There were a few other important endorsements today besides the stunning backing of John McCain by Mexican-American soap opera star Katie Barberi. This one in particular is getting most of the attention, although frankly it's a little late to hand Colin Powell the Profiles in Courage Medal for endorsing a Democrat, not when he passed up a chance to save thousands of lives by going public with his doubts about the war in Iraq instead of advocating for it by spinning tales to the United Nations.
Locally, Michael Smerconish travels in a less important orbit than Colin Powell, but I do think his official endorsement today of Barack Obama shows a certain kind of courage -- writing what he believes instead of what's best for his long-term career prospects.
As for the endorsement itself, it's not surprising. Smerconish has been telegraphing this for months, and while he is clearly conservative on many issues (including a stance on torture that I still find repulisive) he's also struck me as open-minded, as evidenced by his call for getting out of Iraq back in 2006. As for Obama, he seems attracted largely by something that's supposed to sway voters but rarely does, the actual issues -- especially the tough-guy stance on al-Qaeda in Pakistan where Smerconish finds himself much more in agreement with the Democrat than McCain's weak and confusing stance.
The Smerc, as his Big Media pal David Gregory calls him, writes today:
The candidates disagree as to where to prosecute the war against Islamic fundamentalists. Barack Obama is correct in saying the front line in that battle is not Iraq, it's the Afghan-Pakistan border. Osama bin Laden crossed that border from Tora Bora in December 2001, and we stopped pursuit. The Bush administration outsourced the hunt for bin Laden and instead invaded Iraq.
No one in Iraq caused the death of 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Our invasion was based on a false predicate, so we have no business being there, regardless of whether the surge is working. Our focus must be the tribal-ruled FATA region in Pakistan. Only recently has our military engaged al-Qaeda there in operations that mirror those Obama was ridiculed for recommending in August 2007.
Last spring, Obama told me: "It's not that I was opposed to war [in Iraq]. It's that I felt we had a war that we had not finished." Even Sen. Joe Lieberman conceded to me last Friday that "the headquarters of our opposition, our enemies today" is the FATA.
I can't help but wonder how this will affect Smerconish in the bizarro-world of national punditry, just as he's become something of a rising figure on that warped stage. Cable TV shoutfests seem to demand round pegs for round holes, and Smerconish made himsel;f into a square peg. One reason that the Philly talker has been on Gregory's MSNBC show so often is that he was filling one of the "conservative seats," but now he's a conservative AND an Obama supporter, soooo...what's a producer to do?
Another national gig for Smerconish has been filling for Fox News Channel host and radio yakker Bill O'Reilly, but O'Reilly has been one of the more unhinged right-wing voices against Obama as the election draws near, so he can't be too amused by his frequent guest host and his at-least temporary left turn. Would O'Reilly ask an Obama supporter to fill in for him, especially if Obama is in the White House?
Stay tuned.
Or maybe not.
You know, in the universe known as right wing pundits, one of those people has to be the smartest. It appears maybe Smerconish fits that bill. Maybe.— Some Boca Dude- With Glenn Beck going to Fox, there could be a slot opening up on CNN for Smerconish.— Drax
- C'mon, Will. You know that O'Reilly is non-partisan. No-spin zone.— Talking point sleuth
Comment removed.- Negativity and hate is all they have (real) TPD. What they believe in didn't work at the cost of Billions of dollars and thousands of our best soldiers' lives. They aparently do hate a large percentage of the American population. Got to hope that their time is past and they will be reduced to the screeching minority they are. The squrming of hate has already begun and will now seek to discredit and oppose everything Obama tries to do even at the cost of our great counties' integrity and military might. Hopefully the real conservatives will take back the Republican party and they can work together with Obama to get this country back on track.— James TL
- SBVFT Contributor- Nah Nah, nah nah nah nah, hay hayahay, good-bye!— pagoda
- I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for Smerconish. He is my favorite conservative talk show host, and is a true ideological conservative, not a moralistic one. His endorsement of Obama should come as a wake up call to all true conservatives. Your 2-term president Bush has completely destroyed your conservative ideology. Neo-Conservative is a misnomer, unless of course the prefix "neo" means anti. There has never been a more liberal president than George Bush. Government has never been bigger. National debt through the roof, public (Socialist) bailout for Wall Street. Your only choice is Obama. The most Liberal member of the Senate is more Conservative than the Republican neo-con president. By most estimations McCain would leave us with more debt than Obama after 8 years. In fact, it seems Obama would be more apt to listent to true Republicans than McCain. Moral conservatives who care about Gay Marriage and Abortion, go ahead and vote for McCain. Fiscal conservatives who have a brain must close their eyes and swallow as they pull the lever for Obama on November 4th. It's just the way it is. The republican party has been destroyed by W, and people like Smerconish realize the brand doesn't mean a thing.— idiotbox
- "writing what he believes instead of what's best for his long-term career prospects." ummmm.... Smerc's recent endorsement IS good for his long-term prospects. the man is employed by msnbc for crying out loud! Chris Matthews practically slobbers over him every night.— Bud Fox
- It's really amusing when you think about it.. the only people claiming "you're racist if you don't vote for Obama", are the people who aren't voting for Obama.— Politburo
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- Fact of the matter is is his radio show has no future in syndication. Whatever future career he has is based on further ingratiating himself with liberal-hosted punditry shoutfest etc etc yadda yadda ...and after having tried unsuccessfully to reach the grapes, the fox slunk away muttering to himself, "those grapes were probably sour anyway. I don't even like grapes."— brendancalling
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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