Category: The Dish

McCain’s Climate Politics

Chris Mooney is thrilled at McCain’s emergence:

There seem to me to be two fundamental points. One: Anyone who cares about global warming should want McCain to vanquish his Republican opponents in the primaries. If we get McCain versus one of the Democrats in the general election, we’ll have two candidates who want strong action (even if their precise stances may differ). Whoever wins in that scenario, we’ll be better off in the climate arena than ever before—and we can count on action finally happening.

The other fundamental point is this. While McCain’s support of nuclear power and his more cautious approach to greenhouse gas regulation each can be criticized, neither rates, in my view, as an irredeemable flaw. Politics is too messy for purism on these matters—and the climate problem too urgent. A McCain presidency would certainly be a great step forward on climate, and given our nation’s past history on this issue, well … that’s more than a start.

After Simi Valley

This struck me as McCain’s worst performance of the campaign. He seemed – understandably – exhausted. He kept pushing some untruths about Romney’s position on Iraq. He seemed vague and unfocused on the economy. He was also more aggressive in swiping at Romney who was more civil and more engaging than I have seen so far. No, I still favor McCain on the issues – and on character. But either his relief at having this almost in the bag affected him, or he is showing his age. The latter is worrying – especially against Obama.