Monday
Nov102008
The Tinkling of Kristol: Turning an Election into Dogs (and Palin)
Monday, November 10, 2008 at 7:22
In a column which I have been eagerly anticipating since last Tuesday night, William Kristol picks over the debris of the election for the Republicans.
Mr Bill does not disappoint. Far from throwing in or crying into his towel, he explains that the returns didn't worry him at first --- they "had been bad but they weren't devastating". America, he assures us (or himself) is "still a center-right country".
But, he admits, that changed when Obama gave his victory speech.
Was this because Kristol suddenly realised the scale of the economic mismanagement that had cost the GOP victory? Did he finally see the light from Baghdad as well as Damascus and Tehran that using terrorism and 9-11 as an excuse to knock off enemy regimes isn't necessarily the wisest of foreign policies? Could Mr Bill be admitting that promoting an inexperienced and ill-qualified Governor for Vice President --- no matter how nice the halibut cheeks were on that Alaskan cruise he took --- was wrong, so very wrong?
No, Mr Bill's belated angst occurs because Obama mentioned the puppy that he was buying for his daughters to take to the White House: "He deepened his bond with every dog lover in America. He identified with every household that’s tried to figure out what kind of dog to get. He touched every parent with a kid allergic to pets. He showed compassion by preferring a dog from a shelter. And he demonstrated a dry and slightly politically incorrect wit by commenting that 'a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me'.”
So, apparently, the issue is not that Republican Party is going to the dogs but it should go to the right dogs to win over those center-right Americans.
That's only Kristol's introduction, however. Who should be the 2012 Republican Party standard-bearer to take back the White House and Congress?
Kristol mentions Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal. However, who is his first candidate "to begin bringing some puppies home for [the] kids"?
"Sarah Palin".
You have to hand it to Mr Bill. He's not a patch on his father, Irving, for thought and analysis, but he has no equal in determination and chutzpah.
Mr Bill does not disappoint. Far from throwing in or crying into his towel, he explains that the returns didn't worry him at first --- they "had been bad but they weren't devastating". America, he assures us (or himself) is "still a center-right country".
But, he admits, that changed when Obama gave his victory speech.
Was this because Kristol suddenly realised the scale of the economic mismanagement that had cost the GOP victory? Did he finally see the light from Baghdad as well as Damascus and Tehran that using terrorism and 9-11 as an excuse to knock off enemy regimes isn't necessarily the wisest of foreign policies? Could Mr Bill be admitting that promoting an inexperienced and ill-qualified Governor for Vice President --- no matter how nice the halibut cheeks were on that Alaskan cruise he took --- was wrong, so very wrong?
No, Mr Bill's belated angst occurs because Obama mentioned the puppy that he was buying for his daughters to take to the White House: "He deepened his bond with every dog lover in America. He identified with every household that’s tried to figure out what kind of dog to get. He touched every parent with a kid allergic to pets. He showed compassion by preferring a dog from a shelter. And he demonstrated a dry and slightly politically incorrect wit by commenting that 'a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me'.”
So, apparently, the issue is not that Republican Party is going to the dogs but it should go to the right dogs to win over those center-right Americans.
That's only Kristol's introduction, however. Who should be the 2012 Republican Party standard-bearer to take back the White House and Congress?
Kristol mentions Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal. However, who is his first candidate "to begin bringing some puppies home for [the] kids"?
"Sarah Palin".
You have to hand it to Mr Bill. He's not a patch on his father, Irving, for thought and analysis, but he has no equal in determination and chutzpah.
tagged Sarah Palin, William Kristol in US Politics
Sarah Palin, William Kristol in US Politics
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