Though there’s much that I admire about John McCain the man, I’ve felt for a long time that his best qualities were all personal, and that (from a conservative point of view, anyway) there was little to say for him as a politician. Unfortunately, his conduct of this campaign only served to reinforce and underscore that judgment—the way money was spent, the persistent division in his campaign (he seemed almost constitutionally unable to operate with a single campaign manager), his poor personnel judgment (Rick Davis should never run another political operation at any level), his inability to put together a consistent, coherent message (much less to stay on message), and the awful decision-making (most notably the mind-boggling decision to pull out of Michigan) all indicate that whatever concerns anyone might have about Barack Obama’s ability to run the Executive Branch, John McCain wouldn’t have done much better.Unfortunately, the fact that he’s now allowing, and perhaps tacitly encouraging, his campaign staff to trash Sarah Palin further reinforces this. As Jennifer Rubin put it,
All of this, I must admit, also reflects on the non-leadership qualities of the former presidential nominee. John McCain was never known as one to resolve conflicts or knock heads. That’s how he wound up bankrupting his own campaign in the primary and then devolving into bitter infighting in the general election. Watching his team engage in vicious, public fighting suggests that perhaps he was never the ideal person for a chief executive role. After all, if the campaign was this bad, imagine what the White House would have been like.
As much as it pains me to say it, though, Rubin doesn’t go far enough. This doesn’t only reflect on Sen. McCain’s leadership qualities—it reflects on his honor. What Nicole Wallace and Steve Schmidt are doing, and what others are doing in propagating lies about Gov. Palin, is dishonorable; that Sen. McCain is allowing this to happen without challenging it is even more dishonorable. He owes it to his running mate to do better.
At which point, I have to ask, what is it that you admire about McCain? There just doesn’t seem to be much that is admirable about him, to me at least. He’s a maverick – sort of; clearly as capable of hypocrisy when it benefits him as the average person. He’s got a nasty streak that comes out when he’s peeved and doesn’t shy from the low-blows that typify our national politics. I dunno. He just doesn’t stand out as that great a guy. A very regular guy, and when put under a lot of pressure, he breaks down, like most people would…
Less than there was before this campaign, certainly.
At which point, I have to ask, what is it that you admire about McCain?
You’re kidding, right? How about that he is a proven leader in a time of crises. Sure, that might be his only redeeming quality as a politician, but man, you’ve got to admire his fortitude and utter courage.
But then that wasn’t the main thrust of this post, of which I agree entirely.
dbrletich
No, he’s not kidding. You have, however, hit a good part of the answer to his question. I wouldn’t call it “his only redeeming quality as a politician,” either, because his personal integrity has remained remarkably strong through almost three decades in D.C., and that’s definitely a redeeming quality in any politician (and all too rare of one, alas).
No, I’m not kidding. There isn’t a lot that I admire about McCain. Now, given, I’m deeply cynical about national politics, so that’s a mark against any of those jokers in DC, but for all I hear of how amazing McCain is, I don’t hear that many *reasons* to agree.
I might be willing to by that he’s above-average for a national politician. That’s possible – but I’m not convinced.
Amazing? I don’t know too many people who would describe John McCain that way. Most folks, I think, are pretty conflicted about him, actually. He has some very strong positive qualities, and some equally strong negative qualities, and no real cohering worldview; he’s a man of deep faith which affects his politics on an issue-by-issue basis, but doesn’t serve to tie things together.