> [from The Note - not sure why this didn't come out in the
> way he intended though]
>
> McCain campaign manager Rick Davis, in a quote that didn't
> come out the way he intended: "This election is not
> about issues," Davis said in a chat with Washington Post
> reporters and editors. "This election is about a
> composite view of what people take away from these
> candidates."
I think this is absolutely right. And I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing, or certainly not as some debasement of "real politics." For one, thinking that politics is only about issues and policy is a decidedly masculinist way of looking at things, as if biography, bodies, and affect are somehow not political. For another, since the actual policy differences between the two parties is so miniscule, why not, if you are going to bother following Washington politics and voting, try to find differences that might be substantive or actually relate to you.