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Sizing Up McCainJacob Weisberg takes readers' questions about the strengths, flaws, and motivations of the Republican candidate.


Posted Thursday, May 29, 2008, at 4:14 PM ET

Slate editor Jacob Weisberg was online on Washingtonpost.com to chat with readers about John McCain's strengths and weaknesses and to speculate on what makes the Republican candidate tick. An unedited transcript of the chat follows.

Fourth Estate: Look, I'm doing everything I can to help voters understand this campaign. I've ignored John's mix-up of "Sunni" vs. "Shiite"—it really doesn't matter. I attended John's BBQ at his ranch and picked up all the talking points to use this Fall. I've written extensively about every smear against Obama I've seen in the e-mails, because they're out there, and I have a journalistic responsibility to discuss them. I regularly write out Obama's full name, including his middle name of "Hussein." Yet Obama seems to be strengthening. What else can I do?

Jacob Weisberg: The question of press bias has gotten really tedious. With McCain and Obama, I think we have two nominees (nearly) who are widely liked and admired by reporters. Both are sure to cry foul when it suits their purposes, but I don't see any meaningful media slant in a race between them.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: Jacob, I actually am reading the news from my studio in Paris (which I have leased for the month of May). I have read your articles in the past, but my question is perhaps more of a comment. I found your last paragraph "flat." It took away from the earlier part of it. The piece certainly convinces a reader that you know your way around the D.C. circuit, but it just sort of hangs there ... at the end. Was there a reason for doing that in this article? I am a writer, also. Just had my first book published: a novel, The Widow's Web.

Jacob Weisberg: Sorry about that. It ends abruptly because it's an excerpt to a longer introduction to David Foster Wallace's book McCain's Promise. In printed form, my piece goes on to consider DFW's view of McCain and the paradox of a candidate who succeeds politically by acting as if he's not that political.

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Anonymous: If McCain is at his best when he is losing, then I am certain Democrats would love to make him great. Why does he seem to be more outspoken and more of a maverick when he is not comfortably ahead?

Jacob Weisberg: Obvious, isn't it? The stakes get higher in proximity to victory. Last August, McCain probably thought he didn't have much to lose.

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Savory Goodness: As a fun Wednesday afternoon exercise, read the entire Slate article then review the associated posts. Many learned Frayers post all of the usual "four more years" blather, while this Slate piece is one of many which give evidence to the contrary. Further evidence can be derived from Sen. McCain's record in the Senate, and in the conservative media's reactions to him.

John McCain—whatever else one might think of him—is nobody's lapdog; not Bush's, nor Limbaugh's, nor Fox News's, nor the religious right's, nor the lobbyists', nor even the GOP's. We are unquestionably, finally going to have palpable change in Washington after this election, no matter which side wins. 'Bout damn time.

Jacob Weisberg: I agree that McCain is driven to an unusual degree by his own conscience. He has never been a good team player, and Republican party-liners are right to mistrust. I don't think he has any real respect or affection for George W. Bush (or vice-versa), though their views on Iraq happen to be closely aligned at the moment.

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Reading, Pa.: If Sen. McCain had a "senior moment" on the trail and said something truly ridiculous or out of touch, would it be fair to report that, or do you think the media would look the other way? Would you report it?

Jacob Weisberg: Are you kidding? The press will be over any gaffe or slip of any kind, by either candidate. But "senior moment" implies that he's gone foggy in some way that his campaign is trying to conceal. I don't think that's true. My sense is that he's as energetic and on the ball as he was eight years ago.

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Hope, Ark.: Jacob, do you think the town-hall-type debates McCain has proposed to Obama actually will happen? Given that both candidates weren't really such great debaters, who do you think it would benefit more?

Jacob Weisberg: I'd love to see a more open-ended type of debate between McCain and Obama, and I think there's a decent chance of it happening. As you say, neither has been terribly impressive in debates so far.

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San Francisco: Sen. McCain has sold out most of the principled stands that earned him the maverick reputation in the 2000 campaign. (Embracing Jerry Falwell after calling him an agent of intolerance and supporting Bush after the Bush campaign's despicable slurs against his family in South Carolina, for example.) Is his popularity likely to fall as people realize that McCain 2008 is not the same as McCain 2000?

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Jacob Weisberg is the editor of Slate and author of The Bush Tragedy. He covered the 2000 McCain campaign for Slate.
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