The scales have fallen from the eyes of the pundit class. The Maverick Myth, clearly a sham, is now increasingly being rejected among McCain's former "base", the media. In an honest and somewhat regretful piece today, Josh Marshall gives an insider's view from the pundit class showing that this campaign has cost John McCain his long-cultivated reputation and it will likely never return.
He notes this quote in Politico from Elizabeth Drew, a McCain biographer and former champion of the Maverick Myth:
"McCain's recent conduct of his campaign - his willingness to lie repeatedly (including in his acceptance speech) and to play Russian roulette with the vice-presidency, in order to fulfill his long-held ambition - has reinforced my earlier, and growing, sense that John McCain is not a principled man. In fact, it's not clear who he is."
This is the kind of stuff that John McCain's biggest fans are saying about him.
Josh Marshall goes on:
When Bob Dole lost to Bill Clinton in 1996, if anything it enhanced his reputation and popularity. His reputation, what people thought of him, wasn't wrecked or even damaged by the campaign. The future seems quite different for McCain if he loses this election.My verdict may be a severe one but I think a lot of people -- a lot of former admirers -- are coming around to agreeing with the general outlines. McCain has revealed himself as a liar well outside the permissive standards applied to politicians. He's shown himself to be reckless to the point of instability, repeatedly putting the country at risk (exploiting the Georgia crisis, picking Palin, storming the bailout negotiations) for transparently self-serving reasons. And in too many ways to count, he's conducted his campaign in disgraceful and dishonorable ways.
Perhaps the most telling thing is that McCain was willing flush that reputation down the drain, betray everything he pretended to stand for, all to be president. If he wins, it will all have been worth it. He was happy to sacrifice one for the other. And now he may end up with neither.
Ouch. This is the growing conventional wisdom. McCain has truly "sold his soul" for this campaign. Whatever was once honest or decent in the man has long since been sacrificed at the altar of a Rovian political campaign for the presidency. A reputation takes a lifetime to build, and apparently just a few moments to destroy.
Moments like this one:
After that, McCain deserves to lose whatever he reputation he may have cultivated. When it mattered, McCain showed his true nature - more of the same.
The so-called "debates" had the lowest viewership in America --in Phoenix. When asked why some voters said, essentially, they are sick of him and couldn't watch.
He's finished, and he is earning those just desserts everyday. I don't feel sorry for him, I think he's just revealed his true character. A bad guy.