Mike Murray essay -- Big John, Diminished

1 February 2009

Big John, Diminished

--by Mike Murray

I hate to say it, but John McCain has let me – and millions of others who voted for him last November – down. Not because he failed to win the presidency. Shoot, all of us (Democrats, Republicans, third-party members, and independents) have backed unsuccessful candidates from time to time. There is no shame in losing. There can, in fact, be great honor in “fighting the good fight,” especially in defeat.

No, what’s got former McCain backers riled is that the Maverick, the supposed man of principle, has sold out. Because now that the election season is over, McCain seems intent on regaining (at the expense of his integrity) the approval of the mainstream media.

For roughly a decade, while McCain served as a thorn in President George W. Bush’s side, he was romanced by America’s leftist MSM. (During those years, he routinely referred to the media as “my base.”) No doubt, he believed the flirtation to be sincere, the affair lasting. But it fizzled once McCain assumed the mantle of Establishment Republican (i.e., GOP presidential nominee in 2008). Poor John. Seduced – and abandoned.

The concern among conservatives throughout McCain’s latest (and, one presumes, final) run for the White House was that he was adopting stances on issues that were merely expedient. They noted that his positions with respect to domestic policy had shifted radically in recent years. For the bulk of his political career, John leaned reliably to the right. But, following the Charles Keating fiasco in 1989, he moved noticeably leftward.

He joined with Democrat Russ Feingold in drafting campaign finance-reform legislation. Perhaps it was a blatant attempt to rehabilitate his damaged reputation. (His good name, while less sullied than were those of other senators among the “Keating Five,” was nevertheless tarnished.) Or maybe McCain was acting out of conviction. Only he knows for sure.

In any case, McCain’s about-face on several key issues during the 1990s – and his further drift toward Democrat positions following his loss of the 2000 Republican presidential nomination to Bush – led staunch conservatives to view him with a wary eye. Sure, they granted him their party’s nod in 2008. But their support (as poll after poll indicated) was tepid. For many GOPers, McCain simply represented the least objectionable choice among a variety of unspectacular ones.

Moderate independents also had concerns. We liked McCain’s shift toward the political center. Our worry, however, was that the movement represented crass calculation – that it grew out of a desire to curry favor with the media and with the majority of the electorate, rather than out of sincerely evolved beliefs.

Still, most of John McCain’s Republican and independent backers were able to support him with a clear conscience during his general-election run. That’s because we considered him to be infinitely more qualified for the presidency than his opponent. We recognized John’s inferiority to Barack as a campaigner; but we deemed him eminently more equipped to govern – head-and-shoulders above Obama as Commander-in-Chief material.

Then there was McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Sarah electrified her party’s base. And, make no mistake: Without Palin beside him, McCain would have lost to Obama by more than 15 percentage points. Sarah did nothing less than save John from electoral humiliation. Rank-and-file Republicans loved her – even if country-club snobs did not.

Independents liked Sarah, too. She was decidedly more conservative than were we (especially with respect to social issues). But we appreciated her genuinely reformist nature, and the fact that she entered politics for the right reasons. Sarah’s vice-presidential bid in 2008 was not the culmination of life-long political ambition. It was, instead, the outgrowth of civic involvement born of dissatisfaction with the performance of career politicians. She bucked the entrenched, “good old boys” of her own party in Alaska – improbably, successfully – during her impressive rise.

Sarah comes from working-class stock. Nothing was handed to her on a silver platter. She was not the beneficiary of private prep-school and Ivy League educations (as was Barack Obama). She was not the offspring of Naval admirals, one granted “legacy” admission to a prestigious military academy (as was John McCain). Sarah “Barracuda” Palin has clawed and scratched for everything she has achieved in life.

Her story resonates with common folks. And, despite the unflattering portrayal of her by the mainstream media, she is quite intelligent. (If knowing the name of the undersecretary of education of some obscure country is the litmus test, then Obama likewise would have failed miserably. Notice, however, that reporters – no geniuses they – presented their Messiah with no such geo-political quiz. Instead, they lobbed him softball queries such as: “How do you manage to cope with all the adulation?”)

For many in America, Sarah Palin represents a much-needed, fresh breath of political air. Which makes John McCain’s dismissive treatment of her, post-election, all the more infuriating. While his cowardly, cover-their-own-butts political staffers trashed Sarah (anonymously) in interviews with members of the media, John sat silent.

When finally pressed by reporters for a reaction, he offered only lukewarm support for the person who contributed so much to his (otherwise) lackluster campaign. And when asked about his support for a potential Palin run for the presidency in 2012, McCain balked. Although he cautiously allowed that she might be an acceptable candidate, he watered down his support by immediately mentioning the names of others he deemed excellent choices within the GOP.

So, the person whom McCain only weeks before judged the best Republican to serve alongside him in the White House – and to succeed him as president, if necessary – was suddenly considered by him to be only so-so. No doubt, that altered assessment pleased Palin-bashing members of the mainstream media. No doubt, it curried him favor.

It is deeply disappointing for many to note that, during the months following his defeat, McCain has had kinder things to say about the opponent who ruthlessly attacked him than he has about the running mate who faithfully defended him. Disloyalty is a term that I never imagined having to associate with John McCain. But facts are facts.

Millions of voters trusted you, John. And you let us down. Not by losing – but by selling out. When you threw Sarah Palin under the bus, you discarded much of your reputation, too.

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