Sen. McCain endorses Blackwell?

Talk about how to hurt yourself with the voters in the middle. Here we have a man who cultivates his image as a maverick, one who slightly distances himself from the institutions he has willingly supported. During his battle with George Bush for the Republican nomination in 2000, he was being subjected to ugly smears and slimy innuendos generated from the Bush campaign. In response, he lost his temper and responded in kind by running dirty ads against Bush, trying to stem the damage. It didn’t work and at the conclusion of his loss in the South Carolina primary, he told his supporters “I’m not so naïve to believe that politics must never involve compromise. But I was raised to know that I should never sacrifice principle for personal ambition. I regret very much having done so” (1). Knowing that, why would he endorse Ken Blackwell for the Ohio governorship? This is the same Blackwell who reportedly played dirty partisan politics as a member of the Bush team, helping to disenfranchise voters and suppress new voter registrations and ultimately ensure the Bushies would steal the Ohio vote in 2004. This is the same Ken Blackwell who was widely criticized for insulting supporters of same-sex marriage by deeming it inferior to that of animals. John, this is the same Ken Blackwell who appears to be part of the Republican Party machine that slimed you.

Senator – say it isn’t so!

(1) John McCain, Worth The Fighting For, (Random House, 2002)