John McCain is a victim of torture and a broken man who has demonstrated repeatedly that he is willing to sell out his principles for political power.
That is the frame that Democrats and progressives need to aggressively push if they want to win in November. That is how they need to redefine McCain.
Barack Obama only hurt himself when he opened a speech in Ohio with “John McCain is a great American hero.”
What he should have said was “John McCain has my greatest sympathy for what happened to him in Vietnam, but his policies are bad for America.”
It is not even dishonest like the “Swift boat” attacks were; it is the absolute, documented truth. Right now John Sidney McCain III is running around the country touting his “war hero” image and getting a free pass by the media, who appear too busy buying him his favorite doughnuts to ask any tough questions.
I have written in other essays about framing and how it is the most vital skill Democrats and progressives need to learn in order to win in modern politics. One of the most key elements of framing in politics is to define your opponent and define yourself in the public’s mind. Democrats have a very bad habit of buying into Republican frames and thus allowing Republicans to define themselves, their opponents and the entire debate in the public’s mind. This is why we have the common media narrative of Republicans as ‘macho’ and Democrats as ‘weak’ even though the facts do not match the story. It is a testament to how good cons have gotten at framing and to the inherent bias by the conservative corporate media.
John Sidney McCain III is no more of a hero than every other soldier who actually did go fight in Vietnam.
John McCain is a victim of torture, a victim of bad policies that put him in Vietnam in the first place and ultimately a victim of his own hubris that comes from his elite status in society as the son of an Admiral.
There is a difference between feeling really sorry for someone and considering him or her a “hero”.
Sure there is some argument to be made that everyone who goes to war at all is a “hero” in some sense of the term. But no one can expect that to be enough to warrant the title “war hero” when running for national political office, yet John McCain is trying to do it based on his story that he got shot down in Vietnam, taken prisoner and held captive for five years.
What exactly is a “Hero” anyway?
The root of the word is the Greek word “Heros” which in Greek mythology was someone who was blessed by the gods.
The dictionary says a hero is:
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. 2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal:
Generally a hero has come to mean someone who as the second definition states, “performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal”.
Martin Luther King, Jr. for example, is rightly considered a hero for his non-violent approach to civil rights and his unwavering courage in sticking to his message in the face of threats that ultimately were fulfilled.
I am a classic Gen x'er with a short attention span, high intelligence, low motivation and an overabundance of cynicism that the world just keeps re-justifying. At various points in my life I have been a Journalist, a Personal Trainer, a D.J., a Photographer, a Paralegal, a Waiter, a Pizza Deliverator and a Network Engineer...among other things.
Good article. Calling McCain a war hero is simply a political slogan. Being a prisoner of war and being tortured is really terrible; but that does not make one a hero.
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Philip Pease (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 110 comments)
on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 10:57:22 AM
McCain may get in simply due to Democrat stupidity
This is not a negative comment about anything regarding what you (the author) wrote. It is a sad commentary I would like to add to the discussion:
I can't believe that Democrats have become so stupid as to let their party be this divided and almost guaranteeing that John McCain will get into the White House! Democrats have pitched a tizzy fit for the last almost eight years on how SICK they're supposed to be of Bush and the Republicans, but here is their big chance to change things and for the first time in more than a decade to actually put a Democrat in the White House and move Congress toward a rational majority, and what do they do? 38 percent, according to the Tokyo Rose Mainstream Media pundit, Matt Lauer, 38 percent of Democrats say they will vote for John McCain if their choice of nominee doesn't make it to the Democratic nomination. I mean, how STUPID is that? I guess they're not sick enough of mortgage foreclosures, sky-high gas and oil prices, food inflation, corruption in government, the Iraq war and a decaying infrastructure and youth violence and ethics that are going to he[[ to consider putting aside petty differences in order to get a Democrat in to start dealing with urgent national problems. Instead, like babies in a playpen, they fight and scream because they don't get their own way; stomp and get red in the face like three-year-olds and will end up putting a clone of George W. Bush and his failed policies BACK into the White House. Can you spell the word S-T-U-P-I-D for me?
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JOHN LORENZ (15 articles, 61 quicklinks, 25 diaries, 121 comments)
on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 11:39:42 AM
I agree but we could have said same thing about W.
