Kevin Drum writes:
McCain unbeatable? After eight years of a Republican presidency? Not only does that sound indefensible as a general proposition, but it doesn't sound like Bill Clinton, either. He's always struck me as the ultimate fighter, the guy who never gives up and always thinks there's got to be a way to win.
People have rather weird ideas about Bill Clinton. Remember that he didn't enter the 1988 race because he worried that the Reagan revolution hadn't yet run its course. And remember, too, that his 1992 campaign was supposed to do nothing more than build his name recognition for 1996, when he could capitalize on Cuomo's inevitable loss with the "New Democrat" schtick. That Cuomo pulled out and a recession destroyed Bush changed the playing field. But Clinton, whatever his reputation, has long sought to avoid battles he couldn't win, and entered others with no plan for victory. That's different, of course, from being optimistic or determined in battles he had no choice to fight (say, impeachment). But if you need more evidence of his timidity on important issues in the face of long odds, just peer out at his second term, or his failure to reengage health care, or, or, or...
Relatedly, I'm of the increasingly minority opinion that John McCain is virtually unbeatable in a general election. I don't know if he'll make it through the Republican primary and lord knows he could lose his temper, or get caught with a naked boy, or whatever else, but I think much of the blogosphere is bafflingly sanguine about his candidacy.
