To the Gates of Hell with McCain

Sunday, May 06, 2007 by Dave Winer.

Amyloo quotes Newt Gingrich as not liking the way debates have been moderated. I sympathize. 

In this week's Republican debate, there was a moment when, if John McCain had his wits about him, he would have punched Chris Matthews in the nose.  

McCain had just finished a monologue saying he would follow Osama Bin Laden to "the gates of Hell." Brief pause, he smiles nervously, and Matthews says "OK," but the tone was unmistakeable -- "what ever." 

It went from reality to parody in a blink of an eye.  

Of course McCain delivered the line awfully, he was almost a parody of himself.  

The gates of Hell is not the kind of thing you smile about.  

The line would only really work if he could have pulled off a Clint Eastwood deadpan, in the style of Dirty Harry or Fistful of Dollars.