Eric Alterman on Tom Brokaw on John McCain

I think that Alterman makes a pretty good point here:

Discussing McCain's success in the Republican primaries, Brokaw attributed it to the candidate's "indomitable will," and opined that McCain won by simply being "the most authentic...he wasn't trying to reinvent himself."

This is not only wrong, but diametrically, screamingly wrong. It's not a difficult point — McCain won the primaries specifically by reversing himself on taxes, immigration, the religious right, and virtually every other issue important to the hard right. These policies were not only blazingly visible — Mitt Romney and others called him on it loudly during the Republican debates — but obviously destructive, as the last eight years have proven.

And yet, here is Brokaw saying of the candidate who by far has done the most to change his positions that McCain was "the most authentic...he wasn't trying to reinvent himself."

It's not that hard to see if you're paying attention. But in addition to changing his positions on all of these issues (the estate tax, Roe v. Wade, etc.) McCain also told a lot of lies about Mitt Romney and repeatedly questioned his patriotism. Particularly on the eve of the Florida primaries, which pretty much sealed it for him. To say that McCain won by being "the most authentic...he wasn't trying to reinvent himself" is to seriously rewrite history.