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George Will - As close to endorsing Obama as his poor conservative heart can stand.
Real Clear Politics posted this article by George Will. Apparently he's not too happy with 'ole McCain. The conclusion is great ... but you just have to read the article.
"It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?"
I think that McCain is losing a more important base than the loony-right.
"It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?"
I think that McCain is losing a more important base than the loony-right.
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I don't know why the link didn't work...
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/mccains_temperment_fails_again.html
September 23, 2008 1:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Will is a cypher (not Cypher). For a conservative, he can be equitable and fair. Or he can be bitterly partisan and sneeringly elitist.
I think it depends on what he had for breakfast.
September 23, 2008 1:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
David Broder can be the same way.
September 23, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
i'm sure you've seen it by now, but if not, check out the huffpo politics page. this column is bound to make some waves. wish i coulda been there when some poor bastard broke the news to mccain.
September 23, 2008 2:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah I just saw that ... this one's pretty hard to ignore.
September 23, 2008 2:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain is looking for the swing voters and, as he announced with his anointing of Palin, he is running this year as a populist.... George Will is anything but a populist, but as the polls show, there are a lot of them out there.
September 23, 2008 2:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
But only weeks ago, the talk was that he'd given up on swing voters and was focusing on shoring up his base.
It seems to me that McCain does not have a plan. He's lost in the misty fog of his own mind. It's time for the poor man to retire, sit back, and enjoy a little bit of BBQ and time on his own tire swing.
September 23, 2008 8:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
He doesn't have a plan. At all. Last week was proof of that. He had about five different messages going all at once, with absolutely no coherence.
September 23, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, she's a hard right-wing populist. Almost sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?
September 23, 2008 10:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
If I can be a fiscally conservative, social liberal, why then cannot Palin be a fiscally liberal, social conservative? I'm not saying I agree with her. What she believes is the antithesis of my worldview, but I will staunchly defend her right to believe it.
September 23, 2008 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's at least a little bit about defending her right to be a loony.
Dukakis was "fiscal conservative/social liberal" -- he signed legislation establishing state social agencies, then withheld the funding from them.
September 23, 2008 11:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the George Will link "McCain Loses his Head" from the official site:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202583.html
Has Condi mentioned anything about Palin's meeting with a few "foreign leaders" - Is Condi at the UN gathering? I can't bear to watch this on CNN and just wait for all of you to give me the news.
September 23, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
George Will would take poison before making a point that he hasn't tarted up with pointless jargon. He can't be bothered to just say "I'll take honest inexperience over unjustified surety and a boiling hot temper.". It would kill him.
September 23, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a Republican who actually can put "Country First". I've no love for the tiresome Mr. Will, but this is a watershed moment and he's put his country before his party. I actually e-mailed him to thank him for his candor. Oh my, a heavily Lipsticked Pig just flew by my window!......
September 23, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have seen a lot of flying, lip-sticked pigs lately. I actually agree with more than one gotalife comment.
September 23, 2008 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know what you mean, I still can't decide if gotalife's on board for real or playin us like a fiddle.
September 23, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some of us have been working on Mr. Will. No telling what actually gets through to him.
September 23, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think this one will be pretty damaging. I mean, they cannot blame the "liberal press" for this one. And the critique is not based in ideology,but in character. Basically sayin he is unfit to be president. It will be funny to see how they spin it.
September 23, 2008 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
A week ago, he was defending McCain's use of an ad suggesting Barack Obama wants to teach 5 year olds sex education. He can only admit what a slimeball McCain is, after he goes after another right-winger like Christopher Cox?
September 23, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
George Will is a conservative before he's a Republican.
September 23, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think he goes back and forth. With no evident rhyme or reason. His superego (apt phrase when we're talking about George Will) is conservative. His id is Republican. His views taken as a whole are incoherent. Fortunately, when he sat down to write that column he was a conservative, in the ordinary meaning of the term, first and a Republican second.
September 23, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think of George Will as a stopped clock. Twice year I agree with him. The rest of the time... eh, not so much.
September 23, 2008 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've seen other articles Will's written that are critical of McCain, but none where he compared McCain to Obama and Obama got the favorable end of the stick.
He's no Obama fan, but I guess McCain's latest antics have pretty much disgusted him. This piece is almost an endorsement of Obama, albeit a backhanded one. Wonder if Will will hold his nose and vote Democratic?
September 23, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is an incredible zinger from George Will!
"So, is not McCain's party now conducting the most leftist administration in American history? The New Deal never acted so precipitously on such a scale. Treasury Secretary Paulson, asked about conservative complaints that his rescue program amounts to socialism, said, essentially: This is not socialism, this is necessary. That non sequitur might be politically necessary, but remember that government control of capital is government control of capitalism. Does McCain have qualms about this, or only quarrels?"
Mera Bharat Mahaan!
September 23, 2008 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
wouldn't it be great if we were always debating republicans like george will and chuck hagel instead of guys like boehner and de lay?
why those guys let idiots idealogues and corporate criminals run their party i'll never quite understand. i know it's the money and power deal, but some of those guys and gals on the right side of the aisle seem like theyre sharp enough to know to keep their dogs on a leash. yeesh!
September 28, 2008 8:48 AM | Reply | Permalink