Try to decode this logic from The Weekly Standard writer Stephen Hayes:
BORGER: You just can't say no, because that won't go over with the American people.
HAYES: I'm not sure, I think there's a strong part of the country -- more than 50% in a lot of polls -- that are just opposing right now, that are very skeptical of these bailouts, and I think that if you have somebody like a Sarah Palin or another Republican who can articulate that opposition by presenting alternatives...
BORGER: But what are the alternatives? That's the point. You have to have 'em.
HAYES: Well, one would be not, y'know, $7.4 trillion giveaways.
Unless I'm missing something, Hayes is saying:
- Actually, you can just say no.
- You should say no by "presenting alternatives."
- The alternative is to just say no.
When they talk about the intellectual deficit on the right, this is the kind of thing they are taking about. (By the way, Hayes seemed to think passing the bailout was a political plus for McCain during the campaign.)