McCain's Conscience

There he is! Everybody has been wondering . . . "where is the John McCain of 2000?" "Where is the John McCain that said, "When you run negative attack ads, you have no vision or can't articulate your own vision." Where is the John McCain that called the Swift Boating of John Kerry “Dishonest and dishonorable.”?

Well, my friends ( snicker) there was a sighting of this elusive creature just yesterday at an "America First" town hall meeting. I swear to God. Funny thing though, the supporters of the GOP ticket in attendance seemed none too pleased too hear what that John McCain had to say.

With the McCain/Palin campaign ads and stump speeches growing increasingly negative, their supporters are acting more and more like European Soccer fans or KKK members listening to their Grand Imperial Wizard. The other day Palin told her followers at an "America First" rally that Obama " . . .pals around with terrorists." Later when McCain asked, "Who is Barack Obama?" their supporters shouted "Terrorist!" and "Kill him!" Did either candidate make an attempt to nip this hate filled response in the bud? Nope, Palin and McCain just smiled and smirked. When supporters were interviewed outside the rally, they seemed more and more angry and many of them echoed the "terrorist" comment heard inside.

Then yesterday, while fielding questions at one his town hall meetings, the rabid crowd was caught by surprise when the John McCain of old appeared out of nowhere! When 75 year old Gale Quinnell, told John, "I just "doe" not trust Obama because . . . (and here's where she stammered as she seemed to recall one of Rush Limbaugh's lies or one of the bullet points she'd read in a mass email.) . . . he's an Arab." She was going to continue but, McCain shook his head said, "No.", grabbed the mic from her as she said astonishingly, "No?!" As if to say, "You mean Rush was wrong? or that the fwd: email wasn't true???"
McCain to his credit appeared to finally have had enough of this ignorant hate mongering fueled by the Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and the Michael Savages of the world. He spoke clearly and succinctly to the lady and the other supporters, " No mam. He's a decent family man . . citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues."
Even though an Arab and a decent family man are can be the same person not withstanding, this was an attempt on McCain's part to redirect the racist tone. Later in that same town hall meeting, a man told senator McCain that he was "scared…to bring a child up" under an Obama presidency. The McCain of yester-year showed up again, he said, " I have to tell you he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States," The crowd booed. McCain went on, "There's a difference between rhetoric and record, but you can still be respectful." Shouts of "No!" and more booing is heard. Now I can't completely switch allegiances: While it does appear on the surface that McCain has begun listening to his conscience and not his Rovian campaign strategist it is important to remember that a lot of the fear and hate mongering literature has come directly from the McCain campaign offices. Ms Quinnell was later interviewed by reporters and told them that she worked in her local McCain/ Palin campaign office and that is where she got the "Arab" information about Obama. It is not so easy to forgive these two candidates for their lack of responsible issue related oratory and their propensity for "Lynch mob" rhetoric that appeals to the lowest common denominator.

I'm going to give Senator McCain the benefit of the doubt, and applaud him for appearing to show disgust for his supporters' intolerant positions, ridiculous fears, and lack of common sense.

The question for next week: Will Alaska's bi-partisan legislative committee report stating that Sarah violated state ethics laws and abused her Gubernatorial powers, have a negative effect on their campaign? Keep in mind that the report also concludes that she acted within her legal authority. Wha . . .??????? I guess ethic's laws don't count. My take is this proves that Palin is qualified to hold office as the heir apparent to the Bush administration. "W" repeatedly abused his powers, broke constitutional law, and still hasn't lost his job. 10 years ago this report would've been a big deal, but in today's political arena it won't amount to a hill of beans.

DaG out