Desperation Makes for Dangerous Politics

Saturday 25 October 2008

by: Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III, Ph.D., t r u t h o u t | Perspective


John McCain at a campaign rally in Westerville, Ohio, October 19. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images North America)

As America moves into the final days of the 2008 presidential campaign Senator McCain and his surrogates are desperately seeking any message that will resonate with the American people. The problem is that their desperate actions are resulting in dangerous and ugly politics.

Senator McCain hails himself as a maverick - a visionary and independent man who breaks from the politics of the past. Actually, McCain and his supporters are simply pandering to the conservative right and the fringe elements of America. They are not "reaching across the aisle" or "seeking consensus." His campaign is not building bridges to move the country forward; it's building bridges to nowhere. McCain and his surrogates have turned to fear mongering through racist innuendo as Senator McCain attempts to become America's 44th president.

Is George Will suggesting that Barak Obama has an inherent advantage in this election because he is African-American? I've always admired George Will's intellect even though I've disagreed with his politics. This statement makes me wonder; what America is he living in? What poll data is he not looking at? That's an utterly stupid assessment.

In California, a Republican group in San Bernardino County distributed a newsletter that depicted Senator Obama on a fake $10 food stamp along with images of a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken. On an official state Republican Party web site in Sacramento County, Republicans posted a series of violent anti-Obama images and statements. Senator Obama was depicted in a turban and paired with images of Osama bin Laden, with a caption that read: "The only difference between Obama and Osama is BS." Below that were the words "Waterboard Barack Obama!" This goes right to General Powell's issues with the false intimations that Obama is Muslim.

Senator McCain has stated that Hamas endorses Senator Obama, "I think it is very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States ... I think that the people should understand that I will be Hamas' worst nightmare!"

This libelous, slanderous and inflammatory rhetoric has turned dangerous. At a recent McCain campaign rally, when McCain asked, "Who is Barack Obama?" a supporter screamed "terrorist"! In Pennsylvania during a speech by Sarah Palin, one supporter screamed "kill him" in reference to Obama.

While it is clearly understood that Senator McCain is not responsible for the actions of his supporters and those who endorse him, we do expect a man claims to break from the politics of the past to soundly and clearly disassociate himself from these tactics. Senator McCain should repudiate and disavow those engaged in this behavior in the same manner Senator Obama was forced to repudiate and disavow Reverend Wright. Instead, McCain uses Sarah Palin to spread the most vicious of the attacks. At a rally in Denver, Palin said, "This is not a man who sees America as you see it and as I see America - our opponent, though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." All may be fair in love, war and politics, but the rhetoric of desperation should at least be based in fact and not place the well-being of your opponent in peril.