NO ONE Expects the Wayne Gilchrest Endorsement!

Maryland Republican Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, defeated in a three-way primary for re-election this year, is backing Barack Obama.

Justifying his endorsement of Obama, Gilchrest said that "we can't use four more years of the same kind of policy that's somewhat haphazard, which leads to recklessness. "Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), "have the breadth of experience. I think they're prudent. They're knowledgable."

I'm not too surprised, based on what Gilchrest told me in 2007, referring to McCain and firey former POW Rep. Sam Johnson.

I respect both of those guys. But they flew airplanes. They were in prison camps. They weren't on the ground, fighting with the South Vietnamese army, or on the ground every day in 120 degree heat, or in driving rainstorms day after day after day, in the swamps, in the rivers, in the jungles. I respect them immensely but they have different perspective from someone who saw combat on the ground. Both those poor souls were tortured. My view is that of a grunt.

Slightly more surprising--but only slightly--is an Obama endorsement from former Los Angeles GOP Mayor Dick Riordan.

Riordan criticized GOP presidential nominee John McCain's past support for financial deregulation, saying it helped trigger the mortgage crisis and subsequent economic downturn. "There's nothing in his background that shows he's a person who can understand these complicated economic issues, or shows that he is entrepreneurial enough to bring about change."

Riordan and McCain haven't gotten along for years, though. And none of this is quite so stupid as the McCain endorsement of Hillary Clinton fundraiser/pearl necklace collector Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, whom I must believe un-endorsed the Democrats as part of a devious plan to make the GOP look bad. (What endorsement would be more worthless in a week like this than the snooty kudos of a Rothschild heiress?)

The big surprise is how many of these dogs aren't hunting. You've got a liberal black Democratic candidate who's concentrated poison in some Southern districts, a grumpy Republican whom half of his party has hated at one time or another, and two third-party candidates who used to serve in Congress. And yet the party structure is basically intact. The only sitting members of Congress who've endorsed the other party's candidates are Joe Lieberman and Wayne Gilchrest.

Comments

[joe]

One of the former editors of National Review endorsed Obama.

Which is pretty weird.

[xxx]

Who cares about Gilcrest. He lost in the primary. Another loser liberal like Chafee

[ChicagoTom]

endorsement of Hillary Clinton fundraiser/pearl necklace collector Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild,

You left out the best part:
Her part of her reason for not endorsing Obama is because she thinks he is an ELITIST!!!

I'm sorry but when your married to the CEO of an international bank who's addressed as "Sir" and you split your time between London and New York do you really get to call someone else an elitist?

[The Extispicator]

we can't use four more years of the same kind of policy that's somewhat haphazard, which leads to recklessness

We can't use any more years of awkward sentence structuring that is somewhat haphazard, which leads to recklessness.

[ChicagoTom]

One of the former editors of National Review endorsed Obama.

That would be Wick Allison, current editor-in-chief of D (Dallas) Magazine the endorsement can be seen here

He actually makes a conservative case for Obama:

I now see that Obama is almost the ideal candidate for this moment in American history. I disagree with him on many issues. But those don't matter as much as what Obama offers, which is a deeply conservative view of the world. Nobody can read Obama's books (which, it is worth noting, he wrote himself) or listen to him speak without realizing that this is a thoughtful, pragmatic, and prudent man. It gives me comfort just to think that after eight years of George W. Bush we will have a president who has actually read the Federalist Papers.

Most important, Obama will be a realist. I doubt he will taunt Russia, as McCain has, at the very moment when our national interest requires it as an ally. The crucial distinction in my mind is that, unlike John McCain, I am convinced he will not impulsively take us into another war unless American national interests are directly threatened.

"Every great cause," Eric Hoffer wrote, "begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket." As a cause, conservatism may be dead. But as a stance, as a way of making judgments in a complex and difficult world, I believe it is very much alive in the instincts and predispositions of a liberal named Barack Obama.

Some people must really hate this McCain fellow

[Tom Walls]

> Some people must really hate this McCain fellow

The religious right and the xenophobes have traditionally hated McCain (and every right-thinking person resented him for his free speech restrictions).

However, they've circled the wagons this time. You won't see too many traitors come November 5.

I predict the electoral results will be something like 2000, with Colorado going to Mick O'Bama. McCain may end up getting quite a bit of the popular vote, but I think it will be close to being tied.

[Warren]

Nice headline! Bring on the comfy chair!

[Episiarch]

Our chief weapon is identity politics! Identity politics and lies! Our two weapons are identity politics, lies, and false maverickness! Our three weapons are...

I'll come in again.

[Cool Cal]

The girls I went to high school with liked to collect pearl necklaces too.

OH!

(The Diceman Cometh, folks)

[Orange Line Special]

It might be helpful to note that DickRiordan was one of those behind this failed newspaper idea that Reason's own MattW was going to be editor of. (Warning: bad as it is, the reporting at the link is more than Wiegel could ever do).

[MK]

I'm a resident of Gilchrest's district. He also endorsed the Democrat running for his seat over the Republican who beat him in the primary. Gilchrest's views put him as a moderate-to-liberal Democrat. Now that he doesn't need to pretend he's a Republican to run for office, his true colors are showing.

He's a good guy but I'm constantly amazed at the love for him from Reason magazine. Beside his tepid opposition to the war and his support of gay rights, the guy is a pretty thorough statist.

[Andy Craig]

"You've got a liberal black Democratic candidate who's concentrated poison in some Southern districts, a grumpy Republican whom half of his party has hated at one time or another, and two third-party candidates who used to serve in Congress. And yet the party structure is basically intact."

That's because the two major parties are legally and financially entrenched in a way that never would have been tolerated in past eras when third-party movements have gained strength. (And no Ross Perot doesn't count. Not because he didn't get support, but because his support wholly centered on his individual campaign and did nothing to build up a serious challenge to the two parties outside Presidential elections).

[perilisk]

"You left out the best part:
Her part of her reason for not endorsing Obama is because she thinks he is an ELITIST!!!"

"Elitist" sounds much more populist than "uppity"

[Burr Deming]

The endorsement by Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild will be among McCain's most valued. Here's why.