People are starting to tire of the McCain campaign's constant reminders of his former POW status. Even the media is starting to speak up about how this is getting old.
To some extent, it makes sense to refer to McCain's service and sacrifice. We are, after all, a nation that has always loved war, and in some of our churches we have even changed our vision of Jesus from that of peacemaker to that of warrior. So a former POW is a powerful symbol of patriotism.
But if you look beyond the patriotic aspect of being a POW, and examine what it means and what it doesn't mean, you understand why it is beginning to lose its value in the campaign.
First of all, being a POW involves suffering, but nearly everyone in the world has either suffered or knows someone who has suffered greatly in one way or another. Cancer patients, people who have been in terrible accidents, victims of urban violence, people struggling to find enough to eat, victims of ethnic cleansing, innocent prisoners held and tortured by the United States, and certainly the innocent victims of war, have all suffered, some as much or more than John McCain. That isn't to belittle his suffering, but it is simply to say John McCain is not the only person in the world to have suffered horribly at some point in life. In fact, although he suffered greatly, he was only one of 600 prisoners held by the North Vietnamese.
Second, since his release, John McCain has led a more charmed life than most Americans will ever lead. He ditched his first wife and married a 25 year old heiress who has provided him with somewhere between seven and ten homes, a private Jet, and the money to live a comfortable and prestigious life as a United States Senator. He never has to worry one moment about money or the comforts of life.
It has been 35 years since John McCain was released by the North Vietnamese. Yes, he will always be honored and respected for his service. But there were 600 other POWs who suffered with him, many no longer alive. The thirty five years since his release have given John McCain everything a man could want. But the one thing his POW experience does not and should not do is give him a pass on everything he does and everything he says that might make anyone who had not been a POW a poor choice to be president.
Having been a POW is simply not enough to qualify you for the highest office in this land and finally voters are realizing that.
