I've just finished listening to a discussion video featuring Matthew Yglesias and Ross Douthat of The Atlantic where they conclude that McCain, after his present patch of flailing scorn, which they do not attribute to a coherent Rovian input, will revert to a Maverick persona.
But I agree with those who suggest that the McCain campaign is coherent indeed, resolutely dumbing down the entire context of the election until it reaches the sublime superficiality of past contests the GOP has won. The roots are deep and the names of Atwater and Ailes join that of Rove and Schmidt as the successful practitioners of this assault on our nation.
This is what the Obama campaign understood at the start and what it has aimed to surmount with a massive act that transforms not only the Democratic party but also the electoral map.
To beat McCain it will be necessary to show that, of the two, Obama is the outsider and reformer and that McCain is the consummate insider whose Maverick credentials are no better than those of George Bush. He is more sophisticated but at heart they are both neocons and they are both much more dangerous to our health and wellbeing than Obama will be.
My own effort has been to build a serious set of propositions that are sourced and that show McCain to be anything but a Maverick who has defied conservative tenets. Anyone can join the project and help me compile a genuine record on McCain. It's just beginning and so far I have the help of everyone who reads the Obama Main Blog.
Here are ten propositions about McCain that belie the notion that he ever was a Maverick.
1. He voted to deny habeas corpus to detainees of the United States.
2. He said "I don't support agricultural subsidies no matter where they are."
3. He opposed tax incentives to develop wind power.
4. He voted against funding No Child Left Behind.
5. He opposed funding for school desegregation.
6. The Childrens' Defense Fund give him a "worst" rating on kid's issues.
7. He owns eight homes worth millions and wears $500 loafers. Who's the elitist?
8. He voted against MLK Day in his home state.
9. 1n 2007 he voted to abolish the minimum wage in 45 states.
10. Pat Buchanan says McCain will make Cheney look like Gandhi.
These are all sourced at stephencrosehome.blogspot
From Chuck Schumer: (SOURCE) "What do you mean he's not one of us? It's John McCain who wears $500 shoes, has six houses, and comes from one of the richest families in his state."
McCain says Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned. (SOURCE)
McCain and his campaign manager helped DHL in Ohio complete a merger back in 2003. Now thousands of jobs are at risk. And McCain is busy trying to avoid what he now calls a train wreck. (SOURCE)
He sang "Bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran" in public and then suggests that Obama has no diplomatic experience. What diplomat would make a joke about a potential nuclear crisis? McCain's careless Bomb Iran comment is similar to things we have heard from George Bush and Iran's Ahmadinejad.
He voted to deny habeas corpus rights to detainees of the United States. (SOURCE)
He voted against taxing big oil to help ordinary people pay higher fuel bills. (SOURCE)
And he voted to protect more than $10 billion in corporate tax loopholes. (SOURCE)
McCain on Education
He voted against funding No Child Left Behind.
He supported cuts in vocational and adult education.
He was against increasing Pell Grant funding, against funding for new teachers and against teacher training.
Against funding to lower the dropout rate.
Worse, he repeatedly voted against breakfast and lunch programs for low income students and against giving technology help to disadvantaged communities.
And even worse, he opposed funding for school desegregation.
Check his detailed Vote Smart record.
He lied about Obama in Germany. (SOURCE) He knows full well that a political campaign cannot visit a veteran's facility. (SOURCE)
The Childrens' Defense Fund give him a "worst" rating on kid's issues.
He owns eight homes worth millions and millions. Who's the elitist?
He voted against MLK Day in his home state and has opposed most major civil rights measures in his 25 years in Washington.
He's fought minimum wage increases for years.
Just last year he voted to abolish the minimum wage in 45 states.
The League of Conservation voters says he has the worst environmental record in the U.S. Senate.
He said the Bush Katrina record was terrible, But when Katrina was happening he was at his own birthday party with guess who? President Bush.
He made a false connection between Iraq and anthrax five weeks after 9/11, echoing the lies of the Bush administration.
My conclusion is that McCain is a loose cannon and a highly dangerous man. When Pat Buchanan says Cheney would look like Gandhi compared to a McCain, he is not talking about a maverick whose qualities of independence are laudable. He is talking about a man with a trigger temper, a misogynist streak and the supreme gall of the spoiled child who is accustomed to doing whatever he likes to get whatever he wants.
He is no maverick. His actual record is no different than that of a backwater conservative hack.