Reach Out, Aisle Be There
In an LA Times editorial "The Real McCain," Eric Alterman and George Zornick claim, as the sub-head puts it, "The media portray him as a GOP maverick. He's really a die-hard conservative."
Well, I guess this depends on what you think "GOP maverick" means. Sure, he generally votes conservative, but anyone who follows politics can name at least four or five times he went across the aisle on major issues and really annoyed conservatives. (For that matter, I can think of several times Bush has done the same thing.) If McCain's such a "die-hard" conservative, why do die-hard conservatives hold their nose when they vote for him, if they vote for him at all?
Obama, on the other hand, for all his claims that he wants to bring everyone together, is, as far as I can tell, a die-hard liberal. Unless I missed it, he has never crossed the aisle on any major issue. (In fact, I believe that's the reason he won the nomination.) I can't even think of anything he's said where he's gone against his party in any important way.
As a value, "reaching out" is fairly meaningless. I just want a politician who supports good programs and opposes bad ones. But as long as voters care about this sort of stuff, we should at least be clear on which candidate is most likely to surprise us.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:54 AM
1 Comments:
Perception matters more than reality. This is my wholly unresearched and unsubstantiated take:
"Maverick" conveys the fact that the actor will do the things necessary to get things done- regardless of ideology. Most voters, not being true believers or ideologues (currently), and also currently approving policies which are styled as "liberal" and not those which are styled "conservative" (whatever that means at any particular point in time), positively view McCain's "Maverick" appeal- making him seem a "common sense" candidate. (Obama hammering the "die hard conservative" nature of McCain is designed to undercut this)
On the other side, Obama, since his party adopts positions which are currently more popular (probably more because they are the opposite of the current admin's unpopular policies and perception that "things are bad")does not necessarily get the same bump for fighting his own party. Obama gets more support by hewing to his party's currently more popular positions. Nonetheless, he will also benefit from speaking as if he is more of a nonpartisan. Ideological bickering is perceived as one of the current evils in Washington that needs to be solved.
Of McCain will counter by portraying Obama as a partisan.
In fact "liberal," "left," "conservative, " or "right" are probably more loaded negative terms right now than any specific policies to which those terms might apply.
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