Political Wisdom: A Real McCain Break with Bush
WSJ.COM
In Political Perceptions
Here's a summary of the smartest new political analysis on the Web:
by Sara Murray and Gerald F. Seib
Sen. John McCain's speech earlier this week laying out his views on nuclear arms control is a sign of a more significant departure from President Bush than many realize, writes James Gibney of The Atlantic. McCain's record on nonproliferation is "a little more complicated—and appealing—than it's been portrayed," Gibney writes. "McCain reached across the aisle to work with Al Gore in co-sponsoring the Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act in 1992, went against fellow Republicans in backing ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and supported ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)." Moreover, Gibney liked "murmuring noises in his speech about returning to 'broad-minded internationalism' and strengthening 'existing international treaties and institutions.' And in addition to his defense of the Geneva conventions, he's also reportedly supported things that drive the Birchers and the black helicopter crowd wild (like the U.N. Convention for Elimination of All Discrimination against Women and the—gulp—Convention on the Law of the Sea, though he's waffling a bit now)."
Amid all the controversy over Scott McClellan's new book, The Washington Post's Dan Balz takes a minute to add it to the required reading list — for Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain's aides. "Why should this book be required reading in the Chicago and Crystal City headquarters of the Obama and McCain campaigns? The simple reason is that many of the people now staffing the two candidates share the same qualities and traits of a younger McClellan, caught up in the excitement of a great cause (to elect their candidate president) and not fully knowing what will await them if they end up in the next White House as aides to the 44th president of the United States," Balz writes.
The "subtext" of McClellan's book, which will also be a concern for either Obama or McCain, is "how the permanent campaign continues to define and sometimes destroy the governing process." Sure Obama and McCain each preach a new style of politics, but will they be able to break out of the campaign mode to push forward with it? "The euphoria of winning in November will cloud the minds of those heading into the next White House," Balz concludes. "They will feel like Masters of the Universe. Instead, they should remember the McClellan experience and the very human story he tells."
The big political news of the weekend, of course, will be the Democrats' Rules Committee meeting to determine the fate of the delegations from the disputed states of Michigan and Florida. NBC's Chuck Todd tells of a plan to resolve the dispute "that seems to be gaining momentum. This plan would halve the votes for all of the Florida delegates, netting Clinton 19 and, more importantly, counting that popular vote. But Michigan's primary results would not be accepted and, instead, that state's delegates would simply be split 50-50 between Clinton and Obama. All of the delegations, under this compromise, would be seated in full, but each delegate's vote would be counted as 0.5, including the superdelegates." The plan is just one circulating, but it is "gaining enough support" to bear watching, Todd writes. He adds: "Who knows, by tonight, a new compromise plan will become the plan du jour, but for now, get familiar with this idea." |
