New polling data in Arizona suggests that McCain may be a lot closer to the assisted living facility beckoning him that he believed. According to Phoenix’s New Times, “For the first time since 1994— when he was recovering from the Keating Five scandal— John McCain’s approval rating has hit 40 percent. Maybe Cindy or Meghan should run instead. McCain feels that aggressive gay bashing is his way back into the hearts— or whatever they have— of the wingnut base threatening to abandon him for Hate Talk Radio host and defeated former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. Teabaggers can’t think of a worse epithet to tar a Republican candidate with than to point out that he (or she) will be “another John McCain.”
McCain likes nothing more than to revel in his carefully crafted legend as a great military leader, which is nothing short of silly considering his actual record of one disaster after another, almost every one of them due to his unrelenting insubordination. Rep. Joe Sestak, on the other hand, is a successful Naval officer who served for 31 years and who doesn’t have to invent heroic talltales to bolster his image. He’s the real deal. And he’s man enough to stand up for equality for all American fighting men and women, When McCain, seeking to curry favor with homophobic teabaggers, attacked gay men and women fighting on the front lines for America’s defense Admiral Sestak came to their defense:
“As the senior ranking military Veteran in Congress, I am compelled to respond to Sen. McCain’s opposition to President Obama’s commitment to allowing all American troops to serve their country openly and honestly. How can a policy that has dismissed more than 13,000 trained, able, and honorable American servicemembers— including upwards of 800 troops with “mission critical” skills, like Arab linguists— be viewed as successful?
“Especially in a time of war, when our military is overstretched and our troops and their families are under unprecedented strain, we cannot afford to lose any more troops that the American people depend on for our national security. I agree with Sen. McCain that our military is the best in the world and the best in our nation’s history. That’s precisely why I have faith in the leadership capabilities of our officer corps and non-commissioned officers, as well as the dedication, professionalism, and integrity of our troops, to handle this transition without detriment to readiness or capability.
“The men and women who wear the cloth of this nation should be entitled to the rights they so heroically defend.”
You may have noticed that one of McCain’s closest friends and allies in the Senate, Arlen Specter, didn’t make a peep on behalf of gay people when McCain went on the attack. Time to replace Specter with Joe Sestak before Specter’s political lineage as an antecedent of both Coakley and Deeds delivers Pennsylvania’s Senate seat to a Republican far, far to the right of Scott Brown.
