You don’t get this very often: A single sentence that disqualifies a candidate not because of a scandal or a slip, but because it is an clear and forthright expression of the candidate’s beliefs. This is from a statement McCain wrote for Contingencies, published by the American Academy of Actuaries (via Paul Krugman):

“Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.”

[Tags: mccain politics obama ]

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Talking Points Memo has a bunch of posts (latest) about the odd interview McCain gave to Radio Caracol Miami.

You can hear the unedited, original interview here. Or this embedded player (well, iframe) might work in some browsers, albeit not in mine: The first half is one economics. About halfway through, the interviewer asks about Venezuela and Bolivia. In response to a question about taking Latin America more seriously, McCain says: “I know the issues. I know the leaders.” Indeed, he gets them right.

About 3/4 of the way through, the interviewer asks him if he’d invite Zapatero to the White House. She says his full name — José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero — which might have thrown him, since he gives his generic answer about meeting with those who support democracy, and then starts talking about Mexico. It seems pretty clear to me that he didn’t catch the name and didn’t want to alienate the Florida audience by seeming to be thrown by the interviewer’s properly accented pronunciation. He then, unfortunately, gives a response about being willing to meet with friends of democracy, as if that were in doubt about Spain. The interviewer then explicitly says she’s talking about the president of Spain, and McCain repeats his answer. Since that’s a pretty dumb response when talking about an ally, I’m assuming that McCain felt he had dug himself into a hole and didn’t want to crawl out by admitting his error. The price, however, is a needless flap with an ally. [Tags: mccain obama politics spain ]

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Yesterday, Sen. McCain was on the TV and said to Harry Smith

The point is, I was chairman of the commerce committee. Every part of America’s economy, I oversighted. I have a long record, certainly far more extensive of being involved in our economy than Senator Obama does.

Wow. This seems both to be an in-context quote and remarkably dunderheaded. McCain just shot the entire “experience” argument in the face.

Yesterday was a long day of gaffes and inadvertent truths for the McCain campaign. May the unraveling begin! [Tags: mccain obama politics economy dunderheads ]

Here’s a 4 minute NPR piece on Obama on the economy. The piece is not very substantial, however. More horse racey.

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Obama’s new ad goes meta-meta:

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are hilarious at the beginning of an otherwise ominously unfunny Saturday Night Live season-opener:

And, much as I think Palin is a disastrous, cynical choice, ABC’s editing of Gibson’s interview with her seems un-even-handed. If only there were a medium where ABC could post an unedited version for all those who want to see it … [Tags: politics obama mccain sarah_palin snl comedy ]

The Army Times wants to know if McCain has flipflopped or is lying about his recent support for the Army’s Future Combat Systems. Interesting.

John McCain hit the campaign trail on Monday sans La Palin, and managed to draw 3,000 people into a 16,000 person stadium. Photos here. It almost makes me sad.

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If you’re set on voting for McCain because you agree with him on the issues that matter to you, or because you’re convinced that Obama is unsuited because of his character, then there’s nothing I can say to change your mind. Nor would I want to.

But as I’ve been asking people why they’re not voting for Obama, there seems to be a handful of basic sticking points beyond policy and character. Here’s why they’re not sticking points for me … and in one case, why it’s an argument in favor of Obama.

“He’s not experienced enough.” He clearly does not have as much experience as John McCain, if only because he’s younger. Experience counts, but only when it results in knowledge and judgment. Obama has not been found to be weak or superficial in his knowledge of the world. Indeed, there are some areas — such as Constitutional law — where his own experience leaves him more knowledgeable than McCain. And, in terms of judgment, if you think the Iraq war was a mistake, then Obama ought to get marks for the clarity of his judgment. Likewise, I thought Obama exhibited excellent judgment in a choice of a running mate who has all three: experience, knowledge, and judgment.

“He’s been unclear on his positions.” On Obama’s Web site, you can find detailed plans and proposals. They are at least as crisp, clear, and thorough as McCain’s. But what this criticism has meant for some of the people I’ve talked with is that McCain gives simple, unambiguous answers, while Obama sometimes seems to waffle. Part of it is that Obama likes to give fuller, more nuanced answers. That’s bad for campaigning but a good trait for a leader. But there’s a bigger issue here that I think gets at the heart of many people’s discomfort with Obama. Let me explain …

