I hate politics.

I really keep trying to ignore the election. I've done my homework, and I've known for a while who I'm voting and rooting for. He's not perfect, but I certainly like him more than most politicians. And I respect him. I figured it's best, at this point, to not pay too much attention to the election cycle. It's only going to be ugly right now (on both sides), and I'm only likely to become nervous or angry. Or both.

I've not been able to stop myself, though, and right now I'm angry.

I'll admit that I've always held a bit of respect for McCain, though I've rarely agreed with him. I never thought he had nearly as much integrity as he's supposed to have had, but there were moments, at least, when he showed to have a touch more of it than most politicians.

As a result, his campaign the last week has been really disappointing, really disgusting, to me. It's been as low as I've seen a campaign be in my lifetime (clearly worse than the Swift Boating episode, though not as blatant). His campaign, at this point, seems to be primarily orchestrated so as to 'otherize' Obama, to make him seem foreign, unpatriotic, insidious, and presumptuous--outside of the mainstream. The foreign trip Obama made last week played into this narrative, so that despite the trip's success, he's been hurting in the polls.

I think Bob Herbert does a tremendous job of outlining some of the ways in which Obama's race has been exploited, quite subtlely, by McCain's campaign to otherize Obama. David Gergen (who's the best political analyst anywhere, in my opinion) made much the same case this morning on This Week.

The ad McCain put out that depicts Obama as a sort of anti-Christ seems to me to be the most despicable example of it.

And so, I'm angry and really agree with Herbert that it's frustrating to hear McCain complaining that Obama is pulling the race card. McCain is absolutely the one attempting to use race divisively, even if he's being very circumspect in doing so.

I've definitely lost whatever respect I once held for McCain. And I'm going to have a really difficult time trying to keep myself away from politics this summer.