Weigel

Quote of the Day: Buzz Bissinger Edition

This is my favorite line from his inevitable “I had the courage to write about my vote for a guy half the country will vote for” column.

As the afternoon talk show host in Philadelphia for 1210 CBS AM, I spend five to six hours preparing for each day and do nothing now but read politics from a variety of differing viewpoints. I may be a misinformed voter but I am not a low-information one.

As someone who has listened to radio in Philadelphia from time to time, I think Bissinger’s missing the point. His Romney endorsement was the sort of embarrassing from-the-gut bilge that you could read all over the place in 2008, when people took bets on this skinny guy with the Muslim-sounding name. Instead of researching Romney’s views, Bissinger decided that the Republican was a moderate, after all, because “he showed vigor, and enthusiasm, and excitement, a man who wants to lead.” The dude looked good on TV, and Obama didn’t, so Bissinger assumed that the Real Romney was someone “realizes that lowering the rate to 20 percent will not fly if he is to lower the deficit and make the plan work” and “will send to the political Guantanamo those dirty old white men of the party ready to bomb Iran.” What was the evidence? He looked good on TV, you asshole. Did you write a fast-selling book about high school football? No? Then shut up.

Hell, I didn’t think Bissinger was wrong to write the column. I looked at it the way I eventually looked at the Clint Eastwood RNC speech – a famous person’s ramble concerning the stuff voters who don’t pay attention might ramble about. Another writer who doesn’t pay much attention to policy might have written the same thing about Obama in 2008.