Wanting the White House in the worst way

The pundits who adore John McCain wonder why he has adopted campaign tactics he once despised, but his compromise with the smear merchants began a long time ago.

By Joe Conason
Salon.com

Aug. 1, 2008 | For many of the journalists who regard John McCain as an unusually honorable politician, listening to his increasingly dishonorable campaign rhetoric is a painful and puzzling experience. They are openly wondering what has driven him to denigrate and even smear Barack Obama in a style more reminiscent of McCain's old enemies in his own party than the straight-talking maverick. They want to believe that he has not really changed, and that somehow these lapses can be blamed on someone else. Like a spouse in a bad marriage, they have yet to face up to the fact that he actually changed years ago -- or to ask if he was ever the man they once thought he was.

Although several prominent pundits have denounced McCain for questioning Obama's patriotism, a lingering reluctance to confront reality still colors much commentary on the campaign. Writing gingerly in the Washington Post of the Arizona senator's "fuzzy" campaign persona, David Ignatius pleaded with McCain to return to the noble, tolerant and healing ways that no longer seem to govern his character.

Without saying exactly what troubles the senator's Beltway fan club about his current behavior, the Post columnist offered an exculpatory theory: "What's damaging the McCain campaign now, I suspect, is that this fiercely independent man is trying to please other people -- especially a Republican leadership that doesn't really trust him."

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