May 13, 2006 -- The Day that John McCain Lost the Election

Yes, it is a year for change. Yes Barack Obama knew that before most other politicians and capitalized on that with a unique and brilliant campaign that offered inspiration and principle to us in a consistent and explosive manner. We will elect him as our President tomorrow because he offers our country the best chance for the revival we desperately need.

But, May 13, 2006 is the day that John McCain lost the 2008 Presidential Election. My friend Mike Berman reminds me that that is the day he spoke at Liberty University. In my view, that day began the destruction of one of the best brands in American politics. It is the day that Senator McCain went to kiss the ring of Jerry Falwell, a right wing preacher who McCain had called "an agent of intolerance" in 2000. His visit's purpose was to court the evangelical voters and apologize for being the independent maverick he had been over the course of the last 15 years. He minimized the importance of the high visibility issues where he had broken with his party such as immigration, election reform, federal spending and the anti-gay constitutional amendment on marriage and promised that he would be a leader that the right wing could support and trust.

Earlier this year, many Democrats feared running against one candidate in this presidential Election - that candidate was John McCain. He was the one candidate in the Republican primary who everyone hoped wouldn't win. Sure the deeply unpopular Bush Presidency created an atmosphere that favored Democrats this year. But many assumed that given McCain's special brand of independence, he was the one candidate that could distinguish himself from the President.

But May 13, 2006 changed John McCain in two key fundamental ways that have poisoned his campaign and doomed his chances to ever become President. It soured the media on him and it empowered the evangelical right at a time when their overall influence in the country was dwindling.

He minimized his differences on immigration, on election reform, and changed his support in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy. He began to support every anti-gay initiative he could find. On those and so many other issues, he merged into the George Bush and right wing clone that in these closing days of the campaign have choked him beyond breath. In short, he sold his soul to gain the nomination of his party. When he chose Sarah Palin and made the ultimate sacrifice to the right wing choosing a VP candidate who would energize the evangelical base but clearly lacked his standard of quality in public policy, it cemented his changed persona forever.

Many republicans complained that the media has favored Barrack Obama in this election. In effect they are forgetting that it was John McCain who perfected media relations in his last Presidential run in 2000. Yet those same media allies soured on McCain as he became more and more of a political robot in the Republican message machine and the authenticity they had experienced with him was lost as he tumbled into a pool of right wing muck. It was unattractive for him to court those who had previously dissed him and he had rightly rejected as putting their prejudice and narrow-mindedness above a unified and prosperous country. And his campaign handlers knew that he could no longer provide the access t the media that had once been his hallmark because there was just too much to challenge him on. A once guileless politician suddenly had his true beliefs to hide.

Didn't he know that his uniqueness for his friends in the media was that he didn't fit into those stereotypes for a politician? That his original brand of maverick - rather than the empty word it has become - was exactly the kind of candidate the media would have continued to revere? Perhaps they even would have more aggressively challenged the upstart heir to the outsider brand - Barack Obama - if the original was still around?

And didn't he realize that just as he was concluding that he needed the right wing zealots to win the Presidency, the country had already started to reject their falsely premised "values based" agenda?

No, John McCain didn't understand how a trip to Lynchburg, Virginia on May 16, 2006 would doom his presidential dreams forever.

Follow Hilary Rosen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hilaryr

Comments

[gulopartisan]

May 13 was not the day McC*n abandoned his principles, it was the day he embraced them. He is a narcissistic opportunist, a cartoon politician that the media loved for two reasons: First, because he gave them a fictional narrative they could sell, second, because he flattered them with his attention. The media loved John McC*n because he didn't treat them like the spit-licking jackals they are. That's not much to build a relationship on.

[Leesee]

Nicely stated, gulopartisan, nicely stated indeed.

[AmericanCanuck]

Bingo! McCain's decision to kiss the behind of the far right/religious right, (yeah, kiss the ring is a less unseemly image), has made evident his willingness to do, say, support, anything in his quest for the White House. There are a lot of basically conservative folks who could not support the religious ideology of Jerry Falwell and his ilk.

I think this election is showing that Americans, including conservatives, are only so willing to hold their noses and shut their eyes in order to cast a vote for their party's candidate. McCain has crossed a line of decency with his campaign and his outrageous choice for VP.

[the-lexicon]

you misunderstand the whole context of this piece.

