The core speech of the McCain campaign was delivered at the Johns Hopkins University commencement last spring. The threat that concerns me is the pervasive public cynicism that is debilitating our democracy, McCain declared. Skepticism about government, he continued, has turned into a biting contempt for public life. And this cynicism doesn t lead people to want to scale back government, as many Republicans used to believe. Instead, it just causes them to detach themselves from public life and active citizenship.
Cynics look on outrageous scandals that disgrace our democracy with bemused detachment.
Standing aloof and considering themselves superior, they oppose change of any kind, even efforts to reform or cut back the very things that disgust them. The first task, he continued, is to reform the institutions that no longer make us proud. McCain is unabashed about his support for campaign-finance reform, feeling that government can never inspire public confidence as long as politicians are caught up in the money chase. He proposed reforming the Social Security trust fund by taking it off budget so Congress can t raid it. He proposed reforming the tax code, to reduce the loopholes that reward corporate donors.