How John McCain lost me

jfuh · 09-18-08, 06:12 PM

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I have been a longtime admirer of John McCain. During the 2000 Republican presidential primaries I publicly defended McCain against the pro-Bush Republicans’ whisper campaign that he was too unstable to be president (aware though I was that he had a temper). Two years later I published a positive book about him, “Citizen McCain.”

I admired John McCain as a man of principle and honor. He had become emblematic of someone who spoke his mind, voted his conscience, and demonstrated courage in bucking his own party and fighting for what he believed in. He gained a well-deserved reputation as a maverick. He was seen as taking principled positions on such issues as tax equity (opposing the newly elected Bush’s tax cut), fighting political corruption, and, later, taking on the Bush administration on torture. He came off as a man of decency. He took political risks.
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When the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, widely opposed by Republicans, began to seem a liability during the 2008 primaries, his reforming zeal gave way to political exigencies, and he ceased mentioning his one-time triumph. Though in 2003 he had introduced a bill to fix some other problems with the campaign finance system, in later years his name was no longer on the bill.
When Bush, issued a “signing statement” in 2006 on McCain’s hard-fought legislation placing prohibitions on torture, saying he would interpret the measure as he chose, McCain barely uttered a peep. And then, in 2006, in one of his most disheartening acts, McCain supported a “compromise” with the administration on trials of Guantanamo detainees, yielding too much of what the administration wanted, and accepted provisions he had originally opposed on principle. Among other things, the bill sharply limited the rights of detainees in military trials, stripped habeas corpus rights from a broad swath of people “suspected” of cooperating with terrorists, and loosened restrictions on the administration’s use of torture. (The Supreme Court later ruled portions of this measure unconstitutional.)
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McCain’s recent conduct of his campaign – his willingness to lie repeatedly (including in his acceptance speech) and to play Russian roulette with the vice-presidency, in order to fulfill his long-held ambition – has reinforced my earlier, and growing, sense that John McCain is not a principled man.
In fact, it’s not clear who he is.

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My sentiments precisely

American · 09-18-08, 06:26 PM

And you complain about him lying.

He never had you in the first place.

rsixing · 09-18-08, 06:27 PM

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Originally Posted by jfuh

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My sentiments precisely

Well he is about "change" now...right?

But seriously I appreciate how disconcerting seeing such a change can be particularly when it concerns someone you once held in high esteem.

ashurbanipal · 09-18-08, 06:49 PM

We can't have someone with principles in the White house leading this nation. We're not a nation of principled people. We're getting the politicians we deserve.

Edit: Before someone pops up and says "Oh, I guess you're voting Obama, then," let me head off that line of thought: I see little difference in either in terms of their integrity.

jfuh · 09-18-08, 06:59 PM

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Originally Posted by ashurbanipal

We can't have someone with principles in the White house leading this nation. We're not a nation of principled people. We're getting the politicians we deserve.

I couldn't agree more.