Folks, I'm not a genius. I'm not a political analyst, a journalist, or anyone who has professional credentials when it comes to discussing current events. But I do have a brain that works and a healthy hunk of common sense. So I can see when someone's BSing me from a mile away. I wonder why many Americans - decent, intelligent Americans who genuinely love their country - can't see what I see. Or maybe they see it and they just don't care, which is even worse.
John McCain had a lot to say about America in his acceptance speech during the GOP convention, and much of it was about what's wrong with our government:
I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.
We're going to recover the people's trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire.
The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn't a cause, it's a symptom. It's what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you.
Who could argue with those sentiments? And how refreshing it was to hear him assure us, near the very top of that same speech:
To Americans who have yet to decide who to vote for, thank you for your consideration and the opportunity to win your trust. I intend to earn it.
That's what makes it even more infuriating to see the way McCain's campaign has been working lately. He talks about principles and earning our trust, but his actions are complete contradictions of those words. Most politicians have the good grace to wait until they get elected before they start breaking their campaign promises, but McCain is such a go-getter that he's starting to break his campaign promises while he's still on the campaign trail.
Take a look at this clip from a TV appearance he made with Chris Matthews back in Apriil:
...aaaand this sound bite from a Fox News interview earlier this summer:
For crying out loud, even his wife Cindy got in on the act:
Now, you already know where I'm going with this, don'tcha? You already know that in the past week, McCain ads have been popping up like unsightly blemishes all over the airwaves, and that they bear no resemblance to the "respectful campaign" that McCain himself said Americans want to see. No discussion of McCain's record in Washington, his policy proposals, his ideas or anything whatsoever that would help him "restore the pride and principles" of any party in this nation, or earn the trust of undecided voters.
So, if he left out all that stuff, then what exactly do these ads include? Well, let's see:
Character attacks (The McCain “FactCheck” ad, in which it is claimed that Obama has sent a “mini-army” to Alaska to “dig dirt on Governor Palin. As Obama drops in the polls, he'll try to destroy her.”)
Scare tactics (The "Education" ad, which ends on this ominous - but completely erroneous - note: "Learning about sex before learning to read? Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family.")
Half-truths (the "Bridge to Nowhere" ad, claiming that Sarah Palin rejected the idea of Congressional funding to build that bridge)
Distortions (The "Expensive Plans" ad, which states that Obama will initiate "painful tax increases on working American families", when in fact the only families on whom taxes would be raised are those earning $250,000 or more)
Outright lies (The "Lipstick" ad, which I am not even going to dignify with further comment)
So this is how John McCain - man of principle, man of honor, man who wants to change the way Washington works - shows us that he's worthy of our trust? We've seen him break promises before, during his decades of flip-flopping on everything from Bush's tax cuts to offshore drilling to the privatization of Social Security to immigration reform. Now he stands before us, talking out of one side of his mouth about running a "respectful campaign", while the other side of his mouth is saying "I'm John McCain, and I approve this message" on each and every baseless, shameless, gutless attack his campaign launches. So he said that there's no need to "go to the lowest common denominator"? Who is he trying to kid? It's as if he's doing some sort of political limbo dance, lowering the bar a bit more each day - but so far, no bar has been low enough that he couldn't slither underneath it. His sole advertising strategy at the moment seems to be, "If we throw enough shit at Obama, maybe some of it'll stick". I don't know about you, but flinging shit at someone like a monkey in the zoo does not qualify as honorable Presidential behavior in my book.
What a disgrace. What a waste of time, money and effort at a time when so much work needs to be done to make this country strong again. What an insult to us all.
Once again, I ask for your help in reminding John McCain that, as he himself seemed to know back in June (I guess his long-term memory's not so good anymore), the American people do not want to see our next presidency decided in this way. We don't want to be lied to and manipulated. We just want to know why the hell we should vote for him, and if he has nothing to say about that, then he needs to admit that he's not the man for the job and just leave us all alone.
If you feel as I do, PLEASE do something about it! We're losing ground in the polls and we're running out of time. Forward this blog to friends - and enemies, for that matter, because they probably need to read it even more. Write a letter to your local newspaper. If you have a website, Facebook or MySpace page, post links to this blog or to the YouTube clips above. Volunteer to support any group that is doing positive things to get voters involved in this election. And it would really be a great idea if you emailed or called the McCain campaign (contact info is right here: http://www.johnmccain.com/Contact/) just to check in and let them know how you feel about his recent ads.
If he can't keep his campaign promises while the race is still on, why would we trust him to honor any of his promises once he's in the White House? I guess a candidate who says one thing then does the opposite is nothing new in Washington. Some maverick he turned out to be.
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