Obama was very clear in his book, The Audacity of Hope, that the change he wants to bring is to the process of politics and the tenor of democracy. Obama thinks that beneath the ugly divisions among us are some common values. To heal and to move forward, he proposes that we look for what we have in common and try to come up with positions that are not as polarized. That means he is open to re-thinking the standard Democratic positions, sometimes to the ire of the standard Democrats. Off shore drilling? Generally, it’s a bad idea, but let’s recognize that we all want less dependence on foreign oil (and on oil in general), and if there are some places we can drill that can help (eventually), without disturbing the environment, we should be open to it. But that can be only a tiny part of the solution. Abortion? There can be no compromising a woman’s basic right to control her own bodies, but let’s recognize that everyone wants fewer abortions…

The resulting positions are not compromises in which we give up some of what we want so our oppponents will go along, or “triangulations” in which we forsake principle in pursuit of votes. Compromises are political calculations, and they have their place. But they don’t heal us. For that we need to recognize what we have in common, rather than simply what we disagree about. The positions that emerge can look like compromises or even betrayals — the Left is still furious with Obama about the FISA bill — when they are in fact attempts to listen to others with respect and reset the discussion on the basis of what we share. That is the basis of the hope Obama holds out.

(I hope, by the way, that what I’m writing right now adheres to Obama’s path of listening and responding with respect.)

“He’s changed his positions.” Yes, at times he has modified his positions. But I don’t think he’s changed his values or basic proposals. He’s changed as facts have changed. And he’s changed because he not only listens to those with whom he disagrees, he seeks them out. He is a constant learner. McCain, on the other hand, has switched from one side to another on issues as big as the Bush tax cuts, an anti-gay marriage amendment, and Roe v. Wade. The swings seem to me to be much bigger and more fundamental. So, given the two candidates, I don’t see this as an argument against Obama. Am I wrong?

“He’s weak.” I find this objection so odd. True, he hasn’t flown a plane in war, but I think Obama is made of steel. He is unflappable. He has remained  true to himself and to his ideals throughout trying circumstances. He has shown tremendous strength as the McCain campaign has untethered itself from issues in order to attack Obama personally. So, this seems to be a matter of perception, and thus I cannot convince you of it. Nevertheless…

Beyond policy disagreements, are there other sticking points I’m missing?

[Tags: obama mccain politics ]

PS: I’m not sorry to be inconsistent in tone and approach from post to post.

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Now that the press is falling for covering only the meta-story and the not issues, I’m thinking it’s time for Obama to go meta-meta. Screw the issues and don’t try to one-up their lying attacks. Instead, keep pointing America at the sleaziness of McCain’s campaign as a way of impugning McCain’s claim of integrity.

How about putting Obama in front of a camera to say something like this:

My fellow citizens. There has never been a time when Americans needed to be more focused on the challenges facing us. That’s what I’ve been talking about in my ads, on my Web site, and with you, all across this land.

John McCain, on the other hand, has taken the advice of George Bush’s handlers. Instead of engaging in a dialogue about how we’re going to fix the economy that eight years of Republican rule has broken, how we’re going to re-focus on the real threats to our security instead of squandering more money and lives in the war that Senator McCain argued so hard in favor of, how we’re going to provide health insurance to every American, how we’re going to protect our environment, and preserve the rights of women and all those who have struggled against injustice, Senator McCain is making up lies about me to distract attention us from his promise of four more of the same.

It’s a shameful, sad fall from the John McCain who was a maverick and a hero. We deserve better. And on November 4, we can and we will have real change.

Ok, so this is why I don’t write political ads.

[Tags: obama politics mccain ]

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Q: What’s worse than lying to smear an opponent?

A: Smearing him for supporting a program that the smearer probably himself supports.

Here’s the sex ed bill Obama voted for. It includes teaching abstinence and making all sex ed age-appropriate. For kindergartners, the aim is to encourage them to report inappropriate touching. Which part of “Protecting our kids from sexual predators” do you object to, Sen. McCain?

[Tags: obama mccain kindergarten liars ]

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A 2.5 minute reminder of McCain’s politically-motivated switches on values issues. At least one is a mere stumble, but the others seem to me to be changes in principles for political expediency.

[Tags: mccain obama politics ]

Andrew Sullivan has given up on McCain as a person of integrity. I have to agree that McCain has made a series of appalling decisions about his campaign, choosing to run in a way that worsens our democracy. It’s disappointing, and depressing.

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Tim Wu brings his customary clarity and vision to the McCain and Obama’s tech policies. Rather than sticking with the “McCain’s never used Google, oh, and he’s old, too,” Tim tries to get at the differences guiding them. Chief among them: McCain sees the Internet as just another bit of the telecom panoply, while Obama thinks it’s special. But read the whole thing to get past my over-simplification…

[Tags: tech_policy obama mccain tim_wu fcc net_neutrality ]

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Here are word clouds showing the frequency of the words used in McCain’s and Obama’s acceptance speeches.

[Tags: mccain obama everything_is_miscellaneous ]

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