MCCAIN'S TARNISHED HONOR

He is an American hero. He has a history of putting country first. On balance, there is no doubt that he is a man of honor. But he has tarnished that honor, unnecessarily, in recent times.

The McCain campaign for President was so burdened with contradiction as to appear to be almost bipolar. To the degree that a campaign is a reflection of the candidate, it is little wonder that McCain could not win out over his much more inspirational and charismatic opponent. More importantly, it is the inside operation of his campaign as a manifestation of the man wherein some of his shining honor was diminished.

Consider:

-McCain took what was seen by many as an honorable stand early on in his general election campaign when he took the issue of Obama's decades long association with his pastor, Reverend Wright, off the table. McCain told his campaign people, his donors and his other supporters that he would not speak about the Reverend Wright, nor would he tolerate any discussion of his association with Obama under any circumstances. Note that many in the Republican party consider that a foolish and fateful decision since it just might have gained McCain significant electoral support. But the candidate said the subject was off limits, which was an honorable thing to do.

-At a town hall event in the midst of the general campaign, an elderly woman stated, when called upon, that she feared Obama because he was an Arab. McCain, in response, went out of his way to disabuse that woman, along with the entire audience, that Obama was not only not an Arab but he was a good American as well as a good man. He considered that the right and honorable thing to do and McCain did not hesitate to stand up for the integrity of his opponent.

-In another campaign appearance, a talk radio host who was charged with warming up the crowd as well as introducing McCain did so by repeatedly emphasizing Obama's middle name: Hussein, as in Sadam Hussein. The intent was to denigrate Obama and fire up the partisan crowd. McCain, who did not hear the reference at the time but was informed immediately after speaking, blasted and scolded the talk show host in no uncertain terms. To do less most certainly would have lacked honor.

-Then there was his criticism of a Republican TV ad put out in North Carolina early in the campaign that emphasized the Reverend Wright-Obama connection. McCain strongly requested the ad be taken down and when that did not immediately happened he called the sponsors "out of touch". Once again, McCain took what he saw as the moral high ground.

-Oh yes, and of course there is the honorable and gracious election night concession speech that has been widely praised by everyone imaginable.

So, given how powerfully and instantly he rushed to the defense of his opponent against what he considered wholly unfair and dishonorable attacks, where did he tarnish his high reputation as an honorable man?

Examine the entire scenario involving his Vice Presidential choice Sarah Palin:

-McCain turns the Alaska Governor into the surprise selection of the campaign season. He raises her national profile from nowhere to widely recognized and discussed. He introduces Palin and her family with pride and touts her maverick credentials in a fashion that he believes similar to his own.

-Cynics point out that he brought her in to shore up his draw among hard right conservatives who do not much like or support McCain. She does exactly that as her candidacy so excites that segment of the Republican base as to bring unknown numbers of those voters back into the fold. These were people who were set to sit out the election. Instead, they voted for Palin and thus for McCain as well. Was this politically astute? No doubt. Was it an honorable thing to do? Using someone to advance your cause might be wise but it leaves honor out of the equation.

-The McCain campaign than launches Palin onto the post-convention nationwide stage by putting her in front of an aggressive, pro-Obama, well established big biased media. Both Charlie Gibson and shortly thereafter Katie Couric make every possible attempt to embarrass and entrap Palin, a neophyte on the national political scene. McCain's people chose to put her there first rather than in front of their talk radio allies where she could have waded into the water instead of being tossed off the bridge. Not the smart or honorable thing to do.

-Even worse, after deciding to throw Palin to the wolves on the front end, they did a lousy job preparing her for the nasty agenda driven questioning she would face. Pro Obama big biased media was out to embarrass her and undercut her candidacy, and through that effort, diminish the credibility of McCain himself. But McCain and his team charged forward with the plan and paid the price via the high profile humiliation of Palin, who deserved much better from her McCain handlers. None of this is rocket science and none of it is honorable.

-But as the campaign went forward, what became embarrassingly evident was that the popularity of Palin among regular Americans far exceeded the popularity of McCain. Her crowds were consistently larger than his. Her debate drew move viewers than any of his. His largest crowds were drawn in co-appearances with Palin. The bottom line, as the article that follows attests, Palin was the best thing that happened to the McCain campaign.

-And what was the outcome beginning the day after McCain's significant and humiliating loss to Obama? His campaign toadies began anonymously spreading rumors and lies about Palin's intellect and behavior to the press. They made an all out attempt to smear her and thereby blame her for the McCain campaign failure. It came across as spiteful, fully unjustified, dishonest and totally lacking honor.

-Worst of all, here we are eight days after the election and John Sidney McCain, an honorable man, has not spoken out to publicly rebuke those within his campaign who made those cowardly anonymous anti-Palin remarks. If an honorable candidate will immediately and without hesitation rush to the defense of his opponent at any and every occasion where he perceives it as necessary, where is the man at the top of the ticket when his cynically hand picked running mate is being secretly attacked and trashed by his own minions?

New flash for John McCain: when you do not defend Sarah Palin, you seriously degrade your reputation as a man of honor. By not doing what it is your duty to do in this matter, you lose the respect of millions of Americans.

You may think you understand the best thing to do but here is what you will discover: in this matter, you shall reap what you sow. You could still fix this but until you do, in the eyes of millions, you are no longer as honorable as you once were. What a shame.


The Palin Factor
What the polls say about Sarah.
By BLAKE DVORAK

In the closing days of the election, it was an article of faith among the pundits that Gov. Sarah Palin had become a drag on the Republican ticket. Whether because of the "Troopergate" investigation or her prime time network interviews, Mrs. Palin's popularity with the public declined considerably. Once hailed as an inspired pick, Sen. John McCain's choice of the unknown Alaskan governor was generally viewed as a missed opportunity.

So now that we have piles of exit polling data to sift through, what can we say about Mrs. Palin's effect on the election?

Asked if she was "a factor" in their vote, 60% said yes, while 33% said no. Yet of those who said Mrs. Palin was a factor, 56% voted for Mr. McCain, while 43% voted for Mr. Obama. Even among independent voters (a group Mr. McCain lost by eight points) she was a net vote-getter for the Republican ticket among those independents who said Mrs. Palin was a factor.

Mrs. Palin, however, didn't come through with one big group of voters -- those who supported Sen. Hillary Clinton in the primaries. In the immediate aftermath of Mrs. Clinton's defeat, polls suggested that a good portion of these voters were ready to support the Republican ticket. It must have seemed too tantalizing a prospect for the McCain campaign to pass up by choosing a man as a running mate. Yet, in the end, Mrs. Palin didn't seal the deal with Hillary voters, who went for Mr. Obama 83% to 16%.

On other important voting blocs, such as white women, gun owners and Evangelicals, the McCain-Palin ticket performed about the same as the Bush-Cheney team in 2004.

The conclusion? Mrs. Palin failed to win the election for Mr. McCain, but that's setting the bar awfully high. Given the headwinds, Mr. McCain perhaps was lucky to do as well as he did -- and his showing might well have been worse without Mrs. Palin on the ticket.

Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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