McCain Support turns Sour: How Obama's Good Fortune may becomer our Good Fortune
McCain getting booed by supporters attending a campaign rally just may signify how bad things are getting for the GOP candidate and his beauty queen running mate. The 2008 presidential election is quickly turning into the race that wasn’t. Yet, it is still a little too early to be shouting, “Booyah!”
CNN reports this morning that rage is rising on the McCain campaign trail as conservatives begin waking to the reality that not only is change in the air - as both Obama and McCain predicted - but that the change does not include a Republican in the White House after 8 years of deceit and inept leadership by the outgoing Bush Administration.
Hearing McCain get booed just warms the special little places in my liberal heart. It seems that America is getting ready to elect our first non-pasty white guy into our Nation’s top office. Excuse me - I mean our first Black Muslim Terrorist into our nation’s top office. It seems that the smear tactics against Obama are backfiring.
After days of smear tactics McCain was faced with remarks from a Minnesota crowd that ranged from, “I don’t trust Obama. I have read about him and he’s an Arab,” [1] to another man voicing that he was “scared of an Obama presidency.” [2]
McCain tried to calm the crowd by reassuring them that Obama was a decent, family man who he just disagreed with on some fundamental issues, “which this campaign is about.” He was met with boos from the audience. Not a good sign! Only just yesterday the crowd was reserving such vitriol for Obama. Politics is definitely a fickle game populated by feckless spectators and participants.
McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, commented that they did not know who these people were. He stated that it was unsure whether they were McCain supporters or just there to disrupt the rallies. Even so the comments were telling. It may also be a sign that the aggressive smear tactics that the campaign has been using aren’t working. Once the economy nose-dived the McCain camp lost control of the race.
It’s also a sign of how ignorant the average American is about the issues of the day and how our government operates. The woman who worried about Obama’s ethnic background is probably a racist who doesn’t realize that only a natural born American citizen can run for office of president. Arnold Schwarzenegger need not apply.
One man shared the fear all conservatives have about liberals - “The socialists are taking over.” I am a socialist and let me assure you all, we are not taking over. Not yet at any rate. I grew up in a conservative home where all liberals were branded socialists and the woes of society were heaped up on their heads. Liberals were responsible for high taxes, entitlements and a large, ineffective and expensive federal government.
Yet in the past 8 years it has been the conservatives that have expanded the scope of the federal government and increased out of control spending to record deficit levels. Please remember Bush is a Republican and up until 2 years ago conservatives controlled the legislative processes in this country. Don’t forget that since the Democratic revolt during the last mid terms congressional Republicans are still attempting to thwart real change.
Ironically the initial bail out of Wall Street that had socialist leanings written all over it was championed by the Republican Bush administration. If that isn’t enough irony for you then this week’s revelation that the White House is considering ownership stakes in Banks should be. While this isn’t exactly a true socialist action it does meet a basic definition of nationalization which is at the heart of most socialist philosophies. At best it is a mild form of social interventionism that is still part and parcel of the socialist’s bag of tricks.
Isn’t it interesting that after years of bankrupt conservative economic policies that our conservative presidential administration is leaning over to the left in an attempt to rescue the flailing American economy? It would seem that our countries misfortune may turn out to be Obama’s good fortune. If the economy hadn’t tanked when it did this presidential race may have turned out quite differently. It was only a little over a month ago that the two men were tied in opinion polls.
Hopefully Obama’s good fortune will get him elected to the office of president. Hopefully his good fortune will turn out to be our good fortune. Then and only then will liberals such as me have the right to shout, “Booyah!”
[1] Rage Rising on the Campaign Trail. CNN.com, Saturday, October 11, 2008
[2] Ibid