Say What?! McCain Trying To Raise Money Over Hillary “Bitch” Flap
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain says he respects Hillary Rodham Clinton and that he said as much when a woman used the word “bitch” to describe her…. “How do we beat the bitch?” the woman asked Monday at a McCain event in South Carolina…. On Tuesday, CNN’s Rick Sanchez raised the question of whether McCain should have admonished the woman, and McCain’s campaign criticized that criticism on Wednesday…. “Most people who have seen it are looking at it as a real mistake on his part in terms of the way he handled it,” Sanchez said on the cable network’s “Out in the Open.”…. McCain’s South Carolina campaign manager, Buzz Jacobs, said in a statement Wednesday: “It not only reflects poorly on him, but on CNN. If Mr. Sanchez had even the faintest perspective on the race for the White House, he would know that Senator McCain has expressed his utmost respect for Senator Clinton numerous times on the campaign trail, as he did at Monday’s event in Hilton Head.”…. Hours later, the McCain campaign was using the controversy to raise money for his candidacy. Campaign manager Rick Davis e-mailed supporters, saying, “We are asking you to help us fight Rick Sanchez and CNN and stand with John McCain. Please make your most generous contribution from $25 up to the maximum limit of $2,300 to the only candidate who can defeat Hillary Clinton.”
Boy, if this doesn’t demonstrate that John McCain will say or do ANYTHING to become President, I don’t know what will. Any person with even a shred of decency would have reprimanded the ignorant troll who asked him the question as soon as the idiotic and insulting question has passed her lips. Instead, McCain saw an opportunity- for someone else to do the dirty work for him, and for some serious fundraising potential.
Now, I’m no fan of Rick Sanchez (the man’s the very definition of “talking head”, a tabula rasa who thinks he’s God’s gift to journalism), but he did make a good point. Why didn’t McCain have the common decency to draw the line, to let it be known that he wasn’t about to tolerate cheap, gratuitious, mean-spirited personal insults? Could it be that McCain the Presidential candidate (and perhaps the person) lacks even the barest thread of common decency?
I’m not about to deny the troll’s right to express herself as she sees fit, but McCain should have smacked her down right then and there. In doing so, he would have firmly established that he wasn’t going to play gutter politics, where name-calling and cheap insults take the place of rational, substantive dialogue on the issues facing this country today. Instead, McCain made it clear that he will tolerate ANYTHING that he thinks will increase his chances of winning. Lying, cheating, stealing, name-calling…hey, all’s fair in love and politics, no?
I’m not worried about Sen. Clinton- the woman can certainly hold her own against bullies. That’s not the issue here. What does disturb me is that there seems to be a much greater tolerance for insults directed against a female candidate- especially one widely regarded as the Democratic Party’s heir presumptive for 2008. A significant portion of the ignorant, reactionary, knuckle-dragging Conservative base still sees Sen. Clinton as Evil Incarnate. It’s silly, it’s stupid, and it really only goes to demonstrate that stupid people vote and they can be easily propagandized. Clinton deserves better…not that she’s going to get it from McCain or any other Republican.
And since when is Rick Sanchez and CNN the enemy? For once in his life, Sanchez asks an intelligent question…and he gets savaged for a displaying degree of intellectual honesty clearly lacking in the McCain campaign? Gimme a break, willya??
If you don’t think that the “politics of personal destruction” is very, VERY real…well, you might consider removing your anterior from your posterior. Whether or not you support Sen. Clinton for President (and I’m still on the fence, though I will support her if she’s the Party’s candidate in 2008)), she at least deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Of course, if you’re an ignorant, reactionary Conservative Republican, the “politics of personal destruction” is just another tool to ensure that a candidate you don’t agree with is defeated and (hopefully) destroyed.
Part of me still hopes that the American body politic is still capable of engaging in an intelligent, informed, and reasoned debate on the issues facing this country. Then again, part of me also hopes that I’ll win the lottery. Yes, the beautiful thing about democracy is that, in it’s most basic form, everyone gets a voice- even the stupid, the ignorant, and the hateful. Don’tcha just LOVE AMERICA??
