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It's October!
IT'S OCTOBER!....The Washington Post has this year's least surprising story:
Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said.
Golly. Who could have predicted that a Republican presidential campaign would go down this road when October rolled around?
Obama seems to have this magic power of driving his opponents insane.
Memo to McCain campaign: Hillary lost. Trying to replicate her campaign is probably a bad idea. Starting off with the whole experience thing, well?., Hillary tried that and it didn't work. Trying to switch to the whole change meme after running on the experience meme, well?, Hillary tried that and it didn't work. Doing the whole throw the kitchen sink at Obama and seeing what sticks thing, well?., Hillary tried that and it didn't work. On top of that McCain campaign, well?, ya'll are just a bunch of amateur idiots compared to the Hillary campaign. Hillary was never behind Obama by over 10%, and she still lost.
Obama seems to have this magic power of driving his opponents insane.
Memo to McCain campaign: Hillary lost. Trying to replicate her campaign is probably a bad idea. Starting off with the whole experience thing, well?., Hillary tried that and it didn't work. Trying to switch to the whole change meme after running on the experience meme, well?, Hillary tried that and it didn't work. Doing the whole throw the kitchen sink at Obama and seeing what sticks thing, well?., Hillary tried that and it didn't work. On top of that McCain campaign, well?, ya'll are just a bunch of amateur idiots compared to the Hillary campaign. Hillary was never behind Obama by over 10%, and she still lost.
Jeez, I can hardly wait for the national equivalent of the Tennessee "call me" commercial. Can't you?
It's not going to be enough this time.
They're fucked.
They got nothing. Wright was definitely a liability. But Obama severed that connection; more importantly, it was already examined in painful detail during the primary. Bringing it up now will be nothing but a rehash, and will neither surprise nor persuade.
And the other "connections" are just laughable, so feeble they melt away if you look at them for more than five seconds.
So what _did_ the radical anti-american terrorist see in the obscure junior Chicago pol which led him to go out of his way to promote that pol's career?
Kevin doesn't want to know, and he most particularly doesn't want the public to know. Is this right?
Golly gee! And I thought McCain would live up to his word about a clean, issue oriented campaign when he hired Steve Schmidt and, then, October pushed him to the wall. But I'm sure he won't surreptitiously introduce race into the campaign at the last moment. Not honest John. You know, just slip up and add, by sheer accident, a little whiff of "uppity" into the campaign mix. Or maybe, just a little passing remark about "undeserving beneficiaries of affirmative action." And then apologize to make sure the press runs with it.
Can I has socialism now?
Obama forced McCain to go down this road.
Obama should have known better than to poll better than this American hero who always put country first.
Doggone it, c'mon, the angrier McCain gets there, the better. The nastier he gets there, the better.
War hero? No way, that's looking backwards. Senile piss ant, you betcha.
And who could have predicted that the Washington Post would report on the story without using the word "negative"?
I will take another 4 weeks of economic crisis and falling stock markets. It is better to lose money than to lose sanity.
Anyone have any idea how the economic crisis is affecting the fundraising capabilities of Obama and McCain? McCain is guaranteed his $84 million fed campaign funds, right? or does he have to raise some funds privately to qualify for matching funds?
I'm assuming Obama is now completely at the mercy of campaign contributions. Hope the economic crisis doesn't dry up that channel, but what recourse does he have if that brings in much less money than in previous months?
Trying to understand the nuances of campaign fundraising...
Sarah Palin chided Joe Biden (and Barack Obama) for looking back and criticizing John McCain for being tied at the neck, chest, waist, knee and ankle to George W. Bush.
The problem is that if you only look at things John McCain is saying now, during this campaign. It's very difficult. He says soooo many different contradictory things.
It's like when he wrote legislation and then voted against it.
We can't trust John McCain because we simply can't understand him.
That nigger thinks he's better than you are. Rinse and repeat.
The guy is going to go negative. That's telling enough.
Why not wait till he makes a racist attack before accusing him of such.
Some of us take accusations of racism seriously, and just don't toss it out when we have nothing left to say.
Those darn Republicans know how to win all the elections: count the votes.
So what _did_ the radical anti-american terrorist see in the obscure junior Chicago pol which led him to go out of his way to promote that pol's career?
Maybe that he was a fellow academic who lived in the neighborhood? In an affluent and insular academic oasis in the middle of the southside of Chicago no less? Racist dimwit.
(Seriously, god help me if I ever run for public office. I lived on the southside of Chicago for seven years (three in Hyde Park), and can count at least two parties I attended where Bill Ayres was there. There were probably a number more that I don't know about. (I was a lawyer at a firm that had some big Democratic players, and my wife was an upscale "nanny" for several U of C profs.))