He was a victim of a world he hadn't built and was molded like a boy under electroshock therapy into a a being that functioned but could only barely comprehend reality--that is, he has been left unfeeling like an autistic to the other.
That also comes from hanging around Dick Cheney.
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ALONE (119 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 269 comments)
on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 11:59:09 AM
Oh please, this is not the direction to head. This is Lee Atwater in Democratic drag. John McCain is a real hero. You need to go back are read about how he stood up to the North Vietnamese. How he refused to give in and how he did not barter his way out of captivity to save himself. He still suffers the scars of that treatment.Look closely at how he holds himself and at his jaw.
John McCain IS a man of high moral principles who has fought earmarks in Congress and supports responsible, open, accountable government. Whether you agree with McCain's political philosophy or not, don't denigrate a man who is basically an honorable person. If you oppose him, make his policy differences the basis for that decision, not innuendo, dirt and mud. We're all sick of that kind of politics. McCain doesn't endorse it. Obama doesn't endorse it and neither should the American public. One honorable person is worth a truckload of political opportunists who care more about power, control and opportunity than policy, principle or standards.
There is ABSOLUTELY no reason to embrace mud, dirt and garbage throwing to win a Presidential election. If that is what people think politics should be about, heaven help us all. The “whatever it takes” type of attitude, that reliance on the negative has a pervasive influence on the whole political process. Compromise your values to win and you will not hesitate to compromise them later when faced with other difficult decisions. It becomes all about winning and no longer about the process, standards and values that define the proper goals. Why base any decision on reason or logic, when you can win what you want by virtue of throwing dirt and mud? What you "want" is all that matters., right?
It is the very reason Bush has failed the US. It was always about winning. It was always about coming out on top. It was never about principle, standards, or values with Bush/Cheney.It was always about “whatever it takes”. Lie, cheat, break laws, abuse power, anything goes because that is the legacy of this philosophy. That is where that path in life takes you. You want more of the same?
Let’s end the tabloid politics of right wing conservatives who think life is about what they want, not what America wants or needs. Let’s end the fear mongering, race baiting, divisive, Lee Atwater politics of the past. If you can’t convince the American people, if your candidate cannot convince the American people they are the best person to be President they should lose. Let’s not allow mud and dirt to be used to help them win. Does it matter whether they are running for President, Senator, Governor or any other elected official?We want the best people, not the ones who know how to fight the dirtiest.
Let’s devote our energy to ending this kind of garbage. Let’s jump on every negative campaign effort that relies on it and let people know exactly why it is being used and exactly what it means when people depend on it. Let’s get people angry at anyone who would employ such actions to tip an election. Let’s turn the public against these tactics instead of simply being complacent about them and marvel at their effectiveness to the point people feel they are a necessary element to winning.
These efforts work only because people don’t attack them aggressively for what they are. These are efforts to compensate for a weak candidate. These are efforts to make up for a candidate’s inability to compete on a level playing field. They are efforts to win the only way some people know how, by fighting dirty, by sacrificing principles and values because they are afraid they will lose through an honest and open process. They are used by those who are AFRAID their values and their principles are insufficient to sway voters to support them.
Until we attack negative campaign efforts. Until we denounce them for what they really are and why they are used, people will think they are okay.Politicians and advisors will continue to use them and declare all the while "hey that's politics." No, it’s garbage. It's compensating for a weak candidate. It's detrimental to our entire political process. In a society where we seek out the best leaders, this provides us with the worst. It isn't about who you, I or anyone else wants to win. It is about what the American people want and I trust collectively they will make the correct decision. But, they need to make that decision without dealling with a tainted race. They will never have a chance to make an informed decision if our political process is smeared with so much dirt no one can see the real differences, know the real issues or know the real people they are voting on in an election. This must stop, NOW. Let's end it FOREVER.
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Peter Wedlund (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 154 comments)
on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 1:22:30 PM
Framing a candidate on your own, as long as it isn't false or distorted, is simply not buying the propaganda.
I have no idea if these claims are true, but if they are, it would be better for Democrats to speak from this context: "torture victim" not "war hero." That woudln't be false, and it wouldn't be distorting; it would be another way of seeing the truth (if it is the truth.)
