Time for a Change?

Kevin Drum sums up the main problem with the McCain candidacy, particularly as it pertains to the press coverage McCain has received.

I try not to get too bogged down in how the talking heads treat the candidates, because the overall coverage is so ridiculously vacuous, and because people like O'Reilly, Limbaugh and Hannity have (to their credit, and shame) described themselves as 'entertainers', as opposed to journalists. Further, for anyone who really wants to find out about the candidates, to fact check their statements, or to dig into whether their rhetoric matches their record, the internets are available. That said, this is all you really need to say about McCain:

Let's recap. Foreign policy cred lets him get away with wild howlers on foreign policy. Fiscal integrity cred lets him get away with outlandishly irresponsible economic plans. Anti-lobbyist cred lets him get away with pandering to lobbyists. Campaign finance reform cred lets him get away with gaming the campaign finance system. Straight talking cred lets him get away with brutally slandering Mitt Romney in the closing days of the Republican primary. Maverick uprightness cred allows him to get away with begging for endorsements from extremist religious leaders like John Hagee. "Man of conviction" cred allows him to get away with transparent flip-flopping so egregious it would make any other politician a laughingstock. Anti-torture cred allows him to get away with supporting torture as long as only the CIA does it.

I think the more pertinent point is raised by Digby, namely that the pass that McCain receives is consistent with the treatment that the press gave other ignorant, possibly senile, and clearly challenged intellects like W and Reagan. Republicans, as well as the mainstream press seem to like their candidates proudly disengaged and uninformed. Junior, who famously told us that he "doesn't do nuance", and Reagan, who spent he last year of his presidency slurping porridge and watching Get Smart reruns are just the sort of towering intellects that the right seems to gravitate towards.

I for one have had enough of that. I suppose it's too much to ask the press to call out McCain on the fact that he doesn't understand the economy and thinks that the Iranian Shia are training Al Qeada, but hopefully the voters won't be so forgiving.