Maybe I spoke too soon.
In his 9/23 column entitled “McCain Loses His Head,” the uncompromisingly conservative George F. Will wrote:
Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama.
And…
For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting people who agree with him against those who are “corrupt” or “betray the public’s trust,” two categories that seem to be exhaustive—there are no other people.
And…
Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.
And…
It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?
The column from which I have excerpted these quotes is about the financial crisis. It’s well worth reading.
Pollsters tell us that there is a solid core of citizens (somewhere around 25%) who have stayed committed to the Bush presidency in spite of its dreadful policies and their disastrous outcomes. These voters are immovable. But if I can imagine George Will (George Will!) taking his hand off the McCain/Palin lever, I can imagine more than a few conservatives voting for Obama.
My father-in-law, Larry, is a life-long Republican (fiscal conservative, social moderate) and he, too, is leaving the ticket for the first time. I’m pretty sure all he had to do was check his retirement account balance and realize we can do better (and can’t do much worse).
Thanks for your helpful (and hopeful) perspective!
In a recent Newsweek essay, atheist and groovy guy Sam Harris pointed out that Sarah Palin could be a heartbeat away from “the button” were she to win. Given her belief in and hope for the imminence of the end of days, she should not be near such apocalyptic technology. My feeling is she is one of those nutcakes who believes in fossil fuels but doesn’t believe in fossils.
Bob–
“…believes in fossil fuels but doesn’t believe in fossils.”
I wish I’d written that line!