Op-Ed: Final Stop on the Double Talk Express

There are three Senate races still yet undecided from this years general election. The states of Alaska and Minnesota are engaged in contentious recounts, and Georgia will soon conduct a special election, which has ushered in a new mini campaign season.

I'd like to focus on the controversial runoff race down in Georgia between Republican Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin. Six years ago a hard hitting, negative and quite possibly dirty campaign ad was run by Saxby Chambliss to defeat Max Cleland, then the incumbent and a triple amputee who had lost those limbs fighting in the Vietnam War. Here is the text of that ad:

America faces terrorists and extremist dictators. Max Cleland runs television ads claiming he has the courage to lead. He says he supports President Bush at every opportunity, but that's not the truth. Since July Max Cleland has voted against the president's vital homeland security efforts 11 times. Max Cleland says he has the courage to lead but the record proves Max Cleland is just misleading.

The ad had images that portrayed the Democrat as being in league with Saddam Hussien and Osama bin Laden. At the time, Senator John McCain thought it was a dirty ad and here is what he said about that ad in 2002:

"I have never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield, it is worse than disgraceful. It's reprehensible."

Now in 2008, with the Democrats possibly in a position to gain a filibuster proof majority in the Senate, John McCain is down in Georgia wholeheartedly campaigning with Chambliss this week. Honoring fellow Vietnam vets, country first or party first? Of course John McCain supports the Republican in the race, but for him to be flying across the country to campaign after such a long and contentious election season is surprising. Even more surprising, but what probably should not be considering his recent history, is the fact that McCain is campaigning for this guy at all. Talk about double talk. John McCain has once again done a complete 180 degrees spin here. I mean, here is a guy that McCain admonished by essentially saying that he had broken the rules with the dirty ad he ran against a guy who gave so much for his country, as McCain had. But now he is now campaigning with the guy? Is this just politics as usual? I'd say yes, it is just politics. Chambliss' theme for the runoff has to do with not letting the Dems gain a super majority in the Senate, nothing else. The just defeated Republican nominee for president, who gave such an eloquent concession speech on election night about healing the wounds of the campaign and bringing the country together, will be actively campaigning in the run up to the special runoff election that has no message but to bring out the Republican base. Experts say that most people won't be voting. This once again begs the question of, who is the real John McCain? That was one of the big story lines in the past campaign. A lot of people fell in love with John McCain in 2000, a maverick willing to say things against his party. But then, that was 2000. His statements denouncing Saxby Chambliss came in 2002. But in 2004, 2006, 2008, he was preparing to run for the Republican nomination. In order to do that, he had to convert to the traditional conservative belief systems, and that is not who John McCain really is. Yet here he is, on the trail, along with a firebrand Democrat leaning Republican in the mold of Joe Lieberman, Zell Miller. With a well publicized meeting with his Presidential campaign opponent coming up Monday, much of the focus has been on what the two men will discuss. There is heavy speculation that President-elect Obama will be looking towards John McCain for leadership in the Senate on issues that they are both share an alike mind on. It will be interesting see if we are going to have a John McCain that spins back around, into the independent deal-maker from his past Senate years or not. If not, the question will remain about who is John McCain really? Is he the guy who ran for president in 2000 or 2008? The answer may eventually hound the Arizona Senator for the rest of his life.