I’m just back from a trip where I was talking to swing voters in a swing county in a key swing state. It was enlightening. Yes, Virginia, there are real people out there who are casting their vote in this momentous presidential election based on a candidate’s middle name. More on that later…
Now that I’m back in the parallel universe known as Washington, it occurs to me that when I wrote the Maclean’s cover story about the many ways the Bush administration has broken with small-c conservatism (the Washington Post recently noticed his “broad ideological transformation” too), I was obviously was too hasty. Had I waited a few weeks, I could have written about his embrace of what some Republicans are calling “financial socialism.”
So as the Congress puts finishing touches today on a Wall Street “bailout” (if you’re skeptical) or “rescue” (if you are Bush) package to prevent the predicted financial armageddon while somehow trying to protect taxpayers and avoid rewarding CEOs for deluded decisions, and while John McCain decides to swoop in on the talks and possibly miss tomorrow night’s debate (a political stunt, or brilliant leadership ),… while the economy and the presidential campaigns teeter on the brink, I think it’s a good time to bring in Sarah Silverman and have a good laugh.