The Spectacle Blog
According to George Packer, Ken “Cakewalk” Adelman is the latest Obamacon. Aside from my paleo complaints about neocons playing both sides and trying to rehabilitate their reputations at the expense of the rest of the right’s, something else jumps out from Adelman’s endorsement: the usual Obamacon failure to make a substantive or detailed, policy-based argument for Barack Obama. In his e-mail to Packer, Adelman wrote:
Why [am I voting for Obama], since my views align a lot more with McCain’s than with Obama’s? And since I truly dread the notion of a Democratic president, Democratic House, and hugely Democratic Senate?
Primarily for two reasons, those of temperament and of judgment.
When the economic crisis broke, I found John McCain bouncing all over the place. In those first few crisis days, he was impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird. Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I’ve concluded that that’s no way a president can act under pressure.
Second is judgment. The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.
That decision showed appalling lack of judgment. Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office-I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency. But that selection contradicted McCain’s main two, and best two, themes for his campaign-Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick.
I sure hope Obama is more open, centrist, sensible-dare I say, Clintonesque-than his liberal record indicates, than his cooperation with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid portends. If not, I will be even more startled by my vote than I am now.
Other than Adelman’s support for the Iraq war, it doesn’t sound much different from Christopher Buckley’s endorsement. John McCain’s campaign and Sarah Palin give him the heebie-jeebies; Barack Obama has a nifty temperament; maybe Obama will govern in a more responsible manner than his record and campaign promises suggest. I think temperament and judgment are important, and I certainly can understand conservative opposition to McCain. But it’s kind of rich to hear people who use such subjective, evidence-free criteria for their presidential choices lecture talk about the importance of reasoned judgment.
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Bill | 10.20.08 @ 7:33PM
I guess they Hope that Obama will Change. Good luck with that.
Steve | 10.20.08 @ 8:28PM
This is blather and nonsense about Palin not having enough experience especially in light of Obabam having even less expereince. Why don't the people who despise or evwen just dislike her admit that it is because she is a practicing, Born-Again Christian? At least that would be honest and they would be taken more seriously.
Shannon Rayman| 10.20.08 @ 8:45PM
Jimmy Carter was also a born again Christian. That's not it. I agree that these decisions are profoundly NOT policy based; but warm fuzzy feeling based, which is bs. But in no way do I believe that opposition to the McCain/Palin ticket has anything to do with the fact that Palin is a practicing, born again Christian. They all supported GW, didn't they? McCain's temperament AND extremely poor campaign management are definite concerns. And from a policy standpoint; while I believe McCain the better candidate, by far; there is an all too real possibility that Palin will be President. The fact that a Palin Presidency is completely unacceptable has nothing whatsoever to do with her Christianity. Personally, (and I'll get a wave of attacks for this, I am just giving my feelings as a lifelong conservative Republican) it has to do with her being on the scene a mere 7 weeks? and being caught in blatant lie after lie; and her complete disregard for what this country is about; which is not divisiveness, but unity.
moodyscott | 10.20.08 @ 11:06PM
we have just two weeks before americans goes to the polls to elect the next president of the united states .and i predict that the american people will make the right decision because they really have a clear choice in this election do we as a nation want to move forward as a nation into the 21st century or stay stuck in the pass 8 years of george bush and his necons fanatic s.my choice for president is obama and the reason is really a no brainer.he wants to bring unity to our nation which is so needed at this time in our history.pundints keep talking about experienc .stop and think out of all the american presidents thats been elected how much experience did they have to be commander in chief .obama has something that so special his cool judgement and his love for his fellow americans regardless of ones race color or creed or your faith .obama puts forth a plan that makes sense while mccain and his running mate sarah palin is promoting hate,fear,and deviding us as a free nation this is the time in our history when we must come together .pundints also keeps bringing up race in this election well all of you race haters will be in for a real awakening because white americans who love there countrywill vote for obama because he is right for america at this time in our history his election will bring our allies closer to us and peace, respect and good will throughout the world ..to john mccain and his staffof negative supporters please be aware that you want be elected.it want happen for you the only way he can win in my opinion is attempt to still the election and plaease be awrare thjatv the american people want let this happen again no more .as for the real god loving people if you really believe in god you want associate yourself with those who is useing and if you support this you are really a follower of the evil one not the true living god. the god concept to divide us with hate and deciet a true beliver would not back the people who preaches such hate .so make your choice because your life depends on it .god bless the world god bless the next president of our great country obama joe biden08
