Even conservatives have acknowledged that John McCain’s acted like a complete drama queen these past few weeks.
TIME’s Joe Klein, though not a conservative, is someone who (1) respects McCain and (2) like many of us has watched in amazement the transformation McCain has undergone from 8 years ago. Here Klein contrasts Obama’s level headedness in a crisis with McCain’s, well, insanity.
“Part of Obama’s steadiness is born of necessity: An angry, or flashy, black man isn’t going to be elected President. But I’ve also gotten the sense, in the times I’ve interviewed and chatted with him, that calm is Obama’s natural default position. He is friendly, informal, accessible…and a mystery, hard to get to know. He doesn’t give away much, doesn’t — unlike Bill Clinton — have that desperate need to make you like him. His brilliant, at times excessive, oratory is an outlier — the only over-the-top, Technicolor quality he has.
There has been no grand cathartic moment for him in this campaign, but rather a steady accretion of trust, a growing public sense that he knows what he’s talking about and isn’t going to get crazy on us. His demeanor has rendered foolish all the rumors about his alleged radicalism. This guy is the furthest thing imaginable from an extremist; McCain, by his own admission, is the bomb-thrower in this race.”
[Photo by Jason Squires/WireImage.com]
UPDATE: Shorter Klein.
Tags: Barack Obama, Joe Klein, John McCain, McCain Drama Queen, Obama cool under pressure McCain rips his eyes out