I quite agree that Democrats have been easily manipulated by Republicans, and I think that simply accepting their frame of reference as a given is and has been a losing game.
Since McCain's election would be a pure disaster, for this country and this planet, bringing a little "real" straight talk into the election dialogue wouldn't be a bad thing at all. I do know that a lot of people do revere McCain as a hero. So, if he really isn't, that's important, and it doesn't have to be a smear to point it out, oh so gently.
Frankly, Democrats haven't been hugely ethical all the time, either, but the author's point on framing is true: Democrats have been lousy at it, and Republicans have been good at it; that's not the dirty politics part, that's the CAMPAIGN part.
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Douglas Smyth (16 articles, 3 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 54 comments)
on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 7:10:29 PM
I am not a McCain supporter or a Republican. However, I can tell you this much, McCain did not spend his days in the Hanoi Hilton, relaxing and enjoying the creature comforts of home. He was tortured. He was beaten. He was abused by his captors. When McCain says something is torture, you can take it to the bank, he knows what torture is. He lived it. Some US soldiers broke under this treatment. McCain did not break. McCain never gave in to the Vietnamese. Yeah, I would call him a hero. He has stood his ground, defended his principles, fought for what he has felt was right.
You don't have to agree with the policies of someone, their political inclinations to respect them for who and what they are. It is time campaigns got past the Willie Horton leaves, the Swift boat veterans, the Rev. Wright smears and other seedy efforts to distract, scare or frighten voters from looking at a candidate.
I don't think it is bad the Democrats haven't been good at these efforts. I hope they never do. It is a sorry day for America when winning is based on how effectively one runs negative campaigns rather than campaigns that deal with issues. I think it is the public which must demand a higher standard in politics. We accept this crap from politicians we elect and that is all they will ever provide us.
People make their best decisions when presented with rational information and facts. Good decisions are never made based on lies, inuendo and misleading information. That is garbage, pure and simple. There is a well known scientific study that shows the collective wisdom of people is always better than the smartest person in a group. That is, collectively people will make better decisions than the smartest person you can find. However, their decisions must be based on good information, not misleading information.
If we want to improve the political process we must demand an END to the policy of negative campaigning. It serves no purpose other than to confuse voters and provide an unfair advantage to a candidate who is otherwise weak. It's purpose is to distract and not enlighten voters. If the public would ban together and attack those who engage in these practices and explain why they are used perhaps the public will wise up and rebel against their use. I would love nother more than for the candidate who decides to fight dirty to be punished in the voting booth. It would send a strong signal to future politicians this type of behavior will not be tolerated. The public is not so stupid they can't grasp the purpose of negative campaigning.
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Peter Wedlund (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 154 comments)
on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 11:04:52 PM
It is not "negative campaigning" to point out the facts of what happened to McCain and the hypocrisy of someone who was himself broken by torture to turn around and support torture by the United States now. The facts are the facts and John McCain voted against banning torture by the United States. That makes his story of being tortured fair game for Democrats to bring up and talk about from the frame of hypocrisy.
The point is not simply attacking McCain.
The point is to stop accepting whatever frame John McCain wants to put on himself (war "hero") and start framing him ourselves (victim of torture).
If we are too worried about being percieved as "mean" we WILL LOSE in November.
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kpominville (16 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 14 comments)
on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 9:01:24 AM
I say don't play up his war prisoner record, play up his ideals or lack of ideals. McCain is just like George Bush in the fact his only purpose is to look out for the interests of big corporations. The rural people that always vote republican need to be made aware of the fact that he believes in a free market that will continue to drive down their wages, continue rising gas prices, continue the war in Iraq for the sake of defense companies, continue the outsourcing of every kind of American job, an unlimited visa worker program to displace those who's job just cant be moved offshore, and last but not least amnesty for illegal immigrants so they can undercut wages and put Americans out of work.
What rural America needs to realize is that McCain and the Republican party are their worst nightmare. I told this to some rural Republicans and their response was The Democratic party has given me plenty of nightmares. I didn't have much to refute his claim. Democrats need to demonstrate action to win back rural America. Image building will also help, nascar and country music are things they identify with and trust can be gained through these venues. Republicans are all ready using these two items.
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Gary Denson (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 208 comments)
on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 6:07:29 PM
