McCain and Me: Hero Worship Dies Hard (But When It Does...)
The way the McCain camp has reacted to my revelation about his not voting for Bush in 2000, immediately moving into kill-the-messenger mode, is further confirmation of what has happened to McCain -- now willing to say or do anything, or sling mud at anyone, to satisfy his hunger for the White House.
And I'm curious, at exactly what point did Mark Salter decide I was "a flake, and a poser, and an attention seeking diva"? Was it before or after I hosted a book party at my home for the book he co-wrote with McCain, Faith of My Fathers?
Was it before or after our many conversations about McCain giving the keynote address at the 2000 GOP Shadow Convention I organized in Philadelphia to underline the failure of both political 
parties to address major issues, like campaign finance reform?
Was it before of after he told me during one of these conversations that George Bush had personally asked McCain to pull out of keynoting the Shadow Convention, but that McCain had decided to do it anyway?
Was it before or after he thanked me for accepting McCain's invitation to join the board of the Reform Institute McCain founded in 2001 (and from which he resigned in 2005, after it was revealed that he had solicited $200,000 in contributions from Cablevision for the Institute -- and wrote a letter to the FCC supporting Cablevision's interests)?
As you can see from the many, many newspaper columns I wrote singing his praises, John McCain was one of my political heroes.
Here's one column where I compared him to a modern day gladiator, inspired by his vow "to have blood all over the floor of the Senate until we accede to the demands of the people" for meaningful reform. In the column, I credit Salter as McCain's "fellow gladiator," and include a quote he gave me... before I flaked out on him and started posing and seeking attention.
But hero-worship dies hard, which is why it took so long for me to see that the man who had been willing to take on his own party and redefine what it meant to be a "loyal Republican," who stood up for his beliefs in campaign finance reform and his opposition to unconscionable tax cuts and even more unconscionable torture, was no more.
It's why I described his fall as Shakespearean (and, speaking of the Bard, hearing the invective spewing from the McCain camp in response to my post, "thou doth protest too much, methinks" leaps to mind).
This isn't Mitt Romney we're talking about, folks -- a man for whom pandering and flip flopping fit like a perfectly tailored suit. This is John McCain, a man whose personal history, in the words of Newsweek in 2000, "makes the other presidential candidates look like pygmies" -- and who, at one time, before he held a fire sale on his principles (Everything Must Go!), was ennobled by that history and had the chance to become that rarest of things -- a real leader.
Previously:
Arianna Huffington: What John McCain Told Me, and What it Says About How Far He's Fallen [Updated]
Flashback:
Slater Insults Student Protester; Protester Responds
Remember Jean Rohe, the student commencement speaker at the New School who, in 2006, discarded her originally prepared remarks and instead delivered a speech that questioned the university's decision to extend an invitation to McCain to deliver that year's commencement address -- with McCain sitting right behind her? She blogged about her decision on HuffPost, prompting an angry reaction from Mark Salter, posted in the comment section of her post. Here is Salter's comment, and here is Rohe's response.
Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer
Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff
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Arianna,
I am struck by the way you describe your disillusionment with John McCain. You know him personally and you speak of him as if he's not the same person he was in 2000.
There can be no question whatever that he is at very significant risk for post-traumatic stress syndrome. Is it possible that the flip flops (particularly on torture) and irrationality as well as his frequent gaffs are symptoms of a real and treatable ailment?
Don Krieger
Wasn't it McCain that said "What's wrong with telling people what they want to hear if it means you get elected?" if not, who was it? Been driving me crazy.
I might have voted for McCain too. After watching his bs for the last 8 years though, I wouldn't vote him dogcatcher.
He's a hot-headed, pandering wimp.
He's still the hero of the majority of the electoral votes in America:
http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Obama/Maps/May10.html
Can you deal with it?
Do you finally understand that the GOP does not want the average voter to remember what they said or did yesterday. You must read their lips. "Today's message" is the only operable one. That way they can stay on top of things and deal from the bottom of the deck without us rubes seeing what their game really is .
"The way the McCain camp has reacted to my revelation about his not voting for Bush in 2000..."
...indicates that they believe Arianna Huffington is off her rocker.
You had your "gotcha" moment, now the Republicans are making us look like idiots.
Thanks a lot Arianna.
Say “No” to the war. Say “NO” to McCain.
McCain is against abortion, but he is not against kill people around the word.
Hell's bells! I'm against abortion...so I decided I will never have one (I'm a 62 year old male). The problem I have with the right's stand on the issue is they are against abortion and want to prevent OTHER people from getting one. As far as killing people "around the world" is concerned, I've never met a Republican (and quite a dew Democrats) against that if it meant making a buck.
