A Call for McCain to Come Clean

He has been hiding in the shadows long enough and, if he accepts the nomination, John McCain must fill in the blanks of an unexamined life for the American people.

Once and for all, he must tell us whether or not he wore a uniform and for how long? What about those rumors that he flew a plane, was shot down and incarcerated in some kind of foreign detention facility?

Reticence is an admirable virtue, but this strong-silent-man stuff deprives voters of a window into his soul. Is he really the mild-mannered man we have been led to believe or does he occasionally lose control and speak above an amiable whisper?

Can voters be sure he will always go along with the consensus or has he been known to stray from the path of accepted wisdom that has kept America safe and secure for so long?

Most of all, does he have the least bit of combative, confrontational spirit to sustain him in a time of crisis?

The man is likable enough, but perhaps just too shy to be President. For a start, he might at least tell us how old he is, who his people were and what he was doing before he entered public service.

We can't elect a cipher.

Obama's Anger and McCain's

Michelle Obama is telling voters about her husband's feelings during this long, hard battle for the nomination, his thinking that "I can't let my ego, my anger, my frustration get in the way of the ultimate goal."

Among the sad aspects of the past week has been Jeremiah Wright's usurping of any anger that Obama's might express. On Meet the Press today, the candidate responded to Tim Russert's grilling with unfailing calm and sadness in a situation where annoyance at being betrayed might be expected. But Obama has to distance himself from Wright's operatic anger.

Against the tactics of the Clinton and McCain campaigns, he has wryness and humor as an outlet, but there has been nothing funny about his former minister's antics.

By today's political rules, overt anger is unacceptable. "Give 'em hell, Harry" Truman would be an anachronism in a 21st century campaign.

In the post-nomination period, that will be a problem for John McCain as well. He will have to live down his reputation for a "quick temper and whether it might hinder him as president" that dates back to the 2000 campaign.

“He is passionate about the future of this country,” Cindy McCain recently told daytime TV viewers. “Some people mistake that for temper.”

McCain's anger-management technique was seen during the primaries in his addressing of Mitt Romney as "My friend" as he answered his slurs with gritted teeth.

In a matchup between Obama and McCain, temperament is sure to be an issue. An underlying question will be whether Obama has enough fire in him to be president and whether McCain has too much.