A House Divided

Michelle Bachmann, a spokesperson (who happens to be US Congresswoman) for the McCain campaign said today that Barack Obama should be investigated because of the ties that he has to radical (and here's the key word) anti-American people. She mentioned Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayres and Tony Rezko (who I thought was just a crooked business man, but what do I know). She also said that all members of Congress should be looked at to find out whether they are "pro-America or anti-America. This kind of rhetoric is straight out of the fifties, HUAC (House un-American activities committee) and Joe McCarthy.

It is not only scary that the McCain campaign is now stooping to these levels, but it is outright dangerous. What exactly are they trying to say about Barack Obama at this point? It seems that they are sending out their subordinates to spread the word that Obama is anti-American by association. Wouldn't that mean that someone would be a patriot by making sure that he never becomes the President? One day McCain is talking down a member of crowd who claimed that Obama was an Arab and the next day his campaign is propagating the idea that Obama is basically a Communist. I have no idea where this is leading, but it certainly isn't leading anywhere good. The McCain campaign now has no problem in trying to whip up his supporters to not only disagree with the proposed policies of Barack Obama, but to question whether his motivations are "patriotic".

This country is faced with its greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, but the McCain campaign would like nothing more than to spend the last 18 days of this campaign questioning the "Americanism" of Barack Obama. Since he has been unable to rattle Obama in the debates and show that he is somehow incapable of handling the job, he now has to resort to the Obama's not "American" enough argument and he's too mysterious. I think that the McCain campaign might start holding up a piece of paper at their next rally, which they will claim has the names of known Communists that Obama has been "pallin' " around with.

This country will need to work as one in order to get through the coming economic storm. John McCain seems intent on driving a wedge right in the middle of this country. Sarah Palin actually talked about "Pro-American" areas of the country, conversely according to the would be Vice-President, there must be anti-American areas of the country. Perhaps she was speaking of the headquarters of the political party that her husband belonged to for a better part of a decade and that she recorded a welcome message for this year, that openly supports that Alaska leave the union. Or perhaps she meant my home, New York. Maybe she meant Illinois, which sent Obama to the Senate. I have no idea what she meant, but clearly this is not what the country needs at this point. What ever happened to the slogan of the McCain-Palin campaign? What exactly does "Country First" mean to them? Does it mean trying to do what's best for the country, or trying to win at all costs? Their action would lead me to believe that it's much more likely the latter.

I have no delusions that Obama is actually ahead by 6,7,8 or 9 points. I know that the undecided vote will break McCain's way. I know that their are people who will go into the voting booth with every intention of voting for Obama and come out having voted the other way. I know that the Presidential Republican victories have been based on identity politics and dividing this nation into "us" against "them". I know that this latest and most vigorous attempt to brand Obama as "different" is just part of the usual plan. There was a part of me that always knew this was coming, but I was hoping that this election might be different. I didn't expect it to be less negative, but given John McCain's pledge to run an honorable campaign, I hoped for better. Barack Obama has misstated or lied about McCain's positions and policies, but he has never reduced himself to the politics of personal attacks. He has never brought up the fact that McCain cheated on his disabled wife, he has never brought the fact that McCain got favorable treatment in the Navy, he has never brought up the fact that McCain has repeatedly gone back against his word, he has never brought up the fact that McCain picked someone who is wholly unprepared for the complexity of national office.

I can see what's coming and it's going to be ugly. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, " A house divided against itself, cannot stand". The last eight years have shown us what we get from a divided nation, however based on everything that the McCain campaign has done, that is not only their wish but their ultimate goal.