John McCain needs to speak out immediately against anyone exploiting Barack Obama’s “lipstick on a pig” comment. We all know that the comment wasn’t directed at Governor Palin and we all deserve a campaign that lives up to the best values of each candidate.
Barack Obama spoke out quickly and forcefully against the personal attacks directed at Ms. Palin just as her stellar convention performance was doing real damage to the Democrats. Obama could have stood silently by as his minions did their worst to unfairly smear Palin, instead of focusing on the real differences about our future which her nomination demonstrates. He did not. And neither should John McCain.

I just returned from a dinner with philanthropic and political leaders in Jerusalem. Among the topics of conversation: their disappointment in a candidate that the majority of them support, for his willingness to capitalize on Obama’s statement. One of them remarked that if Americans actually believe that Obama’s words were directed at Sarah Palin, then “they are as foolish as the voters here in Israel”. Another said that “McCain not standing up and ending this indicates that he is not the man we think he is”.
These people do not speak for all Israelis, who seem to favor McCain by a very slight margin. But as citizens facing the likely criminal indictment of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the coming days, they are keenly aware of politicians behaving badly. And the one thing that they all agreed on was that they had hpoed both candidates as examples of new and better politics. And so do I.
Whoever wins this election will need to lead the entire nation. Their ability to do so effectively will be directly proportional not only to the policies they put in place, but in the rhetoric and behavior that brings them to the White House. That’s why McCain needs to speak up now.