Ramesh does as good a job as can be expected laying out
the case for McCain (subscription required). His claim that
McCain's chances of winning the nomination are all-but-certain is
weak, and I don't buy that McCain's anti-First Amendment crusade is
anywhere near its endpoint. As for Ramesh's
McCain interview, Jon Chait is absolutely
right:
This is just a hilarious window into the process: A
conservation between somebody who is deeply informed and passionate
about a subject that he considers to have enormous moral weight and
a politician who knows almost nothing about the issue and cares
even less. It's obvious that McCain's thinking throughout the
interview is entirely confined to the question of what he can say
to avoid displeasing his questioner (and, by extension, social
conservatives.)
Are you willing to ban cloning? Sure. Will you support the
Brownback bill? Yeah, I think I'm a co-sponsor. Or maybe not.
Whatever. Can I have your vote now?
This kind of box-checking goes on all the time, in both parties.
It's just hilarious to see it in real time.