Once a great man?

A friend of mine, a strong supporter of Obama from the get-go, referred to McCain as having been "Once a great man".

I respond thusly:

McCain was never a great man.

He wasn't the most evil person either, and he has some likeable qualities. I actually don't think he's mean-spirited. Like any national Republican candidate, he has to appeal to some fear-addled bigots in order to turn a minority of well-off people into an electoral majority, and in a way it's sad, though also justified, that he should be held responsible for their actions.

But in terms of his character, I think his latest appearance on Letterman summed it up for me.

McCain: "I screwed up."

This is what McCain has - the ability to say "I screwed up" endearingly. It endeared him to the mainstream press, who believed that his ability to say "I screwed up" endearingly indicated a truthfulness and high sense of honor and principle. And they proceeded to shower praise on him from 1999 until a few weeks ago, when they finally got fed up with being duped. They should have got fed up with themselves rather than him, but I digress.

That McCain can admit he was wrong when he gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar is, I suppose, a good thing, as these things go. The problem is he has said "I screwed up" far too many times. And I forgive him. But you don't put a screw-up in a position of authority. He hasn't changed. He's always been a screw-up. He's never had a strong moral compass or an ability to influence people around him to do the right thing*.

The pundits loved him because they're screw-ups too. And that woman that made up the story. Hoo boy, that was a major screw-up.

I'm just glad that it appears that this country might... just... NOT... screw up this election!


*By 'right thing' I mean any principled stand, regardless of where in the ideological spectrum it might fall.