Althouse On Why She Voted for ObamaA
law school professor feels compelled to tell us why she voted for a former law school professor. It's not because Obama was a former law school professor, it's the economy, stupid.
How did McCain lose me?
1. He did not understand economics, the most important issue.
2. He lost the ability to make the experience argument.
3. He never defined himself as a principled conservative.
4. Erratic and incoherent, he lacked sufficient mental capacity.
Note what she does not say:
1. Obama understands economics. Of course, we know that she could not make that argument with a straight face.
2. Obama has experience. Indeed, this is the reason why Althouse phrases the point so oddly; making it a campaign strategy argument.
3. Obama is a principled conservative.
4. Coherent and unerratic, Obama has abundant mental capacity.
In short, it's a silly exercise to attempt to rationalize an irrational choice. And I don't mind that it's an irrational choice; as I have pointed out in the past, most people do not make rational choices when it comes to the presidency. It's something of a mystical process where people attempt to become comfortable with a candidate.
That's why I was more amused than annoyed at the Washington Post's ombudsman's admission that the Post's coverage of the race was biased in favor of Obama. Part of what she griped about was that too much of the coverage was focused on the "horse race" and not enough on "issues". Liberals always bemoan the lack of coverage of the issues, because they believe the issues favor them. But voters don't vote on the issues; they vote on the person.
