Remind me why we’re supposed to be so scared of John McCain?

In a sense, the John McCain we see today is a more honorable politician than the so-called maverick John McCain of yesteryear.  Back then, as his recent conduct clearly proves, he was a political hack playing the role of a man of principle.  Today he’s a political hack playing the role of a political hack: All in all, a much more honest and aboveboard approach.

What’s startling about all this is the degree to which, stripped of his man of principle persona, he isn’t just a partisan hack — he’s a dreadfully unconvincing one.  If you haven’t already seen it, check out the video over at Crooks and Liars of his attack on John Kerry: McCain looks for the world like a character from The Night of the Living Dead who has been forced to read Republican talking points.

Now, there’s a true horror of a movie for you.  Let’s call it The Night of the Lying Dead. 

McCain’s performance goes far beyond pathetic; it’s almost too embarrassing to watch.

And this is the guy Democrats are supposed to be so scared of in 2008? 

Yes, I know — the press loves him.  So, should he end up as the Republican nominee in 2008, he’ll get all the breaks from the media prima donnas, while the Democratic nominee will get nothing but trouble.  So what else is new?  In case you haven’t noticed, the press these days always loves the GOP candidate for president.

They loved Bush in 2000 and hated Gore; they loved Bush (notwithstanding the fact he was clearly already well on his way to being the worst president in American history) in 2004 and they hated Kerry; they went 24/7 with every BS right wing generated Clinton “scandal,” no matter how trivial or unlikely it seemed, but for the longest time they gave Bush, who only lied this nation into a disastrous war, a free pass.

I may not be the brightest bulb on the White House Christmas tree, but I can read a trend line.  And isn’t it quite a coincidence that these same GOP candidates, the ones the boys and girls of the media purport to find so much more likable than their Democratic counterparts, also just happen to be the very ones their increasingly meddlesome corporate owners strongly prefer?

Well, this is one boy from the quasi-sticks who ain’t buying it no more.  I’ll concede that the press does actually seem to like McCain more than most politicians, but it wouldn’t matter who was running.  If the Republicans put Benedict Arnold up against George Washington for the Democrats the media’s coverage of the whole election cycle would revolve around Washington’s “cherry tree scandal.”  Did he cut it down and if so could he really not tell a lie, or was it actually part of a deep conspiracy to corner the market for cherry pie?

Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge say it’s true, so it must be.

A biased news media is something the Democrats will have to overcome in 2008, whoever the Republicans nominate.  But as to McCain’s candidacy in particular, I’m through sweating it. 

A number of commentators have already noted the risk he runs that the more he becomes a partisan warrior, not to mention snuggling up with the Religious Right, the more he loses his maverick knight in shining armor image.  But, after watching the clip of his cheap shot against Kerry, I think it goes way beyond that.

McCain isn’t just showing himself to be a political hack.  He’s showing himself to be really bad at it.     

3 Responses to “Remind me why we’re supposed to be so scared of John McCain?”

  1. angie Says:

    McCain is a fraud.

    I still haven’t figured out if he used to be ethical and has sold his soul because he so desperately wants to be president, or if he has always been an extremist but has somehow managed to convince people he is “moderate”. His 20 year voting record contains some really surprising information suggesting that the latter may be the case.

    It really doesn’t matter which is true. Hard-core neocons hate him because of his “maverick” past; that will not go away. And he has completely lost the support of people like myself, who have watched someone we once respected stand with George Bush on his attempted S.S. scam, support and continue to support an immoral lie-based invasion of a sovereign nation, voluntarily offer support in AZ for an amendment to ban gay marriage and pander unashamedly to lunatics like Falwell and Dobson , voluntarily campaign for extremists and corporate slugs regardless of their crimes against democracy, etc. etc., etc.

    McCain is no moderate. I hope he is the Republican nominee in ‘08. I will write letters and send reams of information to everyone everywhere exposing this fraud for exactly who he is. And there ARE some people in the media who will listen: Keith Oberman, Jack Caffetry, and all the excellent people on Progressine Talk Radio to name a few.

    And, of course, if Barak Obama is the Democratic nominee, it will be extra sweet to watch this bright, amazing, inspiring, reasonable, fair-minded young man render the hypocritical, pandering, fraudulent old man McCain irrelevent once and for all.

  2. Kevin72 Says:

    What I fear is that McCain will run, and the Bush Crime Family will do their dirty tricks again to get the Republican nomination for Jeb, and McCain gets so mad that he runs as an independent, siphoning enough votes from Democrats to give the 2008 to Jeb.

  3. mlbjr Says:

    Thank you for the unvarnished truth about ‘Straight Talk’ John McCain. I am especially disgusted McCain led the Lying Brown Shirt Brigade of Fox News (sic) and Republican pundits who intentionally misrepresented John Kerry’s comments earlier this week. John McCain is a political hack who has long since forfeited whatever bipartisan respect he might once have deserved. Is there anything John McCain will not say or do to appease the Right-Wing Evangelical base McCain needs to be the Republican Presidential nominee in 2008? Personally, I fully expect we will soon see John McCain once again at Liberty University, figuratively donning his Presidential Wanna-Be Knee-Pads;
    dropping to the floor with a Come-Hither gleam in his eye; administering Lewinsky-like Blow-Jobs seriatim to the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Rev. Pat Robertson, Dr. James Dobson and Pastor Ted Haggard; and then swollowing their Evangelical Seed as if it were Communion Wafer. In view of today’s news, perhaps Pastor Ted will even contribute to McCain’s campaign coffers in return for services rendered. John McCain has become a pathetic disgrace in recent months in his boundless campaign to prove worthy of Right-Wing support in 2008. He richly deserves the ridicule and contempt he will receive for stooping to these depths in pursuit of the Presidency.

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