Posted by
Katie Favazza on Thursday, May 01, 2008 3:22:27 PM
Yesterday, The Wall
Street Journal published a
phenomenal column by Karl Rove that delves into some of the lesser known
anecdotes of McCain’s life, both specifically as a POW and generally about his
day-to-day life thereafter.
I had chills reading some of these lines:
“Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the
floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place.
Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he
put Mr. Day's splint in place.”
“One of Mr. McCain's first sermons
took as its text Luke 20:25 and Matthew 22:21, ‘render unto Caesar what is
Caesar's and unto God what is God's.’ Mr. McCain said he and his fellow
prisoners shouldn't ask God to free them, but to help them become the best
people they could be while serving as POWs.”
“What I did not know, and what I
learned from Doris, is that there was a second
infant Mrs. McCain brought back. She ended up being adopted by a young McCain
aide and his wife.”
These snippets are just that, a small part of the whole—the
whole column from Mr. Rove, the whole story of McCain’s heroics overseas and at
home. The whole column and the whole story must be taken to heart.
Rove writes that for McCain to reign victorious in the
general election, “he has to open up.” Americans should hear, according to
Rove, “about the moments in his life that shaped him.” Few could disagree that
these compelling stories would not soften the reserved man and help reveal “his
character, integrity and essential decency.”
McCain puts himself at a risk, though, if he takes to
telling too many of these stories; he’d likely be uncomfortable doing so
because he is so humble and so private.
In the May 2008 issue of Townhall
Magazine, Michael Schrimpf highlights that Sen. McCain once said on “Fox News
Sunday with Chris Wallace” that “527s need to be eliminated … 527s are a
disgrace and they have to be eliminated because they are a clear violation of
the law.” Perhaps it is at this time—and in light of this free advice from the
Boy Genius—that McCain’s moment to fully embrace the fallout of the unholy McCain-Feingold
legislation emerges.
Like-minded individuals need to form 527 organizations and
commit themselves to messaging about McCain’s heroics. Our primetime television
and our 24-hour news networks need to be flooded with advertisements from
veterans, asserting with authority the character of then man who should be the
next Commander-in-Chief. Imagine the power of a few advertisements featuring
McCain’s old friend and former roommate, Col. Bud Day, whom Rove presents as an
incredibly grateful and respectful man. He’s “a very active 83,” according to Rove, and a strong patriot: who
better to tell the stories that need to be told?
Rove’s recommendation to “open up” isn’t limited to the need
for story-telling: “Americans need to know about his vision for the nation's
future, especially his policy positions and domestic reforms.” That kind of
messaging is, of course, best left to the smart people directly involved with
the campaign. McCain and his staff must own the talking points on these issues.
But it wouldn’t hurt to have a choir of reputable voices singing his praises on
the side.
527 groups have incited their share of concern. In his same
May feature, Schrimpf also wrote in Townhall,
“The Federal Election Commission found that seven of the highest profile 527s
of the 2004 election cycle … violated campaign finance law and forced them to
pay massive fines.” They are imperfect and have much room for improvement. They
are not and should not be the dominate force of any particular campaign. The
time is right, however, for some people to step up, to follow the rules and to
do what’s right for the Republican Party and, more importantly, America itself.