I have loved the writing of Noemie Emery since I discovered her in the pages of David Horowitz' Heterodoxy magazine. Lately she can be found mostly in The Weekly Standard, where she has a piece up this week on the official end of the liberals' love affair with John McCain. Here's a taste:
For years, liberals professed their love for John McCain. They loved him, they said, because he was independent, unpredictable, and told the truth as he saw it, but mainly because he managed to rile the president. They watched the bruising confrontation in the 2000 primaries as Bush and McCain locked antlers, and dreamed it would go on forever. They hoped from the end of the 2000 election that McCain would defect, that McCain would rebel, that McCain would launch a third-party run, like his hero, Theodore Roosevelt. Their fantasy was not that McCain would actually win such a race, but that he, like TR, would split his party and let a Democrat in. Then they hoped he would bolt completely and join Kerry on a "unity ticket," though no one explained what the unifying factor might be. Throughout, there were conspicuous swoons for his independence, his courage, his habit of speaking his mind. Then McCain spoke his mind here Monday night, saying George W. Bush ought to be reelected, and especially endorsing the Iraq invasion. This was not the straight talk they were expecting, and the love stopped.Posted by dan at September 2, 2004 10:38 PM