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The fourth possibility is the nicest, but...

So, McCain approved ads smearing Obama for his association with William Ayers, but didn't say anything to Obama's face during the debate.

Seems like either:



  1. McCain doesn't actually buy the claim that associating with Ayers means Obama's dangerous. This makes him a hypocrite for approving ads he doesn't stand behind.

    or...
  2. McCain does believe Obama is dangerous but lacked the courage to confront him face to face Tuesday night. This makes him a coward.

    or...
  3. McCain believes Obama is dangerous, had the courage to confront him, but decided not to out of political considerations. That's not putting "country first", and makes him a traitor.

Is there an excluded middle I've missed?



Well, yeah. I think the most likely possibility is that McCain has lost control of his own campaign, and so the messages that he's saying in the debates aren't the same as the messages that his campaign staff are putting in TV ads. (edit: Now I'm sure. See my comment below.)



There's no dishonor in being an ineffective leader -- it's certainly better than being a 'hypocrite', a 'coward', or a 'traitor'. On the other hand, when you're running to become the leader of something really important (say, the country?), that's a devastating revelation.

Comments

M
It's really sad and scary to watch the depths the McCain team will sink to as they become more and more desperate. But not surprising, I suppose.
 
B_VinylBoy
In all honesty, I expected this kind of behavior to happen. Back during the Primary, a lot of Obama supporters got on Hillary's case about making things negative. I said that whatever Clinton could have said would be Child's Play compared to what Republicans will have in store for Obama. Now we see just how ugly it can get... and I'm sure it'll get worse.

Back before the RNC commenced, one of McCain's chief campaign managers stated that they were going to try and make this election more on character and not the issues. That spelled it out right there. The McCain camp has no choice but to try and smear their opponent because when it's about the issues they don't have a leg to stand on.
 
SpeedoGuy
I don't think McCain's a coward.

I don't think McCaim's a traitor.

I do think his ambition and his age are getting the best of him.

I get the feeling its something along the lines of your addendum option: He's out of touch with his own campaign machinery. He's in over his head and events are driving him.
 
mindseye
Wow. Wow.

After several days of him and Palin getting crowds fired up with rhetoric on how Barack Obama consorts with terrorists, John McCain dials it back in a big way. (see also this video).

This is the singularly most impressive thing I've ever heard John McCain say. At this point, I'm convinced that he's still got his moral compass but has lost control of the campaign to his advisors and handlers.

I believe (and hope) that it is too late for him to save his campaign, but if he continues to stand strong, and reclaim the reigns of his own campaign, he may save his reputation.

And in that respect, I'm behind him 100%.
 
rawbone8
I think if we look carefully at McCain's demeanor and body language, we see a man with conflicting emotions. It shows.

His ambition and sense of entitlement is writ large, as always. (That he shares in common with Obama) The course of impugning Obama and casting brutal innuendo does not seem authentic to McCain, it's the playbook his team have handed him. He shows that his heart is not in it, and his distaste for the task remains. It's not a wonder he has had the lack of eye contact and the verbal stumble using "That one!"

The anger and grumpinesss seems to be similar to Dole's dismay at some sap like Clinton overpowering him. Silverback outrage.
 

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