O’Hanlon for Obama
An endorsement from my favorite very serious person:
Although a lifelong Democrat who hasn’t wavered in his presidential vote since 1980, I have been unable to support Senator Barack Obama over the past two years. But after weighing the options in the closing months, I have decided to vote for the Obama-Biden ticket.
Political scientists tell us that VP choices don’t matter much, but for me, a tie among the heads of the two tickets means that the VP choice is determinative. And Senator Biden, whatever his flaws and limits, is clearly a much better choice than Governor Palin, at least at this point in their respective careers.
O’Hanlon seems to be saying here that he’s in the rare category of people who voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and then flipped to Walter Mondale in 1984.
50 Responses to “O’Hanlon for Obama”
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October 26th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
“but for me, a tie among the heads of the two tickets means”
the fact that you *think* there’s a tie at the head of the ticket means you’re a fucking moron.
i mean–if you want to immediately disqualify yourself from having a political opinion worth listening to, just tell me that you have no preference between obama and mccain. that you just find yourself entirely indifferent between the two.
jesus. go read what sedaris said this week in the nyt about undecided voters. it’s like someone who tells you they’re undecided between having the chicken and having a plate of shit with ground glass mixed in.
what an impressive guy o’hanlon is.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I believe he’s merely indicating that 1980 was the first time he voted.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Born in 1960, O’Hanlon would not have voted in a presidential election prior to 1980.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Nearly the only way a non-partisan Republican can view the tops of the tickets as a tie is if he believes the bullshit spewing forth from the right about Obama. The ONLY way a Dem could see it as a tie is if he believes some of it. How else to explain it? The two candidates are diametrically opposed on nearly every issue!
October 26th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
But… McCain chose Palin, so doesn’t that cast a teeny bit of doubt about McCain?
October 26th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
That would be Sedaris in The New Yorker.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
sorry; sedaris in the new yorker, not the nyt:
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/10/27/081027sh_shouts_sedaris
October 26th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Obama would be better off without O’Hanlon’s endorsement. Why would he want it? It’s not like the guy has ever been right about anything of importance.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
This is so blatantly careerist it’s ridiculous. The great thing is, whatever you think about this election season, its fact pattern has been the worst possible one for Michael O’Hanlon. And that is good news. Unfortunately, the only way it could get worse now is for McCain to win.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
This is O’Hanlon realizing that he hasn’t a chance in hell of getting a job with the incoming Obama administration unless he throws McCain under the bus right now. The “tie at the head of the ticket” crap is a sop to the DC establishment types so O’Hanlon can continue to be regarded as “serious.”
I’ll be disappointed if the new administration hires O’Hanlon in any capacity higher than lavatory sanitizer.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Wow. I wonder if even he can honestly believe that line of rationale. How does he list his policy preferences?
What a wildly irrational loon this person is.
October 26th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
This is O’Hanlon realizing that he hasn’t a chance in hell of getting a job with the incoming Obama administration unless he throws McCain under the bus right now.
The idea that throwing McCain under the bus might make Ho’Hanlon employable should be patently ridiculous. If anything changes under Obama, ‘no longer paying attention to ignorant careerist fucks’ needs to be at the top of the list.
October 26th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
It’s really reassuring to know that a war hawk think tank moron who calls himself a Democrat probably would have supported the Republican John McCain except that McCain made a terrible VP choice. All the other evidence of McCain’s policy preferences and decision-making qualities, not so much.
Again — Palin is most definitely not the reason these types are leaving McCain: she is the excuse they like to give.
October 26th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I believe O’Hanlon and his ilk in punditry capitalize the title: Very Serious Person.
October 26th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Interpreting O’Hanlon:
Gee, I hope I still get invited to give important talks and interviews after these wars end.
October 26th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Does anyone believe that O’Liar voted for Kerry in 2004? I don’t care how many articles from 2004 that one roles out where he indicated he was voting for Kerry. We know that when he went behind the curtain, he voted for Bush and More War.
This is actually one endorsement I don’t want to see. It’s O’Liar correctly reading the tea leaves and now sucking up to get some influence in an Obama Administration.
John
October 26th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
oh, yeah, Matt.
Sometimes I wonder how you and ‘thinkprogress’ got aligned considering your endorsement of ‘centrist’ Brooking’s types like this guy.
What next? Larry Summer’s your God Father?
