Tea Leaves time?

[jducoeur]

I am amused that, amidst all the Sarah Palin hoopla, no one in the media seems to have noticed that Lindsey Graham is running for president. At least, I think he is: it's the easiest way to explain his approach to the Sotomayor confirmation hearings. Throughout, he's been loudly and clearly trying to present himself as "the good Republican" -- knowing how the game is played; terribly, *terribly* sad that things have to be that way; firm on his points of disagreement, but ultimately quite clear that he's going to be reasonable about them. Basically, he is coming across as the principled -- well, not really a centrist, but at least a non-loon in a sea of loons.

This might just be sincere, of course -- by Republican standards, Graham is less crazy than average -- but he is doing it so *conspicuously* right now that I have to suspect that there is a point to it. And a run at 2012 is a very plausible reason why -- the party is devastated right now, and laying the memetic groundwork of, "I'm the one Republican with a chance at actually getting elected" is rather sensible.

We'll see: the media's perpetual-election-cycle hype aside, it's much too early to have any real idea what things will look like by then. But it won't surprise me at all to find that, a couple years on, he's presenting himself as the face (and only hope) of responsible Republicanism...

Comments

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

He came across to me as a jerk, pretty much, which is not on the craziness scale. I wouldn't have thought of it as a presidential bid, but now that you've pointed it out, I suspect you're correct.

[antoniseb.livejournal.com]

Doh! Of course!

Sea of Loons

[metageek.livejournal.com]

I love this phrase. I picture an ocean basin filled with loons, all honking madly as they struggle to reach the surface.