Perhaps it was his abandonment by old friend and former Michigan Gov. Bill Milliken, or the outrage of the old-line conservative media, or finally understanding that the path Steve Schmidt and the other Rovians in his campaign had set him on was becoming exceedingly dangerous — with angry cries of “Kill him!” emanating from the crowd, how long until an unstable McCainiac tries to make that a reality? – but John McCain, to his credit, finally informed his supporters, much to their dismay, that Barack Obama was a “decent, family man, a citizen,” not an “Arab,” and “a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States,” and that he was simply a political opponent in an American election and not the embodiment of boogeyman-under-the-bed terrorist evil.
Contrary to the flood of negative ads run by the McCain camp over the past two weeks, and the incessant pit bull howling of his Shiller from Wasilla running mate condemning Obama as an ally of ‘domestic terrorists,’ a glimmer of the old John McCain from 2000 showed itself and courageously pulled back from the building Nuremberg Rally mob-hatred of the rapt-by-Rapture Christians and revanchist regressives that now comprise what remains of the Republican base. It seems even McCain was appalled by the flow of vile vituperation and brown-shirt frenzy increasing evident at his campaign stops.
Possibly McCain merely realized he was going to lose this election and wanted to be remembered not as a peevish, fuming crank who had auctioned off his soul and self-respect to get elected, but as a class act who recovered his dignity and integrity before it was too late.
For once in this campaign, John McCain actually put ‘country first’ and he should be applauded for it – ironically, if that McCain had been in the race all along, he might have had a better chance of winning.
I think at this point, McCain is toast. I don’t think it has gone well for his campaign all week, except solidify the base who would have voted for him if he stood up on stage and drank his urine.
He knew better (or at least should have) that suddenly going negative this late out only makes him look unhinged.
DJ: “I think at this point, McCain is toast. I don’t think it has gone well for his campaign all week, except solidify the base who would have voted for him if he stood up on stage and drank his urine.”
I think that’s right and I had a laugh watching the neocon pundits on CNN this morning trying to come up with an answer for McCain’s rolling fiasco of a campaign. It’s strange, they all talked about ‘Hail Mary’ passes — Ed Rollins wants him to repackage himself as the Solid, Steady Leader — is that even possible at this late stage of the election? In my experience, most coaches call one Hail Mary pass a the end of the game and they don’t work half the time. How many ‘Hail Mary’s’ is McCain on now — six, seven?
Read this NYT article; even the party hacks are calling him out:
“You’re starting to feel real frustration because we are running out of time. Our message, the campaign’s message, isn’t connecting.”
— Saul Anuzis, Michigan Republican Party Chairman, as quoted by the NY Times, Oct. 11, 2008.
I’m not sure how much good it will do him to drink urine — although it might be a nice change of pace after what’s been coming out of his mouth — but maybe he could go full ‘Gallagher’ on his campaign stops. Tell the people down front to wear raincoats and bring out watermelons and huge bags of overripe fruit: “Here’s what I’m gonna do to the federal deficit, haw, haw, haw!” WHAM! (McCain hits the watermelon with a sledgehammer and pieces splatter everywhere.) “Here’s what I’m gonna do to your taxes, haw, haw haw!” BOOM! (McCain blows up the bag of fruit with a half-dozen M-80s.) It might not win him the election, but it’d definitely score him plenty of free TV time.
And then there’s this:
‘Troopergate’ Inquiry Finds Sarah Palin Guilty
Times Online, Oct. 11, 2008.
With Palin now exposed as a liar in Troopergate, do you think she’s going to suddenly discover she needs to spend more time with her family?
“He knew better (or at least should have) that suddenly going negative this late out only makes him look unhinged.”
You are confusing him with someone who actually knows what they’re doing. This is a man who has shifted positions 180 degrees in the same day, after all.
Listen, when my friend’s conservative 90-year-old, lives-in-a-rural-area, raised-in-the-Deep-South grandmother says, “I’m voting for the colored man,” because she’s sick and tired of the “goddamn Republicans” you know it all over for McInsane.