Sullivan - PREDICTING TONIGHT: Well, I could easily be wrong, but I have a feeling Cheney will crush Edwards tonight. The format is God's gift to Daddy. They'll both be seated at a table, immediately allowing Cheney to do his assured, paternal, man-of-the-world schtick that makes me roll on my back and ask to have my tummy scratched. (Yes, I do think that Cheney is way sexier than Edwards. Not that you asked or anything.) Every time I've heard Edwards talk about foreign policy, I've winced - not because he's some kind of U.N.-style liberal, but because he's obviously winging it, hasn't thought much about foreign policy, and seems miles away from thinking about anything like, er, strategy. Then again, Cheney's record so far in this war has been unencouraging. I'll be drinking a shot every time Edwards says Halliburton. And I'll be fascinated to see how and if Cheney grapples with his president's war on his own daughter's dignity. (Stay tuned later tonight. I'll be commenting for C-SPAN by phone from Philadelphia, and then doing my usual blog summary - and on TNR.)
- 2:03:57 AM
THE PROMISE OF GRIDLOCK: One reason some people might get over their fiscal concerns about Kerry is that most observers seem to agree that the Congress is likely to stay Republican after November 2. That means that Kerry is unlikely to be able to afford his big healthcare package and may be forced, like Clinton, into getting serious about deficit reduction. One thing we do know is that unified Republican government means vast new spending increases, and the collapse of fiscal discipline. I'd be just as terrified by unified Democratic government, mind you (although we wouldn't have to deal with excrescences like the FMA). Divided government, in other words, is perhaps the only real mechanism we have - apart from a constitutional amendment to balance the budget - to restrain the politicians in D.C. from spending even more of our money. My advice: if you're voting Bush, think seriously about pulling the Dem lever for the House and Senate; vice-versa for the Kerry backers. The last thing we want is to give either of these guys the carte blanche Bush has had for four fiscally ruinous years. |
