McCain's 'Respectful Campaign'

"Negative ads move numbers, they may, but do we have to go to the lowest common denominator? I don't think so." -Sen. John McCain, speaking to Fox News on April 24, 2008.

On numerous occasions, Senator John McCain has pledged that he would run a "respectful campaign" against his Democratic opponent. Still scared by the morally reprehensible tactics George W. Bush used against him back in his 2000 bid for the Republican nomination, McCain seemed to know of what he spoke. In 2004, for instance, he decried the "Swift Boat" ads used against his longtime friend Democrat John Kerry as "dishonest and dishonorable." In short, McCain wasn't going to play like that. Not only was it a matter of personal ethics, but, as he assured us, "Americans want a respectful campaign."

Well, that was then, and this is now. Here's a handy YouTube call and response chronicling the fall from all that is "respectful."



McCain has decided the way to win is to go negative. In the absence of compelling policy proposals (more offshore drilling is not exactly a long-term plan), his strategy to attain the highest office in the land now consists of firing a banal series of schoolyard taunts at his rival. McCain's negative ads assure us Obama would make a bad president because he's too popular. He'd ruin the country because news reporters like him. Obama himself is responsible for high gas prices, McCain claims, even though McCain himself opposed offshore drilling until it became a political liability. (Obama did too, though to a lesser degree). And, horror of horrors, Obama has too much hope.

But, hey, maybe it'll work. Maybe declaring that your opponent's career ambition is tantamount to treason is just the kind of language that gets the country riled up. To my ears, however, it sure rings of "the lowest common denominator." And, no, I'm not the only one:

From The Financial Times:

The US presidential election has taken a nasty turn and the fault is all on one side. John McCain, the Republican candidate, has recently launched a series of campaign advertisements that attack Barack Obama's character and misrepresent the Democrat's position to an extreme degree, even by the standards of presidential elections. For intelligent independents who had believed that Mr. McCain was a cut above all that, it is a sadly disillusioning thing to see.

The International Herald Tribune:

Well, that certainly didn't take long. On July 3, news reports said Senator John McCain, worried that he might lose the election before it truly started, opened his doors to disciples of Karl Rove from the 2004 campaign and the Bush White House. Less than a month later, the results are on full display. The candidate who started talking about high-minded, civil debate has wholeheartedly adopted Rove's low-minded and uncivil playbook.

Te Seattle Post Intelligencer:

McCain's presidential campaign is evolving into nonstop attacks on Sen. Barack Obama, salted with distortion and innuendo. After years as a media darling, the candidate has taken to complaining about his opponent's press coverage.

What happened?

An infusion of political talent from the Bush operation: Karl Rove-trained operatives have hijacked the "Straight Talk Express" and are driving it into the mud.

The Wichita Eagle

From the people who gave us the lowest-rated president in the history of opinion polling, now comes John McCain the Angry, replacing John McCain the Reasonable.