A week is a long time in politics–enough time to take much of the bloom off the candidacy of John McCain. The candidate who pledged in South Carolina to eschew negative campaigning has been on the attack against George W. Bush and his allies in the religious right. McCain is entitled to criticize both. But the way he has gone about it hasn’t helped his image or his cause.
His biggest embarrassment came after he denied having anything to do with phone calls made to voters in Michigan accusing Bush of having “stayed silent” about the “anti-Catholic bigotry” of Bob Jones during his visit to Bob Jones University. Soon he had to admit that he not only knew about the calls but approved them in advance.
For someone who promises voters that he will never lie to them, it was not exactly a shining hour. And that’s leaving aside the irony of McCain offering himself as “a proud Reagan Republican” while ignoring that Reagan himself spoke at Bob Jones without condemnation.
McCain deserved points for going to Virginia Beach, Va., headquarters of Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition, to denounce Robertson and Jerry Falwell for practicing “the political tactics of division and slander.” The Arizona senator has good cause to ask why someone with his conservative, anti-abortion record should be shunned by so many Christian conservatives in this race. And he was right to resent Robertson’s characterization of former Sen. Warren Rudman, a McCain supporter, as a “vicious bigot” merely because he has differed strongly with conservative Christian groups.
But McCain went too far the following day when he denounced Robertson and Falwell as part of “the forces of evil” and vowed he would not “tolerate evil in the name of party unity.” Apparently vigorous opposition to McCain is not just mistaken or even ill-intentioned, but downright wicked. Now who’s intolerant?
This latest attack may be meant to boost McCain in northern states like New York where evangelicals are relatively scarce. But they seem likely to damage both him and Bush, whom he has lumped with the Dark Side.
Maybe McCain, who is not known for an equable disposition, just let his temper get the best of him. Or maybe he’s giving serious thought, if he loses, to seeking the nomination of the Reform Party. In that case, a scorched-earth policy makes a certain sense. But right now, the flames seem to be blowing back on McCain.
