Try Leading, Mr. McCain

I am unwilling to believe that Senator John McCain is running his own campaign. Though as a candidate for the presidency, Sen. McCain is deeply flawed, I am unwilling to believe that the ugly campaign his Party is running truly reflects Sen. McCain's genuine views.

I don't believe that Sen. McCain understood what he was doing when he picked Gov. Palin as his running mate.

I don't believe that Sen. McCain understood what he was doing when he selected the architect of the destruction of his 2000 presidential campaign in South Carolina, Tucker Eskew, to advise Gov. Palin.

I don't believe that Sen. McCain understands that lobbyist and influence peddlers are NOT drawn to him by his charm, savoir-faire and mavericity.

I don't believe that Sen. McCain understands that "I have a plan" does not constitute a viable policy.

I don't believe that Sen. McCain thinks Sen. Obama is a terrorist or supports terrorism.

I don't believe Sen. McCain is a racist, and I don't believe he understands the Civil Rights Movement. He wasn't there.

I don't believe that Sen. McCain understands the dark forces he's unleashed.

I don't believe that Sen. McCain has been leading his own campaign. I hope.

And, I don't believe that Mr. McCain understands the damage to this nation and our people that the Republican party has wrought.

Sen. McCain's failure, I hope, lies in his acquiescence to the Republican "base" and to those who for years have pandered to that base, stoking the fires of its intolerance and ignorance and selfishness and greed. Sen. McCain's failure-by-acquiescence is not a modest failure. And it is that failure which presents the danger of his candidacy.

Aside from the manifest damage to the public conversation and the genuine danger of inspiring criminal acts, the lesson is that Sen. McCain has failed to lead his own party. The party has led him, by the nose. And, should that party win in November, it is that Party which will continue the dismembering of the American dream.

Comments

[Libbydoe]

I am a staunch Obama supporter and will absolutely vote for him. However, before Senator McCain selected Palin, I was reluctantly comfortable with the thought of a McCain presidency. He seemed to be a middle of the road Republican and he seemed to care for this country. Unfortunately, the poor judgment he showed in his vice presidential pick and subsequent racist attacks on Obama have made me very much afraid of him.

I do not know whether he or some outside forces are manipulating his campaign. It really doesn't matter, as he is responsible for how things have evolved.

I always thought it was important for those of us in this country to clean house and vote in people who are not so very entrenched in the abysmal attitudes and outcomes perpetualed in last eight years. John McCain has proved that it is essential for our very survival to vote for Barach Obama.

[zanzig]

I believe that Sen McCain's desperation to win the Presidency of the United States of America has rendered him blind, deaf and dumb to everything save his vaunting ambition.

[martymartymarty]

I thoroughly believe that McCain's biography somehow allows him to blind and deaf when it comes to these things. His focus is entirely on himself, he cannot see past himself, this does not make him an evil man but it does make him a failure as a leader. The disconnect between him and his campaign has been a wonder to behold, they once went so far as to assert that he himself "did not speak for the campaign". This is especially problematic when looking ahead to consider how he might lead as president, and that look ahead proves to be very scary.

[bmora]

Who cares what McCain believes? Beliefs are what got us into this mess to begin with. It is his action that matter the most.

[S1m0n]

I believe it. It's of a piece with the personality he's had on display his whole life.

In any case, just like Hillary or Bill Clinton, you don't have to personally be a racist yourself to be willing to exploit the racism of others for political advantage.