TheLastManInAmerica

He’s been unable to shake it, no matter how hard he tries. It’s been a major hindrance to his campaign as well as a major weapon for Senator Obama to use against him. If he could do one thing, Senator John McCain would want to dismiss all comparisons to George W. Bush and continue his campaign, free of any ties the current president. Despite his best efforts, it has taken him up to now to get people to start viewing them in a different light. With Bush’s recent agreement to a “time horizon” for a withdrawal of troops in Iraq, it’s starting to look as though the two might not be on the same wavelength after all. But looks can be deceiving and it seems as though McCain won’t let Bush get away so easily. While it would be good for him to distance himself in the interest of swaying folks back to his side who have been deterred by their seeming to be in cahoots, McCain is holding on loosely to the president for some unknown reason and it once again begs the question: Where the hell does this man stand on anything?

            Obama has said a McCain presidency would essentially be a third term for Bush. And honestly, it’s been to discern the two in such matters as foreign policy. They’ve long held the same belief that we should “stay the course” in Iraq while remaining weary of engaging in talks with other “Axis of Evil” countries, Iran and North Korea. But now McCain is left scrambling as President Bush has apparently taken a 180 degree turn on positions he once so staunchly defended. Now agreeing to consider a “time horizon” for withdrawing troops in Iraq and Condoleezza Rice engaging in talks with North Korea as well as Under Secretary of State William J. Burns in Geneva last week to talk with Iran about their nuclear program, it’s unclear what McCain will do about the diverging road he appears to be traveling on.

            Once (a week or so ago) so steadfast in his slandering of Obama’s 16 month time table for withdrawal from Iraq, the Arizona Senator is now backpedaling, following Bush’s agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki to start planning a withdrawal, saying it is now, “A pretty good timetable,” though he won’t fully commit himself to a fixed schedule, saying a withdrawal should still be based on conditions on the ground. If this half-concession isn’t enough to dumbfound those who have kept tabs on his policy bashing of Obama, McCain is now backing down from his opposition to talking with the leaders of Iran and North Korea. But don’t let this fool you into thinking he’s running off to a four o’clock tea time with Ahmadinejad. No, he won’t fully give in and says that talks should not be president to president.

            So what are we to make of this man? In a week’s time he has gone from obstinacy in his refusal for a timetable to semi-acceptance. We’ve also seen him relent in his stance against talking to hostile nations. All of this has coincided with the current president’s change of mind. He has tried to distance himself Bush in the past and now he is pacing his stride. At least Obama can stand by what he believes in; having not supported the troop surge to begin with, he still says he wouldn’t have, even given its success. He isn’t, like McCain seems to be, checking the weather vain to see which direction the wind is blowing. No, Obama is playing the part of the wind, pushing the weather vain and showing the people where things are going. And all the while, McCain is standing there with his wet finger in the air and his head up his ass.    

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