by Dick Batchelor
One of the two major candidates for president has been kidnapped. The victim went along willingly, without a murmur of protest. He'll remain a hostage on Election Day. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to find him, and it's no mystery. The victim is in plain sight: It's John McCain.
The real John McCain was kidnapped by political-adviser Karl Rove and his cabal of mean-spirited and "no-holds-barred" consultants.
I always admired the McCain that America came to know and respect in his run for the GOP nomination in 2000. He was a candidate of honor and integrity. Yet he was smeared by members of his own party. Recall the rumor that McCain fathered an out-of-wedlock black child? That ugly lie was straight from the playbook of the late Lee Atwater's school of dirty tricks. In fact, McCain and his second wife, Cindy, are very proud of their adopted child -- who happens to be dark-skinned.
Time was when McCain disdained the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells, the pastors who forgot their first calling as disciples of Christ to embrace a worldly lust for power and a seat at the head of the Republican table. Time was when McCain co-sponsored sensible immigration reform with Sen. Ted Kennedy; he did the same for campaign-finance reform with Sen. Russ Feingold. He challenged Republican orthodoxy that would ignore the threat of global warming, and he rebuked the mindless patriotism that would make physical torture, which he himself endured, acceptable U.S. policy.
But then he kicked the hornets' nest on "K" Street -- or, as I like to call it, Gucci Gulley. When he did, McCain incited those powerful lobbying groups who will not be denied feeding at the public trough.
Dick Batchelor, a political analyst and former Democratic state legislator in Florida, wrote this commentary about the 'hijacking of John McCain' for the Orlando Sentinel.
Rove and his minions -- and McCain's senior campaign staff -- are in that cadre of greed that defines unfettered and unregulated access to the gears of government. McCain surrendered.
Remember, too, the anti-Bush factor in this campaign is so persistent and overwhelmi
ng that McCain could not distance himself fast enough. You saw them together only on a couple of occasions, but even then, I was reminded of two porcupines in a painfully slow dance, and both were bloodied. But the true hemorrhaging came from the international financial markets, reinforcing dislike for the Bush financial and economic policies.
And then there's Sarah Palin, the poorest choice McCain could have made. He vacillated for so long and ignored well-known and qualified Republicans. His pick for a running mate is now seen by everyone but the hardest-core GOP as a crass political ploy, a "hail Sarah" pass. How different would the ticket's chances be today had McCain ignored his shortsighted, conflicted advisers and chosen Mitt Romney or Michael Bloomberg or Charlie Crist?
Rove kidnapped McCain. His advisers snatched away his core values while trying to stuff anything of value in the pockets of their Armani suits.
Yes, McCain faces a very polished and well-funded opponent.
But he has only himself to blame for squandering a legacy of independence.
As John F. Kennedy observed, "Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan."
Comments
Anti-GOP, pro-Democrat commentary from a "former Democratic state legislator."
I'll give The Swamp high marks for unsubtlety. Not only Democrats themselves, they import Dem politicians to guest editorial.
Posted by: Ex-democrat | November 1, 2008 9:49 AM
"And then there's Sarah Palin, the poorest choice McCain could have made."
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Not true. He could have picked Dick Cheney.
Posted by: Kenneth Janowski | November 1, 2008 10:41 AM
It is indeed a sad commentary for Senator McCain. If he had stuck to his guns, it may have been a closer race, God only knows. Instead he chose Carl Rove, the slug who orchestrated the character-assassination of a true Vietnam Veteran war hero, former Senator Max Cleland. This real war hero, Senator McCleland, had lost both of his legs and an arm, while in action, in Vietnam !! Yet, Saxby Chambliss, who benefited from these despicable acts with the help of the Rovebotics, won and they did it by destroying his character and questioning his patriotism !! How is that for sleaze-ball politics ?? The sad part to the story is, we heard no protest, no complaints, of the smear campaign from Senator McCain, concerning the assault on a fellow comrade-in-arms !!
Now, Senator McCain has stooped to new lows, in questioning everything about Senator Obama, from his patriotism, to his religion, to his citizenship !! That is not the same Senator McCain, from years ago. He has been palling around with President Bush, Vice-President Cheney and Governor Palin, too long !! Some of their lesser qualities have rubbed off on him !! He would be better off, if the voters sent him back to the Senate, where he could look after the interests of the good people of Arizona, if they will have him, again !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | November 1, 2008 11:47 AM
Oh please. Trying to paint McCain as a victim is the most ludicrous thing I've heard. He made his bed, no one made it for him.
Posted by: Bruce Y | November 1, 2008 1:54 PM
And when can we expect The Trib and the Cesspool to run a balancing editorial from a Republican legislator?
That's what an actual newspaper would do. Give both sides.
Posted by: Ex-Democrat | November 1, 2008 1:58 PM
Okay, I get it.
*
" I came not to praise McCain, but to bury him."
- Death of a Politician, Act 3, Scene 5
Posted by: John W. | November 1, 2008 4:39 PM
Ex-democrat said: "Anti-GOP, pro-Democrat commentary from a former Democratic state legislator."
Hey Ex-democrat: Wake up and smell the coffee. These realities are why McCain is losing this race right now. All these observations are relevant. Just because you don't want them to be doesn't mean McCain is going to change the outcome on November 4. One of these days the GOP is going to need to wake up and realize that it is rotting from the inside. Even Boehner voted for the communistic bailout plan--the GOP abandoned Republican principles long ago and McCain's losing campaign is evidence of that. That's the reality. Your fantasies may differ.
Posted by: James Stroud | November 1, 2008 6:08 PM
The "Victimization of John McCain" is one of the most childish fairy tales the GOP has ever woven. At every turn, McCain had every opportunity to run on his own strengths. Instead, he bowed to the nasty spin doctors he had once fought so elegantly against. One only has to look at how differently he sounded after his appearance at the CPAC convention in DC as the freshly-minted nominee-and after the drubbing he took at the hands of the Conservative elite. McCain lasted 6 years in the Hanoi Hotel with his values intact, yet folded after about 6 hours of GOP pressure in the Omni Shoreham. How might the campaign have been different if the man had elevated his values over those of the smear-and-fear crowd he folded to? We'll never know.
Posted by: Laurie Schrader | November 2, 2008 2:26 PM