John McCain would have been president if he had won the nomination in 2000. And the Republican fortunes may have fared much better in 2008 if that had been the case. I probably wouldn't have blinked at voting for him back then, either. He actually lived up to the maverick nickname, rejecting the divisive tactics of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, and actually standing out as someone who really DID reach across the aisle to get stuff done. While he wasn't the prettiest girl at the party-faithful ball, he had the broadest base of support across the general electorate and would have beaten Gore handily.
Something changed over the last eight years that I can't quite put my finger on, and while I still think McCain is a good man, the moment he won the nomination he shifted into a pandering, vitriolic nominee who didn't have a chance in hell. He attempted to frame the race as a referendum on Obama -- a 'don't vote for me, vote AGAINST him' kind of tack. A quick look to history shows that strategy is a colossal failure, and one generally employed by Democrats -- Kerry 04, Dukakis 88, Mondale 84...the list goes on. McCain seems to reach across the aisle in more ways than one.
But for those who bemoan the election of Obama as part of the end of days... I turn to a wonderful point that Robert Wuhl made in Assume The Position: We'll get through it. And we'll be just fine. Calvin Coolidge lost the White House china in a poker game. We got through his presidency. Jimmy Carter presided over a period of tremendous inflation, and we got through it. We just stumbled through a financial crisis of storied proportion, but it looks like we're coming out the other side. We are incredibly resilient as a nation, and have suffered through exceptional incompetence, and still came out better for it. It is often said that the way a candidate runs his campaign will be how he runs his country... and if that is the case, we don't have anything to worry about just yet... I'm all for aggressive, crafty, and cash in the bank.
2 comments:
I feel hopeful. I don't KNOW what kind of presidency Obama's going to have. But I did feel like the country needed a change of direction and I don't think McCain would have given us that. I hope that things will turn out okay, though.
John McCain in 2000 is John McCain today. He sacrificed his principles for expediency, a bargain he was constantly uncomfortable with. His concession speech showed his true colors. The confrontation with that whacko "He's an Arab" woman showed it too, the barely concealed anger and the sharp rebuke that followed her bigoted observation. That was real McCain. He allowed campaign handlers to foist Palin on him, when he wanted Joe Leiberman. All in the name of the "base" and you know, the base was just that. Poor judgement and failure to be true to himself cost a good man the job he wanted. There is a moral there: do not compromise your core beliefs, even when the prize is a rich one.
dad
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