(jeesh, another hint from the MSM. this morning as some guy on NBC was spouting the same ol’ bs from the Clintonites that Larry Summer’s going to be Treasury Secretary. Paulson, or Summers? Any difference? )
We’d hoped Obama would be different than the Clintons…but we’ll have to see. So far, it looks like the same deficit hawks that’ll starve the lower middle class that’s really hurting now.
October 26th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Datadave, new around here perhaps?
Matt is no fan of O’Hanlon.
October 26th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
IM A DEMOCRAT WHO CANT VOTE FOR OBAMA>>>>Do you know that Percy Sutton (noted black politician, lawyer, businessman in NY) stated that he was asked to get Obama into Harvard by a black power muslim who told him that Obama’s tuition would be paid by the saudis? I know percy sutton- he’s not a liar…. Obama claims that Sutton made a mistake… but the family says otherwise …. LOOK IT UP
Do you know that Obama’s admitted mentor is Frank Marshall Davis a communist, pedophile, bisexual…. LOOK IT UP
Do you know that William Ayers – unrepentent weatherman and radical, from Chicago is part of the OBama world? LOOK IT UP
October 26th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
O’Hanlon is saying he’s voting for Obama, but only on a probationary basis. So Obama better be careful, lest he lose that crucial “wrong about everything” constituency.
October 26th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Do you know that William Ayers – unrepentent weatherman and radical, from Chicago is part of the OBama world?
Who’s that?
October 26th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
The guy’s specialty is hammers. No wonder he sees the world as mostly nails.
October 26th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
“Do you know that William Ayers – unrepentent weatherman and radical, from Chicago is part of the OBama world? LOOK IT UP”
Sixtiesperson, come now. I’ll believe that Obama’s mentor is a communist bisexual pedophile–hell, we all know Obama is, in addition to being Muslim–but if this “William Ayers” had anything to do with it I think we would have heard something about it by now.
October 26th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Datadave, I recommend that you Google “O’Hanlon Primary” for context.
October 26th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Why do these ridiculous concern trolls believe that we still buy the “I am a democrat, but” line? Especially when they spew stuff that makes a 9/11 truther look crazy.
October 26th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I hereby endorse a bowl of dicks to be O’Hanlon’s next snack.
October 26th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
When even assholes like O’Hanlon are climbing on the Obama bandwagon, you know it’s time for McCain to pack it in.
And yes, as stated above, this is yet another blatant careerist move by O’Hacklon. He reminds me of that scumbag played by Paul Reiser in “Aliens”, the company exec who was willing to do anything no matter how disgusting or murderous, in order to protect the company.
October 26th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
christ ’sixtiesperson’ that is some pathetic concern trolling. I hope the McCain campaign demands its money back.
October 26th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
… hasn’t wavered in his presidential vote since 1980
How do you get from this statement the impression that O’Hanlon switched from Reagan to Mondale, Matt?
October 26th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
O’Hanlon has been very critical about McCain’s unquestioning support of the Georgian president, and that could the main reason that he is endorsing Obama.
October 26th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
“Political scientists tell us that VP choices don’t matter much”
The guy just can’t help but smear someone in every statement he makes, can he? In all seriousness, though, he’s misrepresenting what political scientists say. They say VP picks don’t make a lot of difference *electorally*; they don’t say that Very Serious People shouldn’t take the VP pick into account when voting, or that the VP role is meaningless.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
O’Hanlon was born in 1960. The first presidential election in which he was able to vote would have been 1980. He appears to be saying he’s voted D in every election since he’s been eligible.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
O’Hanlon has voted straight Dem since 1980 and now he’s having trouble deciding who to vote for? Has he paid any attention to McCain’s policy positions? McCain may be a moderate in his heart of hearts, but to get the GOP nomination he had to enter John Birch territory.
This is a close call for a lifelong Dem? Does someone believe this crap? Help me.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
sorry, missed the sarcasm. shoulda seen it coming.
who in hell says ‘favorite whatever person’?
Matt just has that awe shucks undergrad style even if from Hahhvad… and i note O’hanolan is from PrinceTown. Hs can’t really like Ps? Can they? Kind of fools ya. I am growing to appreciate this place. One of the best.
President Obama, please, please, pick NOT just Harvard educated Treasury Secretaries.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:57 am
My dad voted for Reagan in 1980 but then Mondale in 1984. He hated Reagan but at the time he hated Carter more and voted for RR thinking “there’s no way this right wing loon will get re-elected.”
October 27th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Or he could be in the category of people that voted for John Anderson in 1980 and for Dems ever since.
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Obama is just a loser.
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