Wow. Krugman agrees with me! Who'da thunk it.

This is actually one of McCain's great liabilities. He's had a pretty easy ride from the press so far, but few of them actually want him to become president. I can't be the only one who predicted a widespread turning against him once he was no longer a Bush-spoiler but somebody who might get elected, in his own right, with an (R) after his name. Let the trashing begin!

That's one vital lesson McCain learned from W: the press doesn't matter.

Kirk - I have the same position as well - the MSM will turn on McCain once he gets in Hillary's way.

OJ - Bush can ignore the press because he has pretty solid base support. McCain doesn't have strong base support and therefore is more needy of press approval. If McCain gets the nod he needs to pray Hillary gets the Dem nod or else a sizable number of GOP voters will sit it out.

AWW:

McCain has the same support among Republicans that Bush enjoyed--about 90% in polls. Only the Beltway types hate him.

I think McCain's base support depends on how the question is put. McCain vs. Hillary, or McCain vs. Kerry, the base is behind him. McCain vs. Condi vs. Romney and so on, not so much.

The MSM is much more effective about shaping opinion on an issue that people initially don't know or care about (see the ports fiasco, & McCain's national image in '99). When it comes to changing an already existing opinion, they're pretty close to powerless.

Mike:

Bush only had half the base against McCain.

OJ - then why did he generally get pretty poor reviews at the Southern GOP conference this past weekend?

b is on the right track on this. It's too late for the MSM to turn on McCain after holding him up as the non-Bush for all these years.

They have been channelized right into the killing zone.

AWW:

politicos aren't the base

The media have been stockpiling anti-McCain ammunition and can deploy it at a moment's notice, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some fellow POW's who would come forward with allegations of misconduct ala the Swiftboat vets.

He won't know what hit him and I doubt he can keep his cool like Bush does.

So what? It didn't hurt Kerry--it won't hurt McCain.

I thought Krugman was an economist.

On the basis of what?

If not McCain who?

It would be nuts to nominate anyone other than the popular governor of a southern swing state.

It's a hierarchical party and the next line gets the nomination. Only one GOP president in the past hundred years was a Southern governor. Democrats do indeed only win with Southerners since 1960.

Just 'cause it's hierarchical doesn't mean it's not nuts. If McCain were to run, he'd bring the sitting senator curse in spades.

"Governor" gets you, for the Republicans, McKinley, Roosevelt, Coolidge, Reagan and W. "Swing state" gets you McKinley, Roosevelt and Reagan. Eisenhower is obviously an outlier. Southern just happens to be where the population is these days; it is the New York or California of modern politics.

In fact, if Bush does anoint McCain, it looks likely to be a rerun of Roosevelt anointing Taft.

David:

He's running against a sitting Senator.