Here.
Senator McCain has been comparing Obama to Carter. My guess is that this is meant to be quite brutal. After all, as we all remember, Jimmy Carter was a horrible, terrible, absolutely no good president. Or something. Unfortunately for McCain, I don't think this attack is going to gain much traction. After all, who remembers Jimmy Carter's presidency? For people my age, an equivalent attack might be "Bush is just like Harding!"
Those who do remember and hate Carter's presidency enough to be motivated by this argument are probably the same people who thought Reagan was teh shit, want his face on the dime, and are already planning on voting McCain.
That is undoubtedly too harsh. Let me say this. McCain's comparison of Obama to Carter isn't that potent. First of all, as pointed out by Digby, Carter was right on energy policy. And anyone trying to fill up their car at the gas station knows it. Second of all, (and this one flows from the first) times have changed; it's hard to--for example--blame Carter for stagflation and then pledge a continuation of Bush's economic policies. Third, and last, this attack might have had more bite a decade or two ago. Now? It makes McCain seem just as he is: really, really, really old.
I'm recognizing just how petty much of this line of argument is. But, at the end of the day, McCain is a very old man, and I (like many voters) am concerned about that. As for hitting McCain for comparing Obama to Carter, I would have much less disdain for this comparison were it even remotely apt. Rather, it feels like some kind of ditch-attempt to attach Obama to an unsavory former president. This is an understandable move coming from someone who is no doubt worried about his relationship with an unsavory almost-former president.
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