Commentary: An Open Letter to Sen McCain

When you ran in 2000, you were the maverick candidate who road on the Straight Talk Express, and you had many Independents in your corner. The Bush campaign ran a vicious and nasty attack ads and a phone campaign against you. The accusations were terrible, and beneath contempt for the persons who ran them.
Now it is 2008, and in the primaries, you stated that those who run and state nasty attacks are running from the real issues. There are many interviews of you stating it. It seems you are not listening to your own words, as you and your running mate have been attacking Barack Obama with some of the nastiest attacks yet, saying he is a terrorist or associates with terrorists.
This is so very beneath you, and one would think you would remember the hurtful and vicious campaign directed against you and your family back in 2000.
The John McCain of 2000 is not the John McCain of 2008, and this new line of attacking is further proof.
This is partisan politics at its worst, and it will scare off what is left of your independent support. You already had the conservative support, and the people who cheer those attacks would never vote for Sen Obama anyway, so the question comes up as to why you would allow this.
You have such an impressive record and have made many sacrifices in your war record, and these attacks do take away from that.
Please stop these attacks by your campaign and running mate, and reclaim your dignity before it is ruined for good.

This commentary is mine and does not reflect ATS or any other members.

reply to post by kidflash2008

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Scare away the independents?



This myth that somehow independents hate partisanship is beyond ridiculous.

What are they going to do, run to the Democrats?



The Democrats are the namesake of dirty politics and attacks. These independents are going to run to the party who tells you if you don't support Obama then you're a racist?

Please.

Frankly I don't know why McCain worries as much as he does about independents.

reply to post by kidflash2008

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Very heartfelt commentary, I would like to add some campaign observations. Both the 2000 and the 2008 campaigns had some division within the campaign ranks. The faction who kept the campaign in line in 2000 was booted early in the 2008 campaign. Rove has been mentioned as an advisor but he has had a minimal role in 2008. The politics we are seeing in 2008 are inspired but not directed by Rove. I blame most of the shortcomings of the McCain 2008 campaign on the campaign itself. McCain works very hard on the campaign trail and has trusted his advisors to make some decisions for him. My personal opinion is that the best campaign decisions have come directly from John McCain but his campaign advisors have mismanaged their opportunities at almost every step. In the case of John McCain I still respect him as a Senator, a veteran and an American. I think his campaign team is ineffective and is responsible for most of what you we're seeing that we feel is out of character for John McCain.

Whether we like it or not, those nasty political ads work....for some.

I may not appreciate them, you may not appreciate them, but the majority of the voting public in this country DO. They find them entertaining. And, I am sure it sways some of those voters.

Here's the thing, though. There is a nugget of truth in every one of those ads. The voters can believe the ad in whole or they can dig up all the info they can on that "nugget" to inform themselves.

They won't, but they can and they should.

Politics is a dirty game; I don't see it getting cleaned up any time soon.

Indeed. Even relatively smart people whose judgment I respect can be misled by some of these attack ads and the ensuing coverage of the same, partly because many people just don't have the time in their lives to look for in depth coverage any more, and any media beyond print tends to reduce things to what the lowest possible common denominator can understand..

reply to post by nyk537

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The Independents may not run to the Democrats, but could also vote for Ralph Nader and Bob Barr.

The commentary is about Sen John McCain and the campaign being run by his "people". As someone who supported him in his 2000 race, I felt that the nasty ads being used now were beneath him, especially since he was attacked the very same way in 2000.

reply to post by Multiple Junkie

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The 2000 campaign was going to be won by George Bush II as determined by TPTB. When Sen McCain started doing much better in the polls and was perceived as a threat, the Rove factor kicked in and they threw garbage Sen McCain that was so vile I could never vote for Bush in 2000 (I voted for Ralph Nader that year).

I also agree that Sen McCain himself would not do those things, but he does approve of it as he would of put a stop to it. They recently made a proclamation about stopping that kind of rhetoric, but his ads are still running 100% negative.

skeptic1: Negetive ads do work when they are new. This is the garbage that was rehashed from the primaries. The point is also that while Sen McCain ran in the primaries, he said that if a campaign always runs negative ads, they have nothing to say.

This is the saddest part of it all. My husband and I used to really like John McCain. Even though we disagreed with him on some issues, he appeared to be a man of honor, which is something we both respect highly.

Now, he has become someone I feel I could never relate to or think of as honorable. So, the question becomes, Was he really a man of honor, or were we fooled by him? Because as far as I will let myself believe, a true person of honor does not give it up when things get rough. A person of honor does not "sell out".

What got to John McCain? Does he feel that this is his last chance to "be somebody" and he is willing to pull out all the stops to gain the "power" of the highest position in the country? Are people pressing him to use any and every available tool (dirty and dishonorable) to get what he's going for?

Isn't dying a war hero and long time US Senator enough to feel he lived a satisfying life? On his death bed, will he regret using the very tactics he so condemned in his past?

Sadly, I don't expect him to stop using these tactics, but rather, I think he's going to step it up in these last days of the campaign. And if he loses the election, how will he feel about himself and his willingness to employ the very people who smeared against his own daughter and that he SO condemned a few short years ago?

How will his daughter feel about it? What will she think of him?