If McCain wants to go negative on "judgment, honesty and personal associations" then Republicans had better hope he thinks first about:
1. Iraq vs. Tora Bora;
2. His high-RPM flip-flops on all but a few of the issues; and
3. Bush.
Bring it. Nature is renewed by fire, and politics is renewed by mud.
a,
Kevin doesn't want to know, and he most particularly doesn't want the public to know. Is this right?
You have my permission to call it the Kevin Konspiracy.
Well the Repugs must have started with Ann Coulter evil twin, Palin. You got to see that video. It just gets worse and worse.
Palin is back to being stupid again and pea green really isn't not her best color anymore that it's McCain's best color since it highlights that old John's teeth are almost the same color too.
It's started already. Just saw a new, thoroughly despicable ad on TV from the McCain campaign today here in Virginia.
Obama seems to have this magic power of driving his opponents insane.
Memo to McCain campaign: Hillary lost. Trying to replicate her campaign is probably a bad idea. Starting off with the whole experience thing, well ., Hillary tried that and it didn't work. Trying to switch to the whole change meme after running on the experience meme, well , Hillary tried that and it didn't work. Doing the whole throw the kitchen sink at Obama and seeing what sticks thing, well ., Hillary tried that and it didn't work. On top of that McCain campaign, well , ya'll are just a bunch of amateur idiots compared to the Hillary campaign. Hillary was never behind Obama by over 10%, and she still lost.
There was a pretty good story today in the NYT which delved into the Ayers relationship. The result? There is no there there.
In particular the "fundraiser" was for a state rep who was running for congress. She had annointed Obama as her successor and so invited him to the soiree to introduce him. At best you can call the Ayers/Obama relationship as casual.
Obama has had an easy time of it lately, the economy is on the brink of disaster and McCain has had no idea of how to run a campaign.
But this coming month of negative garbage wil be a real challange for Obama. This stuff has always worked in the past for the GOP. It remains to be seen how effective it will in the current economic climate. I'm still not sure if Obama has what it takes to hit back.
They were running Ayers commercials in Ohio back in August. It didn't get him anywhere. It's not going to work now. If McLame wants to stay negative, Obama will destroy him in the debates.
McCain, you're a putz.
McCain's credibility + 3 = 3
McCain can go negative, but McCain is in meltdown. That was the end of the wicked witch and it's the end of him and flailin' Palin.
But this coming month of negative garbage wil be a real challange for Obama. This stuff has always worked in the past for the GOP. It remains to be seen how effective it will in the current economic climate. I'm still not sure if Obama has what it takes to hit back.Posted by: g. powell
Too little, too late. It's red meat to the hardcore, but going negative when you are slipping behind, badly in many important states, will actually backfire. McCain has a double digit lead in one important state, Texas. Obama has double digit leads in three big states right now (Mass., NY and California), and is leading in most of the other big state.
The more desperate McCain and Palin become, the worse it will get for them.
McCain has made the decision that he will abandon the independents and fight for turnout in the Republican base. That is the most likely outcome of going negative this early, and with Palin crossing a very clear line in terms of questioning Obama's character. Not to waste anyone's time by pointing the obvious, but Palin has basically ascribed treason to Obama through guilt by association. This is a step beyond Bush's accusation against Kerry for "voting against the troops."
It's hard to see how, in a year when the GOP brand is suffering and when Democratic registration drives are outpacing the GOP's, McCain can pull this off.
It is not hard to see, however, what this will do for politics in America for the next few years. Should Obama be elected this November, McCain is creating a narrow but adamant segment of the population that will vehemently demonize their president for some time to come. This does not seem to be placing "Country First."
This business about Ayers is so tiresome. Small potatoes ...
If we're talking about questionable associations ... how about Kemper Marley? Unlike Ayers, Marley actually had people killed. Oh, and where did the money for all McCain's houses come from anyway?
McCain already made a racist ad.
The sex-ed ad.
Yes.
And, did you know McCain was a POW?
Yes. Front page in tomorrow's Post.
Nicely balanced with story on economic worries driving Michigan voters to Obama.
Obama seems to have this magic power of driving his opponents insane.
Obama Derangement Syndrome ;)
I've seen plenty of Ayers ads in Pennsylvania already, starting back in August. And plenty of the sex-ed ones, too. Exactly how have these ads helped McCain in the polls there?
There is a big difference between the Swift Boat story and the Ayers story. The main difference is that while most people don't understand much about Vietnam, pretty much everyone understands that just because you happen to have belonged to the same organization as someone else or have been to their house once, doesn't mean that you "support" them or are "palling" around with them. And the media won't find 8,000 "Fundraiser Attendees for Truth" who will eat up air time talking about this nonsense. Swift Boat would have been nothing without the attention the media gave it. Ayers will be dismissed by the media almost immediately, because there's just nothing to talk about.
