Blind Prophecy

McCain comes face-to-face today with the fear and racism his campaign has stirred over the last week. After a week of openly tying Obama to William Ayers and months of ignoring the viral “secret Muslim” rumors, McCain was put in the position of defending his opponent today when asked questions during a town hall rally. He was rewarded with boos and shouts from his base.

On September 26, I wrote:

“the only thing that could save [McCain's] sinking ship campaign right now would be to go so outside the politician playbook and sit down on television and say, ‘this is not the campaign I want to be running. These are not the policies I wanted to champion, the veep I wanted to choose, the ads I wanted to run, or the deals I wanted to be making. I apologize to you, the American people, for letting this get out of hand. Tomorrow, I’m retaking control of my campaign, I’m sending Sarah Palin back to Alaska, and I’m asking Joe Lieberman to join me on the ticket. What do you say?’

“I still wouldn’t vote for him, but I’d believe that he’s a maverick, a straight-talker, and a reasonably honorable man.”

Too little, too late. McCain’s statements today showed neither leadership nor responsibility for the campaign he must answer for. He should and must apologize to the American people for standing silent on these issues for far too long. I am no longer willing to give him an easy “out” by blaming his campaign. He has had ample opportunity to change the tone and direction of this election, and he remained silent beyond the tipping point. Early voting is open and people are already casting ballots based on rampant xenophobia and fear.

Today’s awkward exposure of how much the McCain campaign has gone of the rails is coupled with the release of the report on Troopergate, which found:

For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.

On the positive side, Connecticut ended the ban on same-sex marriage today. The Connecticut Supreme Court found that the ban on allowing gay couples to be married violated the state’s constitution. The justices (who split 4-3 on the ruling) followed California’s reasoning and wrote “or the same reasons that classifications predicated on gender are considered quasi-suspect for purposes of the equal protection provisions of the United States constitution, sexual orientation constitutes a quasi-suspect classification for purposes of the equal protection provisions of the state constitution, and, therefore, our statutes discriminating against gay persons are subject to heightened or intermediate judicial scrutiny.”

I am fearful that this may stir up greater support for the anti-marriage equality efforts in California, Arizona and Florida, but I am happy to see that the movement toward marriage equality is spreading. I wonder if New Jersey or New York will be next.

Filed under: politics, queer rights by Jere Keys