First, what’s really going on here with the McCain campaign’s relentless pursuit of Obama’s association with Bill Ayers?  What do Obama’s associations actually reveal about him?   Republicans, as they are apt to do during election cycles, are re-litigating the culture wars of the 1960s.  From a culture-war perspective, Obama’s associations tell us that he cut his political teeth in liberal, Chicago circles.  The truth is Obama infrequently interacted with someone who adopted illegitimate means of fighting the establishment (Bill Ayers) and someone who had and has legitimate gripes against the establishment (Rev. Wright).  This tells us that Obama may be liberal.  Does this information tell us he’s untrustworthy?  No.  Do these associations reveal poor judgment?  That depends on your own ideological perspective.  Do they expose a traitor?  Absolutely not!!  This is where the McCain campaign shifts from rough, but fair, politics to reckless partisanship. Republicans always lose me when they make liberalism foreign and un-American.  However, it’s hard to make liberalism un-American when a Republican administration is nationalizing key sectors of the economy (attendees of McCain-Palin rallies should be afraid of the socialists already in the White House).  Their tactics become dangerous when they purposefully draw upon bigotry and xenophobia to paint a family-man, father of two daughters, who has lived the American dream as an American nightmare.  But this is all they have. We’re not in the middle of a culture war; we’re in the middle of an economic catastrophe.  A frontal assault on liberalism will fail: Reaganomics is in its last throes.  So, unable to beat up on liberalism, they besmirch the good name of a good man.  

What do McCain’s associations tells us about McCain?  From the culture-war perspective, he cut his political teeth in the establishment.   He befriended members of the establishment who terrorized American democracy (G. Gordon Liddy), brave individuals who defended the establishment (Bud Day), and corrupt individuals who defended the establishment (John Singlaub).  But his associations also expose a man who would betray his principles for political expediency.   McCain associated with Marylin Shannon, a delegate to the Republican National Convention, who is violently anti-gay and who defended an anti-abortion terrorist. He associated with Charles H. Keating (taking campaign donations from him, flying on his corporate plain, and vacationing at this housing in the Bahamas) whose corruption led to thousands of families losing their life savings.  He mended fences with the “agents of intolerance” and expanded his list of bigoted religious associates to include Pastor Hagee and Rod Parsley.  Finally, he pals around with Palin, who cavorted with crazed, Alaskan separatists and attended a church that allies itself with Jews for Jesus and anti-gay movements. These people are not his ideological or spiritual allies.  I actually believe, in his heart of hearts, McCain disdains them.  There’s something about Shannon, Keating, Hagee, and even Palin that must offend McCain’s ideological sensibilities. He’s not one of them: he has never been.  Nevertheless, he associated with them to achieve political power, which doesn’t say much about his character or judgment.   

Again, we’re not in a culture war.  McCain’s pro-establishment credentials are not assets in this environment. His new relationships with the religious right and Sarah Palin may excite the base of his party but they scare the vital center.  We’re in serious times. Unfortunately for McCain, we’re in a moment that requires liberalism and political leadership that puts principle over politics, country above contempt and contention.