Is Mike McGavick dumb?

Michael Kinsley, the former editor of The New Republic and Slate magazines and CNN commentator now a Washington Post columnist, used the ads of Senate candidate Mike McGavick as fodder for a column. McGavick trails in his campaign to oust Sen. Maria Cantwell from her Senate seat. Kinsley lives in the Seattle area.

Check it out here.

The best quote from the essay:

"If you knew nothing about Mike McGavick except what is in his TV commercials and on his Web site, you would conclude either that he is a moron or that he thinks you are a moron."

Well, you already know what I think. I met McGavick a couple weeks ago at one of his "Open Mike" events here in Wenatchee. I went as a Democrat with the intention of asking him a question supplied by local Demo organizers. I tried to pin him down on his position on privatizing Social Security. He had few specifics on how he differed from the privatization plan offered by the president. In that session, McGavick showed he is a very personable man whose intelligence comes through despite the fact that he tries to be straightforward and plainspoken. But in a clear attempt at an applause line he offered, without prompting, that English should be the official language of the nation. It was just a cheap grab for applause with a borderline racist comment. He knew his conservative eastern Washington crowd.

Is Mike McGavick a moron? Nah. But he is a fool if he thinks that vague plans and cheap applause lines will get him enough votes to unseat a generally well-regarded and sharp incumbent.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.