A "Dear John" Letter to John McCain

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 06:52:59 PM EST
Tags: John McCain, 2008 (all tags)

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My great friend (and TalkLeft contributor) Anita Thompson, who like me, used to be a fierce Hillary supporter, has written John McCain a Dear John letter on her Owl Farm Blog.

Dear John McCain,

This is a sincere Thank You note for being the man to put my heart, soul, time and money back into politics.

My beloved late husband, Hunter S. Thompson, gave me the political bug years ago. And to honor his spirit, I was asked to blog for several exciting websites during the Denver Convention. I accepted, but because I was a Hillary supporter, I was going through the motions with thinly veiled apathy and losing steam fast.

My story is not uncommon. I was one of the millions who were hoping for that Clinton/(Obama) ticket. With that failure, it got worse as the months went by. I got depressed, and even sick, my self-esteem tanked, and interest in either party was slipping away.

Then whamo! With your VP pick, the Obama/Biden ticket is not just the better of the two parties, it is a bright and shining star next to the arrogant and stupid Sarah Palin you put in our faces. [More...]

So thank you John McCain for picking a woman who represents the worst-case scenario: A cute wild buffoon who is proud to be dumb. You put a twisted mirror up to all of us who strive to work hard, keep learning and become better women.

Because of your choice for VP, I have arranged for some time away from my studies at Columbia University and fly home during election week to volunteer for Obama.

So thank you for putting the spring back in my step, my money, time and spirit to Obama & Biden that was not there before. Thank you again, you beautiful little man.

Most Sincerely,

Anita Thompson

What a great letter from a terrific woman and I'll bet there are millions more out there who feel the same. I know I do. To go from here to here in six weeks shows you just how much John McCain misjudged us.

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A "Dear John" Letter to John McCain | 29 comments (29 topical)

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Good letter! (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by robrecht on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 06:57:43 PM EST

I was a Hillary supporter but always knew I would also support Obama if need be. Well, need be.

Mad brilliant! (5.00 / 0) (#2)
by scribe on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:00:37 PM EST

WE need to hear more from her, here.

Ack (5.00 / 2) (#3)
by rilkefan on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:06:21 PM EST

"Then whamo! With your VP pick, the Obama/Biden ticket is not just the better of the two parties"

McCain is a terrible candidate for any liberal - Palin shouldn't be at all relevant.

Ah come on! (5.00 / 2) (#12)
by nycstray on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:37:46 PM EST

She's "stupid" and "proud to be dumb"! Obviously can't hold a candle to a liberal woman! /s ;)


She's a female W (5.00 / 0) (#14)
by Jjc2008 on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:41:18 PM EST

and will be a heartbeat away from the presidency with an old man in front of her. She's scary relevant.


she still shouldn't be described as a (5.00 / 2) (#16)
by Teresa on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:44:42 PM EST

stupid buffoon who is proud of it. Just say she is inexperienced and stop there.

Not directed at you personally Jjc.


: Well I think George W (5.00 / 0) (#20)
by Jjc2008 on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:52:18 PM EST

is a stupid buffoon and frankly to me, Palin comes off as a female W. Sorry, if that offends, but this woman affects and offends me as negatively as W always has.

Get Involved!!!! (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by EddieInCA on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:17:29 PM EST

For the first time in my adult life, I'm involved in an election. I've always voted, but nothing motivated me to get involved like the pure lack of seriousness of the Palin pick for VP.

So I've gotten involved, and if you have even an hour a week, you should to0.

Here's what I'm doing:

Phone banking. I signed up at the Obama website and they gave me the numbers and scripts, and I do that about two hours a week.
Texting - I have a list of people to text on a regular basis.
Volunteering - I do a couple of hours a week at the Obama office locally.

Although I live in a blue state and volunteer locally in Los Angeles, most of my work involves outreach to very red states. My last two weeks have involved nothing but calls to Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia.

Get involved. Make it a blowout and get rid of Rove politics forever.

Once again ... (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by Robot Porter on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:18:24 PM EST

an anti-Palin statement that tacitly reinforces the "McCain's not so bad" argument.

Yawn.

Not necessarily (5.00 / 0) (#7)
by robrecht on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:24:55 PM EST

Many are opposed to Palin as yet another example of McCain's bad judgement and pandering to Repundamentalists.


