Matthew Yglesias’ hysterical attempt to make John McCain’s biography tour seem creepy:

What I’ll say on behalf of this strategy is that it’s the best way I can think of to try to take advantage of older people’s potential discomfort with the idea of a woman or a black man in the White House that doesn’t involve exploiting racism or sexism in a discreditable way.

So, this exploits racism and sexism in a creditable way? And those odd italics in the quote don’t make much sense. Taking “advantage of older people’s potential discomfort with the idea of a woman or a black man in the White House” hits a bullseye in defining exploitation. Not that McCain is, in my opinion, doing any exploiting: he’s simply showcasing his merits, much as the other candidates have showcased theirs. And if Obama’s allowed to tout (and tout and tout and tout and tout) his biography, why not McCain? Maybe Yglesias is working twice as hard at being tendentious this week because Andrew Sullivan is on vacation.