Country First? Never Mind

Given the catastrophes of conservative rule -- captured here in a video provided to Republican convention delegates by the Campaign for America's Future -- John McCain has pitched himself as the "lone maverick," the one who puts country first. "This election is not about issues," says Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

Of course, the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate belies the claim of a maverick who puts country over politics. The choice of Palin can only be seen as a political stroke, designed to inspire the right-wing evangelical base of the party that had been notably skeptical about McCain. Given her zealous and extreme fundamentalist positions, she won't win many Hillary votes -- that was always a ruse -- but she will galvanize the evangelical right for McCain. It is clear that the man who hectors constantly that the war against terror is the "transcendent challenge of the 21st Century" just made a choice that placed his political needs over what he considers the central national mission.

But, this isn't an aberration. McCain has flip flopped on many positions -- supporting Bush's tax breaks after opposing them, catering to the right on immigration after resisting them, embracing Jerry Falwell after condemning him -- in pursuit of his party's nomination.

For an old Washington hand, none of this is surprising. McCain has been in Washington for over a quarter century of compromises and dealing. The question always for career politicians is what is left of their character? Are there any core beliefs that are not for trade or for sale?

What is left for John McCain? The formative experience of McCain's life -- as he reminds us regularly -- was the time he spent as a POW, surviving terrible torture. That experience no doubt led McCain to lead the effort to enforce the Geneva Conventions' ban on torture on the Bush administration in the wake of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and the CIA's rendition operations. In pushing to make the military's code of conduct the law of the land, McCain not only stood for the best of America's tradition but also was expressing the core of his own personal experience.

He had the votes to defeat the president on the Military Commission Act in 2006. And then he gave it away. Faced with the reality that enacting a ban on torture would cost him politically in the Republican Party, McCain surrendered. He signed on to a "compromise" bill that left the President to determine, in his sole discretion, which interrogation methods did or did not comply with the Geneva Conventions' provisions. He empowered the president to define what constituted torture. He simply surrendered on this core issue. For the best treatment, check out Glenn Greenwald here.

Now in Washington, politicians are constantly faced with the need to compromise. You give up something to make some progress. You vote for bad bills in order to placate powerful local interests. You decide which battles you can fight, and duck the others. That makes any politician vulnerable for criticism, but is part of the business.

But every leader must have a set of principles that can't be compromised -- otherwise everything is transactional, everything for sale. When McCain is willing to sign away the principle derived from what is the defining moment of his life, then the question is what core of character remains?

We've seen this before in powerful leaders. Colin Powell, for example, was formed by his experience as a young officer in the Vietnam War. He -- and others -- vowed that never again would they allow US troops to be led into war without adequate preparation, a clear mission, an exit strategy. It became known as the Powell doctrine. As Secretary of State, Powell faced many issues where he was rolled or ignored by the neo-cons around Dick Cheney who were driving the policy. He chose to stay and fight for another day. But on Iraq, he had to know that the mission was false, the force inadequate, the plans for exit unclear. And he had the power to stop the war if he had chosen to go public and resign. Instead he chose to stay at the table, to fight the future battles. In doing so, however, he gave away the central core belief of his career. After that, anything is negotiable.

That's where we are with McCain. The pursuit of the presidency is a powerful thing. The Republican Party, so captured by the far right, a difficult terrain to traverse. To win the nomination, he was prepared to give away even his core. Politics came not just before country but before core conscience.

So when Davis says the election isn't about "issues," or presumably the conservative record of failure, but about character, he is peddling McCain's message, but exposing his tragic weakness.

Comments

[LAR1969]

It's puzzling to me that McCain's POW record did not earn him the nomination in 2000. Against Bush,no less, and such as he was at the time. Yet, that's what the McCain campaign is relying on now. Heavily and almost exclusively. Is he more of a POW today than he was 8 years ago? Or is he falling back on that now because his maverick image has lost some of its validity?

I'm not tryng to diminish what McCain suffered for his country. I'm just wondering why it wasn't enough to earn him the nomination then, but is now.

[vipersdad]

...... you know the answer to that question as well as I do.

Bush was drafted by a political machine of which Cheney was a part. That machine had it's two terms. Now it's time for a revised version of that machine to pick another candidate and sadly, the "Maverick" is the next in line to capitulate and be Robo-Pres.

It's no secret that Cheney ran the country under Bush.

Question is - who would run it under McCain? Certainly not Sarah Palin - what office will wield the actual power this time out?

[LAR1969]

You're right. I did know the answer to my own question.

Your question is interesting and the possible responses are a bit....fri­ghtening?

[Bettysdad]

In 2000, McCain had fathered a black child.

In 2008, he hadn't.

[thaggas]

How come the RNC can use footage from a Iraq war military funeral but the media cannot? Seems Freedom of Information Act should trump Political Party agendas, no?

