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"Swami" is journalist Jesse Kornbluth. This is from his blog on Beliefnet.com.
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Call to Action: Write John McCain
June 25, 2004 | 4:00 p.m.
Like many of you, Swami watched John McCain's television appearances over the last few months with ever-increasing admiration. Here was a guy who wrote a book about courage--but never once mentioned his long, brave stint as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Here was a guy slimed by Bush operatives in the 2000 South Carolina primary--and yet he refused to "go there" when interviewers asked if he felt he'd been robbed of the Republican nomination that year.
In those interviews, it was clear that McCain has been exasperated by White House policy in Iraq and at home. And so some Democrats dared to dream he'd be John Kerry's running mate. Kerry and McCain apparently had some theoretical conversations that went nowhere. Still, some of us hoped that McCain could occupy an important post in a Kerry administration--say, Secretary of Defense (if Wesley Clark somehow didn't get that job).
Last week, McCain campaigned with the President and endorsed the President's strategy in Iraq. And now there's talk that Vice President Cheney--citing "health reasons" (or his need to prepare his legal defense in case he's indicted for leaking the name of a CIA undercover agent)--will step down and MCain will become Bush's running mate. In that scenario, Bush gains a remarkable asset: a man of unquestioned integrity. In that scenario, Bush rises in the polls and steams to victory in November.
Some of Swami's friends are beside themselves with anxiety. Swami hears them. And as one who would welcome Bush's return to Texas, Swami would like to short-circuit the Bush-McCain ticket. Unlike certain Republicans, however, Swami would like to do this on the spiritual level--that is, with ethics as the centerpiece of his argument.
So Swami has written a letter to John McCain. Maybe you'd like to write one of your own. Or, if you're feeling lazy, cut and paste Swami's text into the e-mail form. McCain's address: Contact Sen. McCain. (Swami scrolled down to the bottom of the list of TOPICS, and chose "other").
Swami's letter:
President Bush has not asked you to be his running mate this fall. He may not ask. But if he does--and you agree to run as his Vice President--it will be too late to send you this letter. Indeed, it will be too late to do much more than mourn for your fall from grace.
Right now, you occupy a rare place of honor in American politics. You are a man of integrity, not owned by special interests. You not only have a conscience, you use it. And what you say is what you mean--you don't create verbal loopholes that allow you to wiggle out of your opinions should they become inconvenient.
President Bush, on the other hand, is a man of self-proclaimed integrity whose actions don't square with his words. In Iraq and at home, he has minimal credibility. He has many slogans but few ideas. And the men and women who work for him seem to spend more time giving him deniability than achieving anything good for the American people.
Were you to be his running mate, your integrity would cover many of his sins. But only for a whole. As you know, values almost never flow upward --- it's just the other way. So President Bush's lack of integrity would inevitably erode your honor. Your place in history would be tarnished. Many of your admirers--myself included--would probably become detractors.
I understand you may want to run for President in 2008. Though I am not a Republican, I would happily cast my vote for you. But the way to get that nomination is not to serve four years as Bush's Vice President. If asked, please tell him: "Thanks, but no thanks."
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