Wall Street Journal Crashed-and-Burned Watch (James Fallows on Fouad Ajami and Paul Gigot Edition)
Why oh why can't we have a better press corps? Outsourced to James Fallows:
An essay by someone who has never worked in a political campaign (updated) - James Fallows: From [Fouad Ajami on] the Wall Street Journal op-ed page [edited by Paul Gigot]:
There is something odd -- and dare I say novel -- in American politics about the crowds that have been greeting Barack Obama on his campaign trail. Hitherto, crowds have not been a prominent feature of American politics.
What??? A general-election presidential campaign consists, roughly speaking, of appearing before one crowd after another all day long. I know this from having worked in one, but all you have to do is watch TV to get the idea.
I know, it is hardly shocking that the WSJ would publish a piece suggesting that Barack Obama is the wrong man for the times. (This one by Fouad Ajami.) Nor that it would reach, Pravda-like, to find the latest argument against him. Haven't looked, but I bet that when Sarah Palin was drawing big crowds the Journal's editorialists noted this with approval.
But doesn't a certain self-protective "wait a minute, can we really say that?" instinct kick in at some point?
No.