Country First

Senator McCain, as recently as 3 weeks ago, was chiming in about how the candidates need to put country first. As such, he reported, he was going to suspend his campaign to go to Washington and fix the economic crisis and he wasn't going to leave until there was a deal in place. That was leadership, he said. That was putting the country first.

Of course, as most people know, he didn't suspend his campaign. He continued to air commercials. He met with donors. He lied to David Letterman. (all three above sources from Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish). And of course, he did not keep said "suspension" in place until there was a deal. No, instead, he attended the debate he thought he could posture into postponement.

Senator McCain apparently has decided to stop showing how he would put his country first, and instead decided to put Obama in the crosshairs. Yesterday, the well-vetted, best-possible-choice for vice president in the entire Republican party (From BoingBoing)was out attacking Barack Obama with a well debunked smear. She has also resurrected the spectre of Reverend Wright, (Minneapolis Star Tribune article) apparently not recognizing that this tactic was denounced by Senator McCain (LA Times) just a few months ago. Of course, at that time, Senator McCain was not certain that Senator Obama would be his opponent in the election, so perhaps what is acceptable has changed with the circumstances.

Part of Senator McCain's problem is that he's representing a damaged brand. Fair or not, his party is taking the brunt of the blame for the financial crisis. He's also saddled with being in near lockstep with an historically unpopular incumbent. But it goes beyond that. The first problem is his schizophrenic campaign. First it was experience, then it was change, then it was country first, then it was the "original maverick," and now it's Obama - not fit to lead. It is difficult for people to get behind a leader who can't follow one plan.

This follows Senator McCain's reckless behavior of late. From "We're all Georgians now" to his selection of Sarah Palin to his "suspension" of his campaign, what we see is a man who shoots from the hip without thinking about what to do next, and that's how we damaged our international reputation and got ourselves mired in two wars in the first place.

That's not going to stop the attacks, though. Senator McCain today attacked Senator Obama, (from Time) as well, stating "For a guy who's already written two memoirs, he's not exactly an open book. It's as if somehow the usual rules don't apply, and where other candidates have to explain themselves and their records, Senator Obama seems to think he is above all that." As Andrew Sullivan points out - Senator McCain and Governor Palin are not open books either (also here, from MSN.com), despite their insistence that their opponents be (see the Time article above and this article from The New Republic).

Even Senator McCain's and Governor Palin's attacks don't necessarily make sense, as so many of the topics share common ground with their own foibles. Senator McCain, who has attacked Senator Obama regarding regulation in the current financial crisis (H/T The Gun Toting Liberal - I still read ya daily), was clearly involved as a member of the Keating Five (From Wikidpedia) where he pushed to avoid regulation while an investor and donor fleeced the S&L out of billions of dollars. Sarah Palin has her own wingnut minister (again from Andrew Sullivan - the man knows where to find his stuff) and is on record stating that Iraq is a task from God (From the Moderate Voice). McCain staffer Rick Davis has been on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's retainer list (From Obsidian Wings) for 2 years, doing virtually nothing for the money, this is much more well documented than anything linking Obama to Fannie and Freddie in a nefarious manner. The inability to recognize (or unwillingness to care about) how the attacks reflect problems of his campaign members' past underscores his rash nature and reflects on his ability to lead in a calm, rational manner.

Senator Obama has his problems, as have been shown during his campaign against Senator Clinton and as will be shown in the next 4 weeks. But of the two major candidates, he's the one who has kept a level head during the past several weeks, and he is the one who definitely looks the better man. If I vote for a major candidate (and not third-party), it will not be for Senator McCain.