Or is it Fundapublicans? (none / 0) (#8)
by robrecht on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:25:42 PM EST

: I really don't think they are fun... n/t (none / 0) (#10)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:36:54 PM EST

dear ms. thompson: (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by cpinva on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:28:19 PM EST

anyone would be a bright and shining star, next to mccain/palin. heck, my cat spot would have made a better veep pick for the republican ticket, so that really isn't saying much. no, not much at all.

just thought i'd enlighten you.

sincerely,

what would have been a better democratic ticket you ask? glad you asked! why, that would have been clinton/obama.

if i vote for obama/biden, it's only because they're somewhat less scary than mccain/palin. sen. obama's done nothing to cause this "feeling" i have, the "feeling" that i can't trust him as far as i can throw him.

why's that you ask? glad you asked! because sen. obama's (brief) history belies his (and your's jeralyn) attempts to paint the good senator as some kind of "progressive". he isn't. i know it, you know it (or should), BTD knows it (or should) and so does every other thinking person.

unless, of course, by "progressive", you mean someone who doesn't believe small children should be burned at the stake, in the town square. by that measure, i guess sen. obama would qualify as one. i think. unless, he saw some immediate political advantage in burning those children.

if you're really a friend of ms. thompson's, the decent thing would be to tell her, she apparently doesn't get it yet. or, has allowed herself to be blinded by the darkness that is mccain/palin.

Why didn't she write a letter to Obama about (5.00 / 3) (#11)
by Angel on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:37:09 PM EST

why he didn't ask Hillary to be on the ticket? If she did, I missed it.

: and the point of that would have been? (5.00 / 0) (#21)
by JoeA on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:52:32 PM EST

Bimbo?! (5.00 / 3) (#13)
by nycstray on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:39:06 PM EST

I am finding that amongst people (5.00 / 0) (#15)
by inclusiveheart on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:43:04 PM EST

I know who used to be adamantly opposed to me even bringing up politics - Sarah Palin provokes them to talk to me about politics and even to send me political emails about how horrible and insulting they think she is.

I've been quietly thanking John McCain for picking her and Sarah Palin for being arrogant enough to accept his invitation. It was like an extremely motivating shot in the arm for many, many Democrats I know - even Obama supporters.

It is amazing how badly they read Democrats and other liberal-minded voters - but I am giving thanks...

: Most of my friends, relatives and (5.00 / 2) (#22)
by Jjc2008 on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:56:34 PM EST

colleagues who were passionate Hillary supporters, and luke warm to Obama, have become more passionate than any of us thought possible about beating this ticket because of Sarah Palin.
In my view, she is the anti Hillary. She is everything Hillary stood up against, she is an insult to women who have been working for years for better pay, better opportunities for ALL women.
Sarah Palin is the one who could care less about other women and is content to use looks, body and "cutsey tactics"..........sickens me.

Many like MsThompson (5.00 / 1) (#18)
by bluejane on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:48:36 PM EST

in my town have been inspired the same way to get out the vote for Obama and Biden. Precincts that were hard to get covered in 2004 and 2006 now are double and triple covered, esp since McCain rolled the "proud to be dumb" Palin hand grenade into the American tent. She's a baby fascist, more dangerous than a grown-up fascist because (some) people think she's cute. Many women in our community, like Anita, feel insulted that McCain has given us in Palin such a throw-back, by example throwing all women back a thousand years into an era not just non-feminist and non-choice but a thuggish era of verbal and actual violence which Palin in her assigned attacks is too immature in consciousness to recognize the danger of.

Sorry for convoluted sentence, you get what I mean.

Thanks Anita (5.00 / 1) (#23)
by lilburro on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 08:03:30 PM EST

I particularly liked this part

You put a twisted mirror up to all of us who strive to work hard, keep learning and become better women.

A now retired former professor of mine said Sarah Palin makes him want to get back to teaching...because he thinks he could get 6 years of classes out of exploring exactly who this woman is and what she means in our society and why people are reacting the way they are (this is a sociology prof).

I am not quite sure anymore what the moment was that made me decide to volunteer for Obama at some point, maybe it was the convention. And then three or four weeks ago an office opened locally, and the head of the office called me and asked if I would like to volunteer. I said yes.

And I am glad I did! I too was a saddened former Hillary supporter. But I am won over by the enthusiasm of the right now, and the well meaning people I have met who were Obama or Hillary supporters in the primaries. Bill C. gave a great speech in Florida in favor of Obama. We're all on board now, or many of us, and it is a good place to be.

you may be ready (1.00 / 0) (#28)
by cpinva on Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 12:15:45 AM EST

to chalk up all that other stuff

i'm not. neither, i suspect, are a whole lot of other people, who easily see the obama primary campaign as being just as sleazy and low-class as the current mccain/palin campaign is turning.

explain how obama sleaze is somehow morally superior to mccain sleaze? that would merely make obama a sleaze of a slightly different political hue, certainly no better than mccain.

