Just to clarify, Andy, I didn’t think that your criticisms of McCain’s record were nitpicky, just that some of your criticisms of NRO’s editorial were. As for your general thoughts about endorsement, I’m happy to endorse your ambivalence: The trend toward individual conservative writers issuing endorsements–or, worse, signing up with campaigns while staying journalists–is one that I’ve expressed some concerns about myself.

In the spirit of rethinking, let me raise a concern about your suggestion that the magazine’s endorsement should be “the big gun that you only take out when it really, really matters.” There is likely to be an inverse relationship between how much the outcome of a race matters and how much the endorsement will matter: A Carter vs. Reagan race may be important, but people influenced by NR are going to back Reagan with or without a formal endorsement. It may be precisely where the merits are a closer call that a reader might want to know how other informed conservatives judge them.