John McCain may only have approval ratings hovering in the mid 40s, but at least he has his family, right? Well not all of them are on board with the Cynicism Express anymore. Adam Vaulx Boles was a fan of his cousin from the time they were kids, while John was imprisoned by the Vietnamese and even when McCain ran for President in 2000. Now Adam doesn't even recognize his own kin.
From The St. Petersburg Times:
John and I are related through our grandmothers. Katherine Vaulx McCain and Huetta Vaulx Boles, both of Fayetteville, Ark., were sisters. My side of the Vaulx family represents a long line of Democrats, but it is with no small amount of pride that we've followed the life and career of now-Sen. John McCain.[...]Although neither my father nor I have ever voted for a Republican, when John threw his hat in the ring in 2000, we were both very proud and encouraged, and not just because he's our relative. This was the first Republican who, on a national stage, was saying things like, "If we repeal Roe vs. Wade tomorrow, thousands of young American women will be performing illegal and dangerous operations," and, "Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer-reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance." Wow!
Here was a man who was not abiding by partisan lines, who was, instead, living up to his promise of "straight talk" and commonsense thinking. The right-wing Republican base may not have agreed with everything he said, but the rest of America certainly respected him for speaking his mind honestly.
Adam sounds almost like one of those Democrats that support McCain despite him not sharing their principles only with the issue of family attached. Don't worry though, that isn't the end of the Op-Ed by any means:
So, where is the straight-talking, commonsense John McCain of 2000? I'm afraid he is long gone, replaced by a desperate version of himself who seems to contradict nearly everything he once stood for.[...]A part of me is made very sad to write this article. As I've said, my family has followed John's life and career with no absence of pride. If there ever were a Republican we might consider voting for, it would have been my cousin John.
But, as he continually demonstrates in this campaign, my cousin John is long gone. "Straight talk" has been replaced with "flip-flop." Saddest all, this is the same man who, when campaigning in 2000, told a crowd of supporters, "I don't think Bill Gates needs a tax cut. I think your parents do."
My parents, John, need some help after the economic destruction Bush has wrought in the last eight years, but it's clear you're not the one who'll give it to us. America's working families no longer recognize you, nor does your own.
If McCain had a heart, that might have hurt. But John has proven time and again that the only principle he has is to win and everything else be damned. The truth went out the window a long time ago. Caring about the lies has also gone away, now his family (at least this cousin) is distancing themselves from him and the toxic campaign he is running.
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