tell me why to vote for you, john
by Ari Holtz
Published: August 11, 2008
Over the last two weeks, John McCain has led a relentless guerrilla campaign against Barack Obama. He’s ridiculed Obama for being all rhetoric and no substance, associating him with empty vessels of American trash culture Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. McCain has mocked Obama’s depth by waving around a tire gauge and his manhood by kissing up to bikers in Sturgis. Obama is fluff, McCain has been saying; he’s all hat, no cattle.
Oh really, Senator? And what, exactly, are you?
How are you justifying your readiness to lead by spending energy engaged in a YouTube flame war with a sex tape star? In what way does handing out Obama tire gauges to the press show you to have the ability to run our nation in a time of many crises? How does offering your wife up for a softcore-porn fashion show illustrate how presidential you are?
By persistently attacking Obama, McCain has misrepresented Obama’s energy plan. He’s insulted Europe. And, in a move that only Lee Atwater and Karl Rove would admire, he’s tried to make the fact that Obama is wildly popular and stirs the passions of his supporters into a liability. Yes, Sen. McCain, it’d be far better to have a stale, tired president who engenders fatigue and apathy in those he speaks to. These tactics, while viciously tearing down Obama, do little to lift up McCain.
McCain’s behavior also does not lift up America. He is dragging down the election discussion and dragging down the public. Instead of discussing our two wars, our job losses, our housing disaster and our reliance on Saudi oil, we are talking about a hotel heiress. What does this say about the way that McCain would govern as leader of the free world?
We’ve seen the ridiculing ads attacking Obama. But, why are we supposed to vote for John McCain?
Yes, he was a hero in Vietnam. His service to the country and patriotism are admirable. But, why McCain for president? Why now?
There seems to be no answer for this other than that Barack Obama is so popular that something must be wrong with him and that he agrees with NASCAR and the Bush administration on tire inflation.
Why you, Senator? Why you?
Perhaps harsh negativity, the drawing-and-quartering of your opponent, is an effective way to raise your poll numbers and perhaps even win an election. But what then? When you have no identity, no platform and no purpose beyond destroying your political opponents, all you are about is the accumulation of power.
Is that what America needs right now?
McCain, if he truly wants to be elected and parlay a victory into a great, or even a good, presidency, needs to give Americans a positive reason to vote for him. He needs to present us with an optimistic and realistic vision for our nation, a justification for his candidacy and presidency. America needs a campaign that amounts to more than, “Don’t vote for the other guy.”
John McCain used to stand for something, or at least he purported to. In 2000, many were drawn to his presidential campaign for its emphasis on honesty, independence and the value of dedicating your life to a cause larger than yourself. These were positive values that gave people a reason to vote for the candidate, as opposed to simply against his opponents. Positive vision and an honorable campaign led McCain from obscurity to a New Hampshire primary win and a significant challenge to anointed-son George W. Bush.
McCain needs to return to this version of his former self. If not, if he exists only in the murky land of the trivial attack, negative politics and a scorched-earth campaign. He will become what he so violently suggests he isn’t - the image of a third Bush term.
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August 11th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Love it! You have hit the nail on the head!
August 11th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Well put, Dr. Holtz. Sadly, one must remember that our current President won re-election based not on his awful first term, but rather on his claim that the Democratic nominee was “un-fit to serve as President.”
August 12th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Bologna! While McCain does focus too much on Barack, they are opponents, its kind of part of the process to tell why you shouldn’t vote for the other guy. Second, it is the media and Ms. Hilton who have made the McCain ad all about her (Tt actually happens to be about Barack’s inexperience and a commentary on popular culture trying to trump common sense.) She is just one of a couple of sidenotes. Third, and most important, why McCain? Because even though I don’t love everything about the guy he actually has a plan and does discuss our “two wars, our job losses, our housing disaster and our reliance on Saudi oil.” In fact, he called the Georgia disaster when they were refused admittance to NATO. Talk about forsight! Just what we need in our next leader.