When the Republicans so dramatically lost the 2006 mid-term elections, then Presidential-candidate John McCain was surprisingly candid when he said, "In 1994, we became the majority in both houses of Congress in order to change government. Instead, government changed us. We began to value power over principle."
A maverick politician who was highly critical of both Democrats and Republicans, McCain was considered a front-runner in the 2008 campaign. After January 17, 2008, when a revolutionary group called O.U.T.R.A.G.E. assassinated President George W. Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney and most members of Congress, things changed again - as dramatically as anytime since the American Revolutionary War against he British.
Now McCain was serving as Interim Vice-President while the country struggled to heal itself, revitalize its spirit and re-strengthen its position as a world leader. Along with Interim President Colin Powell, McCain had made broad strides to affect radical change in the way the United States government would operate. Allowing power, status, privilege and wealth to consume the nation's elected public servants, both men were dedicated to the proposition that, indeed, all men were created equal - and all men should be given equal opportunities. Billionaires or multi-millionaires should not get all the 'breaks' at the expense of those who went to bed hungry every night, who were homeless or jobless, and who had less availability to education, information, and prosperity. It was not so much a change in social structure as it was an attempt to change the American psyche. United States citizens would have to recognize that their place in this world was dependent on humility, caring and sharing. Sharing resources, knowledge, information, friendships, and status was not an easy thing to change, especially among those in the top 1% of the American population who were used to the comforst of power, positon and privilege.
The "common" citizen - the "little guy" - should have just as much right to run for office as the wealthy elitists who could fund their campaigns with millions of dollars. Corporate America would have to learn to become good corporate citizens, instead of bending the laws to protect their vested interests. Now in his early 70's, McCain faced the most important challenge of his career. He was charged with affecting this kind of significant change in the minds of 300,000,000 people who had been taught for generations that they should look out only for themselves and their peers. It was a daunting task.