PhilTeach Blog

          After a week of economic turbulence, and of political posturing by Senator McCain, even threatening to postpone the first presidential debate so he could stage a photo shoot in DC, the debate between him and Senator Obama finally occurred.  Though neither candidate seemed to have gained any knockouts, the debate provided us with an opportunity to witness McCain’s mastery of formulating empty generalizations on national issues.  One reality however did come into view:  at least in the last eight years, McCain has become unable to stand up to his political convictions.

          In the debate, McCain often mentioned that he never won the “Miss Congeniality Congressional Award,” implying that he has frequently fought against policy positions held by members of his own party, including those of President Bush.  McCain himself enjoys donning the mantel of a maverick*, of one not afraid to stand up to both his party and the corruption in Washington.  This image of a maverick, however, rings disingenuous and looks more like a masquerade due to the fact that McCain has gone along with and voted for President  Bush’s  policies 95% of the time.  Even if it be the case, as he has claimed, that he has often opposed his fellow Republicans, including the President, such disagreements have not led to “maverick” actions.   We could even speculate that his selection of Sarah Palin was not really what he wanted.   McCain would have probably preferred to have had Senator Lieberman as his running mate, but due to political expediency and placating the anti-abortion conservative quarters of his party, McCain did not demonstrate much `maverick action.’   

The McCain campaign has repeatedly expressed that words are just words; that only actions matter.   (This is often said as a way to attack Obama’s leadership quality, inspirational speeches as “empty rhetoric.”)   However, it is McCain who has difficulty putting his words into actions. The greatest and most powerful action a member of the Senate has is the power of the vote.   It seems that Senator McCain repeatedly failed to act on behalf of the common good of the nation by exercising that power in support of policies that he now implies he disagreed with.   If he disagreed with his party and the president over policies, then why did he not vote against those policies?  He had an opportunity to take a stand, to vote against the Bush White House’s destructive policies, but all he did was voice concern?    If McCain knew what was wrong, he did not exercise maverick qualities in failing to stand up against the pressures of his fellow Republicans.  Or could it be that he really did agree with the policies that have led to the sending of our young men and women to fight an unjust war, or which have brought our nation’s economy to the edge of the abyss?  Either way, McCain seems to have done very little to demonstrate `maverick actions’.   His inability to oppose the Bush policies through his senatorial power of the vote is not the sign of a maverick—and definitely not a sign of a president.

*maverick: An independent individual who does not go along with a group or party.