Was the 2008 presidential campaign the greatest ever? The conventional wisdom in the political community and the media seems to be congealing around that idea. David Broder, the political columnist of the Washington Post, thinks the 2008 race was best he's ever covered. Was it really that good? I don't think so. In important ways, this year's campaign was one of the worst. Full Story »
Posted by Kaizar Campwala
I went into this article with high hopes -- that the author might somehow translate his disappointment in John McCain's poor reception these last couple months into my own disappointment in the election coverage in general. But this brief opinion from the executive editor did not deliver. Some of this is laughably hypocritical -- I can't decide whether Barnes is being deliberately obtuse or piously unabashedly partisan at some points. One example: religion. No one challenged Barack Obama about his religious beliefs? Need we even recall the Washington Post article that rounded up every prominent right wing blogger's allegations that he was a Muslim? As for his complaint that the economic crisis "unfairly" affected McCain, he ... More »
My '3' overall rating may be generous. It's nice to get a conservative perspective on the election, but Barnes's argument fails to explain why the economic crisis, which he credits for Obama's higher poll numbers, hurt McCain so badly. Theoretically, either (or neither) candidate could have capitalized on the economic news.
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