UPDATE: 10/13/08 7:53 p.m. - Wow, that didn't last long! Rather than discount what I think was a rather nifty bit of writing, I will be making a slight alteration to the last paragraph...
Dear Sen. McCain,
For months now, I have been condemning the direction of your campaign. When you hired Karl Rove's protege, Steve Schmidt, to be your campaign strategist, I was disappointed. When you hired Tucker Eskew, the man who generated the push polling in South Carolina accusing you of 'fathering a black child', I was scandalized. Stocking your campaign staff with the very people that used the most vile tactics against you in 2000 caused me to believe that you would do anything to win this election.
To be honest, when you selected Gov. Sarah Palin as your running mate, my first response was laughter. She was under investigation for abuse of power, and for a campaign that was running on your 'experience', well let's just say she's even greener behind the ears than your opponent. After more thought, however, I became angry. Angry that you would do something so cynical, so desperate as choose someone so inadequate for the position that she aspired. I saw you as cementing your place alongside George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove as people who have taken politics to depths that this country has never before experienced.
Frankly, sir, you have run a campaign that is without honor. For a man who served his country, who was subjected to horrors I don't even wish to imagine, and has been treated as a hero, your campaign has been a disgrace. Advertisements insinuating that Barack Obama wants to teach sex education to kindergartners, has ties to terrorists, have been scraping the bottom of the character assassination barrel. I understand that you see this as your last chance at the Presidency, and it is slipping away.
On Saturday, October 4th, your running mate signalled the new direction your campaign was taking - distract from the economy, from real issues, and focus on Obama's character. Linking him with terrorism, standing by as the crowd yells 'kill him', 'traitor', 'off with his head', and
you say nothing. People introducing you and Gov. Palin, invoking fear by using Barack Hussein Obama's middle name, playing on the basest of emotions in the crowd. And,
you say nothing. And then, after three days of these scurrilous attacks, when you are face-to-face with Sen. Obama at the debate -
you say nothing. No William Ayers, no 'who is the real Barack Obama' - nothing.
Did it strike a chord when Sen. Obama basically called you out in a radio interview? All but calling you a coward for saying things behind his back, but not being willing to say them to his face...that must have stung. And still, you stood by silently while your running mate, your wife and your other surrogates made this a campaign about associations instead of issues. When did it hit you? When did you realize that the people in the crowds weren't
for you, but
against Obama? Did you get a glimpse into the gaping maw of hatred, and see yourself being swallowed by it?
Whatever the reason, you finally had enough. You reclaimed that one last shred of honor you had, and spoke up. You stated quite clearly what most of us already know, that Barack Obama is a public servant, family man, American. It must have been disheartening, hearing the boos. The stench of hatred wafting off of those people must have been suffocating. But, you went on, trying to return the discussion to issues, not personalities. I can only think that you looked into the future, after you've lost the election, and it was a future bereft of honor, of the very soul that you sold in your desire to win. Finally, it seems to have occurred to you that if you were going to win or lose, it was by being the best candidate you could be. The more you allow the people who only support you when you espouse hatred to drive your campaign, the more it diminishes you as a man. And, if you continue to run the campaign that the people who know you best say that you would prefer to run, when you wake up on November 5th, you will at least have the comfort of your honor and your soul.
Whatever drove you to decide to turn the last weeks of this campaign
toward the chasm of racist politics, you have done it. And for that, sir,
you have condemned yourself to a very bleak future, indeed.
J.M. Ferretti
