I used to have some respect for John McCain, but I think over the course of this long and bitter road to the presidency, he has sold out his own conscience on too many issues and changed his opinions out of expediency too many times. I was, like many people, particularly disappointed at his pick of Sarah Palin for V.P. candidate. Though I can see the logic and expediency in choosing her, there is no denying that her appointment and the bitter partisanship that characterizes her "pit bull" attitude and role have pulled the presidential campain to new lows of lies, stupidity, and mean-spiritedness.
It is a shame because I think John McCain tried to run an honest and up-beat campaign for a while, but I suppose it just wasn't getting through. Part of that blame goes to the media in general, who have not covered this race in a sober, even, thoughtful manner. But he has also benefited tremendously from this, in the sense that he seems to be "off limits" in a lot of ways from intense media scrutiny. They just don't seem interested in examining his past apart from his history as a P.O.W. and journey to the Senate. If more Americans knew the truth about his past policies and true viewpoints, I think a lot of people would be very turned off.
The following email message was sent to me by the Obama campaign, since I am on their mailing list. I thought it was an eloquent and effective response to the nastiness on display at the convention the previous night.
Here it is:
Jay --
I wasn't planning on sending you something tonight. But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a response.
I saw John McCain's attack squad of negative, cynical politicians. They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for being a part of this campaign.
But worst of all -- and this deserves to be noted -- they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process.
You know that despite what John McCain and his attack squad say, everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when we come together. Will you make a donation of $25 or more right now to remind them?
Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack's experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed.
Let's clarify something for them right now.
Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.
And it's no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.
Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.
Meanwhile, we still haven't gotten a single idea during the entire Republican convention about the economy and how to lift a middle class so harmed by the Bush-McCain policies.
It's now clear that John McCain's campaign has decided that desperate lies and personal attacks -- on Barack Obama and on you -- are the only way they can earn a third term for the Bush policies that McCain has supported more than 90 percent of the time.
But you can send a crystal clear message.
Enough is enough. Make your voice heard loud and clear by making a $25 donation right now:
https://donate.barackobama.
Thank you for joining more than 2 million ordinary Americans who refuse to be silenced.
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
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