The Campaign Against McCain
Victor David Hanson is of course right when he writes that John McCain has not run a “nasty” or “vicious” campaign at all. As he accurately points out, the image of McCain as a “vicious campaigner” is an artificial creation by the mainstream media and the Obama campaign. They started to create the image when McCain had not said anything about Obama (Obama warning that his race would be used against him, etc.), and then when McCain started to criticize Obama the latter’s campaign and allies in the ‘elite media’ jumped on it, citing it as proof that McCain had become ‘dishonorable.’
It’s all fake, and everyone with a faint of knowledge about politics knows it.
John McCain Angry
But that does not stop either Obama campaign or the MSM from lying and spinning. They do it on purpose and they could not care less that everyone involved in politics in one way or another know they are dishonest for these individuals are not the target audience. Rather, the target audience are those who do not know much about politics and who were not following this campaign for months. These individuals only started paying attention to the race recently. As such, they are easier to influence, and to lie to.
Republicans jumping ship now because they feel McCain is being too “nasty” are not jumping ship because they truly believe he’s nasty and mean. Rather, they do so for other reasons. Some may simply support Obama, they needed an excuse to turn their back on McCain. Others want to keep their job or write for more news organizations in the coming years. Ambition, in other words. And then there are other reasons for their decision to jump ship, none of them having anything to do with reality.
The campaign against McCain has been vicious from the start, and more dishonest than I’ve ever seen in my years of following politics, let alone covering them.
And that’s from the perspective of someone who would not vote for McCain in the primary season if he were American, and who would be hard pressed to vote for him in the general election simply because he considers McCain not competent enough to be president.
Then again, Obama is not either, in my book.
I think there are some conservatives who do believe McCain hasn’t been honest this year. I do think Obama and McCain has been about as honest as the other, which is all you can expect in a campaign. However, “change” and “maverick” have been terms that have been somewhat impacted for me during the course of the election.
Why did McCain allow a person introducing him to mention Barack’s middle name at a rally (while he has decried people doing so before, before he became desperate like many losing republicans) lately, and why did he not decry the pastor who started another of his rallies with an admonition to present christians to pray for Obama (because Allah’s disciples et al. would pray for his opponent)? Either you smack that sort of thing down strongly and at first opportunity, or you lack a moral backbone.
McCain was perhaps honorable before, but no more. If the media assassinated McCain then I think it was deserved, this time. Yuck yuck yuck.