While the presidential election is still weeks away, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) seems to be on the path to the Oval Office. For the second time in the past decade, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will fail to reach the presidency because of one man: George W. Bush. The 43rd president has proven to be a cancer to a McCain candidacy.
The relationship between Bush and McCain has always been turbulent. The root of this disdain can be traced back all the way to the year 2000. After a major McCain victory in New Hampshire, a fearful Bush used smear tactics against him in South Carolina. If McCain had won South Carolina, he would have been on his way to winning the Republican nomination.
Karl Rove was willing to prevent this at any price. In a move like something out of Watergate, the Bush campaign allegedly spread rumors that McCain fathered a black child and that his wife used drugs. Although most people hate negative campaigning, it worked. McCain lost significantly in South Carolina, which led to a devastating overall loss for the Arizona senator.
After the primary season ended, McCain was furious at Bush for using dirty tactics to destroy his campaign. He even referred to Bush as "a combination of the cowardly lion, the tin man and the scarecrow," meaning that he thought Bush had no courage, no heart and even no brain. McCain believed that his chances to be commander-in-chief were gone.
Much to McCain's surprise, he got one more chance to run for president. But this has proven to be one more chance for Bush to spoil. While McCain has agreed with Bush on a fair amount of issues, the senator from Arizona has also disagreed with the president on some major topics. McCain sponsored the McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act against the will of the Bush administration. He voted against the Bush tax cuts on moral and fiscal grounds. McCain further disagreed with Bush on climate change, HMO reform, torture policy and gun laws.
The most notable disagreement has been on the war in Iraq. McCain proved to be the leading critic of Bush's strategy in the war. Though he was harangued by many for pointing out that a surge in troops was necessary, the strategy was eventually implemented and has proved successful.
All these differences were irrelevant, as Obama has managed to make Bush an albatross around McCain's neck. In the last debate, Obama mentioned that McCain has been "a vigorous supporter of President Bush." Obama does have strength behind his argument, as McCain has had to move uncomfortably closer toward Bush and the right-wing members of the Republican Party to gain the support of the base.
The senator from Illinois also knows that by painting Bush and McCain with the same brush, he has guaranteed himself victory. Bush has been one of the most ineffective presidents in our country's history, having failed on almost every major policy issue. Even though McCain and Bush are quite different and their relationship is uncertain, the strategy has prevailed. Most Americans view McCain as more of the same, when in fact he is a maverick. Bush has caused severe damage to the Republican Party, and the person on the receiving end of this damage is Senator John McCain. Michael Bendetson is a freshman who has not yet declared a major.
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