Department of Pots and Kettles

13.10.2008

In the op-ed Jon cited earlier, Bill Kristol slammed the McCain campaign as "overmatched" and "out-and-out dysfunctional," characterized by "strategic incoherence" and "operational incompetence."

Sounds a little bit like a certain New York Times columnist. This week, Kristol urges McCain to "drop" his attacks on Obama and perhaps "volunteer a mild mea culpa about the extent to which the presidential race has degenerated into a shouting match." Last week, of course, he was seconding Sarah Palin's recommendation that McCain "take the gloves off."

This week, Kristol says "McCain should stop unveiling gimmicky proposals every couple of days that pretend to deal with the financial crisis. Two weeks ago, he was defending "McCain’s impetuous decision to return to Washington" from critics, asserting it had been "right." (Of course, the week before that, he'd recommended the opposite course, suggesting it would be "an act of responsibility and courage" if McCain opposed the bailout.)

It's indisputable that the McCain campaign has been remarkably erratic over the past few weeks. But, if anything, this may be because it's paying a bit too much attention to Kristol's helter-skelter advice.

--Christopher Orr

Posted: Monday, October 13, 2008 12:09 PM with 9 comment(s)

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fougasseu said:

Kristol is getting out of Atlanta before the Union troops arrive. His call for a kinder, gentler Republican Party, one with better grammar, is what the loser says about the winner - let's starting acting like winners.

But what about the losers on Talk Radio who thrive on taking the low road? Stick to the low road and grow your ratings, or abandon the low road and try to rebuid the conservative movement. The war within the GOP is about to begin.

October 13, 2008 12:53 PM

The Ignorant Populist said:

I see The Weekly Standard is now aping The Sun's "Nightmare on Kinnock Street' with its very own "Nightmare on Pennsylvania Ave". Does that mean TWS = The Sun?

I also see it's posting video's of angry NY Liberals filled with hate in response to your, and others, own video's of angry Conservatives filled with hate.

Is there any, ANY, media in the US that isn't patronising partisan, propaganda?

October 13, 2008 12:56 PM

purcellneil said:

McCain has indeed been erratic, but surely he's not so stupid that he would turn to Kristol for advice.

October 13, 2008 12:57 PM

appleton said:

Regarding Kristol, Bob Dylan's famous lyric applies:

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"

October 13, 2008 12:58 PM

frippo said:

Here's an eerily relevant TV clip from a certain campy superhero show of decades past. Apologies if someone here has already posted this in another thread:

www.youtube.com/watch

October 13, 2008 1:09 PM

aduncanson said:

It seems like Kristol is just telling McCain that it is time for yet another Hail Mary.

October 13, 2008 2:08 PM

ejbenjamin said:

The NY Times editorial board lost all remaining credibility when it hired a transparently partisan tool like Kristol. Nobody even pretends that Kristol is offering an intellectually honest opinion-- the starting assumption in any discussion of his columns is that he's a mouthpiece of the right-wing machine.

What service is the Times providing its readers by publishing this troll?

October 13, 2008 2:52 PM

adaglas said:

Good God, the McCain camp clearly hired the Penguin as a strategist. That's scary.

October 13, 2008 3:10 PM

Political Animal said:

BLAMING KRISTOL FOR PALIN.... There's been quite a bit of animosity of late between the McCain campaign and Bill Kristol. This wasn't at all expected, given that Kristol has been a McCain cheerleader for years. But the two aren't getting...

October 16, 2008 2:47 PM