Smear Hillary? Fine. Smear Obama? I Quit

My good friend R in Georgia sent me this tidbit:

McCain aide won't stay on if Obama is the opponent

Mark McKinnon, THE TOP ADVISER in Republican Sen. John
McCain's presidential campaign, said on National
Public Radio's All Things Considered that he won't
stay with the campaign if Sen. Barack Obama is the
Democratic nominee and inevitably would be the target
of attacks in the general election.

McKinnon, a campaign advertising specialist who helped
get President Bush elected and re-elected, said that
while he would support McCain "100%, ... I met Barack
Obama, I read his book, I like him a great deal. I
disagree with him on very fundamental issues. But I
think, as I said, I think it would a great race for
the country. I would simply be uncomfortable being in
a campaign that would be inevitably attacking Barack
Obama. I think it would be uncomfortable for me, and I
think it would be bad for the McCain campaign."

Very interesting. What does that say about the tenor of modern campaigning? Okay, maybe not so modern. McKinnon knows that the gloves will come off, dung will be flung, Obama’s children will be labeled Satanists and his cat’s little catnip problem will soon be making headlines. No, he just can't be a party to such ugliness. Well, if it's against Hillary, sure, go for it. But not Obama. He's too cool.

Political candidates have been slinging mud at each other for decades, maybe centuries, whatever, all in the hopes of making themselves look more pious, innocent, and just not as corrupt as the other guy. So my hope is that McKinnon’s selfless act (assuming it’s not just an “act” to score media points for his guy) will somehow resonate amongst the candidates so the campaigns can stay focused on the issues. The Swiftboating of days past is and was an embarrassment because it reminded me of how gullible and blissfully ignorant Americans can be.

One question I have for McKinnon is, how self-righteous does he intend to be? Sure, he won't be campaigning for McCain, but will he stay the higher ground and actually publicly criticize his man when the attacks start? Probalby not. Politics is war and and all's fair in, well, you get it.