Matt Yglesias

43 Responses to “Look, Over There, a PUMA!”

1. Kit Stolz Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 3:55 pm

   Wait — you’re ready and willing to just the morality of the press corps, but not of candidates for public office?

   Don’t understand that. Nor do I understand why the Lady de Rothschild endorsement made such a big splash, unless she said that she was going to back McCain in a big way (which I haven’t seen). But it is interesting how many GOP heavyweights have yet to endorse McCain…another example is Brent Scowcroft.

2. SHF Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

   or Richard Lugar.

3. SHF Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

   Ooops, I also don’t remember William Cohen endorsing him.

4. David Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

   And that Hagel said that Palin doesn’t have enough experience for VP and that this nonsense about being next to Russia is nonsense.

5. David Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

   Here’s more on Hagel in case any of you haven’t seen it:

   http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/18/1415527.aspx

6. Asher Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

   At any rate, it also seems noteworthy to me, at least, that neither Ron Paul, Chuck Hagel, Colin Powell, nor Condoleezza Rice has yet endorsed John McCain.

   Secretaries of State can make endorsements in elections now?

7. mark Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 4:02 pm

   How about a former publisher of National Review?

8. Dave Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

   It’s not incompetence, they just really loved the Clinton v. Obama primary blood bath and this Lady Lynn story lets them write about it again. Sort of.

9. pseudonymous in nc Says:
   September 18th, 2008 at 4:05 pm

   Ron Paul just said on MSNBC that he’d received a call from someone connected to McCain– after being asked if it was Phil Gramm, he acknowledged it — and that he simply wasn’t comfortable endorsing McCain, particularly with the ‘bomb, bomb, bomb Iran’ foreign policy.

   Nor do I understand why the Lady de Rothschild endorsement made such a big splash

   Rolodex.

10. Zach Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    Hey Matt — throw a bone to the Dem in the race for Gilchrest’s seat, Andy Harris, who got the same bipartisan nod two weeks ago: http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2008/09/andy-harris-statement-on-gilchrest.html

    Andy Harris needs a bit more help than Barack Obama in gaining attention, I think.

    Lastly, the answer to your question: McCain’s pushing the Clinton angle with everything he’s got. That’s why it’s being reported. Without the inertia of the McCain campaign going so hard to promote the PUMA BS, this wouldn’t be reported much if at all (continued today with an ex-Clinton voter of some sort standing up and saying as much at a screened McCain/Palin townhall).

    You have to give McCain some credit here — it’s the only consistent strategy his campaign’s stuck with without fucking up so far.

11. Dan Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    “Why is the former treated as less significant than the latter?”

    Cause one is a fairly hot looking woman with the fairytale name of Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild.

12. patriot games Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Ron Paul just on MSNBC saying he could never endorse someone who thinks it funny to sing “bomb, bomb, bomb, iran.”

    Yes, let’s replay that.

    Finally someone has brought up McCain at his most reckless and looniest.

13. hermano Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    i think they tried to subtly show people how an elitist like her calls someone else an elitist.

    btw, a black elitist is a major step forward for the african american. how dare these people instill subtle racism against obama.

14. Thomas Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:11 pm

    Hey, don’t forget that Jim Leach endorsed Obama as well. Leach is well known for his role in modernizing our financial markets, and surely his endorsement reveals something meaningful.

    Gilchrist is retiring because he lost in the GOP primary. Since when do guys who lose Congressional primaries get big headlines?

15. BA Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    Zach, Andy Harris is the GOP wingnut who defeated Gilchrist in the primary. The Democratic candidate is a good dude named Frank Kratovil.

    More to the point of Matt’s post, I think Gilchrist’s lameduckness accounts a great deal for — though doesn’t entirely justify — the media shrug at his Obama endorsement. It’s not as if Gilchrist is taking a great risk or faces any repercussions (subcommittee chairmanship stripped, local projects de-funded) with this act of apostasy.

16. Conrad Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

    McCain may not have the endorsements of many respected Republicans, but with Sarah Pain on the ticket, he has secured the support of Hockey Moms, a crucial Swing Voter Demographic in 2008.

    With only 47 days left until November 4th, do you know the other Top 50 Swing Voter Demographics in 2008?

