John McCain and Gutter Politics

"Uh, I, I just have to rely on the good judgment of the voters not to buy into these negative attack ads. Sooner or later, people are going to figure out if all you run is negative attack ads, you don't have much of a vision for the future or you're not ready to articulate it."

Would anyone like to take a stab at who said this?

That's right. It was John McCain. No, not the John McCain of 2008, but the John McCain of 2000. (Yes, they're much different people). McCain said it on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on February 21st during the 2000 Republican primaries, when he was running against Governor George W. Bush.

What a difference 8 years make.

This weekend, John McCain's campaign announced its new "strategy." But the "strategy" of going negative to distract the American people from the issues that affect their lives isn't new at all. It's downright old. (And no, that's not a jab at the 72-year-old candidate's age).

John McCain isn't going to attack Barack Obama on the issues, of course. How could McCain do that when McCain wholeheartedly supports the failed economic and foreign policies of the last 8 years? How could someone who voted with George W. Bush more than 90% of the time make the case that he has the judgment to lead this country. Quite simply, he can't. And so he needs to distract us from the issues.

John McCain needs to distract us from the disastrous economy.

John McCain needs to distract us from the fact that 47 million Americans don't have health insurance.

John McCain needs to distract us from the fact that we're engaged in two wars that we can't pay for, and that we're no closer to achieving the foreign policy objectives that the American people truly care about.

John McCain needs to distract us from the newest unemployment figures.

John McCain needs to distract us from rising gas and food prices.

John McCain needs to distract us from the sub-prime mortgage crisis, brought about by deregulation, which McCain favors not only for the banking industry but for the health care industry as well.

So, is it any wonder why John McCain is resorting to gutter politics? Of course not.

But it's up to us to decide whether we'll let gutter politics work in this election. Will we be distracted? Or will we elect the candidate who has articulated his vision and can lead us into the future.

McCain's campaign freely acknowledged this weekend that they needed "to turn the page" on this economic crisis. And that the fastest, most effective way to do that is to engage in gutter politics. The McCain campaign knows that if this election comes down to the issues, McCain loses.

But, I say, if this election doesn't come down to the issues, my fellow Americans, we lose.

Don't be distracted.

I'm confident that we won't be.

After all, as John McCain of 2000 said:

"Sooner or later, people are going to figure out if all you run is negative attack ads, you don't have much of a vision for the future or you're not ready to articulate it."

Well said, Senator McCain. And I think you're right.