I am tired of hearing that the McCain campaign must go negative, that they "have no choice." The assumption is that a campaign MUST do whatever it takes, no matter how dirty and nasty, to win. They're wrong. There is another choice.
The latest dirty, baseless accusations that Obama "pals around" with a terrorist are the worst yet. It has incited violent threats, and implies that a good patriot would do anything to keep Obama from becoming president. Shouts of "kill him" and "terrorist" are examples of how far the rhetoric has come, and John McCain seems to be fine with this kind of hate.
In 2000, John McCain admitted to compromising his principles in an attempt to win a primary and expressed regret. He referred to his mistake as a, "sacrifice of principle for personal ambition."
The Arizona senator expressed regret for that stance on Wednesday, telling the audience of Republicans: "I feared that if I answered honestly, I could not win the South Carolina primary. So I chose to compromise my principles."
"I promised to tell the truth always about my intentions and beliefs. I fell short of that standard in South Carolina," McCain said.
With this campaign, McCain had a chance to atone for 2000 and show he is bigger than his ambitions. Instead, faced with a possible loss of his last chance at the presidency, he hired to run his campaign the very people who destroyed him so ruthlessly in 2000 for Bush. His decision was simple, to do whatever it takes to win.
In May of this year, Cindy McCain stated during a Today Show appearance that her husband's campaign would not go negative, a promise we've heard from John McCain and his staffers many times.
"What you're going to see is a great debate. Which is what the American public deserves. None of this negative stuff, though. You won't see it come out of our side at all."
When confronted about his negative campaigning on, of all places, The View, John McCain said,
"If we had done what I asked Senator Obama to do, because I've been in a lot of other campaigns where I have appeared with the opposition with the people and listened to their hopes and dreams and aspirations, I don't think you'd see the tenor of this campaign."
His excuse for his smear campaign is that Obama doesn't go on a town hall tour with him? Does that fit with his previous commitments to a clean campaign, and his regret of past campaign lies in the name of ambition?
Commentators, pundits and talking heads are playing this like a game, excusing McCain's decline into filth as being mandatory, and saying that he literally "has no choice." Winning is the only option, the only acceptable outcome, regardless of the cost. In sports, we cheer our coaches and players for running out the clock or drawing fouls in the last seconds to ensure a win. But we have to ask whether the same passion applies when the country's future is at stake, instead of a chrome trophy. Here are just a few pundit examples in writing, although most are on 24 hour news, such as professional right wing cynic Pat Buchanan on MSNBC.
July 31, 2008: The Negative Campaign and John McCain (John Feehery)
August 10, 2008: Why McCain Went Negative
October 8, 2008: Negative Messaging Works
This all begs the question "is there another choice?" Is McCain truly painted into a corner, where there is simply no other choice than to lie, smear and make disgusting, improper claims about his opponent?
There is another choice. Lose with dignity and honor. That's right, I said it. It is better to lose a presidential campaign than to lose your honor, integrity, dignity, pride and reputation. It's truly an amazing concept, I know, to use these words when talking about a campaign in this post-Rove world. We've come to expect mud slinging, because the candidates "have no choice."
Lately, I've been seeing pundits saying Obama "has no choice" but to smear McCain back. I disagree. While the Obama campaign has attacked McCain's statements, his voting record, his political connections to lobbyists, and his policies, they have not attacked McCain as a person. In fact, they've shown what I believe is too much respect with their constant, "I love John McCain," and "John McCain is an American hero" rhetoric before and after every criticism. I hope they continue to avoid the character smears, as well as the lies and disingenuous rhetorical wordplay. It's one of the reasons I'm voting for Obama, after 27 years of Republican straight-ticket voting. It's also the reason I wear a "What Would Obama Do?" wrist band, to remind myself to follow Obama's lead. I believe Obama will stay above the fray, and win handily against the abhorrent campaign of the dishonorable John McCain. I can only hope McCain wakes up and puts Country First by returning to the campaign he promised.