McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
It's primary day for John McCain. Though by all accounts McCain will trounce his caricature of an opponent J.D. Hayworth, Tunku Varadarajan at The Daily Beast is nonetheless feeling sorry for the maverick.
He calls this "McCain's Embarrassing Last Act." He says McCain is the "Liza Minnelli of American politics"--he's "hanging on a little too long, at great cost to [his] public image." McCain's campaign against Hayworth? "Tawdry, unseemly, yucky."
“Barnacle McCain” is the way one might characterize the senior senator from Arizona, now fused so ferociously to the tidal rocks of a fifth term that he will say pretty much anything, no matter how much the utterance is at odds with his older, saner positions, in order to secure his own reelection.
Why? In his post-2008 election malaise, he gave into the devil of all vices, insecurity. Varadarajan continues:
McCain has conducted himself like a sore and unpleasant loser since his defeat by Obama, without ever plumbing those Al Gore depths in the sore-loss stakes....He seems to have taken deeply personal offense at the loss, and it has weakened him to the point where Hayworth, a Tea Party caricature whom Palin cannot bring herself to support, has forced McCain to spend $20 million to defend his Senate seat. Insecurity is a very expensive vice.
Is it time for McCain throw his towel in? It's almost too late for him to turn back now. The perfect chance for him to retire with dignity was in the aftermath of Nov 4, 2008. Now, he will surely be reelected to a fifth term as U.S. Senator, which means his embarrassing last act will continue in the limelight for another six years.
I hope McCain peacefully eases into retirement before he hits the final scene of that final act of life--the last of his "seven ages," as Shakespeare would have it.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages...
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Poor McCain--no wonder Varadarajan feels sorry for him.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
Good post. Really, really bad image. (Shudder.)
Jul '10
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
The fact that guys like McCain, Gore and Kerry come utterly unglued when they lose a Presidential race gives us an unsettling insight into their psyches.
They're sort of like rejected suitors who resort to stalking their inamorata, constantly seeking to remind her that she really didn't deserve them, anyway.
May '10
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
I totally dislike the analogy. That would make the four-star admiral, John S. McCain, Jr, a drug-addled, gay icon. It doesn't work.
McCain is a victim of the GOP next-in-line mentality that was discussed earlier on this site. The Democrats stopped doing that after they recycled Adlai Stevenson in 1956. Now, they just throw their losers to the curb.
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
The truly interesting point is that a changing public mood compelled the Maverick to remake himself as the Conservative -- outspending a genuine conservative by ten to one -- in order to clinch the nomination to run for another term. And just after running for president.
Jul '10
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
But the scary part is that he'll be around for 6 more years, looking for his big chance at a legacy, which means heroically reaching across the aisle. Once the people of Arizona elect him, he will promptly betray them on "comprehensive immigration reform", mark my words.
Aug '10
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
I'm with EJHill, this isn't a case of oncoming senility or blindness. It's plain old clinging to power, and it affects politicians of all ages.
It may be more striking in McCain's case because of the Presidential run, but this isn't the first time a contender got thrown by his party's suddenly changing mood--remember McCain's best bud, former Democrat yet current Senator Joe Lieberman? The next in line mentality may be stronger on the GOP side than the Dems, but that mentality mainly affects the professional pols, not those persistent little guys called "voters".
McCain's insecurity is well earned; he's always been the guy who makes the outrageous deals with the Dems ("Gang of 14" anyone?), who enables government for the sake of government, then chases TV cameras to brag about it all. Well, those pesky voters aren't in the mood to put up with Washingtonian enablers right now--let him scurry and spend and sweat for a bit. I just wish he had a better competitor.
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
I saw Liza last summer at the Hollywood Bowl. She was pretty good, considering she's been 'rode hard and put away wet', as they say. She sang the standards. The classics. Unlike McCain, she hasn't really tried to update the act. She's Liza and she knows it. She's not a maverick, at least not since 1978. And she doesn't try to be. Contrast that to McCain, who is frantically shuffling and reworking his act to appeal to today's Arizona audience, which wants -- demands -- border security, even though he's been a force against that for years. Calling him the Liza Minnelli of politics is an insult to Liza Minnelli.
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
Absolutely. And even scarier, if that's possible, is the fact that at his age McCain will be unconstrained by any reelection concerns.
Just think about McCain's recent enthusiasms: for cap and trade; against the Bush tax cuts while characterizing them as for "the rich;" for comprehensive amnesty; and never forget McCain Feingold -- regulation of political speech via the financial side.
When JD was a congressman I never had to spend my weekend writing letters opposing his latest brainwave.
Any chance of a miracle today?
May '10
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
I should not have said that McCain was the victim of the GOP next in line mentality. WE are the victims of that mentality.
As for Rob's point, I agree. Liza had chops. She earned the Oscar, the Emmy and four Tonys. And she was the perfect foil for Dudley Moore.
Edited on Aug 24, 2010 at 10:18amJul '10
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
I would have preferred Keith Richards.
May '10
Re: McCain: The Liza Minnelli of American politics.
Varadarajan:
Why expect Palin to publicly support any candidate going against her recent running mate? Even if she loved the opponent, she'd probably abstain out of respect.
A minor point, I know, but I surprised by the obvious oversight.