A reader writes:
I’m not sure McCain fears that Obama will be more difficult to beat, as much as he fears how an Obama election would play out. If McCain were to retire from politics today, despite all his flaws, most of the country would still have a positive impression of him.
However, the right-wing spin machine will pull out all the stops this election, trying to make Obama some Anti-American Farrakhan type, doing whatever it takes to destroy him. Watching McCain on TV, it’s clear that’s not really what he wants out of the election, and he worries about how he will look given what his side of the aisle is likely to do.
Instead, McCain speaks of tolerance, goes to Memphis to talk about Dr. King, is planning campaign events in the inner cities, and generally refuses to attack Obama over things like Wright. There is no doubt that if Obama loses this fall it will be a painful day for large segments of this country, as it is doubtful that there will be an African American in the near future with the chance that Obama has today to be President. In this sense, McCain is running against history. I think McCain is concerned that win or lose, he will be associated with a strategy of race baiting and intolerance. In this sense, McCain faces a potentially tarnished legacy, and I suspect that he fears this as much as he does losing this Fall.
The Dish 