John McCain: Decline and Fall



(image via vietnamwar)

Senator John McCain is, by his very nature, an acutely talented underdog and political reformer in a party whose very "conservatasm" resists such categories as if they were an invading virus. McCain operates most effectively from the margins of propriety. His signal moments -- on campign reform, on that spectacular "Gang-of-14 Moment," -- have been made vis-a-vis a position of anti-establihmentarianism. It is that strength that kept him alive for 5 1/2 years in Vietnam.

Sure, he lost to Bush in 2000. But he ran an incredible campaign and kept things alive, winning even Michigan. McCain was fighting against the Christian Right AND The Republican Establishment (Bush the Younger had virtually imported his Fathers' entire cabinet for his 2000 run) AND shitloads of money. "Straight Talk" was, IMHO, a success. If not for those racist fliers in South Carolina, eh Karl Rove?

McCain ought to have retired from the Senate and become a marginal but important voice in America's future course. George Mitchell and Warren Rudman and Gary Hart and Bill Bradley and Sam Nunn -- those legendary Senators of Olde -- are perfect examples of this sort of patriot that guide the ship of State through the Breakers.

Unfortunately, McCain did not retire to the Hills; instead, McCain made some grotesque compromises to become the Establishmentarian candidate. Some would even say he sold his soul and besmirched his incredible career in the Senate. Being The Establishment is an unfamiliar and awkward position for McCain. He has never run under those circumstances, and the fact that this President's popularity rating is dropping into Ohlmertian numbers isn't helping. That mistake -- running an Establishmentarian campaign with lots of spending and perks for campaign workers and ad blitzes -- may be fatal. From TheHill:

"Folks, I hate to say it, because I like him personally, but John McCain is close to being toast. His campaign has underperformed on the fundraising front and overspent beyond the level of incompetence. Excuse me, but spending $22,000,000 of $24,000,000 in the first six months before a vote has been cast, a TV ad aired, or a straw poll taken? Absurd.

"His only chance is to totally retool, fire his financial managers, and go back to the 'Straight Talk Express.' He will have to barnstorm Iowa and New Hampshire and get back to a grassroots campaign. Leave the Senate behind and REALLY run for President.

"He now has a scarlet letter I tattooed on his forehead, standing, of course, for 'Immigration.'"

Yes, well, leaving aside the Hawthorniness of that analogy (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment), can The Establishment candidate -- one so closely allied to Bush -- now wear the mantle of the "Reformer"?

(TheHill)