Poisonous politics
IMAGINE WAVING a sign that says "McCain -- traitor" in the face of a former Navy combat pilot who spent five years as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down in Vietnam.
Protesters did that recently to Senator John McCain as the Arizona Republican walked into a New York fund-raiser. It's the price he pays for supporting controversial immigration legislation that proposes a path to citizenship for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.
Those placards are bad news for McCain's presidential bid. But they are also emblematic of the poisonous immigration debate and the degraded state of American politics.
"I'm a pretty tough guy, and I'm not asking for any sympathy," McCain said during a recent sit-down with Boston Globe editors and reporters. But "you see something like that and you think, Wow, what would make these women . . . think I'm a traitor?"
Today, the streets, radio air waves, and blogosphere burst with insults and epithets. But there is something especially crude about using the word "traitor" to attack McCain.
When he was shot down over Hanoi in 1967, McCain's captors offered him early release because of his family's military legacy. His grandfather and father were both four-star admirals in the U S Navy. He declined the offer and suffered the harsh consequences. In his book, "Faith of my Fathers," McCain describes the torture he underwent over the next five years, which he points out was not as severe as that experienced by some prisoners with lower profiles. He also writes about the shame he felt over a confession he signed after some of that torture wore him down.
And now, McCain's patriotism is questioned by conservatives who disagree with him over immigration. Never mind his service to country in Vietnam or all those years in Washington.
Republicans usually attack the patriotism of Democrats to score political points. It happened to Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, another Vietnam War veteran, during his 2004 presidential bid. The White House regularly uses that mode of attack to undermine anti war Democrats. Those who voted against funding for the Iraq war are said to be against the troops. Now, a fellow Republican is getting the treatment from conservatives on the campaign trail.
McCain is in a tough political place. His support for the Iraq war is unpopular with independent voters. His support for controversial immigration legislation is just as unpopular with conservative voters. The disconnect with the GOP base is serious, and it could represent the end of McCain's presidential aspirations. National polls are running against McCain, as well as those in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
That's current political reality, which McCain said he accepts. As he now regularly tells interviewers, he would rather stick to principles than be president. "I'd rather lose a campaign than lose a war," he said at the Globe. ". . . You really have to stand for what you believe in. " If you don't "Then, what's the point of winning?"
Conservative voters have every right to search for a candidate who more closely represents their views on immigration and other issues. And the First Amendment affords a precious right to express support or displeasure. But calling McCain a traitor for trying to reach consensus on a difficult political issue says more about immigration opponents than it does about McCain.
Name-calling trumps rational debate and problem-solving. Political discourse regularly slides past mean to ugly. In this case, it comes from the right, but the left contributes its share, too.
Republicans and Democrats running for president are pushed to the extremes of their respective parties. That and his billionaire status explain why New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg could drop his Republican affiliation and contemplate a bid for the presidency as an independent.
"In prison, I fell in love with my country" writes McCain in "Faith of my Fathers." "I had loved her before then, but like most young people, my affection was little more than a simple appreciation for the comforts and privileges most Americans enjoyed and took for granted. It wasn't until I had lost America for a time that I realized how much I loved her."
Those are the words of a patriot, who knows to the core what America means. The sign-holders are the traitors who betray the American dream.
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com. 