The period between the national party conventions and the election does not bring out the best in people or in campaign organizations. There is too much at stake, and the urge to push a little harder is irresistible. I have long regarded Richard Cohen as a reasonable voice from the moderate left, but I see today that he has accused John McCain of "personal treason," whatever that is. The accusation produces two pieces of evidence: the "lipstick on a pig" charge, and the "teaching sex to kindergarten pupils" spot. I think he is right about the pig thing. Obama didn't call Palin a pig, he used a perfectly respectable metaphor to criticize McCain's policy. The kindergarten thing, despite how it's being treated in the media, wasn't a lie. Byron York at the National Review has actually read the legislation. But even if both charges were bald faced lies, does this deserve the word treason? Cohen has gone a bit off the rails.
The truth of the matter is that both sides are playing fast and loose with the truth. Did McCain really say that he wanted the Iraq war to last one hundred years, as Obama charged? Of course not. I saw an ad yesterday in which McCain was criticized for saying that the Social Security System is a disgrace. What he in fact said is that the system for funding it is a disgrace, which is a debatable but reasonable claim. The ad was a lie. Maybe we should be ashamed of seeing so many distortions peddled by both sides, but that might be the same thing as being ashamed of politics. Clearly the system doesn't reward a scrupulous attention to the truth.
Just right now, the Democrats have decided that half of America is despicable. I am not sure the Republicans are there yet. I don't see the kind of things that Democrats say about small town America being said by Republicans about city slickers. But maybe my bias is blinding me.
For the moment, let me offer some respect to both sides. I begin with Senator Clinton. For all the baggage that the Clintons carry, she did the hard work of politics. Unlike Jesse Jackson, for example, she found a state and won a Senate seat. She built a campaign organization that won almost half the votes cast in the Democratic primary season. Like her or not, that is worth some respect.
Barack Obama began his run with a smaller resume than one expects in a presidential candidate, and it is certain that half the Democratic Party fell in love with him before they knew anything about him. That is partly due to the Clinton baggage mentioned above. But in the very short time allotted he managed to build his own campaign organization and take the nomination. That is all the system requires. Maybe he will be our next President, and maybe not, but he has earned his place in our political history. He has also shown, beyond a reasonable doubt, that anyone's son has a shot at the White House. He deserves a large measure of national respect for that.
And then there is John McCain. Unlike Senators Clinton and Obama, he did not have to earn any special respect from his countrymen by running for the Presidency. He earned enough for any man by his service to his country. But he had earned that respect a second time by his campaign. McCain has clearly wanted to be President for a long time. A year ago his chances looked bleak. But he reorganized his campaign, and came roaring back to win the nomination. I have plenty of gripes with McCain. I still think his campaign finance legislation was a monumental failure. There were good reasons for a lot of Republicans to question their confidence in him. But he won over the most difficult block of support by his choice of running mates. That kind of judgment is what we need in a President.
Hillary Clinton may yet be back. She has earned a place in future contests. But we are now down to two choices. Both Obama and McCain have demonstrated a lot of political genius, and a magnificent force of will. Both have earned their shot at the prize. There is no reason to be contemptuous of either of them, or of either rough half of Americans who will no doubt line up on either side. If we don't always like the way they are behaving, we shouldn't let them off easy. But we should also remember that performers respond to the demands of their audiences. The American electoral system is giving us all that we could reasonably demand of it: the campaign we deserve.
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