A Leaky Argument

"Oh, wait, never mind. We have to know, according to some, about Joe the Plumber's tax lien, and how he doesn't have a license -- which, if the smear artists bothered to check the law, he only needs for commercial work, not residential work.

"This is the way our opponents operate now. Destroy anyone who stands in your way. Humiliate them. Make sure that anyone else who ever wants to skeptically question Barack Obama knows that every last bit of their dirty laundry will be aired for all the world to see. Bristol Palin, Trig Palin, -- hey, it's all fair game. They've got to make an example of them. Show them that this sort of dangerous speech won't be allowed in the New America."

Our opponents? Such as the Toledo Blade? And if the McCain camp is going to hold this fellow up as an exemplar, wouldn't it follow that journalists would ask a few questions about him?

Now for a broader look at the post-Hofstra coverage. I think we should be spending more time on the substance of McCain's attacks and whether they're valid. Too much of the chatter has been about how Obama remained cool and unruffled. So what? Is criticism of an opponent's tax policy valid only if he whines or cries or staggers backward? Yes, the candidates' demeanor matters, but part of our job is to explore what they say, and not just in fact-checking pieces. Will Obama's offhand "share the wealth" comment hurt? Where do the two candidates stand on abortion, which McCain brought up? Does Obama have a record of challenging his own party?

Instead, there's been too much Joe, Joe, Joe.

All right, I give in. Let's go to Joe Klein:

"I did want to say a few things about my colleagues -- in general, no names -- and the coverage of the campaign this year.

"Pundits tend to be a lagging indicator. This is particularly true at the end of a political pendulum swing. We've been conditioned by thirty years of certain arguments working -- and John McCain made most of them last night against Barack Obama: you're going to raise our taxes, you're going to spend more money, you want to negotiate with bad guys, you're associated somehow -- the associations have gotten more tenuous over time -- with countercultural and unAmerican activities.

"Again, these arguments have 'worked' for a long time. The Democrats who got themselves elected president during most of my career were those most successful at playing defense: No, no, I'm not going to do any of those things! And so the first reaction of more than a few talking heads Wednesday night was that McCain had done better, maybe even won, because he had made those arguments more successfully than he had in the first two debates. I disagreed, even before the focus groups and snap polls rendered their verdict: I thought McCain was near-incomprehensible when talking about policy, locked in the coffin of conservative thinking and punditry. He spoke in Reagan-era shorthand. He thought that merely invoking the magic words 'spread the wealth' and 'class warfare' he could neutralize Obama.

"But those words and phrases seem anachronistic, almost vestigial now. Indeed, they have become every bit as toxic as Democratic social activist proposals - -government-regulated and subsidized health care, for example -- used to be . . .

"Journalism is, naturally, about the past. We are much better at reporting things that have happened than in predicting the future. We never seem so foolish or obnoxious, especially on TV, as when we accede to the constant demand for crystal-balling. But the obvious danger inherent in journalism is that we tend to get trapped in the assumptions of the past. Too often this year, my colleagues -- especially those who are older than me, but also my fellow baby boomers -- have seemed a bit moldy in our questioning of politicians: What are you going to do about budget deficits? What are you going to do about entitlement programs?

"These are valid questions, but less relevant in a financial crisis that will probably lead to a severe recession -- and especially after 30 years of government neglect of its basic responsibilities."