Reason Writers Around Town: Matt Welch on the Only Things That Can Save John McCain Now

As part of a week-long L.A. Times dust-up with USC law professor Kareem Crayton, Matt Welch argues that John McCain has blown most of his chances to press an advantage over Barack Obama on foreign policy.

Read all about it here. On Tuesday, the two debated how much this election marks a watershed in U.S. racial and gender politics.

Comments

[Lefiti]

I hope the Bradley Effect is dead.

[Syd]

Well, maybe if Russians invade Alaska and Sarah Palin fights them off...

[joe]

McCain is like a chess player who is only good enough to find the best move in each particular turn, but can't see more than one move forward.

He'll put you in check, and might screw your strategy up for a while, but there isn't going to be any follow-up.

And this is how you end up four points down, with no castle, hoping for your opponent to make a mistake that will give you checkmate in one move.

[joe]

The irony is that McCain accused Obama of not understanding the difference between strategy and tactics.

I think we've seen during this campaign which way that charge really goes.

[SIV]

If there was some way voters could see what the first six months of an Obama Presidency with a Democratic congress will actually look like
(with no corresponding peak at a McCain regime)
that could turn it around.Alas, crystal balls don't actually offer a window to the future but I am predicting substantial buyer's remorse from the voters.

[Dagny T.]

McCain is like a chess player who is only good enough to find the best move in each particular turn, but can't see more than one move forward.

That's a good analogy. It explains the Palin factor perfectly. It was a good move at the time, but it didn't factor in the months & moves left in play.

[Mo]

Had McCain named Romney as his VP pick, his special blend of smart, competent douchbaggery would be a huge asset right now. Having the only person on the ticket with an understanding of economics be a huge asset to McCain.

[Mo]

I guess my Romney comment falls under joe's chess move move comment. Everyone knew the economy was a big issue* in August and that it was McCain's biggest weakness. Romney would've shored up the base somewhat and covered his biggest weakness.

* No one knew how big it would be.

[Brian Courts]

And this is how you end up four points down, with no castle, hoping for your opponent to make a mistake that will give you checkmate in one move.

Who knows, even a grandmaster occasionally (well ok, almost never) blunders into a mate-in-one.

Though Obama is no Kramnik, McCain is more deep shitz than Deep Fritz.

[Mad Max]

Perhaps if Sen. Obama ate a baby on national TV.

Or if Sen. Obama got a joint endorsement from the President of Iran, Usama bin Laden, and Hezbollah.

[Orange Line Special]

Reason's support for BHO appears to be yet another bone-headed move by Matt Welch. After all, if BHO wins his book is going to be taken off the remainders shelves and used as kindling at homeless shelters across the land.

On the other hand, MattY, er, I mean MattW could pursue a dialolical plan: support McCain now only to undercut him later through a spike in book sales.

I'm just thinking of MattW, just as MattW is doing.

P.S. Barack Obama was a member of a (per them) "socialist democratic" Party.

Libruhtarians for socialists!

[joe]

Who are you kidding, you would sell your left nut to be Matt Welch.

[Ebeneezer Scrooge]

If there was some way voters could see what the first six months of an Obama Presidency with a Democratic congress will actually look like......I am predicting substantial buyer's remorse from the voters

Yeah, but the media will still love it, and him. So will academia. So will western Europe, and you know how important that is. So will joe.

The rest of us are idiots, barely deserving to draw breath. Didn't you get the drift from the way they talked to us about The Bailout when we refused it the first time around?

Those of you who want to see defense spending cut, behold. It's about to happen, so we can pay for socialist medicine. Plus whatever else the Dems want.

You just better hope the day never comes that we actually need to be able to spend a lot on defense, because by the time Obama Mama is done the cupboard is going to be pretty bare.

I still contend that as bad as Bush is, his Iraq fiasco is still cheaper in the long run than the alternatives. We can eventually pay off the cost of Iraq, but socialized medicine and carbon taxes are forever -- and as I predict we're going to learn, they're also a hell of a lot more expensive.

Of course, I also predict that if he got four more years, Bush would be the one leading the charge to socialize medicine.

Democrats are socialists, try as some might to deny it. But at this point in the game, the Republicans have zero claim to having any principles whatsoever.

Which does not mean Democrats are "better" in any rational sense.

Our only hope is to take over the moon from that man that's been living up there.

[BakedPenguin]

One last time, for those who haven't seen them:

The Adventures of Lonewacko! and:

Lonewacko meets the Presidential Candidates!

[R C Dean]

McCain is like a chess player who is only good enough to find the best move in each particular turn, but can't see more than one move forward.

Insightful. Kudos to joe.

The irony is that McCain accused Obama of not understanding the difference between strategy and tactics.

I think we've seen during this campaign which way that charge really goes.

That's stretching it a little, methinks. Obama won his early campaigns with the rankest of dirty tricks. He has been able to hang onto a mid-single-digit lead against McCain in a year when the Republican brand is dirt only with the connivance of the major media players, who resolutely support his candidacy, and with a remarkable stroke of luck in the economic crisis.

Granted, he played the crisis better than McCain, who blew an opportunity like a carrier pilot missing the deck, but still, by rights, Obama should have a 15 point lead, not a 5 point lead. I'll hold off on putting the crown of laurel leaves on his head for awhile yet.

[ThePowerStocks.com Team]

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