"kiss the ring" is a reference to the Catholic Pope. He wears a ring, which is a symbol of his office. Supplicants to the Pope kiss his ring as an act of fealty/obe­dience/hon­or.

lexicon

[Citytrucker]

McCain has an independent streak, but that doesn't mean he has high ethical standards, or that he conducts himself honorably. His whole career and personal history are full of evidence of his violating trust for personal gain. It was only in the glare of this campaign that this became obvious to the previously adoring press. Going to Liberty University was a calculated decision, not an impulse. He had decided that he couldn't win by taking the high road and pulling independents and democrats away from either Barrack or Hillary, their campaigns were drawing too many enthusiastic supporters; he would have to win by running to the right and trashing Obama's character. In the process he has badly tarnished his own reputation, probably forever.
Error alert for Ms. Rosen: You changed the date of the Liberty University speech in your last sentence!

[realitycheck7]

exactly

[Samalabear]

This is really the truth of the matter. There's lots of people, like me, who believed that McCain was different, was honorable, was about country, and all that -- and then it all came tumbling down and it the mask was taken off. We started to do research, well-thought-out and researched articles were written and read by many, facts were checked (McCain grossly underestimated the power of the internet -- it's not all fluff and lies, after all), and when you put all of it together you discovered that McCain was consistent -- consistent in doing anything that suited John McCain for his own glory. Did McCain ever believe in anything that he was fighting for? I'm not sure, but I tend to believe he didn't. His voting record on women alone is absolutely atrocious and something I did not delve into until this election. But then why would I have? I'm a New Yorker and thereby would never have voted for him as a Senator. But he wanted to be POTUS above all else and thereby opened himself up to scrutiny by the citizens of every state in the union. So at this late date one could still ask who is John McCain? What does he stand for, what does he believe in? Does anyone know the answer to this?

[robotfog]

You'd think that someone who knew their intention was to run for president someday, would naturally behave like a person who wished to represent ALL the people. I can't believe that some of these senators go out of their way to cast votes that are punitive to segments of the population and then expect to be readily accepted as representative for all Americans.

[MasterX]

No,

The reality is, John McCain will lose because his core values are Republican values. In his career as an Arizona politician he found it politically expedient to create the illusion that he disagreed with his party on a few social issues of no import to Arizonans. In 2000 when he tried to use that "maverick" persona to win the Republican nomination, he lost and if he had any doubts about the values and methods of the party to which he belongs, they would have been dispelled by Bush and the Rove tactics. Rather than rebel against them and become an independent, he chose to embrace them, merely confirming what he has been all along, an opportunist politician who absolutely shares the core Republican values. So don't bemoan the loss of some false Romantic notion of John McCain. He never existed.

[realitycheck7]

yes!

I'm glad some people get it

[RexPrimoris]

Pandering to the religious right is now a threshold ritual for all GOP presidential nominees, such is the stranglehold that group has over the party's platform and agenda. Until the GOP undergoes a serious self-evaluation with regard to whether it wants to continue to be beholden to a dwindling group of religious zealots, hawking the same old divisive, insular politics, or return to a more moderate platform that emphasizes fiscal conservatism (as opposed to social conservatism that attempts to legislate morality), the party will continue to reap diminishing returns in national elections.

[MizLiz]

An excellent analysis. I remember that day very well, and thought to myself he had sold his very soul to get the presidency.

[wydgage]

Following the third Presidential debate, when McCain brought out his "i'm not George Bush. if you wanted to run against George Bush, you should have run against him in 2004" slogan, Frank Rich correctly and astutely wrote in his Sunday column, "why didn't John McCain run against George Bush in 2004?" McCain could not shed his ties and links to W. and his embrace of the evangelical right flies in the face of the new kind of America that is on the threshold of electing a Black American as our President of the UNITED States. the politics of fear and division is drawing to a close...

it won't be easy to change the course of our nation ... but it will be worth it.

[northstar11]

i really wish obama had not made the case that "i am a christian " and instead had expressed oneness in the carlin line"thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself"

that i believe would have put the final nail in the 'faith based' voting and reinforced separation of church and state .

the good news is it is not to late to say it.

[AntsyAmerican]

Actually I'm of two minds on this. The Constitution forbids any religious test for public office. But that only applies to legal qualifications for office. Private citizens are perfectly welcome to employ their own religious tests in the privacy of the voting booth. Sadly, too many Americans have a religious litmus test that excludes me, among others. (I'm "godless.") But that doesn't mean personal religious tests are all bad. I myself utilize a religious test. Ideally, I'd prefer a public official who's outgrown imaginary friends and doesn't care who knows it. Failing that, I'll settle for the candidate WITHOUT end-times beliefs that might affect Middle East policy.

AntsyAmerican.com - yet another obscure political blog

[Sock]

I don't recognize McCain anymore. I'm an Arizonan and I don't think he even has a chance at holding his senate seat in 2010.

