Guilt by association: the other side of the coin

10 October 2008, 0215 EDT

My side of the blogsphere seems to think the video of a McCain supporter mouthing off about socialists and hoodlums is an indictment of McCain himself.

When I watch the video, I see McCain affirming the man’s anger but trying hard not to endorse his views. McCain, in fact, says he will work with “anyone” to solve the current crisis.

Although I find the accusation that the contemporary Democratic party and its Presidential nominee are “socialists” bizarre, particularly in light of recent events, this is pretty weak tea when it comes to the rants of everyday partisans.

So why is it getting so much attention? Because it comes on a day of (1) reports of genuinely scary stuff at McCain-Palin rallies and (2) the decision of the Republicans to slime Obama. But this video just isn’t evidence of a McCain descent into demagoguery, nor of anything worthy of indignation.

Dan Nexon

Daniel H. Nexon is a Professor at Georgetown University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service. His academic work focuses on international-relations theory, power politics, empires and hegemony, and international order. He has also written on the relationship between popular culture and world politics.

He has held fellowships at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and at the Ohio State University's Mershon Center for International Studies. During 2009-2010 he worked in the U.S. Department of Defense as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. He was the lead editor of International Studies Quarterly from 2014-2018.

He is the author of The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change (Princeton University Press, 2009), which won the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Best Book Award for 2010, and co-author of Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (Oxford University Press, 2020). His articles have appeared in a lot of places. He is the founder of the The Duck of Minerva, and also blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money.