An animal is most dangerous when it is wounded and cornered. The McCain/Palin campaign is severely wounded and it realizes that its lifeless message of no real substance, no vision or ideas, is not registering with Americans. While it may be reeling, confused and thrashing around, it is now at its most dangerous point as it begins resorting to every dirty trick and deceitful strategy still available in the GOP bag of dirt, mud and slime. What a way to try to win--by cashing in your integrity and principles.
John McCain once was admired and repected by many Americans and his fellow colleagues in Congress. A good many of those who admired him have now been completely turned off by his negative actions during this campaign. Even Colin Powell, a longtime personal friend of McCain, who recently endorsed Obama, said, "they're trying to connect Obama to some kind of terrorist feelings, and I think that's inappropriate. Now I understand what politics is all about--I know how you can go after one another. And that's good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign, and they trouble me."
As the American people struggle and try to cope with massive national economic disaster, the party of Lincoln, now led by a team of political hacks and misfits, is on its way to self-implosion. It has completely lost touch with the American people, has no answers for the massive problems we are facing, and no longer seems to be able to judge between right and wrong. It gives every sign that it has lost its moral compass in the attempt to hold onto power no matter how it must do it. So it appeals to the dark side of America as it slides into political darkness and oblivion. The party of Lincoln is no more--R.I.P. GOP.
McCain, the self-proclaimed hero of the Vietnam War, and Palin, said to be the least qualified candidate for the Vice-Presidency in the history of our nation (even by any number of old school true GOP conservatives) have come to the point that their only hope to somehow win is to go totally negative. Their pitiful attempts to talk about the real problems that America faces have fallen on deaf ears. The American people have listened, now for months and months, and just won't buy it. So now McCain and Palin must use, among other smear tactics, the Rovian strategy of guilt by association--the same tactic that Bush Sr. used in typing Michael Dukakis to Willie Horton.
The Obama campaign, trying to conduct a campaign of honor and dignity, has largely been counter-punching when attacked by McCain. And they are right by refusing to let themselves descend to the gutter levels of McCain/Palin. But they must be really careful not to let this situation get out of hand if McCain succeeds in not only energizing that minority of Americans who reside on its dark side, but that this sinister message somehow infects a larger part of this society. We must remember, it has worked before and we must not let it happen again.
McCain and Palin both have numerous skeletons in their political closets. McCain: close associations with Charles Keating of the famous "Keating Five" financial scandal of the late 1980's, his shameless pandering to get the support of the radical-minded televangelist John Hagee, his personal history of violent outbursts against fellow senators. Palin has the Alaska Troopergate scandal currently in process in which she has been charged with violations of ethical behavior. She and husband, Todd Palin, have documented ties to the AIP (Alaska Independence Party) whose agenda has advocated secession from the United States. Then there is Palin's weird church event in which an African "man of the cloth" performed a ritual of cleansing her from the curse of witches.
I would not advise the Obama campaign to use these real weapons at hand to counteract the dying McCain campaign's filthy tactics at this point, but if McCain and Palin and the GOP go too far and accelerate the smear tactics to the highest degree, then I would advise them to stop counter-punching and bring the hammer down, exposing both of these desperate, panic-stricken candidates for what they are.
Why? Just because there is too much at stake as America struggles with monumental problems not seen for many decades and needs rational, innovative, visionary leadership. There is no room for the politics of lies, deceit, fear and dissension when our nation is bleeding and trying to restore financial stability in the lives of its people. We must have answers, plausible solutions. We cannot tolerate the politics of hate at a time when we must repair the grievous wounds that this nation has suffered.
There is very little time left before America must make a clear choice. We can stay on the current disastrous course and let this madness continue or we can finally say, "enough is enough." As the time to vote approaches, each of us must ask ourselves what future we envision for America. And, when we step into that voting booth, the answer must be there.
Michael Payne
