DON’T RUSH ME

National Review’s Kathryn Lopez made the following remark before my spring break: “I do wish Sullivan would save time and come out for Kerry now. In just a matter of time he will come up with the rationalizations, but it’s taking him painfully long to get on with it. I’m betting all Kerry will have to do is say that he’s against terrorism.” I’m mystified by this remark. It has always seemed to me that a political writer is not necessarily partisan. Some of us are actually trying to figure out who’s the better candidate for the next four years and haven’t made our minds up already. This time in the last election cycle, I was for McCain before I was for Gore. It took till the fall for me to realize where Gore was headed and narrowly opted for W. And one of the unique joys of a blog like this is that a writer can actually think out loud in real time together with the readers. Is that a crime? Am I supposed to stop thinking at all? Now, no one need wonder for more than a few nano-seconds whom National Review will endorse this fall. That’s fine. But it’s equally fine for others to take a more independent approach. There’s a difference between “rationalizations” and “reasons.”