Cynical Observer| 10.21.08 @ 12:28AM
The people who cite Obama's temperament as a reason to support him should remember that the current occupant of the Oval Office has also been outwardly cool in many crises -- to the point of absurdity -- and nonetheless failed to do much of anything about them. You rarely see George Bush get outwardly ruffled by anything, but so what? Being outwardly cool does not equal competent. Bush -- and I write as a conservative Republican here, which you can believe or not -- spent years chanting "stay the course" as Iraq near-collapsed; spent the better part of a week barely reacting to Katrina; let the southern border be over-run by literally millions of people who colonized large swathes of the southwest and imposed de facto bilingualism; took no discernable action about leak after leak of national security material, complained mildly about issues ranging from out of control spending to the need to drill more oil at home but never made enough of a fuss to arouse the public; and most recently, popped up every now and then to utter Greenspan-like platitudes about the financial crisis while his appointees flailed around apparently making things worse. Hasn't this been one of the key criticisms of Bush, that he doesn't react in a crisis and lets things spin out of control? Wouldn't we perhaps have solved more of our problems if he had been more vocal and aggressive, had gotten excited enough about something to move the public to demand action? Obama has been outwardly cool, but he hasn't offered any useful answers to anything. He presumably has had the same temperament for all or most of his adult life, yet it hasn't enabled him to actually do anything anywhere. "Conservatives" who support him because of his temperament do not want any major disturbance in their comfy existence. Once you've made it in the world of pundits, think tanks, columnists, etc. it's a very nice life, whether in Georgetown, NYC, Boston, northern Virginia, or wherever and -- key point -- that's true across the political spectrum, whichever party is in power at any time. Nobody wants to lose access or go out and actually have to earn a living somewhere. These 'conservatives for Obama' all seem to be reciting the same two or three talking points, which could be and probably were copied from some MSM columnist. They are no different from the 'moderate Republicans' who have contributed so much to the national and party plight; they most value preserving their own personal status quo in the feeding trough of DC and all its manifestations, from actual positions within various administrations to the cushy posts in think tanks, appearances on the talk shows (you need to be on these regularly to exist, as the reaction to Sarah Palin shows) , etc. To these folks, who infest both sides of the aisle and all parts of the feeding trough, the entire political process is not about governing the US , it's just a debating society on a massive scale.
David| 10.21.08 @ 3:02AM
Oh ok, I get it. This is a rightwingnut rag.
Mark Aster| 10.21.08 @ 5:28AM
I love all the Obamanuts disguised as "Conservatives" leaving comments on this article. Man up and admit that you're just doing Barry's bidding online and stop hiding behind b.s. cyber labels in some lame effort to make folk think "wow, there must be a groundswell of Republicans/Conservatives that love Obama!" There are African-Americans such as myself who don't drink the loopy leftist Kool-Aid of Obamania, just because it comes better packaged as a shiny box of "red whine" rather than the brown-paper bag, package store Ripple of the Farrakhan-Sharpton-CBC-identity politics cadre. Rush Limbaugh rightly categorized the endorsements of Adelman and others for what they are: statist elitism in service to their own. Sadly, all my fellow Kool-Aid drinking African-Americans will be worse off under an Obama Administration than a McCain. The White Left has a long and documented history of pimping and bitch-slapping ignorant African-Americans since the early 20th Century. Most of this has been documented by blacks who themselves were Marxist at one time, in works as diverse as Richard Wright's second autobiography "American Hunger" to the writings of Harold Cruse and Thomas Sowell. The class dynamic that Limbaugh spoke of is readily seen in the whole ACORN conspiracy. Obama and the White Left utilize the poorest elements of the black underclass (yet again) to do their dirty deeds, engendering resentment among law-abiding and generally NON-racist white Americans in elections. These same ignorant, unintelligent Obamanots are then left out to hang and dry after Barry O and the Ayers encourage them to engage in lawbreaking and massive voter fraud through the promise of a check and a warm pair of drawers. When the cops, Feds and others come to investigate, Barry O and the Ayers Set claim plausible denial and guess who gets stuck with the jail sentences (it ain't Barry O and the White Elitist Left)? Sooner or later, the blind followers of charismatic personality worship will get smacked hard by reality. It was only a thousand who tragically learned their lesson too late under Jim Jones in the late 1970s. It will be HUNDREDS of thousands (or more) under the Barry O regime.
james23| 10.21.08 @ 10:29AM
"obamanuts" Make that nut, not "nuts." One troll, many usernames.
