Talk/Talk: Tough Guys?

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Below are excerpts from this week's Talk Talk, Tough Guys?. Every Sunday CUIP's president Jacqueline Salit and strategist and philosopher Fred Newman watch the political talk shows and discuss them. Here are excerpts from their dialogue on Sunday, August 17, 2008 after watching "The Chris Matthews Show", "Meet the Press" and "This Week with George Stephanopoulos".

Newman: OK. And back to McCain. The thing about McCain that is interesting and curious is that McCain did not make his national reputation as a tough guy. That's a part of his appeal. Actually, though, he made his national reputation as being something other than a tough guy. He was for cooperation across the aisle. He was open. He was for hearing what's best from the other side. Those aren't tough things to do. Some people might even perceive them as wishy-washy things to do. So, that's who he is. But now they're trying to transform him into a tough guy. Why? Because now he wants to court the Republican right. He wants to maximize the value of his relationship to Bush. So they've got a contradiction on their hands.

Salit: In other words, McCain's the guy who sat down with Ted Kennedy on immigration, the guy who got with Russ Feingold and does the McCain-Feingold bill...

Newman: George Bush is a tough guy. Not John McCain. McCain's a straight shooter, that was his whole image. And arguably, that's the opposite of being a tough guy.

Read Talk Talk in its entirety here.