Should McCain Apologise
After a bruising campaign where insinuation and accusations were rife, many may be thinking that as well as gracefully accepting the verdict John McCain should answer some of the criticisms he levelled at the feet of Barak Obama.
Does he still think that the Bill Ayres influence on the President Elect is still there and if so, why is he returning to the Senate and not immigrating to Canada?
Making American elections and politics in general more about the issues and honesty which the public say they want might suggest that win or lose, candidates should be held account for their campaign statements.
If untruths are told (repeatedly) then there is a chance that the electorate or certainly some proportion of them will believe what is said and use this in making their voting choice.
A candidate could then be elected President based on these untrue accusations. It could be argued that just because John McCain did not win the election comments that were made by his campaign should not result in him being held accountable.
After all, how will the standard in the political forum ever be improved or what is there to discourage others in the future from adopting this tactic but doing it better that they actually win.
It was definitely a difficult mountain for the Republican candidate to climb given the economic and political environment that presented itself. Whether that was an excuse to try less than honest tactics to make a race of it is debateable.
There is no desire to rub salt of McCain’s wounds or to humiliate him; the point is to discourage future candidates from employing dubious campaigning methods thinking that they will not be questioned about them after the event.