I must tell you that, for the life
of me, I still can't figure out, a: how McCain won the Republican
nomination, and, b: why he is still polling those numbers. If we look
at any of the major polls taken over the last six to eight months we
find a consistent trend vis-a-vis opposition to the war in Iraq;
dissatisfaction with the direction the country is going in; deep fears
regarding the economy and employment; concerns about the cost of health
care and the need for a viable universal health care program; a deep
and abiding abhorrence of George Bush and what he has done to the
country over the last seven years; and, most importantly, an almost
visceral desire for change.

So if all of the above is true, how
the hell does John McCain with his historical positions and current
flip-flops on those issues even come close to being the candidate who
could win in November?

I think he has two big things going for him that helps maintain his ability to gull the American people.

The first is the lingering images of 9/11/2001 which
have been seared into our collective memory. The real "shock and awe"
of that day coupled with Karl Rove's extremely effective co-opting of
that catastrophe as a political tool keeps the fear of another attack
and terrorism in general alive and well even today.This allows McCain
to continue to insert that lingering fear into his political bio and
create the illusion of being the only one who can keep the fight alive
until "victory" is achieved. As I have noted in previous posts, his
entire rhetorical bag of tricks always includes reference to his
military and war experience. (And he never
lets us forget the POW part.) This is one reason why he seems to
continue to poll so closely to Obama. And more importantly, this allows
him to continue his forceful support for an extremely unpopular war and
the delusional quest for ultimate victory. He runs contrary to every
issue noted above. But yet there he is.

And it is the second
factor which is what makes the first one work. And that is the tone of
reverence and respect with which the so-called mainstream media treats
McCain. They have bought into his self-manufactured image of the
"maverick", the guy who can't be bought, the guy who has the guts to go
against his own party, the anti-politician politician. But the fact is
that the mainstream media are as gullible as the Vegas audience at a
David Copperfield performance. They ooh and aah over every thing he
does forgetting all the while that the reality is that it's just smoke
and mirrors.