Ross misses Rove:
Allowing that this was a hard time for a Republican to run for President, and allowing that Barack Obama might well have won the White House no matter what McCain did, it's still the case that this has been a lousy, lousy conservative campaign for the Presidency. (Poulos' line about how it's been consistently "flying beneath the pride of conservatives and Republicans" seems like a good way of putting it.) I've defended the McCain folks against the liberal hysteria that treats this as the Most Evil Right-Wing Campaign Ever, and I'd defend them again. But that famous line from Talleyrand - it was worse than a crime; it was a mistake - seems applicable here: It's been worse than an evil campaign; it's been a dumb one.
Who said dumb and evil were mutually exclusive categories? I'll tell you one thing: Bob Dole (whom I endorsed in 1996) lost his election badly. But he didn't lose his soul or his reputation. That's the difference with McCain.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/11/hauling-out-talleyrand-one-more-time/209193/
