Robin PottratzA tribute to John McCain from the opposition
November 5th 2008 20:40
Last night was indeed an historic night. The United States elected Barack Obama to be the next commander and chief...or President of the United States. It would appear that after 8 years of the Bush nightmare that Americans were finally ready for a change. At 11 P.M. EST the polls had closed on the west coast of the United States and Barack Obama had offically been elected the first African American President in the history of this country. Now, you can't turn around without seeing replays of Obama's acceptance speech, so I am not dedicating this post to President Obama (he will recieve enough accolades). This post is about his opponent, Senator John McCain.
Senator McCain fought a campaign that in all fairness has lasted for eight years...going back to 2000 where, if there were true fairness in the world, he would have been the Republican nominee for President and not George W. Bush. McCain had the momentum during that time, until the evil Bush campaign advisor Karl Rove executed push polling in South Carolina during the primaries, where robocalls were made to houses asking if they would be "more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain if they knew that John McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child." These were referring to the McCain's adopted, dark skinned daughter from Bangladesh. The push polls also claimed that Cindy McCain was a drug addict, that McCain was a homosexual, and that he was a "manchurian candidate," having been brainwashed from his POW days. These claims were false and the tactics were dispicable...they were also highly successful, Bush won the nomination and the rest was history. How on earth could anyone, even Karl Rove, live with themselves after doing something so dispicable to a man like John McCain, who has literally given everything he possibly could to his country.
John McCain's backstory is one of indescribable heroism. His plane was shot down in Vietnam and he was thrown into a prisoner of war camp where he was a prisoner for 6 years. He was even offered release three years into his term...but he refused to leave his fellow prisoners behind. He willingly returned to prison, where he was brutally tortured and permanently injured. He returned to the United States as a well deserved hero. He then became a Senator in Arizona, where he has served for over 20 years. He has spearheaded many bills that went against his own party, such as the McCain/Feingold immigration bill which is often criticized for giving too much regulation for campaign financing. He has criticized far right evangelicals like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, and during his first Presidential campaign, he rode the "straight talk express," which was a bus that allowed him free publicity and freedom of speech. He earned the well deserved reputation of being a media "maverick" during his time because he simply did things his own way, regardless of party afiliation.
Returning to 2000, in my personal opinion, John McCain was probably the most qualifyed candidate running from either party. He was also the best leader and a man who truly had put country first. If not for George W. Bush and his goons using their dirty tricks, who knows where this country would be. We probably wouldn't be in the economic dire straits that we are in now, 9/11 and the response would have been handled better, and our standing in the world wouldn't be as beyond repair as it is now. However, McCain was unfairly beaten in the 2000 primaries, so we will never know the answers to these quesitons.
Fast Forward to 2008, after some initial sputtering in his campaign, Senator McCain was able to gain momentum and eventually win that elusive Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. However, something had changed in John McCain, he had gone from an open minded maverick to more of a closed minded conservative in an attempt to appeal to the right wing base which had spent years denouncing him. Post 9/11, the soldier in John McCain had come back. He supported increased military action...and in turn spending (even though he is in favor of some military spending cuts). He supported the Bush tax cuts, which have been a fundamental cause of the national debt increase during the Bush Era, and he even accepted an endorsement from Pastor John Hagee...who was one of the far right "agents of intolerance" that McCain had come out against in 2000. It was disappointing to see McCain alter his persona in a pursuit of the elusive White House. His biggest mistake came in the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin, who after a few interviews revealed herself as incredibly unqualifyed...but that is for another post at another time.
Now, on to last night. After Obama had eclipsed the 270 electoral vote mark, John McCain delivered an elequent concession speech in his home state of Arizona. The emotion on the typically stoic face of the Senator was impossible to ignore. This is in all likelyhood the end of John McCain's pursuit of higher office. He has tried for years to win the White House, and he came damn close this time. The obsticles that have stood in his was were simply beyond his control. McCain couldn't control the immorality and lack of conscience from the likes of Karl Rove, George W. Bush, or any other of his goons. Now in this race, the truth is that a candidate like Barack Obama only comes around once every forty or fifty years...I believe that he would've beaten anyone and that the truth is McCain was the best chance that the Republicans had...George Bush had simply done too much damage to the party...this was the Democrats year to win it all.
If this is the end for Senator John McCain, I believe that he can look back at his accomplishments and take pride in his career. His legacy is an enviable one to say the least. He is a war hero, and was responsible for some of the most extensive reform that any political figure had ever attempted. He was a co-writer of the McCain/Feingold bill, he was instrumental in forming the 9/11 commission, he has spearheaded many bill in support of immigration and opposed the proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage...stating that "that decision should be up to the states."
I want to make this point clear...I did not vote for John McCain. I voted for Barack Obama and have been very critical of John McCain and Sarah Palin. However, now that this whirlwind election is finally over, it is time to stop, take a breath, and look at the political world with a new perspective.
