Matt Yglesias

34 Responses to “The Original Maverick”

1. ArtB Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

   During the primaries, much was made of the fact that Obama had never had a really tough election race. I mean, for his Senate seat, he only had to beat the obviously crazy Alan Keyes, right? At this point, I’m thinking that was pretty good preparation for the current campaign.

2. Joey Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

   But just because men who bite dogs make for good copy doesn’t make biting a dog a good idea.

   Nice.

3. gaucho Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 12:40 pm

   Republicans who think supporting McCain is a good idea are in for a rude awakening.

   This is a guy who has flip-flopped on every major domestic issue of the last 25 years: taxes, regulation, government spending. Any Republican who thinks getting on his boat is a good idea is going to get sold down the river eventually.

   What does McCain care about? Military power. If you look at his record, the one constant, and the one thing that gets him up in the morning is the idea that if only the United States applies more military power it will get what it wants. It’s a scary thought that a guy like this could have control of a nuclear arsenal. Scarier still that at least 40% of the country will cheer him on, sink or swim.

4. Curtis Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 12:44 pm

   I’ve read your blog for at least 18 months, and I thought yesterday was maybe your best day in the profession. And today is pretty darn good, too.

   And I completely agree with Gaucho’s last paragraph.

5. Garuda Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 12:52 pm

   It’s becoming increasingly clear that, aside from the POW card, McCain has little to offer.

6. msw Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 12:53 pm

   It’s becoming increasingly clear that, aside from the POW card, McCain has little to offer.
   Surge, my friends, to everything there is a surge.

7. raff Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 12:54 pm

   While McCain has been running around grandstanding, Obama has been, you know, preparing for the debate. McCain is going in a lot less prepared than he should be. And if the focus of tonight’s debate is the current economic situation — a subject that is not McCain’s strong suit — things could get ugly.

   McCain will essentially have to wing it on a subject he, by his own admission, knows almost nothing about. I don’t care how good of a debater McCain is, no-one is that good. I hope at least he’s had a chance to read Paulson’s report before tonight.

   I might actually watch this debate… couuld be fun.

8. mk Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 1:06 pm

   Matt, this post is spot-on. The story that is now driving this race is that John McCain does not have the temperament to be president.

   Meanwhile, McCain always does the weirdest thing when his back is against the wall. We should expect something truly batshit at the debate.

   My guess is that he will aggressively confront Barack and try to browbeat him about what happened on Thursday.

   But Barack has all the cards and I think he will stand up to McCain’s antics.

9. mk Says:
   September 26th, 2008 at 1:22 pm

   More specifically:

   - John might drape himself in populism: “The American people are not behind this bailout. It is a bad plan and it does not reflect conservative principles.”

   - He might attack Barack for politics: “Senator Obama didn’t suspend his campaign. He didn’t show leadership of his party in calling off their sniping attacks on me.”

   - He might attack Barack for staying out of the fray: “With all due respect to Senator Obama, we can’t phone it in on a matter of such national importance.”
   (A strong line, but not really. Barack’s devastating response: “Interesting comment coming from a man who by his own admission hadn’t even read Secretary Paulson’s plan on Tuesday.”)

   What else?

10. Andrew Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Honestly, at this point, I seriously wonder if Romney or Huckabee wouldn’t have been in a better position vis-a-vis Obama.

    Yes, Romney always polled HORRIBLY. And he’s a smarmy, phony, flip-flopper who nobody liked. And he’s Mormon.

    But I still doubt he’d be running quite as insane a campaign as McCain is running. I could easily be wrong, but I have to think that McCain’s “hail Marys” are going to cost him. Bigtime.

    Romney would have run a safer, more traditional Republican campaign. He’d probably have lost too, but it would probably have been competitive. And I’m guessing that most of the conservatives and Republicans would have come home during the course of the campaign, especially as Obama was put under sustained attack.

    End result: Obama vs. Romney might well have been closer than Obama vs. McCain may be.