    #50 – Hockey Moms
    #49 – Godless Hollywood Liberals
    #48 – Baristas
    #47 – People with STDs
    #46 – ???

    Check out http://swingvoters.wordpress.com

17. Zach Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    @BA

    Zach, Andy Harris is the GOP wingnut who defeated Gilchrist in the primary. The Democratic candidate is a good dude named Frank Kratovil.

    Oh FUCK ME that was a stupid mistake.

    Oh the heels of the Gilchrist endorsement I’m anxiously awaiting to hear from Lincoln Chafee, although I imagine he was more satisfied with the party’s loyalty to him since he won his primary.

18. Petey Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:23 pm

    “Maybe it’s because the vast majority of the campaign press consist of immoral and incompetent people,”

    To be fair, this is only a true description of Matthew on days ending in the letter ‘Y’.

19. Bart Acocella Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:34 pm

    Pretty sure I saw recently that Chafee endorsed BHO.

20. The Bag of Health and Politics Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:47 pm

    They’re not immoral, they’re ammoral. Anything to promote the sideshow and not actually deal with the issues…

21. The Bag of Health and Politics Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 4:48 pm

    Chaffee endorsed Obama in the primary. He even switched his affiliation to independent so he could vote for Obama in the Rhode Island primary…

22. Seth Kramer Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 5:12 pm

    Lady de Rothschild is also the one who wrote an article about how the Dems need to “shake the elitist tag”.

    As Mikey Kaus observed last week “you lost me at ‘de’”

    http://www.slate.com/id/2200209/

23. jibeaux Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 5:23 pm

    Her name is Lady de Rothschild. I’m sure a lot of the coverage was because it’s, well, hilarious.

24. John Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 5:26 pm

    As Jibeaux says – the coverage of Lady de Rothschild certainly has a great deal to do with the fact that it’s one of the most ridiculous stories of recent times.

25. Lord Horace de Aerschot von Arenberg Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 6:00 pm

    I don’t understand all these attacks on Lady de Rothschild. I was just telling her myself at Lord Whittington’s dinner party in Kensington that I can’t abide these pretentious elitists like Barack Obama.

    Now where’s my snuff?

26. Dan S. Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 6:21 pm

    “Zach, Andy Harris is the GOP wingnut who defeated Gilchrist in the primary. The Democratic candidate is a good dude named Frank Kratovil.”

    Incidentally, Harris was/is the Club for Growth candidate – that’s the bunch of reactionary anti-tax obsessives that don’t just raise money for economically far-right candidates, but try to intimidate or take out moderate Republicans through funding attack ads and primary challenges. When beltway centrist-types cry and moan about polarization, this is what they they’re misrepresenting – how the radicals on the right have made a concerted effort not just to pull as far towards the extremist margins as possible, but have actively tried to destroy the center, while liberals have mostly stayed where they were or drifted slightly – often to the right.

27. Anthony Damiani Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

    Well, that and we got to make fun of the anti-elitism of someone named “Lady Lynne Forrester de Rothschilde– which was what most of the coverage did.

    As to Ron Paul, didn’t he specifically endorse NOT voting for McCain?

28. Equal Opportunity Cynic Says:
    September 18th, 2008 at 10:44 pm

    My understanding is that Ron Paul endorsed voting for any of the minor party candidates. It’s a little strange that he didn’t endorse Bob Barr, then, since the LP’s platform is much closer to Paul’s stated beliefs than say the Green one. It makes me wonder if he has some sort of animosity toward the LP now, even though he ran on its ticket twice (I think, once for sure) for President.

29. mark Says:
    September 19th, 2008 at 12:10 am

    Interestingly, in the first CNN interview she did, they only referred to her as “Lynn Forrester.” No mention of the Rothschilds.

30. SLC Says:
    September 19th, 2008 at 8:32 am

    I’m sure that Mr. Yglesias will want to comment on his favorite columnists’ column today about how Dubya will go down as the 21th century version of Harry Truman.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091803049.html?sub=AR

31. Deborah Says:
    September 19th, 2008 at 9:42 am

    I hadn’t even realized she was on the platform committee. Who the hell had that stupid idea?
    As jibeaux says, I thought the press was just thrilled to have a baroness telling them how the unelite feel.

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