Media Buffers McCain From His Own Campaign’s Attacks On Obama
Media Buffers McCain From His Own Campaign’s Attacks On Obama
Last Saturday, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign announced a new strategy of diversion. “If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we’re going to lose,” one top aide said.
Since then, the campaign has accused Barack Obama of such things as “palling around with terrorists” — one of many references to former radical William Ayers. As a result, McCain-Palin campaign rallies have become “increasingly hostile” and filled with “rage.” One supporter referred to Obama as a “terrorist,” while another “wore a T-shirt depicting…Obama wearing a devil mask.”
But some in the media just can’t accept that McCain is in any way responsible, suggesting that it is his campaign aides, not McCain himself, that is orchestrating the attacks and that McCain simply has no choice but to play along:
– Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza: McCain has NEVER [emp. in original] been particularly comfortable carrying harshly negative, personal messages in campaigns — always viewing himself as above that sort of lowest common denominator politics. His refusal to bring up Ayers last night is reflective of his distaste for the knife-fight aspects of politics.
– CBS News’s Bob Schieffer: I’d like to think that maybe it’s not McCain himself, but some of those around him.
– Washington Post’s Ben Pershing: Everyone was waiting for McCain to bring up Ayers at the last debate, and he didn’t do it. [...] But McCain is in trouble now and he may just decide to go for broke in the third debate. I think he’d still prefer not to do it himself, but he may not have a choice.
It is true that McCain did not bring up Obama’s ties to Ayers during the last debate but he has on a number of occasions since. “I don’t care about two washed-up old terrorists that are unrepentant about trying to destroy America,” McCain said just yesterday. “But I do care, and Americans should care, about his relationship with him and whether he’s being truthful and candid about it.”
But the media would do a disservice if they separate McCain from his campaign’s actions, as Media Matters’ Jamison Foser has noted:
Beltway journalists — so long in love with John McCain — seem to have trouble accepting this, but John McCain owns his campaign. He’s responsible for it. Its actions are his actions. It is him. You can like it, dislike it, whatever. But it’s his campaign. Journalists and pundits shouldn’t give him credit for leaving the extra-nasty lines to his minions.
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So it's not just me that sees the giant YELLOW streak up his twisted backside. What a coward not to confront Obama (the terrorist lover) while standing next to him for 1.5 hours. Typical Retardlican. Just like the Jr. High bully, when you stand up to them , they piss their pants and run crying to mommy.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:30 pmIf McCain's handlers are attempting to keep McCain removed from their dirty tactics, all they're doing is painting McCain as a doddering geezer who is so out of it that he doesn't even have control over his own staffers.
I suspect that painting Obama as the anti-Christ is all they have left. Unfortunately, their smear tactics are only going to destroy whatever they have left, while Obama sprints for the finish line exhibiting class.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:33 pmMcCoward has no clue as to how far off track his campaign has gotten. he just gets pushed on stage and either has a prompter to give him his lines or he resorts to the same old tired GOP fear rhetoric. Just like Bush. He is too senile and feeble to realize that his Honorable campaign has turned into the worst kind of Bush poo throwing that he detests. It's sad to see that he is too much of a COWARD to tell his Bush/Rove handlers to HIT THE ROAD !! he may be able to salvage at least the smallest part of what is left of his dignity.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:34 pmWhen somebody does something wrong in my name and I don't put a stop to it. It's my name that's connected to it and it's my problem.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:36 pmWhat about the message at the end of commercials "I'm John McCain and I approve this message."?
October 10th, 2008 at 5:36 pmI guess that is just his double. sigh
i guess it must be sooooooo difficult to say, "you know, i vehemently oppose calling my opponent a terrorist"
shucks, i guess it's hard being john mccain.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:38 pmCount Istvan Says:
When somebody does something wrong in my name and I don’t put a stop to it. It’s my name that’s connected to it and it’s my problem.
Unless your a republican representative.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:38 pmMcCain is insane and his campaign is drowning in the rising flood waters created by eight years of W.'s financial bungling and war profiteering.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:38 pmHe has no other option but to dive head first into the mud with mooose-hater Palin under his crooked wing. Check out my cartoon from when he made his cynical choice for VP - who he is now using to incite retarded white bigots from America's creepiest hills and dales.
Unfortunately for all concerned, Senator McCain's view of reality is very clouded by his growing senility and his taking of heavy doses of psychotropic drugs.
Rebuilding America - step by step
1. Get out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Stop wasting $3B/wk on stupid hostile foreign occupations.
2. Rescind the Bush tax cuts to help cut the federal budget deficit.
3. Reregulate the financial markets. Abolish all derivatives, which are just speculations, which don’t produce goods or services for the American consumer.
