Lileks To The Rescue

Not surprisingly, James Lileks says it better than I ever could:

"...Went home, slammed a few cups of coffee, did the Hewitt show. We had a semi dust-up over McCain. I do not share all his opinions on the man. I do not share all his opinions about Romney – although tonight I think I finally realized why I can’t get interested in Romney beyond a general appreciation of his skill and experience. When he talks, he doesn’t move the needle. He’s like one of those radio guys who has an absolutely consistent tone and inflection and pace; the parameters of his pitch don’t change. This is coming down to a contest of personalities, as usual, and even if you don’t like McCain’s briny persona, he has more personality than Mitt, and it’s genuine. Genuinely spiky, or genuinely engaged, or genuinely egomaniacal, or genuinely whatever you wish, but it’s real. I understand the dislike of the fellow and the distrust of his positions, but some of the vitriol splashed his way is over the top, in that snagging-your-pants-on-the-crest-of-Everest sense. This is the only election I can recall where a large portion of the grass roots seems to insist that hatred of the putative nominee is the true test of ideological fealty – and a path to success down the road. I mean, imagine you’ve just joined a group, and the leader says “We have a plan to win. The first thing we need to do is lose.”

Actually, I think Walter Mondale may have used the same playbook, but that was a long time ago.

I link to Hugh Hewitt on this page, not because I always agree with him on the issues (frequently, I don't), but because he challenges me - when I don't agree with Hewitt but I can't formulate a logical response in my own mind, then I know I need to do more thinking.

But in the past week, Hewitt appears to have thrown reason out the window; it's "put Romney over the top," 24/7. Each succeeding post sounds a little more desperate than the last - to the point where he now sounds like the guy at a party who's had one too many, but still he thinks he's charming. Any post now, I expect an analysis of how the Cleveland Indians actually beat the Red Sox, and won last year's World Series.