Deserting a sinking ship
Even former Bush sycophants are deserting–Andrew Sullivan, Howard Fineman, Mickey Kaus. But I was shocked to see that the paper of choice for the complacent mid-right, The Seattle Times, had endorsed Kerry:
Four years ago, this page endorsed George W. Bush for president. We cannot do so again — because of an ill-conceived war and its aftermath, undisciplined spending, a shrinkage of constitutional rights and an intrusive social agenda.
The Bush presidency is not what we had in mind. Our endorsement of John Kerry is not without reservations, but he is head and shoulders above the incumbent.
Of course, one is compelled to point out that if this wasn’t “what you had in mind” when you considered Bush, you must be 1)smoking crack, 2)a moron, 3)a diehard Naderite or 4)a good-guy centrist liberal pundit. (Admittedly there’s conisderable overlap in these categories.) But, still, this can’t be good news for Bush.