4. Regulate the electronic oil futures market and other commodity markets. No more speculation, no more buying on margin.
5. Institute not-for-profit single payer universal health insurance and universal health care.
6. Withdraw from NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO, which favor so-called “free trade,“ which is just corporate greed trade. Stop corporations from outsourcing our manufacturing and high tech jobs to over-border and overseas locations. Rebuild our tariff walls to traditional levels to allow American companies to manufacture American goods for American markets.
7. Raise the minimum wage to a living wage level of $12/hr.
9. Cap any and all corporate CEO compensation packages at a maximum of one million dollars per year.
10. Return to hand-counted paper ballots in all U. S. elections to end Republican electronic election theft.
11. Start rebuilding our roads and bridges, which have been neglected since Reagan came into office in 1981, some 27 years ago. We also need to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.
12. Reorient the FDA and the FTC and other federal agencies so that they again protect the American people and our environment, and stop protecting corporate greed.
13. Institute 100% publicly-funded federal elections. Let’s return to the tradition of having the League of Women Voters hold all Presidential debates. All minority party candidates need to be included in the debates.
14. Make it easier for workers to join labor unions: pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
15. Prosecute Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, et al ad nauseum for war crimes against the Afghanis and the Iraqis.
16. honor the public's right to control public airwaves and to thus require public interest broadcasting on television and radio instead of the current arrangement of allow greedy private corporations to dominate our airwaves.
17. Protect our citizens’ right to privacy which has been traditional under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:41 pmPhoto Caption: The Godfather winces just before chasing his grandson through the tomato vines.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:41 pmThe admiral's indulged son married to the rich rich rich heiress doesn't have to get his own hands dirty. That's what the hired help is for. I doubt he knows how to wipe his own a$$.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:42 pmHe's got plenty to worry about
Poll.................date..McIIIrd..Obama....Diff
FOX/Opinion Dynamics 10/8-9..39......46.....7
Newsweek ............10/8-9..41......52.....11
And that picture?! Is that Popeye the POW Sailor Man?
October 10th, 2008 at 5:47 pmOf course McCain doesn't have to get his hands dirty- that WHY he has campaign staff. Aren't these Serious journalists supposed to be the ones who understand this whole politics thing?
October 10th, 2008 at 5:48 pmI can just see what's next.
Michelle Obama, secret Haitian voodoo princes...Sheesh..
October 10th, 2008 at 5:49 pmprincess!!
October 10th, 2008 at 5:49 pmWow, Let me get this straight: McCain has no control over his own campaign? If that is so: how does he expect to have any control over an entire country?
Unstable&Unable
October 10th, 2008 at 5:56 pmMcSame is the sleaziest piece of sh&t to ever run. He has over taken Dubya Bush and I don't care what the morons in the Beltway media thought about him. His record does not reconcile to what he has been saying for the past twenty six years. John McSame is the sleaze ball scum bag the GOP ran this time. The bastard needs to be beaten down in a landslide. The economy is burning and this kind of crap does not matter.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:57 pmNo matter what kind of "buffer" the MSM puts up, America knows McCain and the GOP have NOTHING for America. By the way--this isn't two men equally throwing insults back and forth. McCain is flailing and his campaign has been reduced to a bunch of caged monkeys throwing turds at the people watching. And each other.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:00 pmI’d like to think that maybe it’s not McCain himself, but some of those around him.
Riight. So he has no control over what his staff does?
Or is it yet another case of the McCain campaign not speaking for McCain and/or vicerversa?
Scary when you think these people have no clue that they're implying McCain is a bumbling old man, with no say on what is being done and said on his behalf.
Think this is the man Republicans want to see as their Commander in Chief. Talk about lowered expectations. Then again, they still worship Bush II -as incompetent as he is...
October 10th, 2008 at 6:03 pmIt shouldn't be surprising that repub crowds are getting uglier and uglier as it becomes more clear Obama will win. They're ugly when they're winning! They're bound to be a nightmare when they're losing.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:05 pm49er, expect to have to defend your house and home from angry rethugs in your neighborhood on November 5 - 7...
October 10th, 2008 at 6:10 pmThis is a remnant of the old guard media which still holds sway in many of the newsrooms of America. They present our politicians in the best light possible. They paper over affairs and prostitutes. They clean up colorful language. They state the policy positions rather than reporting on the plain words of the politicians.
Unfortunately, we have been ill served by the old guard recently. They have gone overboard in their attempts to hide Bush's incompetence from the American people. Now, they are bending over backward to hide the fact that McCain's campaign has gone deeply negative.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:14 pmphoto caption:
"I tell ya I just dont get any respect"
You sure dont you senile idiot.
