Last of Our Kind

Tonight’s debate accented the already stark contrast between our presidential candidates. We saw and heard the same Barack Obama that we see and hear day in and day out. And we saw the present incarnation, or personality, of John McCain. Tonight McCain appeared angry the majority of the time, and quite often, sounded condescending. McCain’s demeanor displayed his disdain for Barack Obama. Not surprisingly, we did not hear any of the recent smear tactics emanating from the McCain/Palin ticket. We saw, and heard, a very typical, two-faced politician in McCain.

McCain and Palin have spent the last few days assaulting Obama’s character. The McCain campaign has tried to tie him to a domestic terrorist who was active when Obama was eight years old; they have tried to dredge up the Rev. Wright controversy; and they have generally attempted to incite the mob against Obama. McCain flat out called Obama a liar. Now, I’m keeping it folksy here so get ready, but ain’t that just the pot callin’ the kettle black? (You betcha!…wink…wink) There were several video clips in the news today of McCain/Palin event speeches. During those speeches, McCain and Palin attacked Obama’s character in the ways mentioned above, and when they did this, supporters in the crowd could be heard calling Obama a terrorist, accusing him of treason, and calling for his death. If this does not scare you, if this does not anger you, if this does not disgust you, then I am completely baffled. McCain and Palin should denounce these responses from their supporters. And more importantly, they should immediately cease any sort of speech that incites hate. These tactics are hypocritical and cowardly.



McCain and Palin forget that when you attack someone’s character, you leave your own life wide open for examination. And let me just say, he who lives in a glass house should not cast stones. Palin refuses to cooperate with a federal investigation of the Troopergate scandal. She has charged the state of Alaska a per diem for days spent at home in Wasilla instead of in the state’s capital. She claimed to be against the bridge to nowhere when she was actually for it. Her husband belonged to a group that called for the secession of Alaska from the union. And McCain’s “superior judgment” chose this person as his running mate? McCain was calling for a clean campaign a short time ago, and he is now running a campaign that is as dirty as any that came before. He “suspended” his campaign, but continued to air political ads and give media interviews to sing his own praises. He continues to level character attacks against Obama, but in tonight’s debate, he did not mention his campaigns’ assertions even once. And why not? I will let you be the judge…

Tonight, McCain attempted to appear charming and show humor. Every attempt at doing so fell completely flat. The first thing he did after shaking Obama’s hand was head over to his notepad and scribble down all of his talking points. Some of McCain’s answers were substantive. Some of them were good answers. I will not deny that. But so many more of his answers were meandering, misdirected, and, at times even nonsensical. He sounded like a more intelligent, better rehearsed, and more experienced version of his running mate.

I have said before that I believe McCain is erratic. I believe that he does not have the composure and temperament required to be a good leader. I believe he lacks the judgment to lead this country in the right direction. I believe we see and hear from a different John McCain everyday. It all just depends on the political climate, and what face he thinks will best fool the American people.

Well you are not fooling me Mr. McCain. You do not fool me when you and your running mate assault my intelligence. You do not fool me when you try to dumb down the American public. You do not fool me when you hypocritically attack Obama’s character. You do not fool me when your campaign perpetuates and oozes lies. Your antics do not fool me. You do not fool me Mr. McCain. You do not fool me. And I hope that the American people are beginning to feel the same way.

I am hoping that people are beginning to see McCain for who he is. He is not a Maverick. He is not a straight talker. He is not a reformer. He is not a change agent. He is a two-faced politician. He is a liar. He is a hypocrite. He is a coward.

He is the personification of everything that is wrong with Washington.

He is a 20th century politician, running a 20th century campaign, in the 21st century.

He is politics as usual.

Here's to the 21st century,
-LoOK