George Will, whom I have not agreed with much on lately, advises in today’s column that John McCain’s biggest problem is John McCain himself [1]. That much I agree with, but not in precisely the form on which Will places the blame:
In 2004, Wisconsin Right to Life, a small citizens group that posed no conceivable threat of “corruption” to anyone or anything, wanted to run an ad urging Wisconsin [2]‘s senators, Herb Kohl [3] and Russ Feingold [4], not to participate in Senate filibusters against the president’s judicial nominations. But Feingold was running for reelection, and WRTL’s proposed ad was declared an “electioneering communication” (any radio or TV ad that “refers to” a candidate for federal office). And the McCain-Feingold blackout period banned such ads 30 days before a primary or 60 days before a general election — when ads matter most because people are paying attention to politics.
The WRTL case could have been an occasion for McCain to say: This is not what McCain-Feingold was designed to do — it was intended to stop the (as he sees it) “corruption” of elected officials soliciting large “soft money” contributions (not for particular candidates, but for party-building and other activities). Or he could at least have kept quiet. Instead, he went out of his way to stick his thumb in the eye of critics: With his brief to the Supreme Court, he underscored the fact that suppressing inconvenient (to politicians) speech is exactly what he and his McCain-Feingold allies — Fred Thompson [5] was an important one — had in mind.
Here’s the thing George, that you have yet to reckon with. This is not a case of McCain mis handling the situation, nor is it a case of him being taken out of context. That was precisely the effort of McCain Feingold, as he states. Give McCain credit at least for telling the truth, if a little belatedly. Many of us outside the beltway when McCain Feingold was originally being contemplated stated that that was exactly what the intent was. McCain was nice enough to come along and confirm those suspicions for us. It was a point of compromise with the far leftist, Feingold. He’s just recently started to figure out just how much e managed to give away… even though w had it figured out long ago.
As the effects of McCain Feingold become more and more pronounced, the American people, particularly center to right, are starting to understand the damage that John McCain has done. Particularly, McCain himself… no small irony. In McCain Feingold, what we have, is John McCain becoming a willing tool for the left, if an unwitting one. I am forced to remember Mona Charen and her description of such people as “useful idiots”. Thus, his support is even lower in 2008, than it was in 2004.
And give Will credit as well, when he points out the ‘fitting irony” that McCain’s campaign suffers from the candidate’s own fundamental stupidity… of which McCain Feingold is a merely an indicator.
Also Blogging: Outside the Beltway [6],The Politico [7]