Friday, May 04, 2007

A Few More Debate Observations   [Rich Lowry]

—John McCain has one of the most insincere smiles in politics. He often smiles when he'd really like to tear your head off and spit down your throat. I think that's probably what was going on with his half-smile after his "gates of hell" comment (or he might have realized how over-the-the-top it was). 

—On getting bin Laden, I'm half-way between McCain and Romney. I understand why McCain hit Romney on it, and endorse his "gates of hell" sentiment. But I also think Romney was right in what he was trying to get across—the war on terror isn't all about getting bin Laden. 

—What's Rudy's foreign policy? "Offense." I really believe it doesn't go much deeper than that. It's a good sentiment, but if you're going to be the national security candidate, it'd be advisable to know a lot more about national-security policy. 

—I wonder if part of Rudy's problem last night is that he hasn't been in many challenging environments since he ascended into American herodom after 9/11. 

—Rudy's getting hit hard on his Roe answer. But it wasn't a gaffe and it perfectly represented his view—a lukewarm, let-the-judges-figure-it-out position. It was always obvious this would cause Rudy problems. The weird thing is that I don't think it's even a sincere position. He probably doesn't care much about abortion, and I believe he doesn't want to oppose Roe mostly because he thinks it would be too confusing for people if he opposed it as a pro-choicer. So, his position is harmful to his candidacy and insincere. That's kind of crazy if you think about it. If a given position is hurting you and it's something you don't really believe, change your position!  

—Speaking of sincerity, the most insincere line routinely spoken by any candidate Democrat or Republican has to be Rudy's "I hate abortion." In the next debate, someone should ask him why exactly he hates abortion. 

—Romney's incredible polish obviously cuts both ways. It makes him seem presidential. It also makes him seem phony. I bet during one of these debates, he's going to have a Bernard Shaw-Michael Dukakis-type moment when he's going to be called upon to exhibit some raw emotion, and that will be the moment when people decide whether he's a real guy or a synthetic creation. 

—If I were a Romney adviser, I'd ban him from ever again saying "golly."

05/04 03:08 PMShare