[Independent-for-Obama]

Hopefully he will retire rather than run for re-election.

[robotfog]

I don't know. I've noticed that a lot of these old guys refuse to move on and let younger people have a chance. McCain will probably run again and, if he loses, he'll refuse to leave his office and will turn up in the senate everyday casting votes for issues that are only in his head.

[KingwoodMom]

what's even more sad to McCain is the right wing crazies still don't like him...they openly say vote for Palin, forget about McCain..what McCain failed to understand is tht with a group of right wing religious zealot, kissing a ring doesn't get you in the club...sucking up won't work...they recognize their own..it's a DNA thing with them..you cannot fake it..so in essence, every side now sees McCain as a phony.

[spinoza]

The emotional thrust of your remarks are on-target... but as to them "recognizing their own" ... and "can't fake it", you must be joking. Televangelists bleed these lemmings-for-jesus daily. George W and Rove used christian catch phrases... a wink and a nod, to woo these fools.

Those who check their critical thinking at the door to the pews (assuming they still retain the ability to think clearly) are among the most easily duped.

To paraphrase the great philosopher Seneca the Younger:

"Religion is viewed as true by the common folk,
false by the wise,
and useful by the Rulers."

Cheers.

[KingwoodMom]

I agree that the "tele-evangelists" are mostly all phony and all about money...but when it comes to "Jesus", they mean it...Palin and Bush may be phonies, easily manipulated by the Roves and the Rushes, but don't underestimate the true fervor of their unyeilding devotion to their faith which they interpret as destiny. I truly beilieve in Bush's darkest hours, he believes Jesus meant for everything to turn out the way it did and so with Palin, there is not one moment that she regrets or looks back on because again, Jesus wouldn't have put her there if it wasn't destiny....that kind of complete blind faith is what the followers recognize...they surrender their judgement to what they beleive is destiny....so while to us they all seem phony, never underestimate their ability to truly connect with their own.

[happytrails]

Thank you, Spinoza, for that quotation from Seneca. And to think that he said this even BEFORE the invention of the Christian church.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[realitycheck7]

McCain has always been the same

What has changed is the perception of him in the media.

He has simply been exposed for what he really is.

[BiGnBulKY]

Obama/Bide­n/Google/U­tube 08'' !!!

[jbl inAZ]

If you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend the biography of McCain recently published by Rolling Stone (no, I don't have the URL any more, sorry). It's an eye-opener.

[mmgbizgirl]

Hilary I think you are fantastic! I have watched you during this campaign season on countless shows and think you are fresh and authentic and not afraid to call people on their BS. I love it!

Great article. I believe Obama was hugely underestimated and that was a mistake.

[AntsyAmerican]

I'd say this was THE mistake that cost Hillary Clinton as well. She could have recovered from her Iraq war vote and other issues, but she and her organization completely underestimated Obama and his organization.

[slamkitty2]

As a county chair for the McCain2000 campaign I completely agree.
So sad.
Perhaps the branding thing isn't working so well for us when it comes to electing public servants.
Something isn't right when humans are products.

[thollandpe]

That's it. McCain did not run as himself.

Gore in 2000 tried to hide his environmental agenda, and did not run as himself.

Kerry in 2004 tried to be the tough-guy gunslinger, instead of himself.

Too bad the McCain we saw in 2000 didn't beat Bush, and too bad we didn't see that man much in 2008.

[MadOzbo]

And in contrast, Barack Obama has never run as anyone but who he is...
Who is Barack Obama? The McCain camp kept asking...

The same man who wrote two books, the same man who was a community organizer (A fine skill to learn, as this election proved!), the same man who graduated Harvard Law School, and TAUGHT law classes...

In short, an educated, honest, HUMAN man. One with flaws and shortcomings, and one with a heart, and a family, and the desire to help ALL of us be the best we can be...

ONE MORE DAY.
PLEASE VOTE if you have not already done so.

I want to see the start of a new America.

[prostock69]

Amen!!!!

[nvince]

no to mention...a man with the kind of reasoned judgment this nation needs to deal with the myriad of crises his administration will have to confront.

ONE MORE DAY, INDEED!

Everyone please VOTE and if its a given you're going to vote, make sure someone who is doubtful makes it to the polls. we need to fight for every vote possible because a landslide can't be challenged!!!

[silverball]

for me it started in 2000 and 2004 when he campaigned and hugged gwb....he, first hand,knew what kind of people these were and he decided to help them rather than be honest and PRINCIPLED.....now it's just about the politics and winning or losing....say anything and do anything to win....i think WE, THE PEOPLE, are FINALLY tired of that as a strategy....i know i am.....