the primary difference between obama & mccain is that mccain is clearly batsh*t crazy. obama at least appears to be more sane in public.

oh puhleazzzzzzzze stevea66! (1.00 / 0) (#30)
by cpinva on Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 06:41:32 AM EST

you insult us, by assuming we're all as blind as you are.

the main reason sen. obama couldn't pick sen. clinton as veep, is because she'd make him look positively amatuerish by comparison.

she's more experienced, better read, has a better grasp of the issues, and comes across with far more warmth and empathy than does sen. obama. that all his positions dovetailed onto hers was the icing on the cake; the man has no original thoughts of his own.

she's also a far better democrat than obama; i just can't envision sen. obama urging his supporters to turn their energies to electing sen. clinton, were the roles reversed. sen. obama is in it for sen. obama, period. he has no soul.

again, the big difference in candidates is that mccain has very clearly lost it, a dangerous position for the guy with his finger on the nuclear button to be in.

has there ever been a report out (none / 0) (#31)
by of1000Kings on Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 03:34:13 PM EST

that states whether Obama did or did not offer Clinton the VP?

Did Clinton ever come out and say that she ABSOLUTELY would accept the VP nomination?

maybe I missed these things, I'd love to see some talk about it...

for all we know Obama did offer Clinton the VP, but maybe I'm wrong...


: I think the only thing we know for sure is (none / 0) (#32)
by Teresa on Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 05:47:48 PM EST

that Hillary asked that if she wasn't a serious choice, not to be vetted. Since she wasn't vetted, we know she was not a serious choice, much less on Obama's "short list".

Dear John letter (none / 0) (#19)
by arguewithmydad com on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 07:49:43 PM EST

My only complaint with Mrs. Thompson's letter is the fact that just because Hillary didn't win the primaries, she was giving up on politics. It shouldn't have taken the naming of Sarah Palin for anyone to understand how bad McCain is for the country. I am glad that you are with us in backing Obama, but what took you so long?

: He wasn't our choice (5.00 / 0) (#27)
by Jeralyn on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 10:14:59 PM EST

until (1) Hillary asked us to support him and (2) we learned the alternative. Now he's our ray of hope.

Excuse me, Ms Thompson, where have you been (none / 0) (#24)
by bridget on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 08:28:40 PM EST

re John McCain in the last decade. Anyone who followed campaign 2000 alone knows that McCain has v. little to offer and basically relied on the fawning media to put him into the WH in 2000. For the last decades they sainted him, disappeared his mistakes and faults, questionable past, and prepared his run to the WH in 2008.

The idea of John McCain as Prez is scaryscaryscary all by himself (for more info read the amazing DailyHowler archives and recent Counterpunch McCain articles). I don't need Palin to tell me that NOW.

McCain's choice of Palin as his running mate is very telling. But that move does not turn the Dem ticket into a shining star IMHO because only one person alone can make that happen: Obama

P.S. There have been other male GOP candidates in the past who seemed plenty arrogant and stupid. Guess nobody noticed since acc. to the media punditry it was always the Dem candidate who was lying abd evil (i.e. Gore) and the devil (Imus' regular Hillary Clinton description) while the GOP candidate was trustworthy and honest and could do nothing wrong. Many of the pundits who now get their knickers into a tight twist over the oh so nasty McCain/Palin followed that exact script election after election.

Thompson:
"Then whamo! With your VP pick, the Obama/Biden ticket is not just the better of the two parties, it is a bright and shining star next to the arrogant and stupid Sarah Palin you put in our faces."

thx for posting that Jeralyn (none / 0) (#25)
by thereyougo on Tue Oct 07, 2008 at 09:29:48 PM EST

Townhall is saying, Say Goodnight John, like 20 mins ago.

He couldn't have chosen Hillary (none / 0) (#29)
by stevea66 on Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 01:55:44 AM EST

For three reasons at least:

She wasn't necessarily interested and wasn't too interested in being vetted more thoroughly.
She was intensely negative on Obama during the primaries, bringing up the "slumlord Resko," etc. That would have given the McCain campaign an incredible amount of video to use letting America know that "politics comes before principle for those Democrats."
It also would've meant bringing Bill Clinton into the picture a bit too much...and there was quite a bit of friction there (still is).

I think Hillary would make a great VP, but Biden was the stronger choice. I hope Hillary supporters who are still upset can take a step back, breathe a bit, and just look at these two guys - Barack & Joe, and give them their vote. They are real, they care, they BOTH come from middle-class, and lower, and understand what it's like to be living paycheck to paycheck. They are our only hope for the middle-class, whose success is required if this country is to thrive again.