By R. James Towe
The vitriolic atmosphere of last night’s final Republican presidential debate at the Reagan Library further showcased John McCain’s temper and obvious dislike for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
The unsettling and sometimes distasteful attacks McCain lodged at Romney seemed to express an outrage at anyone who might question his credentials or his views. Does McCain, because of his war hero status, believe the country owes him the presidency? Certainly, the nation is indebted to his service and sacrifice, but as a long time player in the game of national politics, he should stop being surprised every time a candidate questions his conservative credentials.
Romney ran ‘negative’ commercials in early primaries, and McCain will never forgive him. The former Massachusetts governor had the audacity to question some of the less than conservative alliances McCain has made over the years.
Misrepresenting Romney’s positions on an Iraq timetable and his record as governor of was anything but ‘straight talk’. It was flat-out dirty campaigning, right out of an old Louisiana political play book. I wish McCain would stop the fiction: he doesn’t have a moral high ground. He plays as nasty as the worst of them. Call him ‘Clinton light’.
It’s clear that McCain has a disdain for the conservative base of the Party, and would like nothing better than to return us to the ‘country club’ constituency which dominated the Party before Ronald Reagan.
