Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Candidate We Have


If you were to ask 10 well-informed conservatives who they would rather have as President if they had to choose between John McCain and Chris Cox, I think Mr. Cox would get at least nine votes. Of course, John McCain does not strike anyone as being particularly adept economic policy expert, so it was doubly unfortunate that Mr. McCain chose to take out his frustrations on Mr. Cox last Thursday. This is just one symptom of the larger condition of this campaign diagnonsed by Peggy Noonan, where for many of us, we support Mr. McCain but don't necessarily believe in him.

Donald Rumsfeld famously told a soldier that we go to war "with the Army we have, not the one we want." There's a tendency to apply the same train of thought toward elections, and in this case it would be a substantial mistake. Among other things, the "chain of command" in this case runs in the opposite direction, where the voters are sovereign. But even beyond that, for the credibility of the GOP base and the health of the economy as a whole, we can't afford to pretend this particular emperor is well-dressed when he's really naked.

2 comments:

joannis said...

McCain is Better Than You Think.
Appearances are Deceiving.


Obama was the overestimated candidate - McCain was the underestimated candidate.
Obama is not as competent as he appears; McCain is more competent than he appears.
Obama promised compassion but was glib; no one expected compassion from the Republicans
and found it in Mac.
Obama floated like a butterfly; McCain stings like a bee.
Obama talks about empathy; McCain's eyes well up with tears over a KIA.
Obama imitates Kennedy and sounds like a preacher; McCain is just himself, like Ike was Ike.
If it comes to a fight, Obama looks like he'll try and talk the guy out of it and he'll have
already lost. McCain will punch him in the nose and make sure he doesn't.
Obama is Precious Pup; McCain is Charlie Brown.
Obama is Road Runner; McCain is Wily Coyote.
Obama is Hollywood; McCain is Yankee Stadium.
Obama is chewing gum and joking on the poop deck; McCain is aiming the Cannons at Iwo Jima.
Obama is an easy Lay; McCain is the wife that sticks by you for no good reason.
Obama is Roger Rabbit; McCain is Jackie Gleason.
Obama is going to flatter you; McCain will give you the news.
Obama is like Infatuation; McCain is the one you'll marry."

Koz said...

What you're talking about is the usual R/D Presidential election dynamic over the last twenty years or so.

The voters become infatuated with the Democrat over the summer, but stay with the Republican for the long haul in November.

This year is more of the same, but also the opposite as well, which makes things really confusing. The Palin pick positions the Republicans as the insurgent ticket to some extent.

In any case, this doesn't really have anything to do with the credit crisis. And on that score both candidates appear to be out of their depth.