I love me my Shakespeare's Sister. And I don't love me my John McCain. So how come her post explaining how "wonderfully easy to disassemble into a collection of putrid little pieces" he is leaves me more convinced of his potential popularity?
Obviously, John McCain isn't going to get the thirty percent of Americans who are genuine liberals. And he probably won't get the next ten percent who hard hardcore Democrats. But that leaves 60 percent, plus or minus, who look in play. And I think I'm actually understating his appeal. Let's go through some of it.
Shakes begins with McCain's craven decision to support teaching ID in schools. What a panderer. But a panderer to the 82 percent of Americans who believe only creationism, only intelligent design, or all three theories should be taught in schools. She doesn't like his loyalty to Bush, but I'm unconvinced that that won't be a plus, given that McCain has simultaneously been one of Bush's only effective legislative opponents, even if the legislation often wasn't good (McCain-Feingold, the torture amendment, etc). His hawkishness and apparent strategy of telling Sunni and Shiites to "cut the bullshit" doesn't strike me as wise, but since when are the American people quick to punish tough-talking bluster in their politicians?
She then goes onto his support for Arizona's marriage baiting amendment, another thing I don't like, but which has passed in state after state. And given that McCain voted against the FMA, he can plausibly argue that he holds the most popular and evasive position: Leave it up to the states. And on, and on. To my eyes, Shakes offers a list of reasons liberals shouldn't like him, but most all seem to be the sort of benighted issues where the mass middle disagrees with, say, me, and will probably go with McCain.
Again, I want to be very clear here: I do not like John McCain. I do not like him in the Senate, I do not like him as Prezznit. I do not like the way he votes, I do not like what he denotes. But I fear that the exact issue areas that generate my distaste will make him popular. It's become liberal CW to assume that he can be easily dismantled in an election because he's not a true maverick, but when he begins parading around all his global warming legislation, and his willingness to let Medicare centrally bargain drugs, and his historical campaign finance support, and all the pundits begin touting him as the last man who could heal our bitterly divided polity, well, I'm just not convinced that all our distaste for him will translate into electoral rejection. That said, I dearly, dearly, want to be wrong. And, as Robert Farley argues, history suggests that I well might be. But it remains my belief that hoping McCain will prove more like the stiff Republican patricians of the 1990's rather than the, well, John McCain of 2000, is overly optimistic.
