This One Will Hurt McCain

From McClatchy:

Political analysts said [Colin] Powell's endorsement, coupled with a blistering critique of the campaign of Republican Sen. John McCain, especially of the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, was a serious blow to McCain's candidacy, particularly in swing states with large numbers of undecided voters.

One can only hope.

I once had some respect for McCain. Although he was to the right side of the political spectrum, I thought he was a decent politician who looked at the issues and made a reasoned judgment on the issues. I thought he very much spoke truth to power when he stated that the right-wing televangelists, such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, were "agents of intolerance." I thought he showed independence when he differed with George Bush on Bush's tax cuts. I thought he showed real capacity to reach across the aisle on immigration. When he spoke out against the use of torture, I thought that was powerful.

Sadly, McCain has thrown away every principled stand he ever took. He not only embraced the preachers of the gospel of hate, he actively sought their support. He signed off on the use of waterboarding, a method of torture that has been understood to be such for over 500 years. He caved on Bush's tax cuts and he adopted "the brown people are coming to take your jobs" view of immigration.

The very worst, in my view, has been McCain's flip-flop on smear campaigning. He has changed from "we will not do that" to using every smear he can. This is especially shocking given that McCain was on the receiving end of that type of campaign eight years ago, between the "McCain fathered a black baby" and the "McCain engaged in homosexual conduct in the Hanoi Hilton" smears that were used by the Bush campaign.

McCain has revealed himself to be as utterly amoral and without scruples as George W. Bush. There have been few clearer indications of that than his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, a pick that was naked pandering at its worst.

McCain has let his ambition blind him to what is honorable. In the space of a few months, McCain has shown himself to be among the worst forms of despicable and dishonorable political hacks of a major party who has sought national office in the last two generations. He has adopted plans and then thrown them away in seconds when they did not work, such as his aborted attempt to suspend his campaign so that he could fuck up the financial bailout bill.

McCain truly is the Gollum of politics, for he has let his lust for power corrupt his very soul.