what passes as our MSM. Frankly I'm already tired of this and I refuse to give up...far too many, I fear, already have!
Yes, McCain got his bounce. We'll see if it sticks. Palin is a new, shiny thing-- how long with that last?
The debates will be the most watched in history and could change the election- I hope that Obama and Biden are ready.
"a convenient untruth?" what's wrong with calling a
lie a lie? aliar a liar?
this granting the holiness
of mccain's good character
when he hasn't earned it is
suicide----
to do it in a playful manner:
i had suggested the same thing
about bush in 2004--use the seinfeld nickname "LIAR george" -hopefully with the george costanza vocal inflections and repeat it on radio and tv ads over and over again.
for saint mccain-since we cannot use the term liar- how about "fibber?" like fibber mcgee- FIBBER MCCAIN-use it every time he tells a whopper
People are attaching too much significance/hope to the debates. Believe me, I'd love it to be about the debates--we'd win. I think it all hinges on the ads, the turnout and if there are any significant events between now and then that either candidate can use. As others have said, the electorate is that shallow.
Folks, don't be afraid of the weekend McCain bounce. It will settle down. For a lot of really dull technical reasons, the recent polls don't spell doom for Obama or America.
This is, however, the time for all of us to double our efforts. We need to go to the Obama headquarters nearby and volunteer. Donate. Spread the word. Most of all, make sure all your friends and family are registered.
zoe kentucky from pittsburgh , I can hear it now, the VP debates, Biden with his opening statement....
"My good friends, let me first say, the nation owes a debt of gratitude to that great patriot from Arizona we all know and love, John McCain. And I must commend his equally prestigious and accomplished choice for vice president, Sarah Palin. As a matter of fact my good friend Joe Lieberman was telling me just the other day....."
All that 'worked' on the Palin choice is that it derailed the conversation. Instead of staying on task and hopeful, I see the left already planning it's funeral. Buck up, folks. The McCain poll is a convention bounce and Obama had his, too. Stop being so pessimistic.
I think a good slogan to use at work and among friends to drive home the argument for Obama is to respond to their praise of McCain with a staunch, "Uh-uh, maybe before Palin, but not now. No more crooks." Now we can do the endless liberal fairness of saying how they are all crooks, blah, blah, blah, but the truth is Palin's record is really horrendous in terms of taking a crook's advantage of her power. That IS a talking point. If the media won't do enough with this, I think we can in our communities, with family, friends and neighbors. Another good one: "I won't put a book burner in the White House."
Instead you guys are planning your threatened switches to Canadian citizenship and already reliving the sense of depression and anger of November 2004. Get yourselves up and dust yourselves off - we've got grassroots work to do!!!
Ron byers: "Folks, don't be afraid of the weekend McCain bounce. It will settle down. For a lot of really dull technical reasons, the recent polls don't spell doom for Obama or America.
This is, however, the time for all of us to double our efforts. We need to go to the Obama headquarters nearby and volunteer. Donate. Spread the word. Most of all, make sure all your friends and family are registered."
Absolutely! Register and canvass and GOTV! Stay focused! I've been canvassing 6 or 7 times over the past week, and also registering.
Do not underestimate the success that the right has managed to attain in demonizing all things Democratic.
There is a significant chunk of voters who will not necessarily be voting so much for a Republican as AGAINST a Democrat. Those amongst them who were fence-sitting were probably pushed over by McCain's VP choice.
I think it's safe to assume that, once again, a significant number of people will vote against their self interests. They will pat themselves on their backs for sticking with "character."
Judging from the shift in the odds and the polls very much in McCain's favor, I'd say folks aren't noticing at all. On the contrary, they like McCain plus a national-security ninny a good deal more than they liked plain old McCain.
If somebody could've escaped torture and captivity and on principle chose not to, it's impossible that he'd later in life sell out his principles and put winning first.
The question is: how many other people are going to finally notice this? The second question is: how many will care? Tune in a couple of months from now for the answer.You don't need to wait that long.
Face it, Governor Palin has sucked all the media oxygen out of the campaign and she'll be getting all of the coverage from now till November 4 (and beyond, as the McPalin transition team ramps up to the inauguration).
The media, old or "new", have one track minds, incapable of dealing with multiple concepts simultaneously.
McPalin has the media buzz and unless Obiden does something radical and completely bizarre, such as Biden getting a sex change, as satirist Harry Shearer suggested a couple of weeks ago now, the Dems are done for.
It doesn't matter what scandals are dredged up out of Governor Palin's past or what dingbattery her church espouses. The media will just pe picking on her because she's female and the media will take the fall, as it always does.
If we want to take down McCain/Palin and will go negative the answer is fairly obvious - paint them as the geezer and the shrew. The pieces are in place, and like the best negatives they are at least partly based in truth.
McCain is befuddled - he sucked up to Bush and running away from Bush he has embraced the harpy who is just a little too smug and sure of herself.
Much of the GOP base are aching to tear down Palin, they just need a nudge.
This would need to be done under the radar but it would work.
It is dirty and unethical but it would work.
I think even the GOP base will quickly grow tired of Palin's voice, even when the voice is hectoring the enemy. The GOP base dislikes 'soccer moms' and it wants its women quiet. Palin is a nagging soccer mom who is just a little too smug and sure of herself.
This dirty tactic would work. Is it worth doing?
"I think even the GOP base will quickly grow tired of Palin's voice, even when the voice is hectoring the enemy. The GOP base dislikes 'soccer moms' and it wants its women quiet."
Not in a million years, bub. She can harangue Obama from here to Kingdom Come and they'll be lockstep behind her. Palin really is the game changer. I think in Dobson's heart of hearts, he's hoping McCain croaks after inaugural day in hopes of having his way with the new One. You underestimate the devotion the average American winger has to the idea of something. The idea trumps reality every time.
Blame democracy. The voters of universal suffrage are in the majority selfish, so one must pander to get elected.
That's why our nation is beginning to crumble. Congress for themselves, Democrats for their selfish issues, Republicans for theirs, and nobody minding the commonweal. When you abandon rule of law, the Constitution, and checks and balances in favor of democracy, it's every man for himself and devil take the hindmost.
I was extremely insulted when McCain selected Palin as his running mate in an attempt to win over Clinton voters . It struck me as the pinnacle of misogyny. Obviously he believes that women are interchangable. Then to add even more insult he chose a woman who is the polar opposite of Hillary. Any Hillery supporter who votes for McCain because he chose Palin as a running mate is not only shooting themselves in the foot they are unable to tell when they are being exploited.
I was extremely insulted when McCain selected Palin as his running mate in an attempt to win over Clinton voters . It struck me as the pinnacle of misogyny. Obviously he believes that women are interchangable. Then, to add even more insult, he chose a woman who is the polar opposite of Hillary. Any Hillery supporter who votes for McCain because he chose Palin as a running mate is not only shooting themselves in the foot they are unable to tell when they are being exploited.
