I get disappointed a lot by public officials, both Democratic and Republican…and not just because, for example, Democrats I vote for don't all act like Democrats. I get disappointed in them as human beings of integrity and candor. What's more, I'm disappointed in people who don't get disappointed in the kind of bull they get from the candidates they voted for, or who refuse to admit it. I could understand you voting for George W. Bush but not to you pretending he was pretty much the kind of president you hoped you were getting.
Bill Clinton disappointed me because I thought he was smarter on a personal basis than he turned out to be. Al Gore has sorta/kinda disappointed me because all his talk about saving the planet, though it's done much good, has more or less turned out to be a way for Al Gore to have a career in the public arena without running for anything. John Kerry has somewhat disappointed me by being John Kerry. I think all three of those men made (or would have made) better chief execs than the men they ran against but given the quality of their opponents, that's not a huge compliment.
And no one's disappointed me more than John McCain, who once upon a time was a Republican I could have seen myself voting for. I'm still not sure how much he's changed and how much the mask has slipped, though I'm sure it's some of each. There was a time when his rep for "straight talk" (or at least, straighter talk) was somewhat deserved and he seemed willing to occasionally call bullshit on his own party where warranted. The "maverick" brand did apply, at least a little.
Yesterday, he was on Meet the Press and he delivered a performance that was to Partisan Hackery what Nadia Comaneci was to the uneven parallel bars. Did you know Sarah Palin didn't "quit?" She just changed her priorities.
Here — watch it at this link. I can't bring myself to embed it here.