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

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Excellent reply Benevolent Heretic. I wanted to convey my feelings on the John McCain POW and maverick senator. He was attacked so viciously in 2000, that he never really got along with George Bush after that.
I also think he tasted the presidency so strongly, that he was willing to let go of his former self just to win. His speaking at Jerry Falwell's school after he rebuked Falwell's form of politics in 2000 was the turning point to many.
The turn to calling Sen Obama a terrorist sympathizer (yet not to his face) is the kind of politics I expected from others but not Sen McCain.
It was interesting because at many rallies Sen McCain was asked when the gloves would come off, and he assured them they would. There is less than four weeks left in this election, and we will see if Bob Barr will be siphoning off some of the votes from Sen McCain. (I think Sen Obama may have gotten the most he could, with a very few left for him.)

Obama held a rally in my hometown last Sunday. We don't get major politicians very often in this part of the country, so there was a lot of interest and excitement, and he drew thousands to hear him .

One store owner put the following on the sign outside his store:

Osama-Obama
Not American
Not welcome

To the credit of my fellow citizens, there was an uproar about it. Unfortunately, the whole thing was covered by the local tv station and the sign writer got lots of free air time.

No matter how rational a candidate might be, there are some who will believe almost anything they hear about him or her. I count the store owner among those who would never vote for Obama no matter what he said or did.

Obama has never stooped to such depths in his campaign against McCain, and that is very much to his advantage. I do believe some people will recognize sand appreciate that.

There are many people who vote with their emotions, not with their heads, McCain is trying to appeal to them. Obama supporters just hope those do not constitute the majority.

reply to post by Sestias

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It seems the strategy is playing only to his base supporters. There is word he will actually attack Sen Obama at the last debate about this, but Sen Obama is prepared for it. Sen McCain's base wants him to do it, many fiscal conservatives do not want him to. It will be interesting to see what he does, and hoping he goes the high road is going out the window every day as he continues these attacks at rallies.

reply to post by nyk537

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Seriously? The "namesake". Do you even turn on the TV or listen to the radio?

They both play dirty politics. Let's bet honest here NYK.

reply to post by Sublime620

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I'm not arguing that neither party is guilty of this by any means. The OP seems to believe that by McCain playing dirty, that somehow all the independents and moderates (who seem to hate dirty politics) will run straight to the democrats (who are just as guilty). This line of thinking makes absolutely no sense at all. For some odd reason McCain has subscribed to this theory and hasn't been going after Obama like I think he should.

The idea that the democrat party is somehow this spotless entity that attracts independents and moderates because of their ability to play fair is ludicrous.

reply to post by nyk537

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Let me clarify myself. I do not think the Democrats don't play dirty. I am from Chicago, and know the Democrats started the mud slinging portions of advertising. I think it is beneath John McCain to pull the kind of nasty politics where his audience members shout "terrorist" and "kill him". Sen McCain had stated earlier he would never do such campaigning.

Sen McCain's campaign is falling in the polls, and he needs the independent vote. The conservatives and party line will vote for him no matter what. The same goes for the Democrats. When the campaign started to go down the path of this negativity that has not been seen in a long time, the McCain campaign lost much of that support. I should stress that it does not mean all of them will go to the Obama camp, but to Bob Barr and Ralph Nader as well.

I should of not mentioned anything about independents and just focused on my outrage of the tactics that Sen McCain's campaign has taken, with his approval.

And you believe this is part of McCain's campaign? Where is there any evidence to suggest that McCain is telling people to yell such things at his rallies? He can't be expected to be held responsible for the actions of his supporters, just as Obama can't.



Again, in regards to the supporters. I would be just as ready to accept that Obama is planting these people at the rallies as I would that McCain is supporting this.

In fact, I would argue that it's more likely they are plants than agents of McCain, although I really think its neither.

reply to post by nyk537

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He is not telling them to yell things out, but he (nor Sarah Palin) are saying anything about it. He did rebuke the woman who called Obama an Arab, but he was booed for it.

Why no rebukes from them? Plants by Obama would not state things like "off with his head" or "kill him".

I remember telling my conservative friends in 2000 that I supported John McCain and not George Bush. They attacked McCain viciously, and stated he was a plant by the Democrats. I do wish the John McCain of 2000 would come back and stop this.

It's all one big political game of who can get who to believe them. Both parties are playing it and have played it their whole political life. It's all about them not us. If it were about us then why do they keep attacking each other. I want to hear about us " the people" who are the ones paying their salaries and bailing out all these huge governmental companies. No it's always McCain did that or Obama did this. How about them saying people need jobs and to lower company taxes will create more job. How about overhauling our tax system will create jobs. Or firing those who messed up our economy will create new jobs in the Senate, congress and other areas. Nope just a political boxing match with both parties bashing the other. What about us?

Why not? I think that's exactly what they would say. That way the media can paint the picture (like they are now) that McCain supporters are bigoted hicks who only dislike Obama because of his race.



You and I both my friend. For some reason though, McCain has this notion in his head that he has to be friends with democrats to win this election. It's for that reason that he is acting the way he is, trying to please everyone.

reply to post by nyk537

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To be fair, that is a portion of McCain's voters, just like a portion of Obama's voters will be people only voting because he's black. Not sure what the ratios for either candidate are, but race will play a factor and it is unfortunate. Society is still so childish.