    Same thing for Huckabee. Huckabee always polled poorly, and to be fair, I can’t conceive of how he would have won the nomination, but had he *somehow* won, I think he would have been formidable. The business wing of the Republican party hated him, he had no establishment support — but he’s extremely likeable, very charismatic, and has strong support from evangelicals. And he could more plausibly have claimed to be a break from Bush than McCain is.

    I think Obama vs. Huckabee would actually have wound up fairly close, based on cultural polarization.

11. Colatina Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:31 pm

    I think “man bites dog” describes exactly what David Brooks recommended when he told the candidates to “Surprise Me Most”. McCain and Brooks are on the same wavelength, obviously, but we’re now seeing that strategy played out, and the freak show isn’t turning out to be good politics.

12. anonymiss Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    What’s most bizarre is that these moves don’t seem to be in service of anything real.

    I mean, manufacturing a big kerfluffle to call attention to the fact that you were going to Washington to help fix the problem is smart–IF YOU CAN FIX THE PROBLEM. But McCain doesn’t understand the subject area and doesn’t appear to be able to grasp it. Perhaps more unforgivingly, he didn’t know what the main political task was going to be–that there was a looming Republican uprising in need of quelling and Bush couldn’t do it anymore, so the task would fall to him if he went to DC.

    So, McCain pulls a stunt that calls all the attention to DC and then publicly fails to a)advance the policy b)fix the political task he just put himself in front of OR c) be standing nearby when the solution magically works itself out.

    The stunt would have been risky if he’d known what he was doing. But it’s just stupid here. It’s like doubling down in poker when you haven’t paid attention to what cards are on the table, AND you don’t know your opponent’s tells!

13. mk Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    I think Obama is ahead in this game, but the game is asymmetrical. If McCain tries to play it conventionally, he will get pummelled. But McCain won’t play it conventionally. There is a lot of play left and a lot of unpredictability remaining. Let’s not prejudge the political fallout when there isn’t legislation yet.

14. Jake Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

    The story that is now driving this race is that John McCain does not have the temperament to be president.

    Yeah, that appears to be a meme that is indeed gaining traction in the media.

    The comedy is that, in the interest of “balance”, some are beginning to suggest that Obama is too calm, too cool, too collected. They might as well ask “Is Obama too presidential to be President?” Look for a CNN poll along those lines in the next couple of weeks.

15. Don Williams Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

    Re “But just because men who bite dogs make for good copy doesn’t make biting a dog a good idea.”
    ————-
    On the other hand, news photos of Sarah Palin chowing down on one of Todd’s sled dogs in a few months — after the economy crashes — will sell a few copies of the New York Times.

    That and their ability to insulate against the cold.

16. ann Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:09 pm

    McCain is unstable. He went to the extreme of saying he was suspending his campaign to put country first. What did he suspend..his offices were open, he still collected money and he attended a fund raiser.

17. Luke Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    You know, those comments about the other candidates got me thinking. At this point, I think that Romney-Huckabee would have been a stronger challenge to Obama than this bizarre combination of McCain-Palin. Romney knows the economy, and Huckabee would have offset some of his sleaziness. Plus Huckabee as an evangelical doesn’t give off quite the same creepy vibe that Palin does. He’s close, but not quite as bad. I never saw him claim that the Iraq war is a mission from God.

18. Njorl Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 3:46 pm

    I think tonight, the dog that McCain will bite is refusing to answer the questions put to him (openly, rather than obliquely). Instead he’ll answer “more important” questions. His campaign will then portray criticism of this as the press believing that it is their debate instead of the American people’s debate.

19. Roschelle Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

    Initial pride in the fact that my state would be host to the first presidential debate of this historic campaign has turned to absolute disgust and outrage. The Mississippi White Knights also plan to attend.

20. croatoan Says:
    September 26th, 2008 at 5:27 pm

    McCain has already run ads saying he won tonight’s debate. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

21. blog maverick Says:
    November 27th, 2008 at 10:54 pm

    Please register to gain free access to WSJ tools. An account already exists for the email address entered. That’s one of the first questions coming up in today’s news, reported by the WSJ’s Kara Scannell, that Dallas Mavericks owner

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