Posted by
on Friday, August 25, 2006 6:11:03 PM
A friend e-mailed to express his pleasure at John McCain criticizing President Bush’s management of the war saying simply McCain owed him one. I wasn’t sure of the reference at the time but explained that if anyone owes anyone anything it’s the other way around. Bush owes McCain because he assured him it was his turn "next time" when they had their come-to-Jesus meeting in 2000. Shortly thereafter McCain withdrew.
The problem I see with this "it's your turn" mentality is that it is exactly what screwed the GOP with Bob Dole in 96 and to some extent, the Democrats with Gore in 2000. I am sure there are other examples throughout history, Dewey, Stephenson, Nixon (1960) all come to mind and I'm no historian.
I fear if we rely on this tradition with McCain it will come back to bite us. But that isn’t the main reason I couldn’t vote for him. If elected I will support him but I won't work to get him elected. Why? Two words, McCain-Feingold. Even 2 years after that debacle he admitted he'd willingly compromise freedoms for a cleaner government. Forgetting the self-contradictory nature of that proposition for a moment, this smacks of the "we know what's best for you" elitism I detest. Noble goals should never be achieved by nefarious means and the McCain Feingold atrocity is exactly that. Campaign promises are one thing but an oath swearing to uphold the constitution is quite another. Anyone reading that legislation who doesn’t see a breech of that oath should get remedial reading lessons because you are borderline illiterate. It’s that plain.
At best politics is a compromise. I won't begrudge anyone’s choices because there is no such thing as a perfect candidate. I overlooked W's Connecticut blueblood lineage in the hopes the Texan persona he adopted was the real deal. Boy, did I ever blow that one, but in the end he was STILL the best choice, or lesser of two evils if you prefer. Conversely, one can overlook McCain Feingold and focus on his hawkishness and fiscal conservatism. It's just to me, McCain-Feingold is so egregious it's impossible to overlook and therefore, ultimately unforgivable. It appears on this my friend and I will simply agree to disagree as I see no possibility of changing his mind and he knows I won’t change mine. There is one remote possibility I could endorse McCain however, the highly unlikely possibility that he renounces McCain Feingold. I'll not be holding my breath.
For McCain there's also the "Senators never gets elected" bugaboo and a deep bench in the GOP, including a couple of accomplished governors and “America’s Mayor”, Rudy Giuliani. I haven't been watching very closely but it promises to be a bruising battle. So far I like what I see in Mitt Romney but that’s probably because he has such an abundance of what W lacks - - charisma. Tall, very good, i.e. presidential, looking, extremely articulate, knowledgeable, executive experience in both private and public sectors. There's a lot to like there but I am sure the scrutiny will expose any defects soon enough. Lord knows that if his campaign picks up any steam we can rely on the good old mainstream media to fabricate some.
This early on you can expect McCain to say whatever he wants for the sake of keeping the cameras pointed his way. That’s just smart and nobody, including the White House, will blame him for playing the media to his advantage. Given the promise of 2000, and the fact that his campaign staff is rife with former Bush campaign officials, I am sure this is not only condoned but also expected. After all, it was candidate Bush who said, “its just politics” back in 2000 so he is hardly in a position to cry foul now.
Eight years is an eternity in politics and by 2008 we will all be ready for a change. Knowing that, all candidates, regardless of party, will have to distance themselves from Bush to some extent. Obviously it will be much easier for the Dems whose biggest challenge will be not to over reach, a tall order. My guess is that the Republican who straddles that line most gracefully will be the next nominee, an even taller order. You can attribute a lot of fine qualities to John McCain but from what I’ve seen, grace isn’t one of them. Stay tuned. We shall see.