John McCain

John McCain

John McCain had a reputation for being a maverick in the U.S. Senate. After getting burned (caught) as one of the notorious Keating Five, McCain became tainted with the stigma of being a greedy Republican. In a series of policy announcements, John McCain drew the ire of his party as he moved to the center. First , he worked across party lines to curb corporate influences in elections with Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold, he then suggested guest worker programs for undocumented workers, and he even reiterated his opposition to overturning Roe v. Wade. In other words, despite Republican party-line views on slashing public education, privatizing social security, and (not) protecting the environment, there was a time (the first time he ran against George W. Bush for example) when an informed voter could call McCain a moderate on some issues.

Today’s John McCain is very much a reactionary conservative. John McCain’s flip-flops reveal a candidate who puts politics before passions, and ambition before convictions. On campaign finance: Despite his saintly assertions that he is taking public financing, the Republican National Committee has assured McCain that its private and corporate fundraising will amply keep up with Obama’s citizen-generated support. On immigration: McCain has been advised to only preach border security and stay away from anything that might appear to sympathize with ‘illegals’. On abortion: This change of position is stark because he now makes a point of saying he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade by appointing judges who will remove the precedent, even though when running for President in 1999, McCain said, he would not want “women in America to undergo illegal and dangerous operations” – he concluded, “in the short term, or even in the long term, I would not repeal Roe v. Wade."

Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court after his Lincoln Savings & Loan collapsed, costing taxpayers $3.4 billion. Although Keating faces new trials on all the Federal and State claims, his convictions have been overturned on too-good-to-be-true technicalities, including the absurdity of having Judge Lance Ito (yes, that judge), who made fatal errors in the State case on jury instructions. Regardless of Keating’s fate, John McCain got into serious trouble when he intervened on behalf of Keating shortly after Keating gave McCain $112,000 in contributions. Of course, as you might expect, there were also at least nine documented McCain trips on Keating’s private jet, retreats to the Bahamas, and Cindy McCain got what the Phoenix New Times called a “sweetheart deal” to invest in Charles Keating’s biggest shopping center.

Perhaps in seeking voter forgiveness for these ethical oversights, McCain threw himself into campaign finance reform. The legislative history of campaign finance was brutal. Not since the early 1970’s had politician’s voted against their own incumbent advantages. And although it was Olympia Snow’s (R. Maine) version that carried the 59-41 passage of the law, McCain’s name remained on the Bill. In the end, McCain was one of only 12 Republican’s who voted for curbing political action committees and setting the limit (now at $2,300) that any particular individual might contribute to a candidate’s campaign.
In running against George W. Bush in 1999 and 2000, McCain felt the sting of his moderation. Karl Rove unleashed push-polling in South Carolina to suggest McCain had fathered a black child out of wedlock. McCain was eviscerated on abortion by the born-again George W Bush. And McCain lost.

As a Senator, McCain positioned himself to make another run at the Presidency. In the post-9/11 world, the decorated prisoner of war easily backed Bush on the need for military involvement to keep America safe and strong. However, even as Bush won re-election by continuing to scare and divide Americans, it could not have been easy for McCain to flip-flop on the one issue so very close to John McCain—torture. Once a vocal supporter of the Geneva Conventions, McCain, in perhaps a move to strengthen his differences with Obama on peace and security (did he really need to, they are so easily distinguished), decided to be okay with water-boarding and other extreme interrogation methods. This switch may have won McCain a few primary votes from the war hawks in his party, but consider the obvious drawback; the United States, in committing torture, has lost a moral advantage over the terrorists, while John McCain lost any credibility that a man who had experienced the brutalities of war had learned something from it to inform his Presidency.

McCain's flip-flop on torture says so much. McCain basically gave up a moral conviction for political points. In his candidacy, McCain’s hard turn to the right was nearly complete as he racked up victories in the Republican nominating process.

Now we know John McCain faces Barack Obama. Obama, as anyone with a pulse knows, is an inspiring candidate to millions of people with reformer appeal who seems to be everything that McCain is not. Obama is young, progressive, eloquent, and also happens to be African-American. McCain is old, deeply conservative, not a good speech-maker, and very white (McCain remember, is from Arizona, the only State that refused the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday). After a captivating Democratic nominating process, the words the public associated most with the Democrat and the Republican who would compete for the White House, were “Change” and “Old.”

John McCain wants to be President. He faces an uphill battle of perceptions. How do you make up the gaps in the polls and the first impressions that the public has regarding your opponent and who you are? Well, let’s start with those whispers that the media made sure we all heard. Scurrilous rumors about Obama on the internet will only get you so far, and frankly, you know what I am talking about when I say this; most of them now will earn a, “Really?! Are you really saying this?”, kind of reaction to the idiocy that inspires them. And Obama is smart. Fighting Republican-generated smears by leaving no allegation unanswered is Obama’s anti-Kerry strategy that has until now, worked. Obama has stayed up in all of the polls. But many of you now know, the polls are tilting in McCain’s favor. Slowly. Gradually. As the expert marketing and image-makers will gloriously tell you, McCain is in the process of “branding” Obama. Never mind the horrifying implication of that statement, how is McCain doing it, this re-defining of Obama for the American public? Answer: McCain has fired most of his campaign. He now employs Karl Rove’s trained henchmen to come up with negative advertising on Obama. All negative, all the time.

Time will tell of it will work. It may. After 2000 and 2004, I have little remaining faith in the critical thinking skills of the undecided American voter. If McCain makes the best-worst attack ads, he will probably win. If he scares you. If he intimidates you. If he tricks you. But, there is something vaguely telling about my editorial in all of this that is a bit sad, and it is this sentiment that I guess I empathize with some Republicans and Moderates up to a certain point. Whether McCain wins by employing all the same strategies and policies of the sitting U.S. President and his 25% approval rating, I want you to know this:

My mother-in-law has lost some unquantifiable measure of admiration for John McCain, enough to make her, a self-described 'moderate', feel disenchanted with politics.

The McCain camp would be thrilled. Elections with low voter turnout inevitably favor Conservative candidates. How to torpedo Obama's popularity? Attack it directly as a weakness of style over substance. That's Karl Rove 101. Take whatever public perceptions of strength your opponent has and fabricate just enough doubt to get people to vote their fears, instead of their hopes.