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15 Aug 2008 01:02 pm

Why I Still Like McCain

This will get me grief, and I'm nervous about McCain's foreign policy instincts given the past seven years, and I know he's been running a sleazy campaign, but I like the guy, and I like him for his orneriness. Here's a great summary of why:

If you want a lousy interview with McCain, ask about his wife—not for any lack of feeling, I suspect, but for lack of words about feelings. His old-school way of expressing affection? If he likes you, and you work for him, you're an "incompetent jerk''; if he likes you, and you're a bunch of reporters writing down his bons mots, it's "What do you want, you little jerks?''; and if you're a kid who's just asked about his age, and he wants to show that sure, fine, he likes you anyway, it's "Thanks for the question, you little jerk. You're drafted.''

Maybe it's my upbringing, in an all-boys British high school, where this kind of banter was quite normal. But there's a great deal about McCain's humor, sense of fun, emotional reticence - and not the dry drunk psychic shutdown of Bush - that appeals to people. Even his obvious emotionalism in a situation like Georgia - which may not make him the steadiest commander-in-chief. The coolness of Obama is hard to latch onto.

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