I didn't support John McCain, but there are things about John McCain that can never be denied. John McCain is a war hero. John McCain is a great public servant. John McCain is a patriot. John McCain is a Great American...but above all else, John McCain is a Great Man.
Senator McCain fought a campaign that in all fairness has lasted for eight years...going back to 2000 where, if there were true fairness in the world, he would have been the Republican nominee for President and not George W. Bush. McCain had the momentum during that time, until the evil Bush campaign advisor Karl Rove executed push polling in South Carolina during the primaries, where robocalls were made to houses asking if they would be "more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain if they knew that John McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child." These were referring to the McCain's adopted, dark skinned daughter from Bangladesh. The push polls also claimed that Cindy McCain was a drug addict, that McCain was a homosexual, and that he was a "manchurian candidate," having been brainwashed from his POW days. These claims were false and the tactics were dispicable...they were also highly successful, Bush won the nomination and the rest was history. How on earth could anyone, even Karl Rove, live with themselves after doing something so dispicable to a man like John McCain, who has literally given everything he possibly could to his country.
John McCain's backstory is one of indescribable heroism. His plane was shot down in Vietnam and he was thrown into a prisoner of war camp where he was a prisoner for 6 years. He was even offered release three years into his term...but he refused to leave his fellow prisoners behind. He willingly returned to prison, where he was brutally tortured and permanently injured. He returned to the United States as a well deserved hero. He then became a Senator in Arizona, where he has served for over 20 years. He has spearheaded many bills that went against his own party, such as the McCain/Feingold immigration bill which is often criticized for giving too much regulation for campaign financing. He has criticized far right evangelicals like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, and during his first Presidential campaign, he rode the "straight talk express," which was a bus that allowed him free publicity and freedom of speech. He earned the well deserved reputation of being a media "maverick" during his time because he simply did things his own way, regardless of party afiliation.
Returning to 2000, in my personal opinion, John McCain was probably the most qualifyed candidate running from either party. He was also the best leader and a man who truly had put country first. If not for George W. Bush and his goons using their dirty tricks, who knows where this country would be. We probably wouldn't be in the economic dire straits that we are in now, 9/11 and the response would have been handled better, and our standing in the world wouldn't be as beyond repair as it is now. However, McCain was unfairly beaten in the 2000 primaries, so we will never know the answers to these quesitons.
Fast Forward to 2008, after some initial sputtering in his campaign, Senator McCain was able to gain momentum and eventually win that elusive Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. However, something had changed in John McCain, he had gone from an open minded maverick to more of a closed minded conservative in an attempt to appeal to the right wing base which had spent years denouncing him. Post 9/11, the soldier in John McCain had come back. He supported increased military action...and in turn spending (even though he is in favor of some military spending cuts). He supported the Bush tax cuts, which have been a fundamental cause of the national debt increase during the Bush Era, and he even accepted an endorsement from Pastor John Hagee...who was one of the far right "agents of intolerance" that McCain had come out against in 2000. It was disappointing to see McCain alter his persona in a pursuit of the elusive White House. His biggest mistake came in the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin, who after a few interviews revealed herself as incredibly unqualifyed...but that is for another post at another time.
Now, on to last night. After Obama had eclipsed the 270 electoral vote mark, John McCain delivered an elequent concession speech in his home state of Arizona. The emotion on the typically stoic face of the Senator was impossible to ignore. This is in all likelyhood the end of John McCain's pursuit of higher office. He has tried for years to win the White House, and he came damn close this time. The obsticles that have stood in his was were simply beyond his control. McCain couldn't control the immorality and lack of conscience from the likes of Karl Rove, George W. Bush, or any other of his goons. Now in this race, the truth is that a candidate like Barack Obama only comes around once every forty or fifty years...I believe that he would've beaten anyone and that the truth is McCain was the best chance that the Republicans had...George Bush had simply done too much damage to the party...this was the Democrats year to win it all.
If this is the end for Senator John McCain, I believe that he can look back at his accomplishments and take pride in his career. His legacy is an enviable one to say the least. He is a war hero, and was responsible for some of the most extensive reform that any political figure had ever attempted. He was a co-writer of the McCain/Feingold bill, he was instrumental in forming the 9/11 commission, he has spearheaded many bill in support of immigration and opposed the proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage...stating that "that decision should be up to the states."
I want to make this point clear...I did not vote for John McCain. I voted for Barack Obama and have been very critical of John McCain and Sarah Palin. However, now that this whirlwind election is finally over, it is time to stop, take a breath, and look at the political world with a new perspective.
I didn't support John McCain, but there are things about John McCain that can never be denied. John McCain is a war hero. John McCain is a great public servant. John McCain is a patriot. John McCain is a Great American...but above all else, John McCain is a Great Man.
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