I Agree

…with Oliver:

My current thinking goes that if the GOP really reacts harshly to the Miers pick (missing their big “F-U” to the left) and the promise unfilled of the Bush administration, they could pick one of the crazies - Roy Moore, Tom Tancredo, etc. Which would mean they would lose big. The pragmatic choice for the GOP would be John McCain, who’s also the candidate who would siphon off the most independent and Democratic voters, but they increasingly seem less likely to pick him - at least among the base, mainstream Republicans know better.

On the Democratic side, I do also think that someone outside of the DC Dems may have a leg up - including the usual look at governors, as well as Al Gore and John Edwards who are no longer “inside the beltway”.

The problem (for us) with McCain is that making clear what a disingenuous, opportunistic, bootlicking, useless hack he really is requires that his Democratic opponent have the balls to point out loudly and repeatedly that a two-faced, arrogant shit doesn’t even deserve the nomination for the presidency, no less the office itself. Is there anyone among the field of possible candidates on the Left who can (and will) do it? I’m hard-pressed to imagine any of them not suffering an acute case of sphincter-tightening at the mere thought of having to go negative on a war hero, no matter how deservedly.