Poor John McCain: Forced against his honor to run an ugly campaign - Glenn Greenwald, Salon

[steve2470]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/10/17/mccain/

Time's Ana Marie Cox, in a Bloggingheads discussion with Ann Althouse, does an excellent job of expressing what is still, amazingly enough, the prevailing media view of John McCain: namely, that this deeply honorable and principled man is vehemently opposed to running an ugly, dirty campaign against Barack Obama, and that is happening despite McCain's deep opposition to such campaigns and the way it profoundly violates his code of honor. Cox, who is traveling with the McCain campaign (yet again), first shared a few memories and sentiments about her experiences with the candidate over the years:

When I got on the plane the other day, McCain said hi to me. . . .

When he had that conflict with that crowd in Minneapolis, or Lakeview, that really energized him. Going on offense against his own voters and supporters in this weird way made him more energetic. . . .

Some of the happiest times I had with John McCain are when everyone counted him out.

When asked by Althouse (who, fairness compels me to acknowledge, was surprisingly reasonable here) about the "Obama-is-a-Terrorist" tactics the McCain campaign has been using and whether some of those tactics attempt to stoke nationalistic or racist sentiments, Cox repeatedly contended that such tactics are deeply anathema to the noble spirit and elevated soul of John McCain:

more at link above

[DJ13]

1. So he's either a puppet not in charge of his own campaign or

......complicit in the dirty way his own campaign is being run?

It has to be either or, there is no third choice.

[Overseas]

2. There are tons of corporate media reporters who feel that way.

Or they need to pretend that's the case in order to do what their Republican network owners want them to do-- support the McHate campaign.

Too bad they didn't have the principles (or financial security to risk losing their jobs) to go after those people they think have pushed their once-honorable grouch over to the dark side and expose their disgusting tactics at every turn.

Instead they just pretend the grotesque stuff isn't as bad as it is and that Obama's negative ads (which attack POLICIES not McHate's character, by the way) are the same as McHate's team saying their opponent pals around with terrorists.

I wish the Annenberg family would ask that their funding of Republican candidates be returned to them in light of the ugly campaigning Republicans have been doing.

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. well, i mean, he does want to win

it's not like he's running for employee of the month of walmart. He's doing what he thinks will help him win. I don't like the tactics, but it's not like you or I or Obama didn't expect them.

[BlueIdaho]

4. Bullshit - its called the McCain campaign for a reason.

I will not feel sorry for this sack of shit. He had the same decisions to make about running his campaign that Barack Obama had. Its ultimately his fault if his campaign is in the sewer. I hope this asshole is buried with this legacy. No honor - no courage - no dignity.