Perspectives
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Wondering why McCain couldn’t look Obama in the eye Friday night? He was ashamed!
by Deborah Mathis, BlackAmericaWeb.com
It says something that Barack Obama was so well acquitted in the first presidential debate on Friday, that many a conservative commentator acknowledged his poise and presidential stature without hesitation.
It says that Obama was so good that even those who normally champ at the bit to diminish him had to concede that he dispelled any lingering doubts about his readiness.
It says Obama must have been twice as good as the pundits attest, because only such an utter triumph can bring the partisans to bow.
It also says that John McCain is a goner. The man we once respected as the maverick, iconoclast, independently spirited, tell-it-like-it-is rebel, is no more.
The senator who was once upon a time so beguiling that, in a moment of weakness many years ago, got a diehard liberal like me to say to his face that if he ever ran for president, I might work for him -- that man is vapor.
The Arizona senator seems to be the only significant Republican player who is still willing to pronounce Obama unfit for the Oval Office.
As if he hadn’t been dismissive and condescending enough with his repetitive claims that Obama “doesn’t understand” this or that.
McCain capped his critical barrage with this bumbled put-down of the frontrunner’s command of foreign affairs: “I honestly don’t believe that Senator Obama has the knowledge or experience and has made the wrong judgments in a number of areas.”
Do tell.
If the past several weeks have shown us anything, it is that McCain is, himself, quite adept at making “wrong judgments in a number of areas,” proving that political longevity does not necessarily bequeath good judgment or wisdom.
His selection of a little known, scantily experienced, rather goofy governor of an outback state brings his good sense into question every bit as much as his rabid embrace of a military occupation that continues to cost lives and drain the treasury.
What kind of patriot would put such a person within a furlong of the presidency, let alone a heartbeat away -- and at the direst time in the country’s history since the revolution?
And what was up with that “suspension” of the campaign last week? Can’t McCain and his minions come up with a less obvious stunt than one that casts him as Mighty Mouse swooping in to save the day, when, in fact, he had no more power to do that than 434 other members of Congress?
All politicians at this level are ambitious and crave the win. We can’t blame McCain for that.
But there is a difference between being driven to win and being driven to succeed.
What I believe about Obama is that he will work night and day to be a success -- to deliver and make his supporters proud and glad that they chose him. Judging from his desperate ploys, McCain just wants to get there.
Not once did he look Obama in the eye during Friday night’s debate.
Not even when they shook hands at the start. Many critics have chalked that up to one of two things: Either McCain doesn’t respect Obama or he doesn’t like him.
I think it was something else at work: Shame. Over the crotchety nature of his debating tactic; over the mean streak that kept flashing; over the lies and distortions he was telling.
The last gasps of the old John McCain, perhaps.
