Organizing for America | Dan Luther's Blog: Shame on you, John McCain

Shame on you, John McCain

By Dan Luther - Jul 24th, 2008 at 7:05 pm EDT

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I’ve waited a few days to gather my thoughts on this issue before posting them here. I have found that in all things, reacting tends to have a detrimental effect overshadowing the more wise choice of acting, and so when I find myself outraged over a particular situation, it’s best to take a deep breath and fully evaluate it before diving headfirst into the deep end.

So with that disclaimer…

I am completely outraged at John McCain’s statement that “Barack Obama would rather lose a war to win a political race.” To me, it seems as if this was a direct attack on Senator Obama’s patriotism, an attack I might add, that Barack said in an earlier speech that he would not tolerate.

I’ve always respected Senator McCain – his heroic service to our country as a POW in Vietnam served as a reminder to all of us that sacrifice is sometimes part of service. As a Republican, I voted for John McCain in the 2000 Presidential primaries because I believed then as I do to this day, that on his worst day, John McCain is easily ten times the statesman than George W. Bush is on his best.

But this recent turn of events has cost John McCain my respect for him. All of it.

While I am now and forever grateful for his service to our country, his attribution of such naked, uninhibited ambition to Senator Obama is unnecessary, unconstructive, and to be frank, just plain mean.

Shame on you, John McCain. You of all people should know better.

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I have tried too | Report to Admin

By rusty Jul 24th 2008 at 7:10 pm EDT

I respect John McCain too. Or, at least I did. But, given the obvious disrespectful tact he and his campaign are taking against Obama, the respect is gone. He is going to end up being even more divisive than Hillary was.

I agree | Report to Admin

By Ugonna "and its easy to spell; J-O-B-S. Jobs" Wosu Jul 24th 2008 at 7:18 pm EDT

And you brought up a very important point about Obama's patriotism speech. He said he wouldn't tolerate anyone questioning McCain's patriotism or service in order to advance his campaign, but here we have McCain doing that to him. It is disappointing, since McCain said early on that he'd try to have a "clean" campaign.

Harsh | Report to Admin

By Joyce (no longer undecided) Jul 24th 2008 at 7:49 pm EDT

McCain's words were pretty harsh. They were prompted by McCain's belief that by refusing to give the Surge credit that was due it, Obama was pandering to his voters on the left.

McCain's lack of integrity | Report to Admin

By Brian Diego Jul 24th 2008 at 9:22 pm EDT

McCain's words are also an attack on logic. To Republicans, any Republican withdrawl=victory and any Democratic withdrawl=defeat. Their Nazi logic is that repeating a lie enough times will make it true.

McCain's plan on Iraq is the same as Bush's - don't do anything rash and leave it to the next President. Bush pulled that last part off, and here we are.

That said, McCain's misguided rhetoric is really a result of his lack of integrity in listening to what his advisers think will look strong. No different than Obama's lack of integrity on FISA. It's sad that political candidates feel like trial lawyers who think "any means" is justified by the ends. That the lives of our troops and our Constitutional rights are somehow inconvenient.

Yup. | Report to Admin

By Ian from Montgomery, AL Jul 24th 2008 at 10:50 pm EDT

And you know what? The stupid American people are gonna buy into it. I expect McCain to win this election. God help us. God help us.

Re: Yup. | Report to Admin

By Brian Diego Jul 25th 2008 at 12:47 am EDT

This kind of reasoning is the same logic that Obama's advisers used when they told him to join hands with Republicans on terror and the politics of fear. "Stupid American's" didn't buy that, and Obama's lead dropped from double digits into the low single digits.

So give Americans some credit, they know bs when they hear it.

Good Post on McCain's comment | Report to Admin

By David Berry Jul 25th 2008 at 8:28 am EDT

This was a very good comment on the tendency of American politicians to tear each other down during campaigns. While it is better that fighting for power violently as our distance ancestors used to do, it is not up to the higher moral and ethical standards we chose to live by today. I recommend you attempt to send your comment to a wider audience than is reachable on this blog, perhaps as a letter to the editor or blog outside the Obama site. In here we are mainly folks that are already in strong support of Obama partly because he chooses to take the high road more than any presidential candidate in memory.

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