Nineteen Is the Loneliest Number

Cry me a river, Mark Salter.

The light is being seen by McCain insiders. They realize that it will take a miracle for a win.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Yet one more rat jumping ship. What is it about McCain that has them feeling? I think it may start with a P.

I can't stand the new format--it looks low budget!

A "litagent" for those who think his candidate got the short end of the media stick?
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Oh, well, I'm sure that maybe he could join Rupert Murdoch's staff.
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See ya.
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Wouldn't wanna be ya, though...

AMC,

What is happening is the phenomenon known as cognitive realization. It is the opposite of dissonance. Better known as a reality check.

Salter is a man who believe deeply in the McCain brand. Like any brand, if you neglect it long enough and allow it to become tarnished, it can be beyond repair.

Let's, for example, look at GM's Oldmobile brand. Back in the day, it was well respected. The cars were affordable, solid and fully American made. My uncle was proud to own that car and what it stood for. The vehicle was not just a vehicle, but it was a statement.

Like Salter, I felt in 2000 that McCain was a not just another politician, but he was a real-life American hero. He was G.I. Joe in the flesh. He wasn't always perfect, but he represented our better angels in arguing for comprehensive immigration, an end to tax cuts we couldn't afford, and conservative use of our natural resources, people and world political capital.

Many of those things have been lost. Today, McCain is but a shadow of himself. He is dangling shiny objects trying to gain attention, but it is merely a gimmick. He is outshined by Super Sarah and Joe the Plumber. These are serious times. He permits his running mate to say that his opponent "palls around with terrorists" and "drill, baby, drill." He has been co-opted by "agents of intolerance" into putting one on the team. If McCain seems strained and Salter, by extension, it is because he has not been able to be himself. And his lack of genuineness shows. That is why he is losing to Obama. He has abandoned his life-long beliefs to hew to the neo-con and Republican ideology foresaking the conservative principles of Buckley and Goldwater. Neither man would have bought the brand of conservatism that McCain is now selling. It rings hollow and lacks intellectual riguer. It is the triumph of blind ideology over pragmatism. Further, it is feaux patriotism over real sacrifice from a man that knows what real sacrifice is in fact, but now cannot call on his fellow Americans to do the same.

You see, it is not enough that Americans merely idolize McCain, they have to emulate him. But the McCain of today, "running a clean campaign" and shifting his positions and starting/stopping his campaign is not a man to emulate. This saddens Salter. It saddens me as well. The book of how McCain marches off into glory would read more like a description of the Roman/Greek empires than the triumphalism of The Old Man and the Sea.

Maybe he's disillusioned with his candidate, who destroyed in two short months the myth Salter spent years and effort in creating. Maybe he's repulsed by the VP candidate and how craven McCain was to choose her, based on zero vetting. Maybe he's surprised to find himself surrounded by self-interested lobbyists and Rove-proteges while the guys he knew and trusted, Weaver and Murphy, have been exiled and insulted. Hopefully, he's a little shocked and jaded that the very people who tore down McCain in South Carolina back in 2000 with the grossest lies are now on the payroll.

Frankly, if Salter hasn't been completely disgusted by the direction McCain took in his quest to win, well, he wouldn't be human.

He's soured on politics in precisely the same way Tyson soured on boxing: he started getting beat. It happens.

I know you folks don't like giving anybody a break but you might consider that our guy isn't the one we started with anymore either.

Washington Post/Newsweek websites crash my netbook, so I didn't click through. Who exactly is the source of Salter's angst? McCain himself? His staff? Palin or her staff? Conservative activists? Maybe AMC can get an interview with him ro clarify after the election. Not that it or he will matter then, but I'd read it. There might be an object lesson in trying to run a character-based campaign when the massive forces of money and a wired electorate don't give a candidate much room to maneuver.

No, he's not soured on it yet. Talk to him in two years when McCain gets beaten by Napolitano. Then he will be soured. And beaten. And he will have been beaten by McCain.

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Here's my concern: I see a Senate with the possibility of having a 59 vote majority. Just short of 60. All of the sudden, McCain maybe becomes a swing vote, the possibility of being an important guy again. And god help us ALL if that happens. Especially Mark Salter. Because if he is thinking disillusionment with his guy now, just wait until you see the absolute corruption John McCain could easily become.

Yes, Ana Marie Cox, said this:

"I think McCain in his heart of heart wants to win this fair and square. He wants to win this because he's the better candidate. He doesn't want to win this because people think Obama is a Muslim or is a terrorist or he's not really American. He wants to win this on his own merits. It upsets his sense of fair play -- to win -- to think that the support he's getting is because of what he thinks are bad reasons...

...I adore the guy. I think he's fantastic in many ways. I respect him, I admire his service to the country. I think ultimately he's very principled and, to coin a phrase, honorable. . . .
I do think that McCain is one of the most unique individuals that I've ever personally met. As I said, I greatly admire him and think he's sort of an amazing person . . ."

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/10/17/mccain/

The way Ana talks about McCain, I think she has daddy issues.

@fortda: Thanks for the link. Yeah, I find it rather amazing that respected journalists still make excuses for McCain. (For example, David Broder's continuing reverence is unbelievably appalling.) They won't believe what is happening in front of their eyes. McCain, for a very long time, possibly all his life, has talked of honor and valor, but when pushed he willingly and easily discards such notions.

It's even clear from his time as a POW though the uglier details of his behavior is always swept under the rug. Since he was under incredible duress, people are willing to forgive, but should we completely forget? Those moments of weakness are never mentioned, never acknowledged. It's like he Photoshopped his experience to only keep the parts that put him in the best light.

McCain is nice to individuals in the press. It's a deliberate strategy for good copy. He invites them to barbeques and backyard parties. Who knew affability and grilling prowess was a free ticket to the Presidency? Frankly, thank goodness we have bloggers and some sober journos who aren't susceptible to such enticements (mostly because they are removed or aren't invited or are just clear-eyed). Otherwise, I shudder at how this election would turn out.

nibblybits-- "They won't believe what is happening in front of their eyes. McCain, for a very long time, possibly all his life, has talked of honor and valor, but when pushed he willingly and easily discards such notions."

I couldn't agree more. I'm actually dumbfounded daily by these kind of strange confessionals from reporters re: McCain. So bizarre, undisciplined, completely out of bounds ethically, etc.

And YES, to borrow your words, "thank goodness we have bloggers and some sober journos who aren't susceptible to such enticements (mostly because they are removed or aren't invited or are just clear-eyed). Otherwise, I shudder at how this election would turn out." Amen to that.