as i said yesterday, it’s unfortunate that politics have to come to this. i find it sad that to “sell” the greatest man-made political system on earth (democracy), we have to resort to attacking each others character.
that said, i sympathize for john mccain.
quoted from jonathan martin of politico.com;
McCain seems to have made a choice that many politicians succumb to but which he had always promised to avoid - he appears ready to do whatever it takes to win, even it if soils his reputation.
“We recognize it’s not going to be 2000 again,” said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers, alluding to the media’s swooning coverage of McCain’s ill-fated crusade against then-Gov. George W. Bush and the GOP establishment. “But he lost then. We’re running a campaign to win. And we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it.”
Rogers, who hung tough with McCain through the dark days of the primary and has lived through every high and low of this turbulent and unpredictable race, argues that they tried to run a high-ground campaign and sought to keep the candidate in front of the media in the fashion he enjoys. His point: No one paid any attention.
and to mccain’s credit, everything in there is true. when i saw mccain live and in person in a small cafe in perrysburg back in march, i was truly on the fence between him and obama. it certainly wasn’t for his policies, but it’s because i thought the man just bled character. a model of being above the fray.
the mccain camp held this position for a long time. but, as the quote above says… people stopped listening.
by any standard, obama should win in november in a landslide. the stars were perfectly aligned for it. the most unpopular (republican) president in the history of keeping track of popularity, a country absolutely desperate for something different, and incredibly energized support-base… it should have been a cake-walk. and frankly, it probably would have been had mccain stayed on the straight and narrow.
that’s not to say obama is not at fault for where he is. looking back, he probably should have accepted at least some of those town hall debates. he probably should have gotten to the “red-meat” policy talks a little sooner, and he probably should have always pounded it into himself and his staff that no matter what the media or mccain camp says, they’re the underdog. i think arrogance came into play, and just as mccain decided to switch gears, which created the current situation.
i say all this to say, that while i don’t agree at all with this kind of politics, i understand why mccain is doing it. “the ends justify the means” is i’m sure one of his favorite sayings right now. and to be perfectly fair, from what i know of mccains character, i’m sure this is absolutely eating him up inside. i’m willing to bet he’s taking no pride in what he and his campaign are doing to try and ensure a victory in november. again, from jonathan martin;
“Every day not talking about the economy, the war and how to fix a broken system is a victory for McCain,” said John Weaver, a former top strategist to the nominee who left the campaign last year. “They’re going to ride it as long as they can and as long as the mainstream media puts up every ridiculous charge.”
The negative and often exaggerated or misleading claims being made about Obama and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, especially those playing on Palin’s gender, are just too irresistible for the process-consumed online and cable news media that now drives the campaign conversation, Weaver said.
the ends justify the means.
