The phrase has become so common that it's virtually expected in every speech by a Democrat these days; some derivation of "John McCain's running for Bush's third term." Most of the time, it's backed up by examples of McCain's policy positions; supporting the war in Iraq, against negotiating with our enemies, now supporting continuing the Bush tax cuts, now against comprehensive immigration reform, now in favor of torture, pro-life and on and on and on. It's a good argument, and a necessary one in the battle to redefine McCain.
Yet, missing from this argument is, in my opinion, an equally powerful and compelling argument about why McCain represents Bush's third term; in a McCain administration many of the secretaries and deputy secretaries and political appointees of the Bush administration will continue to run our various government agencies and departments.
Governments are not run solely by the president, but by thousands of people in different agencies spread out throughout the executive branch. Everything that is passed by Congress is run by these appointees. As we've seen over the last 7 years, President Bush has appointed some of the most inept and purely political people to run our government.
We need to force Senator McCain to tell us which of these people are going and which are staying. We need to put together a list of the worst administrators in the executive branch, along with why they have failed us, and put it to McCain to tell us if he's going to continue to allow them to continue to ruin the departments that millions of people depend on and who are tasked with spending our hard earned tax dollars.
Perhaps I focus on this argument because I've been a long time McCain supporter. I briefly worked for his 2000 presidential campaign and have written him in as my presidential vote in both the 2000 and 2004 elections. I have followed closely as he went back on some of the truest statements he has ever made, such as "agents of intolerance," and as he has at times stood up to the president on such things as Rumsfeld and, for a time, immigration reform.
In short, I've always respected John McCain, even as I saw the corrupt Republican party, my former party, reign him in. Even in 2005, I donated money to his Senate campaign out of solidarity with one of the only Republicans I thought was willing to put politics aside, from time to time, to actually try to pass decent legislation.
But there has never been any question in my mind that I was going to support Senator Obama. One reason this decision was so easy for me was that while I may think McCain would be a better president than many people here, I don't think our government can survive being run by this group of people who have continuously proven they are working for the Republican party and not the American people.
Yet, this idea has rarely made it into the consciousness of this election. Not one time have I heard McCain questioned about who would be running his executive branch and whether he would purge the departments of Bush's political appointees. I imagine it's a question he will refuse to answer, at least with specifics, but it's a question that we need to put in the mind of the American people and the media.
So far this election cycle, Daily Kos and a number of other websites have shown a remarkable ability to affect the focus of the media and the candidates. I can think of no place where there are more people who know specifics about each of the individuals within this administration who do not deserve the faith the American public has given them. We need to put together a list of each of these individuals, their position within the administration, and the wrongs they have committed, through action or inaction.
I have to admit I do not know as well as many here the specifics of each individual, but I would be happy to put together the list below as people add names and specifics to the comments.
Update:
I'm going through by department myself, mostly just making notes on each individual for now.
State Department:
Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State: Was National Security adviser with intelligence about al Qaeda before 9/11. Has been one of President Bush's closest confidants throughout his administration. Was one of the most outspoken advocates of the Iraq war and pushed many of the Bush administration's lies about Iraq's WMDs. Has completely failed in State's policy towards the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, especially in understanding Hamas' power in Gaza. Failed to perform her diplomatic duties during the pointless Israel/Lebanon war. Has failed to put together any plan to convince Iran to stop its nuclear weapons program. Has failed in pushing the State Department to be proactive in Iraqi reconstruction.
John Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of State: Was ambassador to the UN during before and during the Iraq War and was instrumental in forcing the Security Council to support a resolution demanding Saddam Hussein disarm. Pursued Bush's policy of with us or against us at the United Nations. Was US Ambassador to Iraq from 2004-2005, ignored the growing insurgency and fed into administration propaganda that we were "winning" in Iraq. Was director of national intelligence from 2005-2007, responsible for much of the contradictory intelligence on Iran's weapons programs (although, to be fair, many say he did at least an adequate job as DNI). Has been Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's principle deputy since 2007.