In the Arena

The Scum Also Rises

Eugene Robinson nails it today on the quadrennial Republican scum festival that begins in August of every presidential election year. It seems to me that Britney-boating isn’t going to be as lethal to Obama as swift-boating was to Kerry–indeed, it is more embarrassing than devastating–but that doesn’t make it any less intolerable. I mean, we’ve got two wars, an energy crisis, an economy teetering on the edge of real serious trouble–and this is the campaign John McCain wants to run?

I know, I know, it’s all part of politics. And Obama is probably going to have to get down in the gutter with McCain. But it’s pretty depressing, all the same.

Good Point: Commenter 53_3 writes…

It’s time for debates!
You can’t hide behind sensless attacks when you debate, and I think Obama would come off much better in them.
He should start pushing McCain into a corner on this.

Yes. I think this has been a real mistake the Obama campaign has made. He should definitely have accepted McCain’s frequent debate offer–maybe not one a week, but one every couple of weeks. I thought it was an especially bad move not to debate in front of a military audience down at Fort Hood in Texas.

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