Electability

I'm with Ezra on this one. Trying to guess which candidate Republicans will most viciously and effectively lie about is a fool's game.

Is that argument right? I'm not sure. But it seems equally plausible to me. Which largely underlines my belief that trying to game out who is the most electable -- rather than, say, the best proven campaigner -- is a tough game. I can confidently predict that if either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton lose to John McCain, lots of Democrats will bemoan the obviously idiotic decision to nominate a hated, polarizing harpy/inexperienced, urbane black man during a time of anxiety and unrest. Democrats, they'll say, can blow anything.

And to assume, as Hilzoy seems to, that Americans have grown more savvy and insightful when it comes to the attacks from the Right, well...I've got a Madrasa to sell her.

That said, Hilzoy's other point, about Obama's vs. Clinton's actual voting records, is interesting.