Also, remember that the GOP used surrogates for its dirty work in 2004. Bush himself tried to give the impression of staying above the fray. That's how you do it. It's much riskier for the VP candidate to directly accuse an opponent of treason. Also inept is the McCain's camp openly admitting that this is about "changing the focus" of the debate. In other words, they admitted it was bullshit.
If this is all they got, I feel pretty fine. These guys are obviously amateurs.
It's all they've got. And it ain't enough. Boo hoo!
Oh, come on Kevin. Even I am not going to agree that this is simply a Republican trait. Carter went negative on Reagan in October back in 1980, if not a little earlier.
It's all about who's behind. The one trailing in the polls always goes negative. That the Republican brand as a whole has tanked makes it more likely that Republican's will go negative is a given, but not an exclusive.
So, there is Joe Scarborough on Matthews this morning practically encouraging a STIKE ON THE HOMELAND because it would be good for REPUGS...now, that's a story! Great link to Rolling Stone story on McShame found at TPM...grab it and send to five friends (Repugs would be best - not that they'd read it)...then ask WHY our illustrious media has gone along with the myth McShame has created about himself...
Someone needs to write a review of the beer Cindy McCain's distribution company distributes. Is it any good, first of all? Is it good manly, American beer like Budweiser? Pseudo-prole hipster beer like PBR? Or effete fruity-nosed microbrew?
This beer is the basis for McCain's millions and his mansions, so we need to know the truth.
The tactic behind "going negative" is to disgust rather than persuade independents, undecideds and "softies". To have them declare a plague on both houses and sit this one out. The idea is to drive up negatives, turn off the swing voters and throw the decision to the strength of the relative bases.
But the classical model requires both campaigns to go heavily negative. Thus far Obama has managed to "high road" it and avoid the trap. That's what he did against Clinton and it drove her nuts. I expect to see the same this month as well. I also expect to see his lead lengthen rather than shrink as a result. Teflon Obama...
Shall we tally up the people that McCain knows and associates with who have served jail time versus Obama? I don't think McSleaze wants to go there.
The McCain campaign has been negative for a long time, so what's so different about what they're doing now?
a: "So what _did_ the radical anti-american terrorist see in the obscure junior Chicago pol which led him to go out of his way to promote that pol's career?"
Wouldn't that be *ex* radical?
a: "Kevin doesn't want to know, and he most particularly doesn't want the public to know. Is this right?"
Provide some credible evidence that there is anything sinister about living in Hyde Park and being on some boards, and maybe you'll get someone to take you seriously.
I'd like to see an ad that asks what would Palin do if she got that 3 a.m. call? Reach for the phone first...or the Estee Lauder?
Keating Five.
maybe someone should ask john mccain about his friendship with the bonanno crime family:
Gov. Fife Symington of Arizona and Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, had sent birthday greetings. (Governor Symington's press secretary said his message had been a machine-signed form letter, while the note from Senator McCain's office, his press secretary said, was written by a staff member declining an invitation for the Senator to attend).
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7D61638F93BA25752C0A...
at opensecrets.org you can see the contributions that the bonanno family continues to make to john mccain.
Jeez Karen, are you for real? In 1995, McCain's staff declines an invitation and you think that's the stuff of campaign commercials?
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/donor_lookup.php?name=bonanno
Maybe you can tell me which of these guys are crime bosses and who is not. I see a lot of Hillary Clinton in there, quite a bit of McCain, and a non-trivial amount of Obama.
Good smearing karen marie, good smearing.
why thank you, jerry.
glad to be of assistance.
i hope you are as quick to defend that type of attack against obama.
and just for the record, mccain did not simply "decline" the invitation, he sent a birthday telegram.
Yeah, I am. I think there's plenty of actual issues to decide the election on, and having idiots like you bring up obvious smears and false flags just gets us dems portrayed in a false light.
Thanks, but no thanks.
I'm still interested in your analysis of the open secrets search you think is so significant. Which of those Bonannos are crime bosses? (I note the Las Vegas/New Jersey ones seem to give to Democrats, the Scottsdale ones to Republicans.)
You've alot going for you, karen marie, why not go there now?
IMHO, Republicans deliberately gave up this election long ago. Why else did they have such a lousy field in the primaries? They knew the country was going to hit a reckonin' and they want Dems to land in the shit. They all hate McCain.
Their goal with this election is to poison the well.
[comment redacted]
[I will say, though, Mr Drum, go back & YouTube the ass-kicking of the San Diego investigative reporter; I've met him, & he deserved to spill every drop of blood he did]
[& Matt Lauer, who interviewed that reporter for MSNBC for a story about violence against journalists looking for the truth, that reporter is no truth-seeker, but a serial obfuscator]