Michael Smerconish Discovers the “Nut” in Wingnut (Updated) 0

More than 500 people weighed in immediately, unwilling to consider my argument before criticizing its conclusion.

“You made up your mind a long time ago, you rat,” one wrote to me. “Either you have no core beliefs, or you are just like all the other elitist Main Line snobs. My guess is both,” wrote another. “Smerconish, you’re one awful, greedy, shameless ratings hog. . . . You traded your soul for socialism,” said a detractor.

By the time the column actually reached the newsstand, my critics numbered more than 1,000. . . . An additional 1,000 angry e-mails came in the 24 hours that followed publication.

And, the tone of the objectors actually escalated. Missing from most, however, was any reference to the argument I had advanced: Barack Obama properly recognizes that the central front in the war on terror is the Afghan-Pakistan border, not Iraq; he has more intellectual capacity to deal with the economy than the guy who said its fundamentals were “strong”; Sarah Palin is not ready to be president; Obama represents a role model for black youth, too many of whom are growing up and killing one another; and he presents the best opportunity to unite us after the election and restore our prestige around the globe.

All that fell mostly on deaf ears. Instead, people wondered how I could ever consider voting for a “Marxist” or “socialist” candidate like Sen. Barack “Hussein” Obama.

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