“It is no disgrace not to be able to do everything; but to undertake, or pretend to do, what you are not made for, is not only shameful, but extremely troublesome and vexatious.”
– Plutarch
People, I have had enough. My frustration has been growing for some time and the straw that broke the camel’s back has finally snapped. On the one hand, I have begrudging respect for John McCain for carrying this race as far as he has. But on the other, I am becoming more and more upset about the increasing falsehood that is coming from his campaign.
At the campaign’s beginning, I was feeling pretty good about the Democrats’ chances. After a presidency that will not be remembered fondly, it looked like the GOP’s chances of success in the election were slim. When Barack Obama was picked as the Democratic nominee, I was ecstatic. I felt fortunate to live in a time where it was possible for a man who could bring significant change to actually reach a position of power and influence.
Barack Obama’s followers quickly rallied around his message of change in Washington, a message of reform and doing away with “politics-as-usual” that resonated with Americans after eight long years of the same.
But things started to get weird when Obama and McCain became the two nominees. Our choice has not been easy: One candidate has the charisma and eloquence to promise us a way out of the mess we’re in, and he has the record and the ability to actually deliver on that promise. The other represents the exact same thing we’ve seen for eight years, but he has mastered the art of spin control.
If you read the promise on his Web site, voting for John McCain is akin to casting a vote for utopia. “Under a McCain presidency the United States will experience robust economic growth, and Americans will again have confidence in their economic future,” it reads. He does not detail his plans to accomplish these promises, but then, President George Bush never explained how exactly he’d accomplish his mission, either.
McCain describes solutions to American issues such as “independence from foreign sources of oil,” and says he’ll “end the war in Iraq with victory and bring our troops home with honor.” Boy, that’s a tough ticket to run against.
In late-August even McCain seemed to no longer believe his own hype because his campaign took a drastic shift. All of a sudden, McCain, too, was an agent of change, as was his brand new vice-presidential candidate, Sarah “New Girl From Alaska” Palin.
Sure, she’s got next-to-no experience with only two years as a governor under her belt, but that’s fine. The GOP must not think experience is that much of an issue – after all, it only calls Obama out on his lack of experience every other day. Never mind that as vice president Palin would be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
The hypocrisy doesn’t stop there. Whereas Obama wants to invest in alternative energy and use limited offshore drilling until we can be entirely free of oil, McCain has voted to reduce funding for alternative energy and lift existing bans on offshore drilling. Truly, he represents the exact kind of forward-thinking the 21st century United States needs.
As McCain will be so quick to remind us, he and his team of “mavericks” are completely detached from the “cronyism”-plagued Bush administration. Nevermind Palin’s abuse of powers scandal, in which the Alaska Legislature’s investigation concluded that she had abused her powers in office. According to the report, she “knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissable pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda.” Other than that, they’re both squeaky clean and scandal free.
McCain also follows the classic Republican virtue of sticking to his guns, as evidenced by his maintaining the opinion that less regulation in the market is a good thing, except when the market takes its worst nose dive since the Great Depression. Suddenly, McCain’s all about regulation. As quoted in a Washington Post article: “In my administration, we’re going to hold people on Wall Street responsible. And we’re going to enact and enforce reforms to make sure that these outrages never happen in the first place.”
Now, I’m not sure, but that sounds an awful lot like the oh-so-dreaded “flip-flopping” that made John Kerry famous in the 2004 election. Maybe it’s only flip-flopping when Democrats do it.
I honestly cannot comprehend how McCain has kept such hardcore support for as long as he has. It sometimes feels like he’s trying to sabotage himself, what with ripping off Obama’s slogan, hiring Palin in a blatant attempt at calling Hillary Clinton supporters to his side, or any other attempts at pandering that he’s been accused of.
In the end, it may surprise you to learn that I don’t actually hate the man. In fact, I have great respect for the service he has shown this nation, and I believe he genuinely wants to do right by this country. But he needs to stop trying to be something he’s not. Maybe at another time, he would be the right person for the job. But in this election, at this time in history, that job belongs to another.
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McCain campaign: one of hypocrisy
Daily Emerald
October 12, 2008
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