Althouse: "I think the guy who's sitting pretty at the moment? John McCain."

November 30, 2007

"I think the guy who's sitting pretty at the moment? John McCain."

Says David Corn in this Bloggingheads (with a response from Jim Pinkerton):

(Here's the whole episode.)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...: I believe Mr. Corn may be on to something. I don't think Rudy, ultimately, can prevail, due to his "New Yorkerishness." And Romney's plasticness seems more apparent every time you see him.

Huckabee might go all the way. (Who knows.)

But McCain does seem well-positioned to rebound in a big way.

The Republican nomination is a long way from locked up.

Then again, as Luntz's dials showed, the Republican base absolutely cannot stand that McCain supports American values RE torture. And they are driven mad that he doesn't share their punitive interest in minorities, especially illegal aliens.

You really do have to have large amounts of hate and bloodlust coursing through your veins, it appears, to be a tried-and-true member of the Republican base.

All I know for sure is that ONE of those guys is going to get the nomination.

And whomever it is: They'll beat the Democrat. There's simply no doubt about it. The media won't have it any other way. And there's simply no way a candidate who advocates what will be portrayed as surrender to the enemy will win.

Whatever war footing America in on today, it will be even more firmly on by the end of another campaign season that appeals to fear and promises bloody retribution and more authoritarianism.

In short: This nation is screwed.; 11/30/07, 9:42 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: I am now officially hoping it comes down to the convention.; 11/30/07, 10:35 PM
Agnostic Monk said...: Ms.Althouse, It would be a lot of fun if you had a diavlog with Mr.Pinkerton or David Corn. Your Diavlog with Annie Gotlieb was fantastic.; 11/30/07, 11:25 PM
Ann Althouse said...: There are two old diavlogs with me and Pinkerton. Easy to find in the archive over there.; 11/30/07, 11:28 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Pinkerton and Corn are a really great match up.; 11/30/07, 11:28 PM
Anonymous said...: Yes, they are a great match-up. They are always so obviously having fun. Hands down the best of the political match-ups.; 11/30/07, 11:52 PM
amba said...: Pinkerton looks like the Joker!; 12/1/07, 12:45 AM
Fen said...: I still don't like McCain. But the best thing he did recently was admit he made a mistake on immigration - pushing amnesty without restoring faith amoung the base that the feds would complete the border fence.; 12/1/07, 1:16 AM
Fen said...: verso: the Republican base absolutely cannot stand that McCain supports American values RE torture. And they are driven mad that he doesn't share their punitive interest in minorities, especially illegal aliens.

You really do have to have large amounts of hate and bloodlust coursing through your veins, it appears, to be a tried-and-true member of the Republican base.

Hate and bloodlust? You misunderstand.

1) McCain and American "values" re torture are simplistic and don't address the question of waterboarding. They say they oppose it in all circumstances, but then imply there will be exceptions made if an American city is at risk.

With a wink and a nudge that those that break our torture law will be granted amnesty after-the-fact. The people in charge of such interrogations deserve better than that.

There's also a simplification of morality. Let 10 million innocents in Los Angeles die because you refuse to waterboard a known terrorist to prevent it? Then another 10 million innocents in Tehran incinerated by our retaliatory strike? How is that moral?

2) And "punitive interest in illegal aliens'? Please, all we want is enforcement of the current immigration law. Immigrants are welcome here, illegal immigrants are not.

Its too bad you have to misrepresent our position on these issues. I can only guess its because you can't counter them in a more honest way.; 12/1/07, 1:28 AM
George M. Spencer said...: No, no, no, no, no...

It's Huckabee.

Five reasons:

1) He gave a great answer to the Bible question in the debate.

2) He burns cool, in the McLuhanesque sense of the word. He's the anti-Hillary, the yin to her yang. McCain, Romney, and Guiliani are all abrasive like Hillary..it's like putting more salt in the salt to make it less saltier.

3) He's a stealth conservative. Look up Hertzberg's piece in the New Yorker. Couldn't have been more praiseworthy.

4) He will completely mystify all foreigners, thus giving us a competitive advantage.

5) Graduates of Ouachita Bible University of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, cannot, by law, be members of the Trilateral Commission.; 12/1/07, 7:13 AM
J said...: Corn looks just like George Bush in that screenshot.; 12/1/07, 9:54 AM
rcocean said...: The very fact that a lefty like Corn loves him so much is one reason much conservatives, don't dislike McCain, they hate his guts.

McCain has been strong on the war, and says he's pro-life. On every other issue its a toss up. His natural inclination is always to buddy up with Ted Kennedy and pander to his base: the MSM.

How much you like the Corn and Pink Show depends on how much you like Corn. He does 2/3 of the talking.; 12/1/07, 11:21 AM
Trooper York said...: I think blogger scrambled your posts again. Shouldn't the headline be: "And, to be blunt, they do look like creepy goofballs."; 12/1/07, 11:53 AM