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The POW "Card"

August 25, 2008 8:55 AM

Can a person who showed unfathomable heroism in a dark period of war invoke that heroism too often?

It's a complicated thing, writing about Sen. John McCain's years as a Vietnam POW, and how he's cited those years in the campaign.

A meme has developed among some bloggers and commentators that McCain is citing those grisly five and a half years too often.

Among them one-time McCain admirer Andrew Sullivan, who sees it cropping up in McCain comments so often it's becoming even mockable, despite how horrific it was, in the same way Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., felt able to mock former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's invocation of September 11.

Sullivan refers to it as "noun, verb, POW." And Maureen Dowd in yesterday's New York Times wrote: "It's hard to believe that John McCain is now in danger of exceeding his credit limit on the equivalent of an American Express black card. His campaign is cheapening his greatest strength - and making a mockery of his already dubious claim that he's reticent to talk about his P.O.W. experience - by flashing the P.O.W. card to rebut any criticism, no matter how unrelated. The captivity is already amply displayed in posters and TV advertisements."

And that was before the latest example.

Over the weekend, Biden went after McCain in his Veep announcement speech, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, your kitchen table is like mine. You sit there at night...after you put the kids to bed and you talk, you talk about what you need. You talk about how much you are worried about being able to pay the bills. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's not a worry John McCain has to worry about. It's a pretty hard experience. He'll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at!"

In response, McCain told CBS News in an interview that aired Sunday, "I spent some years without a kitchen table, without a chair, and I know what it is like to be blessed with the opportunities of this great nation."

**

It's not a new thing.

Running for Congress from Arizona in 1982, John McCain was repeatedly assailed as a carpetbagger, which he pretty much was.

At a candidates forum when the matter was brought up yet again, McCain responded abruptly, telling his rival, "Listen, pal. I spent 22 years in the Navy. My grandfather was in the Navy. We in the military service tend to move a lot. We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world. I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the first district of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi."

It was a devastating rejoinder.

In Worth the Fighting For, McCain (and Mark Salter) wrote: "Looking back, I think the race was effectively over right then. I had stunned the audience and finally put to rest the one nagging vulnerability that was still clouding my prospects. But I didn't know that then. I was just mad and had taken a swing."

But it wasn't until this election season that I've seen McCain and his campaign discuss his POW years so often when rebutting or refuting charges.

In June this blog noted that you could see the stark differences between the McCain of 2008 and the McCain of 2000 on this issue by looking at McCain's cross-in-the-dirt story, which McCain told in the third person to a crowd in Virginia Beach on February 28, 2000, as if it had happened to a different person, but used in the first person in a TV ad in December 2007.

After McCain jokingly offered his wife Cindy as a contestant at a biker beauty pageant, and was criticized for it, McCain spox Brian Rogers said Americans "know that John McCain's faith and character were tested and forged in ways few can fathom."

After some questioned whether McCain had violated the rules and listened to Rick Warren's questions for Sen. Barack Obama at the Saddleback Forum (McCain was to get the same questions, but was supposed to be in a "cone of silence," McCain spox Nicole Wallace said, "The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous."

During a back and forth on health care, Elizabeth Edwards wrote in the Wall Street Journal that McCain has had government health care his whole life.

"It's a cheap shot," McCain said to George Stephanopoulos on This Week, "but I did have a period of time where I didn't have very good government health care. I had it from another government."

And of course, during a GOP debate last Fall, McCain mocked a $1 million Woodstock museum and noted that he hadn't attended the music fest since he was "tied up at the time."

It's a tricky business to criticize -- I don't know many people who would be able to withstand what McCain went through, and it's entirely within the realm of possibility that most Americans are not paying enough attention to think he's "overplaying" anything. And even those who are paying close attention might think he's earned the right to mention those dark five and a half years.

Surely many Americans believe McCain has earned the right to tell the story of his uncommon valor however often he wants, in whatever venue he wants.

The question for him and his campaign is whether he's diminishing his heroism at all with its increasingly frequent mention within the context of campaign controversies that have absolutely nothing to do with that heroism.

- jpt

August 25, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (119)

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Joe Biden is a confirmed thief. He took another's words and ideas for his own and had to withdraw from is last national run for that reason. Do we forget?

Posted by: Mary | Sep 14, 2008 8:40:57 PM

I think you are missing the point:

"It's a tricky business to criticize -- I don't know many people who would be able to withstand what McCain went through, and it's entirely within the realm of possibility that most Americans are not paying enough attention to think he's "overplaying" anything. And even those who are paying close attention might think he's earned the right to mention those dark five and a half years.

Surely many Americans believe McCain has earned the right to tell the story of his uncommon valor however often he wants, in whatever venue he wants."

People call slavery, Jim Crow, and ongoing discrimination A CARD because they are tired of hearing it and don't want to deal with it anymore. Even if it is true. Even if it does define a nation. Even if it hasn't been fixed yet.

Same with John McCain's service. When people are tired of hearing and don't want to deal with it anymore, it becomes A CARD. Even if it is true. Even if it does define a nation. Even if it hasn't been fixed yet.

Is it unfair and unjustified?

Yes, I think it is unfair and unjustified but that is how mockery works.

Posted by: Genna | Aug 30, 2008 8:37:43 AM

I think I would rather vote for a person that made it through the conflict without getting shot down and being a POW. Sorry, but we have so many qualified pilots that did make it back, paid attention and didnt get caught that we might want to look to them for advice on how to handle a war since you spent most of it as a POW. With all due respect, I go for the logical thinker, and the one who made it. It's all been handed to you since then. Not to mention your previledged family. Go Obama, lets get some common sense in D.C.

Posted by: Jim | Aug 28, 2008 1:58:24 PM

republicans mean evil!

