McCain Politics: Mob Mentality

Sen. McCain was pushed into a rather uncomfortable corner recently when he was forced to defend Senator Obama in the face of ravenous attacks at one of his political rallies. The fundamental flaw in the reasoning of the McCain campaign was that the odious tenor of the campaign could be kept cunningly just below the surface. Since the days of Nixon's "Silent Majority", Republicans have always managed to keep their divisiveness far enough beneath the surface to allow for plausible deniability when accused of taking advantage of or even whipping up the darkest and most shameful undercurrents that flow through America. This plausible deniability was always made possible because their supporters were clever enough to understand that this visceral hatred was to be kept undercover, even if it's form was so evident as to make it obvious what lurked beneath those covers. This has led to cries of "Terrorist" and "Kill Him" directed at Sen. Obama during McCain rallies.

But the 2008 election has become the perfect storm, combining what some media people have charitably called "low-information voters", the first mainstream African-American presidential candidate and a tide of resentment towards an incumbent Republican President. The winds of that perfect storm have forced Sen. McCain to speak out against these open displays of ignorance at his own campaign rally. The problem is this insidiousness has a momentum that is quite common to this sort mob mentality and will not be easily tempered. This provides Sen. McCain with an opportunity to once again act in heroic fashion. We are watching you Sen. McCain. You are on the clock and the eyes of America are on you. Do you choose to throw cold water on the fires of hatred and divisiveness, even if it costs you the election? Or do you choose to stand back and watch America burn?