Straight Talk

John McCain, seeking to redirect the conversation in Florida away from the economy, about which he knows nothing and has little to say, back to his perceived strength of national security decides to tell a whopper about Mitt Romney's record. I have no particular desire to defend Romney, who's a liar and a buffoon himself, but one would hope that McCain's affection for such tactics might enter the media consciousness about what kind of "straight talker" he is. On that note, good for Jeffrey Toobin.

Comments

This is just bad luck on McCain's part. You can pick pretty much any issue at random and chances are good Mitt has held multiple positions on that topic.

Unfortunately, McCain managed to find one that Mitt somehow resisted his inner flip flop on.

In either case, like most progressives, in this Mitt-McCain matchup I'm just rooting for injuries.

Posted by cd6 | January 27, 2008 5:33 PM

Toobin souds like he's copying Ed Schultz's comments that Bill Clinton was lying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-X9tEOp19o

Posted by Mike | January 27, 2008 5:35 PM

A sure sign that McCain will win the primary: He's in a strategic position where he can lie about the other guys and himself. We've seen it repeatedly over the last week.

All the establishment GOP candidates do it (Bush I, Bush II, Bush III) because they know they can get away with it. That Romney has actually stopped lying so much, and hardly ever has lied about McCain, shows me that he will undoubtedly lose. You don't win a primary, particularly a GOP primary, without lying about everything.

Posted by Byron | January 27, 2008 6:18 PM

As everyone knows, McCain has set a deadline for withdrawal himself.

Admittedly, the deadline is in 2108 . . .

Posted by rea | January 27, 2008 6:21 PM

Well Matt, I too have come around and believe Mitt may be less risky than the increasingly irrational McCain. He is a nit wit on the economy, but worse, McCain has made clear that he will make little George look like a fucking pussy when it comes to massive, preemptive war, colossal harm to US strategic and foreign interests: “Fuck it, killing and war is just fun, more fun than popping a hand full of Viagra and going at it in the sack”.

But you are also correct, Romney is a liar and a buffoon himself.

Any smarty pants at think tanks thinking it’s time to review the risks inherent in this election system and the presidency in this post modern era?

Posted by larry | January 27, 2008 6:42 PM

McCain knew just enough economics to marry a rich woman. Why learn more?

Posted by jimbo | January 27, 2008 6:47 PM

Is McCain really tuned into the hierarchy of the Pentagon on a personal level? His bio and his shtick scream that he is but I've never heard a single good word about McCain come from military sources.

It's poorly understood how much the brass from top to bottom has disliked to hated this war. Yet McCain has what remains of his stiffy for this war and any war. Thus presenting the possibility of the most militaristic president ever, but without the military on his side.

I do believe that McCain would govern as a militarist. A disaster of the highest order.

Posted by rapier | January 27, 2008 6:51 PM

Is McCain really tuned into the hierarchy of the Pentagon on a personal level? His bio and his shtick scream that he is but I've never heard a single good word about McCain come from military sources.

All his father's and grandfather's friends are long since dead of old age. Apart from being shot down and taken prisoner, McCain's own career was . . . undistinguished.

Posted by rea | January 27, 2008 7:10 PM

Despite what some say, McCain would be the easiest to beat in november. He's old, he doesn't know much about anything and when he talks about Iraq it's just embarrassing- walking around a market with 100 troops and helicopters guarding him and marvelling about how it's "just like home", saying it'd be great if we stayed there for a century or more etc.

Posted by mad6798j | January 27, 2008 7:11 PM

McCain is senile.

Posted by Econobuzz | January 27, 2008 8:21 PM

The McCain venom is getting a little old, I think. You're right, he doesn't know much of anything about economics, and he's admitted as much. But surely you don't expect him to emphasize that fact during the campaign? He knows enough to support free trade and sensible immigration reform, which is more than can be said for the rest of the GOP field. And there's something to be said for the Tyler Cowen view that economics is well down the list of important qualities in a president, given the extent of his influence over foreign policy vs. domestic spending (especially with a hostile Congress).

You act like there is no rational reason to support McCain. As a libertarian, I feel equally disenfranchised by both parties, so I vote for whoever's not going to control Congress, in hopes of compromise meaning minimal bad legislation. And McCain is both more electable, and way better on immigration, than Romney. And honestly, I don't think there's much room between the Republican candidates on foreign policy.

Posted by Amber | January 27, 2008 8:50 PM

McCain also wants to direct discussion away from any consideration of a benchmarks-connected road map for getting out of Iraq, which I would guess a lot of Republicans would like to hear about because of the cost and the strain on the military.

Anyone who wants to entertain such thoughts is accused of "surrender", of Munich-like "appeasement". What an ass the man is.

Posted by bob h | January 28, 2008 7:35 AM