That’s Bush’s advantage over a generic Democrat in one of the most conservative states in the country. Not encouraging for the White House.
TAKING THE TEST: So I took Dan Drezner’s cue and went to the Presidential Match Guide, which asks various questions about public policy and then determines whom you should vote for. I was a little taken aback. It’s probably my liberal instincts on things like the death penalty, gay rights, and immigration, but George W. Bush ended up my last choice – after every single Democrat. He’s behind Al Sharpton! Of course, they didn’t have a question like: do you think a race-baiting demagogue would be a good president? Or: does the mental stability of former generals play a role in your decision? Still, I’m struck that I turn out to be such a Democrat on the issues. For the record: my computer-generated preferences were in descending order: Lieberman 100 percent, Kerry 95, Clark 90, Edwards 88, Sharpton 86, Dean 83, Kucinich 76, Bush 61. I think this basically debunks the entire exercise. Or else it’s more evidence that I am one conflicted political animal. But then you knew that already.
PICKING A NIT: I’ve wrestled for a few days with whether I should post a correction about my comments on Josh Marshall’s recent review essay on American “imperialism.” A few readers have pointed out that, despite my assertion to the contrary, there is too a mention of 9/11 in Marshall’s essay. He refers to it once at the beginning of the piece, and incidentally once thereafter – so I’m an idiot. Can I read? Nyah, nyah, nyah, etc. Of course, I am aware that there is a single chronological mention of the date in an essay of several thousand words. I wasn’t engaged in linguistic computer analysis of the piece. My point was and is that the event plays no role whatever in Marshall’s analysis. It might as well not have happened. You can make your own mind up about the piece, which is why I provided a link. But my reading, I think, is a completely cogent one. Now technically speaking, there is one direct mention of 9/11 in a piece of several thousand words. For the record, I feel bound to correct that. I also made a dumber error that I do not proffer as an excuse, just an explanation: I intended “nary” to mean “barely.” My original version of the item – on my draft document sheet – says simply ‘not.’ Realizing that was technically not true, I changed it to “nary” on the blog, thinking that would cover it. Not according to the dictionary. My bad. Here endeth the penance. My nit is hereby picked.
The Dish 