The discourse among the McCain campaign has become angrier than that of the candidate himself. The clips from the stump speeches, especially Palin’s, border on ugly. After Palin’s ridiculous statements of Barack Obama having associations with radicals you could hear the most offensive things being shouted from the audience. “Kill him”, “traitor”, etc… Those who introduce Palin now take great pride in referring to Obama’s middle name to make him seem somehow unamerican.  It is obvious the McCain camp has tacked hard toward a negative campaign, hoping the race will turn in his favor through character assassination. This tactic has come from the most unlikely of sorts.

Lee Atwater was the driving force behind McCain’s faltering in the 2000 race by linking the Arizona Senator to an illegitimate Black baby (the baby in fact was a Bangladeshi child which Cindy McCain adopted and brought back from Asia). This tactic was utilized in South Carolina and would eventually give us the illustrious George Bush. They say time heals all wounds. Many people thought it was remarkable in 2004 when McCain campaigned with George Bush after the 2000 incident. But now we are seeing the essence of a man that prides himself on character. We are learning McCain’s time spent in the Hanoi Hilton did not create a moral man. When he returned from Vietnam he found a wife handicapped from a car accident while she waited for the POW to be released. He left her for an attractive wealthy heiress named Cindy Lou Hensley. And to trump it all he has hired the same Lee Atwater who brought down his campaign in 2000 with racist overtones. Are you seeing the picture clearly? So now you have the last desperate gamble from the heroic Vietnam veteran who has made character the central theme of the campaign even though we are facing some of the greatest challenges this nation has faced in sixty years. The Republicans are invoking the name Hussein, not just among the elite but among all loyal Republicans. The name itself is used to replace the N word. In my mind one’s birth name is no different than one’s skin color; it is something of which one has no control. And why would Senator Obama wish to change his name since the name Barack means Blessed and Hussein means Handsome? We can be sure that neither blessed nor handsome are terms that describe the nature of either McCain nor his campaign.

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Senator John McCain’s Veteran’s Affairs Report Card

Senator Barack Obama’s Veteran’s Affairs Report Card

Senator Joe Biden’s Veteran’s Affairs Report Card

Senator Claire McCaskill’s Veteran’s Affairs Report Card

Senator Kit Bond’s Veteran’s Affairs Report Card