Democrats frustrated with long campaign shouldn’t stray

Mary Magee

special to the Gateway

It was March 4, the day of the Texas, Rhode Island, Ohio and Vermont primaries/caucuses. I drove to a girlfriend’s house for a quick visit. As we brewed tea and settled onto her living room couch, the topic of conversation quickly turned to the primaries. She and I had each thrown our support behind different candidates: Obama for her, and Hillary for me. Since the Washington caucuses on Feb. 9, I’d been grieving over Hillary’s losses and watching Obama win state after state. As the March contests neared, I accepted the real possibility that Obama might well become our Democratic nominee, and decided I could confidently support him in November. Those were some of the feelings I shared over tea that day. As the afternoon faded to early evening, we turned on the TV to watch the election results. Hillary was winning Ohio and Rhode Island by quite a margin; Obama had won Vermont handily and Texas was very close. We looked at each other in amazement and switched from tea to wine. It was a natural response, because we had thought the nomination would probably be decided by the end of the night. Not so fast. Since the Wyoming and Mississippi primaries, we’ve had a voting dryspell — and we still have a month to go before the big contest in Pennsylvania. As the probability of re-votes in Michigan and Florida fades, the debate about the role of the superdelegates continues. Democrats are getting frustrated, and some, especially those on the blogosphere, are saying they just might vote for McCain if their nominee isn’t selected. I sure hope they rethink that position. McCain deserves respect for his military service, but his policy positions are too similar to Bush’s. I saw McCain speak in spring 2000 at a rally at Pacific Lutheran University. He had given a speech that criticized Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell for their divisive remarks. He said he wouldn’t pander to those leaders. For that reason, I wanted to hear him. I admired his stand against those who were preaching hate. That was then, this is now. Sadly, John McCain is now pandering to those he denounced before. But other issues trouble me just as much. Last April, while speaking to a group of veterans about Iran, he sang part of the Beach Boys song “Barbara Ann,” but substituted, “Bomb Iran.” Sure, it was just a joke, but it points to his hawkish stance. This month, during his visit to Iraq, he stated, incorrectly, that Iran is training Al-Qaeda for attacks on Iraq — more evidence that he might really believe we should attack Iran. We don’t need a third war on our hands! In 2001, McCain opposed Bush’s tax cuts for the rich. Now, at a time when we are facing a bad recession, he is committed to making those tax breaks permanent. He really meant it when he said recently that he doesn’t know much about the economy. The press adores McCain, in part because he treats them like pals. Many have enjoyed traveling and shooting the breeze on McCain’s big bus, “the straight talk express.” In 2004, and again this year, he hosted big parties for the Washington press corps in New York and Sedona, respectively. It’s no surprise that the recent New York Times article implicating him in an ethically inappropriate relationship with a lobbyist (romantic or not), has yet to get any traction. While we wait for the Democrats to choose their nominee, we shouldn’t fall prey to McCain’s folksy appeal. We need a Democrat in the White House to get us back on track, both at home and abroad.

Reach Mary Magee at marymagee@harbornet.com.