Dodd endorses Obama; Brooks on McCain
by Augur • Feb 26th, 2008 at 8:55 am •
Today Obama scores a major endorsement from Senator Dodd. Sen. Dodd is the first of the Democratic primary candidates to endorse. He is also among the most experienced Democrats in the Senate.
Check out today’s David Brooks love fest for Senator McCain. Billy, you’ll want to see this.
Comment by Brian on 26 February 2008 at 10:39 am:
Yeah, that Brooks column is a little silly. I think there are plenty of things to say in McCain’s defense when it comes to taking on lobbyists, and Brooks says a lot of them in this column. He particularly makes a valid point when he says, “This is, of course, the gospel of the mediocre man: to ridicule somebody who tries something difficult on the grounds that the effort was not a total success.” I think that’s fair. I think that characterizes a lot of Hillary Clinton’s odd attacks on Obama (e.g., attacking him b/c he takes money from state lobbyists when she didn’t even put forth an effort to limit money from lobbyists at all).
But at the same time, none of that is a refutation of the argument even Brooks acknowledges Democrats are making: McCain is “more tainted than his reputation suggests.” It would probably be unfair to say something like “McCain is a total whore for special interests.” But it’s absolutely not unfair to say his reputation is ridiculously inflated beyond any semblance of reality, and of course his opponents will and should point that out. Particularly when his opponent is Barack Obama, who also has a comparatively solid record on issues like lobbying reform, ethics reform, campaign finance, transparency, etc.