Monday, August 04, 2008

SOMETHING LIGHTER, BARACK OBAMA

Clearing Up the Kaine-Troversial Article Title

Regarding Friday’s controversy over the title of the Kaine piece, “Obama’s Quayle” — yes, the title was referring to the political cost of the pick of Dan Quayle to the 1988 campaign of George H. W. Bush, and wasn't meant as a slam of the former vice president. No matter how much one may like the man, his debut on the national stage was fumbled, and Quayle was never able to rise above the mockery and derision and get into a position to help the ticket. (An NRO reader echoed this point.) I submitted the title to Kathryn; while I knew some people would interpret it as a slam of Quayle (unmentioned in the piece), my aim was to offer a short title that would draw in readers, and send the message that Kaine would be Obama’s “Choice Who Is Unknown, Untested, and Who Would Immediately Face Withering Scrutiny That He Probably Would Not Be Able To Handle.” Fairly or not, there is no other vice president so strongly associated with those circumstances in modern history.

As for the question of whether pointing out Kaine’s glaring weaknesses is helping the Democrats avoid a bad choice – look, campaign advisers like Susan Rice remind us that the Obamessiah bows to no one in his understanding of this world, least of all me. And if Obama were to change his running mate selection because of an article like that, I would be pleased to see him trembling before the awesome power of a fully operational NRO.

08/04 02:52 PMShare