Over at Time, Mike Scherer responds to my criticisms of his article on the "fuzziness" of the Obama and McCain tax plans. His response makes some fair points, but in a sense, misses my argument. The first two sentences of his article sum up his point neatly: "Almost by definition, candidate sound bites are meant to obscure as much as they reveal. And nowhere is that more apparent than when politicians are talking about their economic policies." In other words, those cynical politicians are bullshitting you. Scherer reprises that argument in his blog post. "The cynicism in the story is directed at the campaigns, not at voters," he says. "I am not trying to get anyone to avoid policy. My point is that the campaigns are organized to obfuscate and deceive voters."
