THE PLANK OCTOBER 24, 2008
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Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then, he has been prominently associated with several Republican leaders and candidates, most recently John McCain, for whom he expressed his enthusiastic support in January.
This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision "is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."
Fried is exceptionally thoughtful and principled; his vote for Obama is especially noteworthy.
UPDATE: Fried writes to TNR: I admire Senator McCain and was glad to help in his campaign, and to be listed as doing so; but when I concluded that I must vote for Obama for the reason stated in my letter, I felt it wrong to appear to be recommending to others a vote that I was not prepared to cast myself. So it was more of an erasure than a public affirmation--although obviously my vote meant that I thought that Obama was preferable to McCain-Palin. I do not consider abstention a proper option.
14 comments
Today brought the news that former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld (and Mitt Romney booster in the '08
- Anonymous
October 24, 2008 at 12:59pm
Josh Marshall is calling this trend of thoughtful conservatives endorsing Obama "the flight to quality." I too have great admiration for Fried, though I am an unabashed liberal.
Fried was an extremely conservative Solicitor General under Reagan, was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and issued several opinions on that court that were "surprising" if you expect judges to vote their own personal preferences. He followed the precedents faithfully and gave all sides a fair shot.
So this is great news.
- LDuncan
October 24, 2008 at 1:03pm
Krauthammer's head is about to explode.
- csmiller
October 24, 2008 at 1:14pm
"Flight to quality" -- I love that phrase. Obama is the candidate for the thoughtful and serious-minded, regardless of political affiliation. If I were a conservative, what would I make of the last eight years? Ideological purity on social issues, ideological betrayal on small government and libertarian issues, incompetence at everything, most unpopular president in memory. Even if Bush had stayed true to conservative values, he does them no good by being so bad at the job. That's why Palin's pick looms so large. It's such a Bush move. It seems dumb. It seems dangerous. It seems like McCain might well fuck up the country because he won't know what he's doing, or doesn't care enough, much as he's fucked up his chances at getting the chance.
- jhildner
October 24, 2008 at 1:26pm
Conservative legal scholar and Reagan Solicitor General Charles Fried, who ju...
- Anonymous
October 24, 2008 at 1:32pm
Well I'd be interested in reading his letter for more details, and his opinion of Gov. Palin would seem to be well-founded, but his timing is a bit off. In late August our economy was in trouble, but no one but Nouriel Roubini was forecasting the "deep national crisis" that emerged on the weekend of Sept. 13. Indeed Senator McCain plainly and honestly believed that "the fundamentals of our economy" were strong.
- a_long
October 24, 2008 at 1:40pm
Big deal. So Fried hates people from small towns. He must hate mothers too - didn't he have one? All that time he was serving St. Reagan (Peace be upon Him), he was just biding his time and hiding his true convictions until he could finally vote for the Socialist/Black Radical/Half-White Radical/Muslim/Islamic Terrorist/Domestic Terrorist/Surrendercrat/Pointy-headed/Book Larned/Elitist/Latte Sipping/Birkenstock Wearing Pinko. Sad.
Say this for Palin - has anyone so transformed a party in such a short time on the national stage? If Obama has a moderately successful administration, or even a merely non-disastrous one, a lot of these defectors might just stay in the fold, particularly if the Repubs double down on dumb demagoguery for 2012.
Mabye that's going to be McCain's October surprise (with his gift for strategy, he may be planning the surprise for mid-November, but it's not too late to get one in before election day): Run an ad where he quotes Obama and Biden saying nice things about Palin, and then say "If these guys really think she's a credible VP, their judgment can't be trusted." A similary strategy worked for Sideshow Bob, who criticized Mayor Quimby as soft on crime, citing as evidence the fact that Quimby let convicted criminal Sideshow Bob out of jail.
- Geoff G
October 24, 2008 at 2:18pm
Obviously Fried is an elitist (Harvard!) and Anti-American. He likely travels in the same circles as George Will and Colin Powell, and other wordy types.
Palin is terrific. Like Minnesota's Michele Bachmann, she has an electrifying effect on people with brains. You listen, you start to twitch, your blood pressure goes up, and you suddenly realize that these people are not confined to Talk Radio and FOX, no, they're on PTAs, they're serving as mayors and governors, you can talk back! You can hold them accountable!
Rush and Sean hide in their studios, behind the safety of their microphones, but you can get at these demagogues. If only Rush would get up the nerve to run.
- fougasseu
October 24, 2008 at 2:38pm
Ha, ha, ha the comments just crack me up.
1. 700 + days in the Senate
2. Thoughtful and intellegent
3. Bipartisan support
4. Liberals love him
5. Did I say thoughtful and intellegent
6. Vast experience in the Senate
7. Once shook hands with Sen. Lugar
8. Can make a list of people no one knows about or cares about anymore that support him.
Frankly, we'll see on election day. If he wins, so be it but everything else up to that is just spin.
We may not be saddled with Sarah Palin for 4 years but we will be saddled with Big Mouth Joe, and I'm not talking about the plumber.
- randybrunt
October 24, 2008 at 2:49pm
A FRIEND IN FRIED I've been following these Obama-endorsing Republicans with great interest, but there's clearly a distinction between surprising GOP support and the more predictable GOP support. Scott McClellan? Not a surprise. Ken Adelman? A surprise
- Anonymous
October 24, 2008 at 4:08pm
Wendy, I dont understand what your passion is on Obama but Im guessing it bo...
- Anonymous
October 24, 2008 at 4:11pm
Wow: Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States. Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States. Since then
- Anonymous
October 24, 2008 at 8:13pm
Wendy?
- ironyroad
October 25, 2008 at 12:37am
Randybrunt, "700 + days in the Senate." I am curious. What are the credentials you seek? Does Harvard law, working as a community organizer studying the needs of the unemployed, constitutional professior, civil rights attorney, reared in a single parent home of modest means, say nothing? Does military school, 23 years in the military (with torture included) followed by the life of a politician, mean everything? Which one better prepares for leadership of 300,000,000 people and, to some extent, the world?
- Nusholtz
October 25, 2008 at 9:59am