Duh, not really. I've written an awful lot of critical commentary about John McCain the last few years. My latest TRB column looks at the silver lining around the cloud. I ask whether, after he has abandoned so many progressive stances, there's anything at all left to like about John McCain. My answer is a very tepid yes.
As I expected, some members of the netroots went ballistic. Daily Kos poster "BarbinMD" summarizes my column thusly:
Chait would rather have a beer with John McCain, so let's elect him.
And then, Emily Litella-style, she goes on a long rant based on that premise.
Except, nowhere in my column do I suggest that we should elect John McCain. And if my many, many other attacks on McCain that didn't make it sufficiently obvious that I don't think we should elect him, I specifically write in this column, "I certainly wouldn't recommend that anybody go so far as to vote for him." I thought that was clear enough that nobody would read my column as a McCain endorsement. I don't know, maybe I should have used smaller words.
--Jonathan Chait