Joe Conason on JK - and on McCain's wretched campaign

[whometense]

Really strong column.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/08/01/rove_mccain/

...As many observers have noted by now, the negative strategy adopted by the McCain campaign under the leadership of new manager Steve Schmidt follows a template created by Schmidt's old boss, Karl Rove. It is all very familiar stuff, from the direct assault on Obama's power as a media star to the insinuations that he is weak, elitist and not truly patriotic. All these themes can and will be amplified by "independent" advertising that raises doubts about Obama's religious and racial attitudes (or those of his wife).

It isn't Swift-boating -- yet -- but it regurgitates the same themes used by Rove in both the midterm campaigns of 2002 and the presidential race of 2004. Whether Schmidt or Rove executes those same old appeals to the worst in us hardly matters. What matters is that McCain has adopted an approach that was once thought beneath him. And that choice dates back to his decision to ally himself with George W. Bush and indeed with Rove, despite the vicious tactics that defeated him in the Republican primaries of 2000 -- for which he held them responsible...

...It must have been hard for Cindy and Bridget McCain to watch the maverick reformer throw his arms awkwardly around President Bush during the 2004 convention. It must have been hard for McCain to make the TV ad featuring that embrace, with a script approved by Rove. It must have been even harder for him to watch the Swift-boating of his old friend John Kerry, a fellow Navy veteran whose volunteer service he respected, even though they disagreed vehemently about the Vietnam War and many other issues.

By the time McCain spoke up feebly against the Swift boat campaign, the damage had been done -- to him as well as to Kerry. He had undergone a public transformation into a willing instrument of lesser men who trampled on his character and his honor, even his patriotism, just as his campaign is now seeking to do to Obama...

[Inuca]

1. VERY good

maybe a new narrative is starting to emerge in the media about McCain. Not only Salon, but what about this WSJ title "Is McCain stupid?" ?

[beachmom]

2. Beautifully said, and closer to the truth than that vile Kos diary.

I just am not interested in painting everyone as a cartoon -- not even McCain. The beginning of his transformation away from his 2000 campaign was in 2004, when he chose to throw his friend under the bus. But I disagree with the notion that he is 100% snake. I do think his friendship with John Kerry was very real; Kerry would not be friends with someone 100% phony. The problem is that in the name of ambition, McCain changed into something that doesn't quite fit who he really is. Although I do think what IS him is the guy who makes gaffes about facts while talking arrogantly. He also plays loose with policy facts. Remember he LIED about Mittens' position on Iraq during the primaries. I don't even LIKE Romney, but he was NEVER for a timetable for withdrawal, like McCain said about him in an attack & ad.

I guess why I can't become a "handwringer" about this campaign, is that McCain simply cannot be Bush, as much as he tries. Part of him wants to turn away from the dirt as he did when he had to talk about "the race card", where he kind of just walked away after making his sleazy remark.

[whometense]

3. I agree with this comment

http://letters.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/08/01/rove_mccain/permalink/1c23d6e2899957ab9c8f89c710689080.html

it's always been there

McCain's never had that much depth to him. Come on. The guy was something like 894th out of 899 in his class at Annapolis. Crashed multiple jets. Had a reputation as a troublemaker and a slacker. Getting shot down and tortured put the gloss of nobility on him, which he's been happy to exploit, all the while pretending he's too humble to make an issue of his life story. His whole political career is one long case of apophasis. "I'm not going to mention my experience in a POW camp to further my own ambitions..." He divorced his first wife and married a much younger, wealthy woman whose money and connections could provide a launching point for his political career.

Sure, he seemed more independent in 2000, but his response in the next election cycle to the Bushwhacking he received is instructive: he caved immediately to Bush's co-opting, sold out his friend Kerry, and provided political cover to Bush for his failed war policies during that Presidential election cycle.

McCain's fallen from where he was in 2000, but he hasn't fallen as far as it seems at first blush.
-- djavier

I think Kerry had an automatic and somewhat generic respect for McCain, due to his Naval service. Not to get too far into it, but McCain's treatment of his first wife sets off big time character alarm bells for me. He was just back from Vietnam, and I'm sure there was a lot of mental trauma - but still. I always get angry when people make the assumption that JK married Teresa for her money, so I can't very well make the same assumption about McCain. But I've often thought exactly what Conason said - what was it like for Cindy and Bridget McCain to watch their husband/father hug Bush the way he did, after what Bush did to them? McCain is deficient in character in my book - or his ambition is greater than his strength of character. For me, either way, it's the same thing.

[beachmom]

4. Yes, agreed. But remember Teresa Heinz Kerry voted for McCain in 2000.

She was still a Republican back then, and voted for him in the Penn. Republican primary. Maybe it was partly an anti-Bush vote; I don't know. But, well, if you read that New Yorker article, there is no way you can come away from it not being a real friendship between Kerry & McCain.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1996/10/21/1996_10_21_130_TNY_CARDS_000377420?currentPage=1

There must have been SOMETHING redeeming in McCain's character for them to be friends for a good decade or so. And I don't think it was just McCain's naval service: lots of vets have crossed Kerry's path before including fellow members on the POW/MIA committee, and he wasn't good friends with them the way he was with McCain.

To a certain extent I come at this from a different angle: I was not always a Democrat, but an Independent, and I liked McCain. I liked a lot of what he said in 2000, and I was impressed with his work on the POW/MIA committee -- McCain is the reason why I even learned about Kerry in 1991. He was the tall, quiet guy standing behind John McCain on C-SPAN (I watched them arrive back home from Vietnam). It is more difficult for me to separate the two, since that was how I was introduced to Kerry.

To a certain extent this is all quite painful, and it's easier to simplify and say McCain was a total snake and Kerry was only arms length "friends" with him (as in, "my esteemed colleague from Arizona"), but I honestly don't think that is the truth. I have friends who don't always live up to my values, but I find I can be friends with them focusing what I have in common with them. Perhaps, that is how the Kerry/McCain friendship worked for over 10 years. I also think that McCain has showed temper and anger when Kerry's name has come up; another indication, that this was a real friendship that is no more, because of McCain's actions.

[wisteria]

5. This illustrates just how far McCain has deviated from his convictions an ideals.

This John McCain is a despicable small human being who will do anything to get elected. I once respected this man and admired his willingness to fight for what he believed was right and just- no more- he is Pathetic.