McCain's Lies Cross the Line

Politicians often stretch the truth, but John McCain has taken things to a new level, writes Joe Klein in Time. Journalists usually play softball when criticizing candidates’ falsehoods, but now even the restrained New York Times editorial board is calling McCain a liar. McCain’s campaign has been a “ceaseless assault” on Obama, Klein writes, characterized by “a consistent—and witting—disdain for the truth.”

Normally, a politician might question opponents' sincerity or exaggerate their stance. But McCain simply attributes positions to Obama the Dem doesn’t hold, and repeats demonstrably untrue smears. This brazenness is “something new in presidential politics,” writes Klein. Even Karl Rove has said the distortions have gone too far. McCain “has defaced his beloved military code of honor,” writes Klein. “He has run a dirty campaign.” (More John McCain stories.)