So John McCain is attacked because he is a figure of the RINOS in the party. I'd go further than that. McCain is a Progressive, a Republican Progressive. Look at the policies: he supported Cap and Trade, opposed drilling with some minor and vague concessions when oil spiked, and bought into the AGW myth. He had a health plan that was said by some to be better than Obama's, but he didn't understand it and couldn't articulate it. He refused to mention, until too late and then only timidly, the duplicity of his fellow lawmakers in the Fannie/Freddie crash that heralded the fall of the economic house of cards. And worst of all, he joined the braying jackasses of the Democratic party and the media in proclaiming "greedy Wall Street" to be the sole villain, while rushing to endorse the TARP.
And let's not forget his joint collaboration with Ted Kennedy on the "Shamnesty" bill, and with another one of his many Dem buddies, Russ Feingold, in the assault on the first amendment known as CFR.
Obama easily co-opted his issues, as the Iraq war faded in significance with the success of the surge, until there wasn't much left to distinguish McCain from Obama -- except for the glaring age handicap and, of course, Sarah Palin, who he promptly stabbed in the back at the first post-failure opportunity.
I can understand people's anger toward the man, but there's really no need to attack McCain personally -- his political record speaks for itself.
I think you've captured the essence of McCain very well, he is a Republican progressive. Did he not in fact compare himself to Teddy Roosevelt or least mention Roosevelt as his hero?
For some time I had been pondering the effects of McCain's legacy from his grandfather and father as admirals in the Navy, his education at the Naval Academy, and his years of service. From people I know who have had similar experiences (without the searing experience he endured as a POW), I have found there is a third axis of orientation besides the usual right-left axis that we see.
In other words, there is the right way, the wrong way, and the Navy way. There is a Republican way, a Democrat way, and the third way-the way of duty and integrity. The third axis breeds an impatience with partisanship and a felt need to "do the right thing." I think some of that can be seen in Eisenhower's political career. It tends to react vehemently when it sees betrayal or failure of integrity. This might explain why we see McCain so often feuding.
The problem with a third axis candidate is that an ultimate premium is placed on him seeing the world's problems and solutions correctly. This brings us to the brink of all kinds of dangers if he gets it wrong. He does not tend to see that a government with built-in checks and balances requires political parties to fill in the gaps and make the government function. In other words he tends not to see the need for party. He is oriented toward the ideal of government as a patriot and the need to solve a given problem as a self conceived man of reality.
As I recall, Teddy Roosevelt had his problems working within the party, too.
