A Sort of Eulogy

I almost feel sorry for McCain. He gets swift-boated by Bush in the 2000 primaries. Bush played the racism card, re: robocall campaign: McCain has a negro love child. McCain, the obviously better candidate, gets railroaded by Bush and his Rove-ian smear team. Gore vs McCain 2000, that would have been a real choice.

Fast forward to 2008. McCain, obviously still bitter and stung by 2000, apparently decides that the road to the Whitehouse is not achieved by running a strong campaign, based on values, issues, and beliefs. Instead, he decides that the road to the Whitehouse is to employ the very people who defeated him in 2000. To use the very same smear tactics and negative campaigning that Bush used to defeat him. To go against everything he stands for, the very nature of his being, in order to have a shot at winning his most coveted prize, and finally rising above the shadow of his more successful father and grandfather, both Admirals in the U.S. Navy.

The end result is a McCain that long time supporters don't recognize. A McCain who has seemingly reversed himself on every position that he has ever stood for. A McCain that is willing to say anything and do anything, regardless of whether or not what he is saying or doing is true, or right for America, or is what he really believes.

Sadly, McCain '08 in no way resembles McCain '00. And as we come down to the final days before his ultimate demise, I'm tempted to feel sorry for him, because I used to really like him. But I just can't. He brought this upon himself. If he had stayed true to his values and beliefs, perhaps he wouldn't be in this position right now. But he didn't. Instead, he sold out to the far right wing nut jobs that he must have thought he needed in order to win the election. You reap what you sow.

You gambled and lost. America will never have a chance to see the real John McCain, except in video clips from days gone by. It's sad, but ultimately, America will be much better off.

Alas, as the last vestige of your campaign dwindles into the sunset, or as you say, half-heartedly, "you've got them right where you want them", hopefully, you will realize that you have no one to blame but yourself for your failure to win the Whitehouse.

Your desperation pick of Sarah Palin as your running mate will go down as perhaps the most un-McCain like decision in the history of John McCain. It is primarily this decision, coupled with many, many others over the last few months, that will have led to your ultimate demise.

Your campaign will serve as a text book example for future generations, of just how "not" to run a campaign. Because at the end of the day, at the end of the campaign, as your chances of winning shrink from possibly to no fucking way, the most telling symbol of your campaign will be the fact that when people watched you on TV in the final days, it was obvious that even You didn't believe in what you were trying to sell. And if you don't believe it then you can't possibly sell it.

I've had many harsh words for you over the past months, but only because you deserved them. Again, you reap what you sow. I wish you the best of luck in the future and please enjoy your retirement.