Where is the story on this?

[BCubedReg]

That's a really interesting question and worthy of further pursuit.

[GuyRC]

Part of the story is that our armed forces are a branch of the republican party.

[Uncle Kudzu]

"This election is not about issues," says Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates­."

in a very concise nutshell, that's a direct validation of George Lakoff's recent article here at The Huffington Post.

reality be damned; it's the sentimental Republican narrative that matters.

[Dagonet]

As far as I can tell, John McCain has become a prisoner of his own war and captive to his own campaign. The whole country knows that the man McCain wanted as his running-mate, the man McCain believed best suited to lead America at his side, was Joe Lieberman. And the whole country is learning that instead McCain was railroaded into the un-vetted, unready, and unconscionable choice of Sarah Palin.

Faced with the possibility of a pro-choice Independent on the Republican ticket, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, James Dobson, and all of the other people McCain once claimed to despise closed ranks against him and forced him right back into the tiny little box of his nightmares. Now he’s taking their orders and defending the indefensible when he looks us in the eye and claims that Sarah Palin is qualified to be President.

It is a sad, bitter truth that John McCain is being worn like a mask by Karl Rove and his minions, the people who brought us the last eight years and all their wasted blood and wasted hope. They’ve dressed themselves up in the mantle of a hero to sell us the same fearmongering in the name of safety, the same bigotry in the name of religion, and the same tyranny in the name of freedom.

This is not the John McCain we were promised, and this is not the John McCain we deserve.

[gtpeds]

"This election is not about issues," says Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager.
Tell that to the millions of people who lost their homes, or the families of more than 4, 000 soldiers who lost their love ones. Tell that to the millions of Americans who does not have health insurance and unable to see their doctor because they can not afford it. Tell that to those people unable to find jobs and unable to feed their family or put a roof under their head or send their children to school so they can have more opportunities later in life. So Mr. Davis, are you telling the American people that the issues are not that important in your campaign?
"FAMILY FIRST"

[modernman08]

"Of course, the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate belies the claim of a maverick who puts country over politics. The choice of Palin can only be seen as a political stroke, designed to inspire the right-wing evangelical base of the party that had been notably skeptical about McCain. "

Robert nailed this. This is a cynical political ploy from the party of cynical political ploys to manipulate their base. They choose a candidate who they know the dim witted right will relate to as someone they would like to have a beer with and will rally behind as the "left" and the "MSM" and all the boogiemen the have been trained to hate and mistrust tear her apart for all the oblivious reasons. Oh, she was vetted alright. America first!

[Bitsko]

Thanks for the informative article on these very dangerous people.

[ImIn]

A change in a political position or the selection of a VP does not vacate and or create a candidates "Core" beliefs. Both men have strong core beliefs that drive them, that form thier strategic goals for the future of the country. Obama's core belief is that the world is threatened by "challanges" that can only be remedied by bringing people together, forming concenus and attacking the issue together. This is his life lesson from being a community organizer and a Senator. McCain believes the world is threatened by "evils" both big like terrorisim and small like lobbyist and the way evil is confronted is through a resolute approach built on duty and honor...an approach that is all too often left to the few and not the many. This is his life lesson from his family and his war experiences. A few men have become President who exhibit no real core, neither of these men fall into that catagory. Because they both have such strongcore believe that they will both make compromises to gain the office that each of them feels they "MUST" win if the country is to be sustained, saved, pick a description, over the next four years. I don't know which man is right, but I have no doubt about the fact that they are both principaled men of integrity.­..it's a shame Borosage and Huffington seem to think charachter assasination of McCain..a fools..is the right way to go about winning support for Obama.

[phae100]

I'mIn: Are you serious? Honestly, do you really believe McCain's approach is built on duty and honor? Unless those are euphemisms for "likes to fight wars" and "wants to be president to satisfy ambitions", then you and I are not on the same planet.

But thank you. You actually sound like a real McCain supporter and not a nutcase spewing paid bile at Obama. You're the first one that sounds like hate might not be your primary form of nourishment. You sound real, in other words, unlike those fakey spin spewers. Deluded but real.

Aren't you guys embarrassed of your presidential pick and the entire GOP??? You remind me of a woman who's skirt is blowing up in the wind and she's desperately trying to hold it down to keep from showing her doughy, naked behind.

[cindyward]

McCain needs no help - he is assassinating his OWN character with his constant flip-flops. To borrow John Kerry's terminology, today's CANDIDATE McCain bears no resemblance to yesterday's SENATOR McCain. McCain has sold his soul to the far right for this, his last chance at the presidency - the SAME far-right that chewed him up and spit him out in 2000.

Did you forget it was the FAR-RIGHT that floated all the rumors about McCain's being mentally unbalanced from his years as a POW in Vietnam? Did you forget that it was the FAR-RIGHT that floated all the rumors about how he fathered a black baby? No one on the left has done anything CLOSE to the character assassination of McCain that the far-right did in 2000.

