Old Geezer Acts Normal
Rosen gets it. Why does the press by and large like McCain?
Crankiness jabs notwithstanding. Same reason, I suspect, why America will like him this fall. He’s unpolished, doesn’t follow a script, and isn’t over-packaged or over-controlled. He takes the time to talk. So when he stumbles, people tend to be more forgiving. It’s not like a wannabe Olivier just flubbed Hamlet. The old guy isn’t acting. He’s not only been around the block, he’s been downtown and up some dark alleys, and it shows. The level of handling will go up in the general, and the level of forgiveness will go way down, but the sense of familiarity will go a long way with press and voters. Wide-eyed idealism only goes so far before everyone figures out they’ve been had. Reptilian cynicism masquerading as can-do experience gives everyone the heebie jeebies. Nothing goes farther than engaging, and being comfortable in your own skin, lumpy and wrinkled though it may be.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 7:26 am on Wednesday, March 26, 2008
5 Responses to “Old Geezer Acts Normal”
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March 26th, 2008 at 10:26 am
He’s certainly likeable for the reasons you and Rosen point out, but McCain gained his credibility on foreign policy the old fashioned way - he earned it.
March 26th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Wide-eyed idealism (camouflaging the same old cynicism), and reptilian cynicism vs. grumpy old geezerism. I’ll take the geezer, thanks.
March 26th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Lets see, Black liberation theology adherent who is afraid to admit it, America’s socialist ex-wife, or grumpy Naval Aviator and former POW who sometimes gets it wrong, but tells it like it is.
Who to pick, who to pick.
March 26th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
The fact that he will occasionally whack conservatives in the head certainly helps some.
Some? Okay, a lot.
Mavericks from the right (McCain) = good.
Mavericks from the left (Lieberman) = not so good.
March 30th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Not so good? Talk about understatement. As far as the Dems are concerned Lieberman should change his name to Emmanuel Goldstein.