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Is McCain a Double-Edged Sword for Democrats?

February 27, 2008

Writing in Time magazine, Michael Kinsley ’72, J.D. ’78, says Democrats like presidential candidate John McCain too much for their own good.

He rails against Republicans for rallying behind someone so palatable to liberals:

In a properly functioning two-party democracy, each party is supposed to nominate a person whom members of the other party will detest. Ordinarily this is not a problem….Indeed, since Ronald Reagan…the parties haven’t even liked their own candidates all that much.

Kinsley, who identifies himself as a lifelong Democrat, says he will vote against McCain, but the prospect pains him. Noting that McCain falls well to the left of his party on many issues, Kinsley asks, “For heaven’s sake, if the Republicans want to keep the White House that badly, why don’t they just nominate Hillary Clinton and be done with it?”

He thinks the dynamics of this year’s race may give McCain a good shot at the presidency:

McCain is widely admired among Democrats, and many Democratic Hillary haters will be happy to vote for him. By contrast, there is no constituency for Hillary among Republicans who can’t stand McCain. Nor, for that matter, will many of them vote for Barack Obama.

Read the rest here.