Former Bush adviser Karl Rove has accused Sen. John McCain of going “one step too far” in some of his recent ads attacking Sen. Barack Obama, according to CNN.com.
In case you didn’t grasp the gravity of it, that was Karl Rove, the man who masterminded two of the sleaziest, dirtiest Presidential campaigns ever, the 2000 and 2004 elections. Though it was never proven, many think Rove was behind the “Swiftboat Veterans for Truth” ads that slung mud at and, in many ways, derailed Sen. John Kerry’s bid for president.
When a man accused of so much wrongdoing (he was involved in nearly every major scandal that has surrounded the Bush presidency) says that his own political party is running dirty ads, isn’t it time to listen?
It is so hard to sit back and watch our nation being sold off into an ad campaign. No longer is the run for the White House, or any political office about being the best qualified candidate, rather it has turned into who can best market themselves.
Sarah Palin is the least qualified Vice Presidential candidate of all time, yet all the press surrounding her concerns her looks, family life and so-called “values.” All of which are distractions from the fact that she has no foreign policy experience, a very short record in Washington and previously was a mayor of a town of less than 10,000. Does anyone care that she just got her first passport a year ago? Or that she wants to drill in a wildlife refuge in Alaska? Or how about the fact that she supported a group of people who were pushing for Alaska’s secession from the United States? Or that she allowed the hunting of wolves from planes (which was outlawed in the US three decades ago)?
Judging from recent polls, we as a country don’t care.
But would that be the case if the circumstances were reversed? What if Sen. Obama’s daughter was pregnant and unwed? Can anyone honestly say that the McCain camp wouldn’t circle the issue like a pack of vultures?
It seems as if what’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander anymore. Republicans freely attack the values of democrats, but when the roles are reversed, republicans, specifically in the McCain camp, say that any criticism is a low-blow. These are the same people that want to teach abstinence in schools – shouldn’t they be held to a higher standard since they’re the ones who routinely claim to take the moral high-ground?
Attack ads are simply a distraction from reality. The republicans can twist words all they want, but at the end of the day, they’re like the big bully who is self-conscious of his flaws, preemptively attacking others to avoid getting picked on himself.
