An open letter to John McCain

Hon. Senator McCain:

I want to thank you for your decades of service to our country. You have been a dedicated public servant, and when you have taken principled stands, you've been eloquent in word and deed.

I was glad that you took the high road in regards to campaign finance, even in this presidential election. I know that the Obama campaign's ability to outspend your campaign was one of the factors contributing to your defeat.

I do not consider Obama's victory a defeat for campaign finance reform. I see this as pointing out the desperate need for more reform. If the two of you had been working on a level playing field, then the election process would truly have been more of one decided on the basis of ideas, of character, and philosophy.

Instead it was a contest of who could go lower, and when. And that was you, sir.

To "counter the spending", your campaign took the low road, something that you had refused to do in the 2000 campaign. Your campaign and the people surrounding you resorted to some of the lowest, uncommon denominators: name calling, misdirection, and lies.

Those actions made me angry. It's not principled to refuse to condemn those actions, it's bullheaded stubbornness. It's not principled to pick a running mate for her perceived electability while ignoring her capacity for governance, it's blatant pandering. It also indicates contempt for me and my fellow citizens.

We're not stupid, we know that the political process has been subverted by organized money, by ideolouges, by lobbyists. We see it's effects every day. We saw it take you down in a terrible, terrible way.

I'm not writing you to gloat. I'm not writing you to put salt in your wounds. I'm writing to you as a citizen, petitioning a senior member of the Senate to put right the wrongs that face us today.

You pledged to bring honor and integrity to the White House. You pledged that you would bring change. The White House isn't the only place that change is needed. Honor and integrity also belong in the House and Senate. They're needed in the judiciary. They're needed in all aspects of our government, so that it returns to being government by the people, of the people and for the people.

You have two years to go in your Senate term. I hope that you stay and fight. I want you to tell the story of your campaign, and what money and lack of it did to your run for the White House. I want you to highlight the ways that your own bill has been subverted and perverted by money and special interests.

McCain-Feingold was what made me respect you back in the day. Your honesty and integrity in the 2000 campaign made me hopeful that the Republican party could be loyal opposition if out of power, and responsible governors when in power. You know how you were taken down then. Your campaign tried some of the same tricks this time around, and it didn't work. It doesn't have to be this way, and you are in a position to make sure it doesn't happen again.

You said once that you wanted to be president in the best way. You went about it this time in the worst way. It cost you the election, and the country a fair chance at evalutating you and Mr. Obama on your respective merits.

Please sir, do not give up on the United States. We still need you.

Respectfully yours.