Maverick McCain Turns Mean

[babylonsister]

http://washingtonindependent.com/view/little-left-of

Maverick McCain Turns Mean
In This Presidential Contest, There's Little Left of the Charming McCain of 2000

By Sridhar Pappu 07/29/2008



Sen. John McCain, American war hero and admired political maverick, as well as presumed Republican nominee for president, had a message for Elisabeth Bumiller, the venerated New York Times reporter, along with the rest of the media assigned to travel with him the week of July 20.

"What do you want, you little jerks?" McCain said to Bumiller and those behind her, as the press surged forward on the "Straight Talk" Boeing 737 on July 21.

No one ever accused the Arizona senator of not being blunt. But he had come a long way from the media-friendly, boyishly charming, brazenly honest, free-wheeling McCain that so many in the media had come to love during the 2000 Republican primary. That man was now gone. Vanished.

snip//

Now all of us in the media travel in a separate bus from the increasingly distant candidate. There are those who believe there is still some of the 2000 McCain left, but as a member of the campaign press corps, it's increasingly hard to see. Press conferences after events--which we cool kids call "avails" -- have all but vanished from his daily schedule. The area on the plane meant for "straight talks" with the press generally goes unused. I had a question for two days, that I never got a chance to ask him.

Moreover, McCain increasingly seems like a man who, while breaking bread with the Christian right, is prone to holding grudges. Nowhere was that more apparent than in Columbus, Ohio, when Elizabeth Holmes from The Wall Street Journal tried to ask something, only to have McCain look right past her and say, "Who else has a question?" This had followed a couple of pieces in The Journal that Holmes had either written, co-written or contributed to that explored the anger of the McCain camp.

In many ways, that's what it comes down to, doesn't it? Anger. As we learned from Yoda. in "The Empire Strikes Back," the moment when one begins to act out of hate, instead of peace with the force as his ally, is precisely the moment when one begins down the path from Jedi to Sith. And there's no doubt that's what McCain has become--full of rage, particularly at the press left to cover him.

[Danmel]

1. He is quite the misogynist

He has real problems with women- there is nothing remotely charming about the way he talks about and to women. He scares me.

[speedoo]

2. Charmless, angry, stupid and vengeful.

I knew he was a bad candidate but he has become a horrible candidate. And he would be a terrible president, probably worse than Bush.