Compassion for McCain

As we approach the election day, and my anxiety about Obama's chances are receding (though not gone), I have been watching in horror as John McCain's campaign implodes.  His Rovian campaign strategists have rolled out hate and fear-mongering as a last ditch attempt to scare voters away from Obama, and from the polls in general.  Unlike Bush in 2000 and 2004, it seems that McCain's crew has overreached.  He is being roundly condemned by people from his own party, and has made it increasingly likely that Democrats will take a 100 seat majority in Congress, and perhaps land the Holy Grail 60 votes in the Senate.  

From where I am sitting, I can't help but feel compassion for McCain.  He looks to me like a broken man.  He has unleashed forces he has no control over, and now wants to put the genie back in the bottle.  How pathetic is his recent effort to tell his supporters to be respectful? It seems to me that he knows he is going to lose this election, and is just looking forward to the end.  

I am an Arizona voter, and voted for McCain twice for Senator.  I never agreed with many of his positions, but have respected him as a person.  In 2000, I desperately wanted him to beat Bush, and thought that I could have lived with a McCain presidency if he beat Gore.  I don't think he is the same man today.  It is a shame that his legacy will end so poorly--I hope...