Offensive Line Pandering? Posted by Adam Blickstein

I know discussing John McCain's military service is taboo, but this is a great catch from Pittsburgh yesterday:

And then McCain told a rather moving story about his time as a P.O.W. "When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the pressures, physical pressures on me, I named the starting lineup, defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron mates."

The problem? McCain's own 1999 memoir contradicts this account:

“...Eventually, I gave them my ship’s name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant. Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron...."

Comments

[Dan Kervick]

Too much politics for my taste. I really prefer it when you DA guys stick to foreign and national security policy. You're better at that; and besides, there are any number of sites out there in the great bloggy world-wide political hackosphere where I can go to get this kind of partisan "truth squad" stuff.

[Zathras]

Well, some of them are better at that. Some of them aren't.

If one takes for granted, as I do, that all this campaign posting cannot possibly influence the campaign (because DA's readership is too small and is mostly Democratic anyway), the possibility arises that we face a product of George Bush's influence on American politics and government. Some aspirants to positions in prospective administrations have always sought to improve their chances by demonstrating conspicuous zeal during the campaign: adulation of the candidate, scorn for the candidate's opponent. In the past this has worked best for people seeking jobs in lower priority agencies, like FEMA or the Small Business Administration. No serious President, not even a new one, would appoint someone to a genuinely important job based on his or her willingness to engage in this kind of self-abasement.

Bush may have changed that, for good. Or, he may just be typical of the kind of candidate most likely to succeed in modern Presidential politics, the kind who is rigorously focused on the mechanics of the campaign to the exclusion of all else -- and who therefore, if elected, emerges from the campaign process with considerable insecurity about assigning important responsibilities to people he is not sure are "on his side." Such a candidate is likely to have a very thin record of accomplishment outside of Campaign World. This certainly described George Bush when he ran in 2000. God knows it describes Hillary Clinton. It fits Barack Obama pretty well, too. These are the kind of candidates who succeed in modern Presidential politics; it may be they are the only kind of candidates who can succeed.

So all this grating, repetitive, "look-at-me-I'm-on-your-side" campaign posting here may actually represent a fairly shrewd approach to seeking employment in an Obama administration. If the new President is as insecure as Bush was about giving jobs to people who are not completely "on board," one had better be visibly on board when it counts. Just wearing a campaign button from time to time isn't enough any more; while perhaps more dignified and certainly less tiresome to those not in on the game, that is just another aspect of the old politics, which as we are often reminded "just won't do."

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