McCain too honorable to stand in the way of history and allow the Perfect Storm.

With the election of Sen. Obama, the question that will try to be answered is “what went wrong?”  Did conservative values lose?  Is this a repudiation of capitalism?  Was it Palin’s fault?  The answer is simple, Sen. McCain, on a larger scale, put the good of the country first.  He will never admit to it, nor will the pundits and talking heads suggest that McCain tanked the election, nor will he receive any credit in history reflecting 100 years from today, that he assisted in breaking down the barrier of an “African American” becoming President of the United States.  If Obama had not won, it would have only edified the opinion and feelings of a large segment of the population that this is still “white America”.  As McCain has always had a higher regard for country than party, it is not a far reach to consider the possibility of this theory having a modicum of truth. 

Consider McCain’s campaign as a whole since the convention.  He seemed to always be on a separate track from the current damaging information that could have been a knockout punch to Obama.  He spent three months with his dominant punching hand tied behind his back and jabbed his way to the finish line.  Adding Palin to the ticket was a gamble either way, but I believe that she exceeding his own expectations and held her back so that she wouldn’t carry this election in spite of him.  She caught fire and he was the only one that could extinguish her, and he did.  The press was not her obstacle that only enhanced her likeability.  He prevented her the opportunity to increase her public perception with the voters that she was ready to be president and allow her to push the conservative agenda while raising questions of Obama’s qualifications and character.  Consider at all the issues that were left in the bag that could have been so damaging to Obama.  And on issues that he could have separated himself from Obama, he took a “me too” position.  He could have opposed the bail out and took a hard stand against those that caused the crisis, but instead he voted for it, along with all its’ earmarks, taking the view of Obama being the only socialist leaning candidate off the table.  Putting lobbyists on his staff lessened the value of placing a damaging label on Obama.  Every time he had the gift of a possible damaging point against Obama, he couldn’t use it in fear of the finger being pointed back at him. 

The real narrative of Obama was never used in the debates, his associations never questioned and re-questioned to his face when new facts were learned or altered explanations given by Obama.  His stance on life and abortion, Supreme Court appointments, immigration, membership in a socialist party, Ayers, Khalidi, Wright, Flager, Rezko, his early mentors in the Illinois house, his fathers’ political history, liberal social agenda, anti-Israeli connections, illegal contributions, Acorn affiliations and agendas, were never put in his face on a constant basis.

Look at the four top possible damaging issues to Obama in the closing weeks. 
1.    His view on bankrupting the coal industry and his disregard for the inevitable skyrocketing cost of energy was out there since January.  Why was it not used?  That Obama held a view that it is constitutional for the federal government to deliberately target a company or industry and bankrupt it, is inconceivable.  
2.    His true socialist agenda, late evidence of membership in a socialist party and re-installment of the welfare state for non-taxpaying citizens.  This argument was used by McCain, but only superficially as “spread the wealth”.  No examination of Obama’s welfare check to 40% of the non-taxing public and Obama claiming to be a tax cutter.  McCain never even attempted a knockout punch, just danced around the issue.
3.    His campaign possibly receiving illegal contributions from foreign contributors and individuals contributing above legal limits by donating in small increments.  The mere fact that the Obama campaign removed online verification checks and the incredible $150 million raised in one month in $86 increments does not pass the smell test and was never investigated or asked of Obama.
4.    His relationships with Wright, Ayers, Khalidi and Rezko, etc. was off limits by McCain.  Even when Obama taunted McCain to ask him directly to his face, McCain wouldn’t even approach the issue.  Hillary gained ground and won primary states when she took Obama to task on his radical relationships.  No one asked Obama what these radicals saw him that attracted these types of people to him.  The late revelation of Khalidi could have been used to get more of the Jewish vote.  The question is, if this was out there since January, when did McCain know about it and why wasn’t it used.

McCain is an honorable man, but does not hold true conservative values.  He knew he was up against a man that was the embodiment of hope for a nation that still has open wounds when it comes to race for both white and black Americans.  It didn’t matter Obama’s politics, he knew that the country could not afford for the first black candidate for presidency to loose.  For whites, it is guilt for some that needed to be washed away, for younger whites that have been born post civil rights amendments, it was a chance to vote for someone different without having to overcome any prejudices because while being sensitive to race issues.  They were helping to lift their black brothers and sisters up and grasping for the same hope of a different world.  For pre and post civil rights blacks, it was turning a page in history and verification that we can look past the color of ones’ skin. 

One would have to question how committed to winning a candidate is when he says he would rather loose an election than to use damaging information about your opponent, claiming it to be “off limits” when it most certainly is not.  Bringing up Obama’s past associates, relationships and affiliations shows the character of the man and is not a personal attack, McCain and everyone else will just have to agree to disagree on that one. 

As an American, you could make the case that what McCain may have done is to be celebrated, to bring the country closer together on the race issue and trying to remove it as an issue in the future by those that use race to divide us.  A country that can elect a black man as the leader of that country can no longer be labeled a racist country.  What he did, he did unselfishly.  He saw a media hell-bent on giving Obama an advantage, a country that would tear itself apart racially and the demonization of the right, the evangelicals and the Republican Party as a whole.  It just wasn’t worth the risk. What gave him cover was the fact that every Republican knew deep down that he wasn’t a conservative Republican and more of an Independent moderate than anything else.  He has gone against the party so often, why should we believe that he would carry our water and our flag as committed and proudly.  He knew he could use his values of fair play as cover to handicap his own candidacy and allow Obama to win.  This was the Perfect Storm.

We can debate whether it was the right course for him to take considering the threats to our country from extremists abroad, threats to our capitalist economy, threats to our society from liberal judges to the Supreme Court, but it would not up to debate how vicious and detrimental to our country if the racial divide was widened.  Of this avoidance we can grateful and hope that he can overcome any resistance when he is called a sore loser when he stands against proposed Obama policies.  This is a box he may have put himself and the conservatives in.  His loss may have been his greatest gift to the Reagan party he left behind.  From this defeat, we can only hope that the next generation of new conservatives can grapple power from the pseudo conservatives in congress that currently have no ability to raise and lead the flag of the conservative cause or promote true conservative values.