When my parents lived in Arizona not too long ago, my father used to ride with a very conservative fellow (not neocon, more paleocon like McCain) who had worked with and known McCain for years. His words? "The man is the biggest whore in politics." This was a few years ago. Now we're all learning that he was exactly right - he doesn't have an honorable leg to stand on anymore.
Well, as long as you are giving it to us third hand from your father, well, then, it must be true!
McCain, time to learn the "Hillary" lesson - when you resort to pandering and abandoning your principles, people don't like you so much anymore.
So it is you who is partly responsible for the destruction of the First Amendment? It is you who helped put pressure on weak politicians to create an incumbent protection act? It is you who helped create the 527s of fame?
Why not, since what "Campaign Finance Reform" did was to stop political debate, which only helps liberals? It all makes sense now.
Seems to me that releasing this tidbit to the public works in McCain's favor. Conservative Republicans can't stand him. After NC and Indiana, that's clear. But Independents who supported him last time want to hear that there is a rift between McCain and Bush, and something like this reinforces it.
I disagree.. I think it presents effectively how much McCain has changed. I admired John McCain in 2000 and would have possibly voted for him had he won the nomination.
Now he seems like a whipped Rottweiler. Once adept at pit fighting, now content to crawl tail-tucked to whomever will scratch his little chin. Sorry Michael Vick.
Well, what McCain needs is the figurative 'nuclear-option,' a VP-slot to focus all the controversy ON.
What a great 'show' that would be. The Pres and VP butting-heads, passionate discourse, a quick 'time-out,' and a friendly, "Let's go get some Chinese food and have a Tsing Tao beer -- we'll argue passionately again later."
But in our society of zero forgiveness, they'd rather see blood and guts, or promises of it -- writing-off people like 'bad-debts' -- zero compassion -- then hate each other about 'offensive blood and guts' and 'violent words.' "It's about the children! Boo-hoo!" It's ridiculous.
That's why that 'nuke-option' works so well.
GIVE THE DOGS BONES.
Most of us did not have Arianna's personal acquaintance with McCain. All we knew was the straight Talk Express...then the trashing by Bush, then the hugging Bush....
Trashing was an eye opener, it was not about policy or approach...it was that he had become
unstable with his POW stint, that his wife was a drug addict, that he fathered a black child..
The behind your back viciousness from Bush and Karl Rove, aided with the phone banks of Fawell and Robertson, and the Religious right...
And then he hugged them, campaigned for them, voted for every one of their crazy ideas, and besmirched every hope we had.
Some of us knew McCain was not a POTUS a long long time ago.
i understand how false images about someone are difficult to shed, but why would Arianna be surprised that McCain would lie at this point? Although McCain is as phony as they come, why did Arianna wait until this critical point to disclose this information which McCain obviously meant to be kept secret. Divulging something like this during an election insures prevarication. I believe that Arianna saw McCain through rose colored glasses; the question is why did it take so long to take them off, and once having done so, does that make it Ok to betray what was an obvious confidence? If it came out unpremeditated, in the heat of an argument, that's one thing, but if it was to bring him down as a consequence of his own imprudence, that's low level politics. All this said: McCain must be exposed for the open fraud that he is.
Arianna, thanks so much for getting this out. Typically, the republicans then go into attack mode and lie even more (the values party HA). It will now be fun watching Obama expose McCain's lies and show the world just what a hypocrite he really is.
WHat did Maureen Dowd say? Sometimes I miss John McCain, even when I'm with him? Me too. He has taken more money from lobbyist bundlers than any other candidate - by far. He has tried, probably without success to sell himself to the Christian Right - which really is sad, because there is no Christian Right anymore. HIs foreign policy plan is a disaster for America. HIs health care plan is inhumane. He has no economic plan. He once stood alone against torture - and argued passionately for the tenets of the Geneva Convention - and then reversed and voted with Bush. He once stood for honor and integrity, Now he can't ever remember what to stand for.
Kudos to Arianna for exposing McCain for his double talk. He has flipped flopped so many times it is hard to keep track of his lies. His not voting for Bush in 2000 will unnerve the neocons who are reluctantly backing him right now. He has proven that he will say or do anything to win the presidency along the way he sold his integrity to the highest neocon bidder.
No No it's not Silly. He said She said... no no... IT'S WELL SAID McCain is a major hypocrite. He now votes against his own fellow Vets. Sad very Sad
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