I’m not sure what to make of John McCain. He has Sarah Palin roving around the country making base accusations against Barack Obama including the lie that he “pals” around with terrorists. There are even ads out trying to link Michelle Obama to terrorists. But then when a “lady” calls Obama an arab he steps in and does the decent thing:
Actually, I have a few theories.
1. The man that ran against W in the republican primary in 2000 was not John McCain, but a politician that figured it would be most expedient for him to run LEFT of the neo-con George W Bush. If this is true the way he is running now makes sense. He is simply running RIGHT to sure up the base. He saw that Karl Rove’s attacks worked in 2000 and as a political opportunist has no problem employing the same type of attacks. This makes the most sense to me, though it is hard for me to actually believe it- perhaps I am not this cynical of heart, just head.
2. The defeat in the 2000 primary has haunted McCain for 8 years. He has stood by knowing (not thinking) that he would have made a monumentally better president than George W Bush. Given all of the shit he has had to swallow, such as endorsing his one time rival in 2004, over the last 8 year there is no way he is going to go down in the election without trying every trick in the book, throwing every punch he can muster. He probably doesn’t have a long time on Earth given his advanced age, so he’s going balls out. If that means he has to play dirty and spend some of his character capital, then so be it.
3. John McCain is being pulled by two very strong influences- his ambition and his character. His ambition tells him to listen to the neo-cons and other advisers that have delivered Presidential elections to (what he sees as) lesser men. So he holds his nose and allows Palin to go forth spouting bullshit. He runs ads saying Barack Obama wants to teach sex education to 5 year olds (which is a lie) and other sorted negative ads and attacks. Meanwhile, his character and heart knows this shit is wrong and occasionally cannot take it anymore and has to speak up.
I hope it is 3. I can identify with that kind of Shakespearean character that has to wrestle with his ambition versus his morality. All humans are flawed figures.
Number 2 is more a matter of pride than ambition. The old lion trying to finally become king of the pride years after his prime. Having miraculously getting by all the younger lions but one, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to finally ascend to the position he has coveted practically all of his life.
Number 1 is by far the most cynical, but we are talking about a politician here. I do not believe this scenario to be true, though on some days I think it is more likely than others.
Cheers,
Tom
4 Comments
October 11, 2008 at 6:50 am
I think it’s a variation on 3. you say
“John McCain is being pulled by two very strong influences- his ambition and his character. His ambition tells him to listen to the neo-cons… his character and heart knows this shit is wrong and occasionally cannot take it anymore and has to speak up.”
I think that actually, he knows it’s wrong, but carries on regardless. and his speaking up is still part of that carrying on regardless – because he knows that he *has* to save his face in order to be thought of even remotely credibly at the end of all this. ie this is about his reputation, how he will go down in history – and therefore this is still about his personal ambition.
and I think this flip-flopping, this lack of strategy (or even strategery!) that McCain has demonstrated throughout his campaign backs that up. someone governed by principles – personal moral principles or political ones – simply wouldn’t be blowing in the wind as McCain has, or be so led by advisors and campaign managers. ergo, he has no strong principles. ergo, it’s all about personal ambition and the pursuit of power for its own, selfish, sake.
October 11, 2008 at 7:10 am
[...] Tom over at Your Morning Cup of Coffee has written an interesting post on the possible motivations for McCain’s latest move. I have [...]
October 14, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Although McCain was trying to stick up for Obama, it shows how little he knows about what being an Arab means. An Arab is a term that describes a certain cultural and ethnic background…
The woman later, clarifying, said she couldn’t trust Obama because he was an Arab and therefore not a Christian.
Arabs can be Christians, Obama is a Christian, Obama is not an Arab he’s American (of mixed ethnicity), and Arabs can also be “decent, family men” as McCain calls Obama, as a sort of proof that he’s not an Arab.
Certainly McCain could just be replying knowing what the woman meant (I knew what the woman meant, and it made me sad), but I think that he should have clarified more.
The level of ethnocentrism in this country is scary, when it leads to misconceptions such as the one in this video.
September 16, 2009 at 1:38 pm
[...] Tom over at Your Morning Cup of Coffee has written an interesting post on the possible motivations for McCain’s latest move. I have [...]