I got exactly the general election I wished for a year ago. Obama and McCain were the politicians I trusted most in their respective parties, and even though both looked like sure nomination losers at the time, I rooted for them. That I've made it to mid-August 2008 without losing complete faith in their integrity is unprecedented.
Much is written about race in this election, but seldom is it thoughtful. It's more of a reactive media frenzy whenever so-and-so accuses so-and-so of playing the "race card." Media blood sport ensues. I don't find it particularly constructive.
I'm disappointed in both candidates along these lines. For Obama to say that McCain points out how "Obama doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills" is a curiously destructive lie from someone who ostensibly promotes unity and occupies higher moral ground. He learned his lesson well in the primaries. How very Bubba of him.
My bigger disappointment, however, is with McCain. In whoring for his base, he's passed up a historic opportunity to repudiate racists from that base. The GOP's tradition of pandering to those cretins is why even conservative minorities reflexively distrust the party.
It's nice that McCain says he hopes "people will look past skin color when voting," but that's like McDonald's saying "We hope you'll consider all the health ramifications before you down that super-sized fries." In my view, McCain has a unique opportunity to evict bigots and their policies from America's only conservative tent, or at least to give them notice.
"If you're just voting against a black man, I don't want your vote," he could say. "I would rather lose, frankly, than be your candidate. You are no longer welcome in my party. The days of our giving your kind sanctuary are over." And then prove it in the platform. He doesn't have to pander, but a less categorical opposition to, say, affirmative action would go a long way toward healing old wounds.
Would it cost him the election? Yeah, probably. But he'd be a historic loser, a Gore instead of a Kerry. And that's a win.