I endorse Mickey Kaus

SDP does not usually make electoral endorsements, but I am making an exception here. I endorse Mickey Kaus in the California Democratic Primary. There. Ms. Boxer can begin packing.

Kaus is a journalist and a blogger of great distinction. As a candidate, he has no money, no name recognition, no major endorsements (except this one!) and no organization. He wasn't allowed to speak at the recent Democratic convention.

But he is something very rare in politics and almost as rare in the media: a genuinely independent thinker. I would also add that he is very clever, and occasionally brilliant.

Kaus has two major issues on which he disagrees with Democratic orthodoxy. One is his criticism of unions. He thinks they have an unhealthy lock on Democratic policy making, and that they subvert good government on a range of issues. He is certainly right about that.

Kaus is also vehemently in favor of reducing illegal immigration. He argues that such immigration, by providing cheap labor, depresses the wages paid to the most disadvantaged workers in the US. If anything, Kaus is to my right on this issue. I am not at all sure that a very loose immigration policy is not on balance a good thing for the US. It's hard, however, to deny his specific point.

Kaus has also, and very daringly, challenged the view that we are spending too much on healthcare. He thinks that Americans should have access to whatever might do them some good in a pinch, and if that's expensive he thinks the expense is worth it.

That the Democrats denied Kaus a chance to address their convention is proof that they aren't really open to debate on these issues. I suppose he's running to try to force some debate. Good luck with that, Mickey.

Does Kaus have a chance? Well, Boxer is running very low in the polls, and there is a manifest anti-incumbent sentiment at work at large. The LA Times refused to endorse Boxer, without quite endorsing Kaus.

Well, I count about a half-dozen readers from California every day. Assume half of them are Democrats, and that all of the Democrats are swayed by my endorsement, and I might be deserve a place on Mickey's staff. God speed, Mr. Kaus. In the unlikely event that you are not the Democratic nominee, I look forward to your return to blogging at Slate.

Ps. At the risk of breaking your heart, don't count on an endorsement in the general election.

Comments

[George]

Deep red conservative here. If Mickey K makes the general, I would seriously consider voting for him.

[KB]

He would make a very interesting Senator!

[Gregory Koster]

In any choice between Kaus and Carleton S. Fiorina the despoiler of Hewlet-Packard go for the Mickster. Let Carly join the Democrats, her natural party.

[BillW]

I say the eyebrows alone are worth the endorsement. A guy with more hair over his eyes than on his head would be a great addition to the Sunday morning political talk show circuit.

[KB]

Gregory: I wouldn't mind waiting to see who wins that one!

BillW: I enthusiastically concur. Those are world class eyebrows! I would note that Kaus would be very entertaining on the talk shows for a lot of reasons. If you never saw Kaus on bloggingheads.tv, you have no idea. You can find some clips of Kaus on that site.