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Green on McCain

Stephen Green:

McCain reminds me sometimes of a conversation I had with my grandfather back in 1988, when he was something of a bigwig in the Missouri Republican Party. During that year’s primary, he was working hard for George H.W. Bush. “Why Bush?,” I asked. “Why not Dole?” (I was a Pete DuPont man, myself.)

“Because Dole is psychotic. I don’t want his finger on the button.” Those were his exact words. I’ll never forget them. And McCain makes me think of those words every time he gets angry. And that’s just the McCain we see in public.

The good news is, the Cold War is long over, and odds are lower than ever for global thermonuclear war. But odds are much, much greater that someone, sometime in the next decade or so is going to nuke an American city. I’m not sure I want McCain determining our response to that attack.

Actually, in an odd way, I think that’s an argument for McCain. Maybe somebody with an unpredictable but hot temper is precisely the right person to scare the hell out of those who threaten us.