There are Democrats, Independents, and even some Republicans out there who perceive and regret that John McCain is no longer the John McCain they once loved. I’ve seen this contention supported and debunked by various pundits over the past month or so. I mostly agree with the “support” viewpoint. Back before the 2004 election, McCain really was his own man, ready to sass the GOP leadership at will when it seemed right for the nation. Even in early 2006, McCain was able to make a keynote address at an ACORN conference on immigration reform. But he decided he wanted to run for President in 2008, and increasingly made his amends with the Republican Party, including the religious conservative faction (which he previously had little use for).
And so, in the current presidential campaign, we’ve pretty much received standard GOP policy from McCain, with an occasional touch of light criticism in an attempt to maintain his previous “maverick” reputation. These criticisms have been rather lame. McCain has bought into tax cuts that he once criticized, into free market health policies that he knows won’t be enough, into energy policies that he once dismissed as retrogressive, etc. He’s talked a lot about bravery and patriotism, but has once more witnessed that you need to sell your soul to the big money interests in order to run for President. And as to Sarah Palin – that was an extreme sell-out by McCain to the GOP conservatives in an attempt to disguise himself a change agent.
There are those who say that Barack Obama is innocent of this, that his reliance on internet-based fundraising freed him from selling out to the unions, trial lawyers and other traditional Democratic sources of funding. I disagree; I think that Obama is just as bad as McCain, if not worse, so far as integrity goes. But that’s not the point I want to make here. Instead, I want to ponder a future scenario for the selection of a President, one suggested by both Senator Obama’s internet-based campaign and Senator McCain’s “true-maverick” days.
I myself think it would be a good thing for America to elect a third-party President, someone independent of the GOP and the Democratic Parties. That would be the only way to achieve true bi-partisan government, as both Obama and McCain once promised (and both have long since abandoned in the heat of the political fight). Unfortunately, third party candidates have never gotten much traction. Ross Perot got some people interested in 1996, but he isn’t a politician at heart. We still need a skilled politician to be President; but a skilled politician not wedded to GOP or Democratic interests.
I could see someone like McCain – the old McCain – announcing his intent to run, but at the same time breaking from the party that got him or her as far as they came. Next, they set up an Internet fundraising and organizing base just like Obama did in 2006 and 2007. I believe that Obama’s highly successful use of the Internet in casting himself as a serious Presidential candidate could be adopted outside of a political party context. With enough money, I could see a third-party candidate setting up a strong “ground organization” throughout the nation, even without the usual support of local mayors and aldermen and party bosses.
But certain things would have to come together; this hypothetical candidate would need to have Obama’s level of charisma, McCain’s reputation as an independent (the old McCain, that is), McCain’s experience in the political arena, and Obama’s sophistication in fundraising and organizing. And one more thing, perhaps the key thing: the campaign would need a sugar-daddy, someone (or some group) who would put some real money up front to get the whole thing rolling. Once they got an organization going with a strong web site, the campaign could probably sustain itself on small donations, as per the Obama scenario. But to get off the ground and be taken seriously by the public, it would take a lot of up-front money that only someone like Perot or Bloomberg could provide.
Well, I hope that someday the stars will all be in the right place for something like this. If nothing else, the narratives of the 2008 presidential campaign provide strong suggestions on how it could happen. I hope that I live to see it!
Jim,
My initial reaction to your “no longer the same man he used to be” comment is that no politician ends up being the person he/she was at first–or so it seems. Well, perhaps I can think of one or two on some lower levels of gov’t. Yet I wonder about them. They all end up seeming to become changed (or perhaps corrupted) just because they must change (or be corrupted) to get elected.
I do think that McCain did not give enough consideration or respect (for that matter) to Obama’s ability to organize a campaign on a grass roots level. Perhaps if Obama gets in and brings that grass roots organization ability to his approach to governing, we will see a better approach to governing–or will it just be another style of governing with its own flaws? Most likely the latter would be the case.
I also must say that when I think of the millions of dollars spent on advertising for both candidates (and the money spent for candidates for all the lower offices too), it’a a crying shame. What better uses could that money be used for in this world? Lots of them–wiping out hunger for one–or making a stab at it. We really should get a grip on ourselves as a nation when it comes to where we think our money should be spent.
Then too, it seems that both the Republican and Democratic candidates running for offices throughout our land must have big bucks to even think in terms of getting into an office. The “poor” person is simply not part of the picture of running for office.
As to Ross Perot: I remember him clearly. Not a person I’d want for president, definitely not.
I am interested to see if Obama’s grass roots organization (which has already proved to be effective as it is what has gotten him as far as he is today) will be used when he becomes president. I wonder what a grass-roots-organization approach would look like when it comes to dealing with the economic crisis that will hit just about the time he assumes office–or soon thereafter. I’ve always heard (and I think it’s been borne out) that what happens in the stock market takes 6 or 8 months to have its effect on the economy of the “regular” people. Will Obama be able to handle the dimensions of the economic crisis we have yet to see? Will his “grass-roots-approach” be effective in handling that? I wonder.
One thing bothers me terribly about McCain and his campaign: He has really done no favor for women who seek political office. There are so many things wrong with the choice of Palin for his VP that it’s a shame. Yet another woman may go down as being “unelectable.”
MCS
Comment by MCS — October 19, 2008 @ 5:28 pm
Jim,
My initial reaction to your “no longer the same man he used to be” comment is that no politician ends up being the person he/she was at first–or so it seems. Well, perhaps I can think of one or two on some lower levels of gov’t. Yet I wonder about them. They all end up seeming to become changed (or perhaps corrupted) just because they must change (or be corrupted) to get elected.
I do think that McCain did not give enough consideration or respect (for that matter) to Obama’s ability to organize a campaign on a grass roots level. Perhaps if Obama gets in and brings that grass roots organization ability to his approach to governing, we will see a better approach to governing–or will it just be another style of governing with its own flaws? Most likely the latter would be the case.
I also must say that when I think of the millions of dollars spent on advertising for both candidates (and the money spent for candidates for all the lower offices too), it’a a crying shame. What better uses could that money be used for in this world? Lots of them–wiping out hunger for one–or making a stab at it. We really should get a grip on ourselves as a nation when it comes to where we think our money should be spent.
Then too, it seems that both the Republican and Democratic candidates running for offices throughout our land must have big bucks to even think in terms of getting into an office. The “poor” person is simply not part of the picture of running for office.
As to Ross Perot: I remember him clearly. Not a person I’d want for president, definitely not.
I am interested to see if Obama’s grass roots organization (which has already proved to be effective as it is what has gotten him as far as he is today) will be used when he becomes president. I wonder what a grass-roots-organization approach would look like when it comes to dealing with the economic crisis that will hit just about the time he assumes office–or soon thereafter. I’ve always heard (and I think it’s been borne out) that what happens in the stock market takes 6 or 8 months to have its effect on the economy of the “regular” people. Will Obama be able to handle the dimensions of the economic crisis we have yet to see? Will his “grass-roots-approach” be effective in handling that? I wonder.
One thing bothers me terribly about McCain and his campaign: He has really done no favor for women who seek political office. There are so many things wrong with the choice of Palin for his VP that it’s a shame. Yet another woman may go down as being “unelectable.”
MCS
Comment by MCS — October 19, 2008 @ 5:28 pm