Will McCain (consciously or subconsiously) throw the race to a man of color?

David B. writes:

I have been thinking that McCain would run a very weak campaign against Obama, if they oppose each other this fall. Remember, George H.W. Bush practically mailed it in against Clinton in 1992. GHWB didn’t seem to care very much whether he won. I don’t think McCain would show the ferocity against Obama he does against conservatives in his own party. McCain will be 72 and had a nine hour operation for cancer in 2000.

Tonight, I looked at Vdare, and Steve Sailer has a piece on this subject.

LA replies:

That’s an interesting and plausible theory. In presidential elections, as in Superbowl games, the winner is the one who has the most will to win, who has the Force. Faced with an opponent who would be America’s first nonwhite president, wouldn’t McCain feel in his heart of hearts that it is time for this great racial consummation to occur? And this would drain away his will to win. He would in effect have handed the election to Obama.

I’m not saying this will happen. I’m saying it’s a plausible scenario.

As for the article by Sailer, whose writing often typifies everything bad about Internet writing, it’s an exercise in self-indulgence—lazily written, shapeless, and diffuse. He says one thing, then he wanders to some other thing, then he veers off into some other thing—whatever he feels like saying, he throws it into the article. I quit reading it when I was two-thirds through. If he’s not willing to exert the energy to make his article hold together, why should I exert the energy to read it?

David continues:

McCain will want to be praised by liberals. I can see McCain declaring that he would never stoop to negative campaigning that would “make race an issue.” He might say something like, “A divisive issue like immigration reform should be kept out of the campaign.” McCain will realize that there will be columns by liberals praising his noble behavior in defeat.

I just remembered that in 1996, Dole (like McCain this year, over 70) was almost as passive as GHWB was in 1992. After he had overcome Buchanan in the 1996 primaries, Dole did nothing for MONTHS. I remember The Weekly Standard quoting an unnamed GOP politician saying, “When is Dole going to do something?” After the election, Dole and Clinton met in the Oval Office and Clinton gave Dole some kind of award. Will we see McCain being rewarded for being a good loser?

Remember Jack Kemp’s debate performance against then-Vice President Al Gore? “Thanks Al,” Kemp said to his supposed opponent. I believe there will be a debate moment like this by McCain against either Clinton or Obama.

LA replies:

Your discussion of the exhaustion/passivity of Bush ‘92 and Dole ‘96 is good. But you’re forgetting that McCain has spunk, which they lacked. The operative factor in his case may not be age and indifference, but the irresistible acquiescence to blackness.

Tim W. writes:

I expect McCain to pull a Jack Kemp and practically apologize during one of the big debates for the GOP’s past record of alleged racism (or sexism, if he’s running against Hillary).

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 10, 2008 11:53 PM | Send