Steve,
I agree with the first paragraph of your post that McCain needs to think long term about his reputation. And, to add something, I think David Gergen is correct, that the last several weeks of a presidential campaign is important for the subsequent strategy of governing. But to paste that into McCain losing, I think the way he loses, assuming he does, goes a long way to the level of vicious partisanship that follows. He's one of the few that could help diminish that.
As for the second paragraph about Jeremiah Wright, I think I disagree. As compared to Ayers, the Wright argument, while wrong, has some traction. Ayers had no serious relation to Obama, Wright did. I think, finally, the argument is bogus because it fails on the basic notion as to whether Obama shares his views. And it also fails because Wright is not who he has been successfully pictured to be. But they had a more viable campaign possibility there.
Kristol is an interesting barometer of a certain faction of Republican thinking. Worth reading for that. Just as Bill Safire previously was. |
