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Corroboration on fears about John McCain

By Jack M. Balkin

I must say I was much relieved, given my fears that I had indeed gone over the top in my criticism of Senator McCain, to read some reactions to McCain my regular and more sober pundits. Consider John Judis, in a column tellingly entitled "Putting Country Last":

I never doubted . . . that McCain's motives in pushing America into war were honorable. Nor do I question his motives in pushing Georgia into NATO or in rattling the sabers against Iran. I question his judgment and wouldn't want him as president. But I do question his motives in inserting himself into the attempt by the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, and the Congressional leadership (excluding the usual suspects from the Republican House delegation) to fashion a plan for preventing a Wall Street crash. He has shown a willingness to put the success of his campaign ahead of the country's welfare. And it's not over a relatively minor matter--like offshore drilling or creationism in schools.

I know there are economists, some of whom I respect, that think this financial crisis will blow over, that it's a crisis in the financial superstructure that won't ultimately affect the country's industrial base. I have never understood the post-1980 stock market very well, but I know something about economic history, and I know that at a certain point, a financial crisis can get out of hand and lead to a credit crunch that will depress the industrial base and set off a vicious cycle of unemployment. I also know a little bit about international economic history--enough at least to appreciate what would happen if nations began to abandon the dollar the way they abandoned the British pound eighty years ago. As Paul Krugman--who has been writing about the mortgage mess for years--has argued, it is not worth taking the chance that this crisis will blow over.That's a long way of saying that it is simply unpatriotic--it's an insult to flag, country, and all the things that McCain claims to hold dear--for McCain to hold this financial crisis hostage to his political ambitions. McCain doesn't know a thing about finance and is no position to help work out an agreement [emphasis added]. If we do suffer a serious bank run, or a run on the dollar, it can be laid directly at his feet. As I said to friends last night, if McCain had been president at this point, I would have wanted to impeach him.

But Judis is a Democrat, as is E.J. Dionne, who wrote a caustic column on McCain's "Crashing the Party":

McCain jumped into this game in the fourth quarter. Many of the players on the field, caked in mud and exhausted but determined as they approach the goal line,wonder why this new would-be quarterback has suddenly appeared in their midst.

McCain could yet play a constructive role by rounding up votes from restive Republicans. Oddly, the biggest obstacle to a bill may not be Democrats but Republicans who refuse to go along with their own president. And--yes, there is an election coming--Democrats will be wary of going forward unless a substantial number of Republicans join them.

But McCain's boisterous intervention--and particularly his grandstanding on the debate--was less a presidential act than the tactical ploy of a man worried that his chances of becoming president might be slipping away..

So consider Peggy Noonan's column in this morning's Wall Street Journal, entitled "Party of One." She presumably can't be castigated as someone unsympathetic with the Republcian Party and its interests. She should have a certain "authority," so to speak, with our Republican friends: So consider the opening paragraphs of her piece:

The impetuous young man threw the long ball, suspending his campaign and flying to Washington to save the day. The more measured and less excitable older man said easy does it, let's unite and issue a statement together. The young man seemed decisive if tightly wound, the older man unruffled, if cloudier in his remarks.

Wait, I have it wrong, it's the older man who was dramatic and impetuous, the younger man who was deliberative and temperate!

What a week, with all categories upside-down and out the window.

How does the McCain gambit play out? Nothing wrong with his decision: We are in a crisis, why not return to Washington and try to help? But it's also true that in moving unilaterally, and claiming at the same time he was just trying to make things less tackily political, he made things more political, or rather more partisan.

Ms. Noonan also had some interesting things to say about Sarah Palin, but, for once, I'll focus only on one thing at a time. In any event, I feel better about my own judgments about Sen. McCain's character and his fitnes to be our president/constitutional dictator.

Full post as published by Balkinization on September 26, 2008 (boomark / email).

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