| Vol. 3 No. 16 August 7, 2008 |
| Election seasons are always fascinating because they bring out the best and the worst in human behavior. Presidential campaigns, in particular, are grinding, gruesome affairs in which the best person isn’t always the last one left standing. Whether it’s the arrogance of Gary Hart in 1988 who dared reporters to find evidence of his romantic dalliances — and they did — or the corporate packaging of George W. Bush in 2000, which insulated him from any kind of scrutiny, the candidates’ character is revealed to us if we are looking closely enough. There has been a lot coming out about John McCain’s character these days. McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee for President who has been trying to pound Barack Obama, the Democratic presumptive nominee, for the past two weeks or so. Back in July, Barack Obama made a highly publicized trip to Iraq, the Middle East and Europe. Obama was almost given a hero’s welcome in many parts of Europe that he went to. In Berlin, 200,000 people turned out to hear him speak. That’s like the whole city of Madison — every man, woman and child — turning out in one place to hear someone speak. It wasn’t surprising given Obama’s anti-Iraq War stance and the heavy public opinion against the war all over Europe. So Obama is getting all of this press and John McCain doesn’t like it one bit. He whines and complains about the slanted media coverage — never mind the fact that McCain has had plenty of media exposure over the years. And wouldn’t you think that Obama attracting 200,000 people to a speech is newsworthy? It was Obama’s first trip to these areas since he became a serious presidential contender. Isn’t it newsworthy to see how he would handle this thing? Isn’t it newsworthy to see how the rest of the world is reacting to an African American man who may be elected President in a country that had a serious case of slavery and segregation? But here sits McCain getting all pouty. He’s upset that Obama is getting all of this press coverage. So what foes McCain do? He goes and sits in a German restaurant in Ohio somewhere as some type of protest or something. Apparently, he was trying to ridicule Obama’s trip. But in my view, McCain came off as a pouty little brat who pushes the dish off the table to get attention. It was all too evident that John McCain was jealous of the attention that Obama was receiving. It was so childish of McCain to do. I can’t believe his handlers allowed him to do it. And then we see the ad that the McCain floated in several media markets. You’ve seen them, the ones that have Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton held up and compare Obama to them as a media celebrity. Again they included a shot of Barack in Berlin as the crowd shouted Obama, Obama. I guess the point is that McCain was trying to say that Obama was all image and no substance. Those ads were just downright petty and vicious. Again, it seemed as if McCain was being spiteful and jealous of Obama. And I feel that McCain was belittling you and I as well. I have turned out for some of Obama’s rallies that have attracted thousands of people. Well can’t thinking people turn out and listen to someone with a new voice and find out for themselves whether that candidate is for real or not? I didn’t hear McCain say that John Kerry was a celebrity when he appeared on W. Washington Ave and spoke to a crowd in excess of 60,000 people. The whole thing is just downright petty and vicious and has nothing to do with the issues we are facing today. And what I found most bothersome about those commercials was the use of two blond female celebrities. The Republicans just can’t help themselves in trying to race bait the American people. Was it just coincidence that the two celebrities were blond women? Why not put Denzel Washington out there or maybe Bruce Willis or even Oprah Winfrey? The reason is that those celebrities wouldn’t tie into the ancient fears that some White men have about Black men and White women. McCain was shamelessly appealing to the brute sensibilities of some of the electorate, particularly in the South where the Obama candidacy might be competitive in traditionally Democratic states. And then McCain had the audacity of claiming Obama was playing the race card. Well isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black. This election is showing us the kind of character John McCain really has and it isn’t pretty. |
| Reflections/Jonathan Gramling The jealousy of McCain |
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