I’ve been reading lots of post-mortems on McCain and the mistakes he and his campaign made, but so far I haven’t seen anyone talk about how the campaign revealed the shocking truth about the man the Republicans chose as best suited to be our President.
- John McCain lacks the single most important quality we need in a president – the ability to lead.
- John McCain is a man ruled by greed and ambition, who puts himself, not the country first.
Allow me to elaborate.
McCain’s candidacy was built entirely on the premise that he was a hero, a man of courage and integrity, a proven leader. He made a promise to the American people to run a respectable campaign.
Yet, his bid for office was one of the lowest, sleaziest character assassinations in the history of campaigning. I don’t believe he lied about his original intent. But, he did allow himself to be manipulated by his campaign staff into doing what they thought was best – even though it was against his principles and caused him to break his earlier promise. A man who will permit himself to be influenced to do something so completely against his nature is not a leader. A man who gives up his right to call the shots in accordance with what he knows to be right, and instead blindly follows the instructions others give him, has no business running our country.
McCain surrendered the leadership of his own campaign. He gave up his own will to that of his campaign managers, and became a teleprompter-reading puppet. He stood idly by while his stooges used the thinnest possible threads of half-truth to wrap his opponent in a web of the foulest allegations.
McCain could have used his campaign to showcase his ability to stand up for what he believes in and inspire others to follow his lead. Instead, he only showed all of us that when there are tough decisions to be made, he defers to those whose spines are made of sterner stuff. It is true, a president must welcome advice from others, but then he must use his own strength of character to decide the best course of action. He must lead – not ignore his own convictions and yield to those whose influence is too strong to resist.
As testament to his ambition, he affirmed to us in April
"For my part, I would rather lose a campaign than a war."
He was not being truthful then, or at many other times during his campaign. The truth was that he wanted the presidency with every fiber of his being, and he was willing to sell his soul to the devil for it. As it turned out, he was also willing to sell his country down the river. He chose a running mate that he knew to be unprepared and unqualified to take his place. Even if he was unaware of some of Sarah Palin’s deficiencies at the start, he certainly learned of them as things went on, and yet, he continued to lie to us about her qualifications and their relationship. As he said on NPR in April:
Q: Given what you've said, senator, is there an occasion where you could imagine turning to Gov. Palin for advice in a foreign policy crisis?
McCain: I've turned to her advice many times in the past.
And in an interview Oct 22:
"I think she is the most qualified of any that has run recently for vice president."
And on Meet the Press Oct 26:
The fact is she is a dynamic person with executive experience, leadership, reform. She's exactly what Washington needs."
And on Larry King on Oct. 30:
KING: You're president of the United States, you're flying over the Pacific between nowhere and nowhere. There's an attack on the United States. How much confidence do you have in Vice President Palin?
MCCAIN: Total.
KING: So, there would be no question in your mind that she could take over?
MCCAIN: She not only would take over; she would inspire Americans. That's what I think she would do. She would unite the country in a time crisis.
Are we to believe that McCain, knowing what he knew about Palin when he made these statements, honestly believed that placing an unqualified, incompetent person in the position of having to stand in for him in case of his incapacity was putting the "country first"? In my mind, deliberately taking the chance of placing the US in serious danger should he be unable to discharge his duties, is tantamount to treason.
Shame on you, John McCain. Shame on you for letting blind ambition take over the honor and integrity you once had. Shame on you for putting Americans at risk by choosing Sarah Palin as your back up, and lying to us about her readiness. Shame on you for signing off on the despicable attack ads, condoning the hate speech, and sinking to a level that should make your comrade prisoners of war ashamed to call you a friend.
You were right about one thing that you said frequently during your campaign. You owe America.
You owe her an apology.