Final Reason I’m Voting for Obama – 3 of 3 – John McCain

November 4, 2008 by Pelikan
Filed under: Barack Obama, John McCain, Presidential Campaign 2008 

I can remember during the Republican primaries in 1999 – 2000 thinking that John McCain is a Republican I would consider voting for. He distinguished himself by rejecting party dogma on a few important issues. He set himself apart as an independent operator who talked straight and seemed like he would put the needs of his country first and the special interests and big business last in line. Finally, he rejected the right wing of the Republican Party’s efforts to divide America over issues of faith and morality.

That was then, this is now.

John McCain doesn’t do as much talking to reporters any longer in the back of the bus. He and his campaign have laid such a swath of intellectual dishonesty and slime across the country during Campaign 2008 that these impromptu “straight talk” sessions expose him to too many potential inconsistencies in message. It’s one thing to have the robo-calls and Palin out there banging away on Bill Ayers and birth certificates, it’s another thing for this once reliable source to have to own it with the cameras running.

Over the past eight years, as McCain laid the groundwork to run for president once again, this once maverick turned into the Panderer in Chief. Rather than try to take the divisiveness out of the Republican Party and use his bully pulpit to stop the culture warriors and creationists from taking over the party, McCain opted for political expediency and embraced them. Speaking at Liberty University was just the kick-off in his campaign to win over the Republican theocrats. In the beginning of the Bush Administration he opposed what he termed unfair tax policies. While Bush was at his most popular, McCain decided to get on board. Again, a big issue where he could have re-established the role of maverick who puts country first, and, again political expediency. By the time Bush and Cheney were beginning their second term, McCain was their greatest ally in the Senate. Unfortunately for him, he began working on the narrow base of his party too soon. Enough time has gone by without McCain the Maverick that moderate Republicans, Independents and conservative Democrats don’t remember that John.

Fast forward to 2008. In April, McCain very plainly stated that:

Americans want a respectful campaign … People say, negative ads move numbers. They may, but do we have to go to the lowest common denominator? I don’t think so.

I’m not even going to go into it any more here. Let’s just say that McCain went into the gutter early and made no attempt to build a message around anything other than base arguments against Barack Obama. He’s run such a negative campaign that it may make it all the more hard for Republicans in general to regain the respect of the middle of the electorate.

John McCain’s track record over the last eight years has been that of putting his own ambition first, not his country. Given the choice between someone like Barack Obama who has a positive, constructive vision for America’s future – and McCain who just wants to be president – the choice is clear. If you are on the fence here on Election Day morning, perhaps you’ve never voted for a Democrat and you just don’t think you can vote for Obama – take a leap of faith. Vote for Obama. And, as this country’s economy is put back together and we rise again to lead the world with something like the moral authority we had in a bygone eras you’ll know you were a part of the change.

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