John McCain’s campaign slogan when he ran for president in 2008 was “Country First!” Then he chose as his running mate a small-state governor with only two years in that office under her belt, whom he only new from about one hour’s conversation: a dangerous dimwitted demagogue with a giant chip on her shoulder and just about zero understanding of any public policy issue. “Country First” was a horrific lie. If you love your country more than you love a risky shot to shake up poll numbers that have been trending against you, you do not put Sarah Palin on your ticket. Especially not when you have a history of heart trouble.
Now he’s done it again. Notwithstanding my view that Susan Rice was not worth the political capital it would have cost Barack Obama to get her confirmed as secretary of state and notwithstanding my concerns about her financial state in the XL pipeline, there is no question that she is fully qualified to be secretary of state. But the GOP, with McCain in the lead, decided to that partisan maneuvering was more important than unity in foreign policy. That’s right: with absolutely no substantive justification on his side, McCain attempted to make Benghazi the sole issue in the presidential campaign’s waning days and then went on to smear Rice’s character enough that she had no choice but to stand down.
Rice’s withdrawal from consideration yesterday was the right thing for her to do. She put the country’s interests in front of her own (though, her move — in it’s shear nobility — certainly helped in one stroke to repair her “brand”). Would that small-minded, mean, and self-centered John McCain would ever do the same.
©2012 Keith Berner
