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McCain Goes Green ... With Envy

Jealousy of Obama drives Mac's gutter campaign: Dowd

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 6, 2008 7:52 AM CDT

(Newser) – Why is John McCain, "a man who prides himself on honor," taking the low road in his campaign against Barack Obama? For Maureen Dowd, the reason is clear: the Arizona senator is "pea-green with envy." Even more than Bill Clinton or Jesse Jackson, McCain can't stand that a younger, more handsome politician has usurped his place and become the "new wunderkind in town."

Once McCain thought of himself as a dashing Air Force man, the bad boy of the Senate. Now a wonky professor type has charmed America, writes the New York Times columnist, "while John looks in the mirror and sees his face marred by skin cancer." No wonder the McCain campaign has descended into "a festival of juvenilia," with Rovian advisers helping "Mr. Straight Talk" reinvent himself as "Mr. Desperate Straits."

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks to reporters after a tour of the Enrico Femi Nuclear Plant Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Newport, Mich.
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks to reporters after a tour of the Enrico Femi Nuclear Plant Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008, in Newport, Mich.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, and his wife Cindy are framed by employees of the  National Label Company as he speaks to reporters after a tour of the factory, Monday, Aug. 4, 200 in Lafayette Hill, Pa.
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, and his wife Cindy are framed by employees of the National Label Company as he speaks to reporters after a tour of the factory, Monday,...   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center,  his wife Cindy, right,  and Forida Gov. Charlie Crist, stand together during a news conference, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008 in Panama City, Fla.  .
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, his wife Cindy, right, and Forida Gov. Charlie Crist, stand together during a news conference, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008 in Panama City,...   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. delivers the keynote speech to the National Urban League Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Aug. 1, 2008.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. delivers the keynote speech to the National Urban League Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Aug. 1, 2008.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
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Around the McCain campaign, they grouse that Obama “hasn’t bled.”  And he hasn’t paid his dues in the Senate, since he basically just stopped by for directions to the Oval Office.

McCain liked to play up his bad-boy cool. Now the guy in the back of the class is shooting spitballs at the class pet and is coming off as more juvenile than daring.

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