Hauling Out Talleyrand One More Time

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02 Nov 2008 04:45 pm

Ross misses Rove:

Allowing that this was a hard time for a Republican to run for President, and allowing that Barack Obama might well have won the White House no matter what McCain did, it's still the case that this has been a lousy, lousy conservative campaign for the Presidency. (Poulos' line about how it's been consistently "flying beneath the pride of conservatives and Republicans" seems like a good way of putting it.) I've defended the McCain folks against the liberal hysteria that treats this as the Most Evil Right-Wing Campaign Ever, and I'd defend them again. But that famous line from Talleyrand - it was worse than a crime; it was a mistake - seems applicable here: It's been worse than an evil campaign; it's been a dumb one.

Who said dumb and evil were mutually exclusive categories? I'll tell you one thing: Bob Dole (whom I endorsed in 1996) lost his election badly. But he didn't lose his soul or his reputation. That's the difference with McCain.

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