Jaysephus| 10.21.08 @ 10:48AM
"I’ll get a wave of attacks for this, I am just giving my feelings as a lifelong conservative Republican) it has to do with her being on the scene a mere 7 weeks? and being caught in blatant lie after lie; and her complete disregard for what this country is about; which is not divisiveness, but unity." That has to be one of the most ignorant, disingenuous statements I have read. And it is a red flag that a) the poster has no idea what they are talking about and b) their "life long" Republicanism suggests they are about two years old. Please, list out the blatant lies or do not waste our time. (And a link to Daily Koz does not count.) At least make a cogent argument we can bandy about. The talking point drive-by's are very tiresome.
J David| 10.21.08 @ 11:44AM
A year-and-a-half as the most popular gov in the 50 states, and as the largest producer of energy of all of them, and as THE MOST "executive experience" of ALL of the other candidates put together, is not "on the the scene a mere 7 weeks" other than as a national candidate(which makes her more "pure" as an outside the Beltway non-crook). Some people pretending to be conservatives need to learn how to count...
Shannon R.| 10.21.08 @ 10:38PM
For the LOVE OF GOD you guys are paranoid! I've already voted... for McCain. I just pray to God that he makes it through and Sarah stays in the Senate, "running it", or "whatever Vice Presidents Do". This is the problem with the GOP. We claim to be Reagan's party, now we're so twisted we're attacking each other. I think Obama is a poser, he's used everyone in his wake to climb to the top, he distances himself from anyone who will make him look bad. But unfortunately, Senator McCain made a bad decision with the Palin pick. And I have the right to feel that way, as do lots of others, without getting eaten alive. Seriously. And don't get me started on Huffington and Kos; THAT's the "b.s.", not someone politely stating their opposition to the statement that the issue with S.P. is that she's a born again Christian? Come on! You know the lies, if you choose to overlook them, that is your prerogative.
1. She did actively lobbied for the "bridge to nowhere", and by saying she said "thanks but no thanks" she failed to mention that she KEPT the money. She said "if we want a bridge we'll build it ourselves", implying they'd buy their own bridge.
2. She said the investigation proved she did not abuse her power, but the report stated that they found her guilty of abuse of power and violating the ethics act. If you're going to lie, why would you lie about something that is clearly a lie? And don't say she said she wasn't guilty of firing Monegan, she was allowed to do that, but she said she was proven innocent of abuse of power (period).
3. She told Gibson she had never said that climate change was not due to humans (and I think there's plenty of evidence to support it's not) but she had said she didn't believe it was caused by humans.
4. She said we were at pre-surge troop levels, and Carl Cameron reported that that was not even remotely close.
It doesn't matter; this whole "gotcha" media thing is ridiculous, you think Cheney is scared of reporters?
Maybe she'll come around, but I just can't get people not seeing her for who she is. Blind ambition and blind devotion is never a good plan, and challenging things are what SHOULD make them better. But apparently that's not o.k. here, because it's more fun to attack each other than suck it up and call a spade a spade. Spend more time looking at your own paranoia and worry about your real enemies. All the time you spend attacking each other you could be spend canvassing, making phone calls, helping people vote early (we have a van, and our precinct put out door tags to our registered Republicans, and I've had 15 calls since this weekend, and have taken 10 folks, all retired, over to vote. It was the greatest experience.... one guy hadn't voted in YEARS because his kids wouldn't take him and he didn't trust absentee ballots. We need to win, guys, and gals, and we're not going to do it by destroying each other.
Shannon R.| 10.21.08 @ 10:41PM
Ooops, missed J David's comment. She's been on the scene for 7 weeks to the MAJORITY OF THE US. Most of the people I've met at rallies and working had no idea who she was until the convention. So the "scene" which I'm referring to is the Presidential Campaign scene. It's a big slap in the Dem's face to have a woman on our ticket, I just wish it was a different one.
louis vuitton | 4.26.10 @ 10:08PM
UPDATE: How can you look at the subject line of this blog post without thinking of Meat Loaf's "Paradise By The Dashboard Light"?
Meanwhile, some other canada goose conservatives seem to be contented that her hawkish answers suggest that her heart is in the right place. But that's the same assumption conservatives made about President Bush, and look how that turned out.