Monday, October 13, 2008

You Get What You Wish For...

There was a time in this campaign when I saw little resemblence in the John McCain of today to the John McCain of 8 years ago. Back when he was still aboard the "straight talk express," McCain wore his heart on his sleeve, speaking candidly to reporters, supporters and all who would listen. It was about candor, not just catering to the base.

Since then, McCain has chosen the most socially conservative running mate we've seen in a long time, has backed up some of the Bush Administration's policies popular with that Base, and, most recently, played into the Karl Rove-type tactics of smear campaigning that has turned his circus of a campaign ugly. With lies about Obama's taxation plan that even some at Fox News found offensive and recent a smear campaign exploiting an irrelevant link between Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, McCain has created an atmosphere of partisan bitterness and deep distrust among the electorate. (And polls are showing that it's not getting him anywhere with voters.)

As the video above shows, however, perhaps McCain's campaign has been too effective among the base. Speaking at a rally in Minnesota last week, McCain (who I believe is a decent man who despises racism) was forced to take the microphone away from one of his own supporters in front of a crowd numbering in the hundreds. John McCain, once a decent man more interested in speaking for the people of this country instead of at them, is slowly realizing the effect that his hate-mongering campaigning has had in America. It's frankly disgusting that these sorts of attitudes still exist in America, and John McCain knows it. I commend him for returning to his straight talk roots, but I think that for McCain, it may be too little, too late.

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