The John McCain of 2000 is long gone, no matter what the GOP says

BE-ELECTED
by Chad Rubel

It was the summer of 2000. A young non-bald, non-crazy Britney Spears was at the top of the charts that summer with "Oops!...I Did It Again." The New York Yankees and New York Mets were headed toward the World Series.

And on August 3, John McCain was standing on the stage at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, accepting the nomination to be the presidential candidate of the Republican Party.

Oh, wait a minute. That didn't happen. Well, Britney happened. And the world yawned its way through a Yankees-Mets World Series.  

McCain didn't get his chance in 2000. So we spent the last four days of 2008, a very different time, listening to what Philadelphia would have looked like in late July and early August 2000. You almost could have expected hoagies to be featured. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, the two Republican senators, would have strutted around, proud of their state. And perhaps a Phillies hat or two would be featured.

The bubble that was the Xcel Energy Center didn't seem to let in a whole lot of air, so perhaps there were oxygen-poor flashbacks to a simpler time.

We have heard for the last 3-4 days about the John McCain of 2000, a reasonable sorta guy, who might have matched up well with Al Gore.

There were accolades about a man who fought in Vietnam, was a POW, and was a maverick. That was the John McCain of 2000.

But that man doesn't exist in 2008. McCain of 2000 would not have flip-flopped on numerous elements of his own stands. The McCain of 2000 would not have said about Barack Obama that he "would rather lose a war than lose a campaign." The McCain of 2000 would not have selected Sarah Palin as a running mate.

So it was a "nice" event to honor a man that is gone. The McCain that was showered with praise in St. Paul isn't on the ballot this year.

Yes, McCain was railroaded in 2000, and is using the same tactics that got him off track eight years ago. But in politics, you can't go back. You can only go forward. Barack Obama wants to go forward. John McCain wishes it was 2000, and no matter how many times he clicks his heels, he isn't going home.

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