Katha Pollitt weighs in on left-leaning male pundits who swoon for Republican candidates. In 2000, she says, it was John McCain. But in 2008:
This time round, the so-called-liberal-media men's Republican sweetheart is Mike Huckabee. He plays the bass guitar! He cares! He's not a total maniac like the other evangelical Christians even though he doesn't believe in evolution and probably thinks you're going to Hell! Ari Berman declares him "humble, decent, and funny." In The New Yorker, Rick Hertzberg is surprised to find himself charmed: Huckabee is "funny," "reassuringly ordinary" in appearance and demeanor, "curiously unthreatening" in affect; he speaks "calmly" and declines to serve up "red meat" on abortion, immigration, the Clintons, and other issues dear to rightwingers' hearts.
Pollitt cites several writers who have written glowing accounts of Huckabee's lovable traits. Never mind the fact that he wants to create Constitutional amendments banning gay marriage and abortion. He's down to earth -- even if he thinks the earth is only 6,000 years old!
Perhaps male pundits are all masochists, as Pollitt posits. But in reality, these pundits glowing over Huckabee probably do find his social views fairly abhorrent. I think the appeal is really Huckabee's "folksy charm," which the press corps always falls for. A better comparison than McCain would be Bill Clinton or George Bush, who both got glowing attention from the press (especially male pundits) for being the guy they'd most like to have a beer with. After months of grueling campaigning, bickering, and horse-race, pundits are desperate to identify with the candidate on a personal level, and male pundits seem to best identify with the aw-shucks, decent guy's guy. Unfortunately, these guys are the ones that provide the narrative for everyone else. --Kate Sheppard