Posted by: darr west | Aug 27, 2008 3:02:11 AM

And don't forget his tying his love of the group ABBA to being a POW. I'm not joking. He was being teased by a reporter for loving ABBA, and he brought up being a POW. The article pointed out that ABBA didn't release their first record until a few years after McCain was released.

I used to respect McCain's honorable story, but it has truly become ridiculous. I cannot believe he doesn't have to answer any questions regarding his policies or record, and has been allowed to just repeat, "I was a POW." over and over. Why would being held captive make someone a good president anyway? By that measure, we should elect Elizabeth Smart.

Posted by: jds | Aug 26, 2008 2:09:49 PM

Visit this Military.com wesite

A former POW refutes McCains claim. Most POWs were offered early release but refused because of service regulation and Geneva Convention. There were 600 POWs and 590 received the Silver Star medal, which makes McCain an average hero. The author of this article is a Naval Academy graduate and former fighter pilot. He was a POW for 8 1/2 years. Read the whole story.

Posted by: arturo | Aug 26, 2008 12:11:32 PM

I was in WW2 i'm proud of my service to my country the U.S of A.

Great men are made of the experience life gave them and McCain is that person I trust. Im a Democrat and to trust our country in the hands of Obama is not getting my vote, if it were Hillary she would get my vote. If he would get elected, Obama will divide this country BIG TIME. Tony

Posted by: tony sacco | Aug 26, 2008 10:20:24 AM

WITHOUT FAMILY INFLUENCE------THE GUY AT THE BOTTOM OF HIS CLASS COULD NEVER QUALIFY FOR NAVAL AIR ACADAMY---AND THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES----AND SOME OF YOU WANT HIM FOR PRES. AND WE CALL BUSH DUMB---WOW
BYE

Posted by: rodney | Aug 26, 2008 9:01:38 AM

mccain was o pow by choice as vietnamese did not want him---he stayed by choice as it was a safer place for him----------I THINK WE HAVE A NAME FOR THAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR.--------------REMEMBER THE USS FORESTAL.

Posted by: rodney | Aug 26, 2008 8:50:50 AM

maybe McCain crashed so many planes because he was a goof-off as a student?

so while he was supposed to be learning how to operate an aircraft, he was hung over?

if so, he may not have been able to evade north vietnamese anti-aircraft guns simply because he was just a lame student who became another mediocre and pampered pilot?

big deal. some hero...

Posted by: the new word = Cindy | Aug 25, 2008 10:10:23 PM

Ted plays the dead brother "card" again.
The moon?

Posted by: geevill | Aug 25, 2008 10:02:41 PM

The problem is McCain is a one trick act. He as a POW over four decades ago. What has he really ever accomplished in the Senate?

Hello, I'm John McCain. I can live in as many houses as I like. I'm married to a wealthy woman, and I haven't accomplished much in the Senate. But I was a POW 40 years ago, so shut your mouth.

Posted by: James | Aug 25, 2008 9:46:02 PM

I think McCain has overplayed the POW card..I did the math...the 5 years he spent as a POW was 7% of his life.
I KNOW what he went through, I HONOR that service...
but what has he done since?
left the first wife because an accident disfigured her
was involved in the Keating 5 scandal
he speaks disrespectfully to his current wife
he gets so ANGRY
I used to like him..I have heard it said the 2000 McCain wouldn't vote for the 2008 McCain
his record on veterans legsilation is AWFUL
his colleagues speak of his temper
his humor is inappropriate: "Bomb,bomb,bomb Iran"???
frankly he scares me
perhaps 5 yrs as a POW should be viewed as a negative

Posted by: dutch163 | Aug 25, 2008 8:46:50 PM

"I don't know many people who would be able to withstand what McCain went through."

Some 600 in Vietnam. They all went through something terrible. But are they all qualified to be President of the United States? Probably not. McCain is milking it.

Posted by: BBpd | Aug 25, 2008 6:19:28 PM

I know a man who proudly wears his dress shirts with short sleeves, even in the dead of winter in New York. Why? He is a survivor of the holocaust and is displaying his serial tattoo for all to see. He is willing to share his experience It is only one reason I admire him. He is also a traditional Democrat who will be voting for John McCain in November.

Posted by: Jaycee | Aug 25, 2008 4:55:47 PM

You can't say you're a war here if you're not helping your fellow vets. And McCain seems to think it's fine to live off his wife's money in luxury and elite wealth while ignoring others who have sacrificed for this country.
But he seems to have issues with commitment. like the first wife. Not being a real member of his current church, etc.

Posted by: kravitz | Aug 25, 2008 3:19:30 PM

>>>sheribaby | Aug 25, 2008 1:02:08 PM


Right!

The race card never showed up before McCain's entering as B O's opponent!

Never is South Carolina!

Never in regards to Jeremiah Wright!

Never in respect to his "typical white grandmother"!

Never from the pens of his ultra-pro BO bloggers!

Never!

Posted by: eyes wide open | Aug 25, 2008 3:12:53 PM

Frankly, I think as responses, McCain's comments were justified and appropriate.

If YOU were Mccain, what would YOUR response have been to BIDEN's dig?

Hmmmm?

Possibly some of his spokespeople are overzealous but that goes with the politial territory.... even Obama's!

Posted by: eyes wide open | Aug 25, 2008 3:06:31 PM

"I can't recall the last vet who constantly and UN-HEROICALLY repeats the events of his service"

You forgot John Kerry that soon?

Posted by: geevill | Aug 25, 2008 2:22:10 PM

I wonder if Michelle is going to talk about how much piano lessons cost tonight? Or maybe how much camp costs?

Posted by: Brian | Aug 25, 2008 2:06:26 PM

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