[PaulLee]

Let us begin with the premise that McCain, in selecting Palin, is making a compromise he feels necessary to gain the presidency in order for him to enact the policies he truly and honestly believes are necessary for the good of the country and not purely for personal ambition. But he is an elderly man with a history of poor health, should the worst happens then he would be leaving the country in the hands of someone who has at the very least, shown herself to be unfamiliar with the national and international issues facing America. "Country First" by all means but first ensure that you still have a country.

[Davwbaird]

poppycock = full of crap.

[RepugsOut08]

Great article!
Colin Powell was the one person who might have been able to stop the Iraq war in the planing stages. If he had resigned and went before Congress and the American people with the truth, countless lives might have been spared. Even if he wasn't successful, he would have, as you've stated, maintained his core principals.
I knew he would never run for office or the VP slot. I Suspect he's very unhappy with himself these days.

[Letonke]

Yes... she is hot

[infix]

The selection of Sarah Palin reveals two critical and damaging aspects of John McCain and his campaign.

1. As has been widely reported, Palin was NOT McCain’s first pick for VP. He wanted his good friend Joe Lieberman. Karl Rove and others intervened. McCain picked Palin as a compromise. What does it say about a man who wishes to run this country that his handlers won’t let him make his own decision on this critical issue?

2. McCain’s slogan of “Country First” certainly look ironic given his VP move. There could not be a more clear example of someone choosing short-term political gain over the long-term good of the nation. McCain sees Palin as his meal ticket with the religious right, possibly allowing him to thread the needle and pull off an upset victory in an election he has no business winning. But she certainly is not the governing partner, economic policy expert and congressional liaison he ought to have been looking for in a VP candidate. He probably plans to ignore her and assumes she will conduct merely ceremonial duties.

Obama chose Biden because he knew that Biden was uniquely suited to help him actually implement the sweeping reforms this country desperately needs over the next four years. McCain chose Palin because he was gambling that she might trick some distraught Hillary supporters and evangelical Christians who don’t particularly like him to nevertheless come out to the polls for him in two months. What a stark contrast.

[bigeugene]

"This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates­." And Dems are the elitists? What does that even mean? I'm sure blue collar workers are going to rally around that GOP battle cry.

[cog1000]

Maybe so. But the Republican base is now galvanized. We may be back to a 2004 scenario. Not good.

[UnbiasView]

Liberals are more vocal, but conservatives have the larger numbers . . . you see it every election when people vote their checkbooks on whether they want to give more of their money to government or less . . . it all comes down to the middle like every election.

[Gidster]

Or you see the numbers in the rigged voting machines and voter tampering.­....Either way you are correct.

[vipersdad]

Well I don't know about "liberals" or "conservatives," but the facts are that there are FAR more registered Dems in this country as there are Repubs.

Where Bush won was independents and in the electoral college. Gore and Kerry both had high-80's in terms of Democratic Party support.

Rove figured out that if he could prevent people from talking about real issues and invent boogey-men, then he could either keep voters at home or tip them towards the candidate who kept talking about "safety" and "values."

Of course, it turned out that Bush II led a spectacularly incompetent administration from one perspective (that of the American people), but from the perspective of a few ultra-wealthy people and some Mega Corporations, Bush did exactly what they paid him to do.

That's the narrative that the "liberals" need to drive home.

The notion that "Conservatives" have a majority died with Ronald Reagan.

[miocid31]

that is exactly what I fear, then it'll be business as usual in D.C. and yes, war with Russia...

[Bitsko]

I don't know. I'm an old guy and this looks more like 1964. The right wing base ain't what it used to be.

[GrannyForObama]

As far as I am concerned that "Country First" is big line of baloney. He chose a Vice President that formerly belonged to a political party that advocated secession from the United States of America. My country. The one that thousands of young people have given their lives for in Iraq. How can this be brushed off????

I am truly, truly appalled at his choice and at the hypocrisy of the Republican Party and for the most part, the media.

[CatfishJohn]

....every american with a shred of patriotic feeling and a scintilla of compassion left. right or center on t he politicalspectrum is in favor of quality health care for our nation's veterans. Yet, during this catastrophic, lie-premised war, john mccain voted 4 times agaisnt bettering v.a. health care funding. this occurred at the same time ther true heroes of WWII were/are reaching their infirm years andin greatest need of v.a. medical services..­.repeat: he voted 4 timesagainst health care improvements for veterans during a war!...and also was opposing openly the new GI education bill, craftily leaving washington the day of that vote earlier this summer. An indefensible hypocrisy from this alleged uberpatriot. a shamelss capitulation to the callousnessof Bushco. which should disquaify him for such an attitudetowards our nations veterans from the presidency for this alone.