Open Thread

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Dick Morris says, "John McCain is America's favorite kind of candidate."

With his record of extraordinary patriotism and his distinctive Senate tenure, McCain is a nominee whom voters from both parties -- and independents, too -- could easily support...McCain needs to not run as a traditional Republican, which is easy, since he's not one. After all, how did an anti-torture, anti-tobacco, pro-campaign finance reform, anti-pork, pro-alternative-energy Republican ever emerge from the primaries alive? Simple: The GOP electorate, along with the rest of the country, has moved somewhat to the left. (In Florida, for example, exit polls showed that only 27 percent of Republican primary voters described themselves as "very conservative," while 28 percent said they were "moderate" and 2 percent said they were "very liberal.")

To sum it up: A candidate who cannot get elected [Obama] is being nominated by a party that cannot be defeated [Democrats], while a candidate who is eminently electable [McCain] is running as the nominee of a party doomed to defeat [Republicans]...In this environment, McCain can win by running to the center.

I'm sorry this was a weekend op-ed, because such talk would have evoked huge debate here on a weekday. :-) Regardless, Dick Morris says McCain is the ideal candidate at this moment in history, and he needs to court the center because Republicans have moved to the left. What say you, NewsBusters?