When you can't talk about the facts, the subject, or the issues, all you have left is name calling and BS, and in this reality show type election cycle it works on the truly un-informed, nope lets just say dumb public. "These people" (you say That One, I say These People) could care less about the country as a whole, they only care about their Social Club lifestyles that would be upset by a Nword being POTUS.
And YES this is what this is all about, and if you dont believe it I have a Bridge to Nowhere to not sell you. The McCain campaign should just come out and call Barack Obama N!@@er and get it over with, he would gain in the polls, get the base truly riled up, and this race would really be close, because there is no damn way that its close now. At least we'll know where he really stands. I would rather know a person hated me because of that than to act as though we had some "ideological differences", hell McCain and Palin have those and he hasn't called her a C--t........yet he'll do that after the election.
This man was unfit way before he picked Palin. He was unfit when he allowed the people who slandered his adoption of his daughter to run his campaign. What type of man would enlist the help from those who disrespected his family, but he gets away with this "country first" BS.
McCain/Palin
"Country Club Types First"
Sponsored by your local Concerned Citizens Councils:
and by: Woolite... gets your sheets as white as when you first opened the pack.
Idiots
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity", Martin Luther King, Jr.
RIP
October 10th, 2008 at 6:17 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
I hope that Obama/Biden win by a landslide, so that election fraud, that specialty of the GOP, would be more difficult to accomplish. It disturbs me that the McCain/Palin campaign is rallying the haters, as it is un-American. But I am also very impressed at the tone of Obama's campaign--he keeps it serious and is staying on message.
I would like it if the journalists do their job for a change--for all the scrutiny they subjected Michelle Obama to, there has been little given to Cindy McCain. Or to Todd Palin, who belonged to the Alaska Independence Party for 7 years. For some reason, the corporate media (that includes Bob Schieffer--G.H.W.Bush's buddy), doesn't go after the Republicans in the same way they go after the Democrats.
So I won't hold my breath waiting for that. I'll be holding my breath, however, on November 4th, hopefully be working for the campaign. I encourage people to vote absentee, so they can work to get out the vote.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:22 pmIf it's any concilation, there are signs that the MSM BS because of the nature of the whole GOP campaign, isn't working. Obama has significant leads in some pretty red states. And even one of my least favorite local Reichradio personalities recently said:
"I might not agree with them but, at least Obama and Biden sound like they have some idea what the're talking about".
October 10th, 2008 at 6:33 pmNot to blatantly steal from Denzel, but explain this to me like I'm a two-year-old:
McStain is a man of honor, but has been forced to surround himself with an entire team of dishonorable people in order to display his honor so he can win the office he has never been fit to hold?
BWAAA HAAA HAAAA!
PEACE
October 10th, 2008 at 6:33 pmI ran into a video on YouTube yesterday. It's a homemade footage taken at a McCain rally. The maker sounds young (his face is never shown), and he is obviously an Obama supporter even though he never explicitly states so, as he interviews the McCain supporter attending the rally.
Check it out here.
At any rate, the reaction of the people to his questions is interesting -and baffling to me. The angry woman jumping in front of the camera is something else. Others keep repeating "Obama has terrorist ties". When asked why, their reply is "Just look at his middle name". (WTF!?)
It just amazes me the lack of logic in that connection. These are probably the folk who think the world is only 6000 years old...
October 10th, 2008 at 6:35 pmIts called the McCain campaign because its John McCains campaign. Hes responsible.
It might be that McCain isnt 100% comfortable what he and his campaign is doing but thats just more troubling. It means hes lost control
October 10th, 2008 at 6:35 pmUnder the uniform code of military justice McCain should know better than anyone that everything that does or does not happen under your watch is your responsibilty and you are accountable for it.
Oooops, sorry forgot.. we have here another repeat calamity of privledged upbringing and marrying for money.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:35 pmThe Headline on MSNBC is " How does Mccain regain advantage "
along with the " what does he have to do " and " Will it work "
and don't forget about obama , " Why isn't he further ahead ".
Since cable isn't about FKN news anymore or informing viewers, how about WHY IS JOHN MCcAIN USING SURROGATES FOR HIS DIRTY CAMPAIGNING OR WHY HE ISN'T CONTROLLING HIS BASE, WHEN THEY MAKE VILE , BIGOTED AND SLANDEROUS COMMENTS ABOUT HIM ASSOCIATING WITH TERRORISTS , EVEN THE ONES NOT CONVICTED OF ANYTHING .
October 10th, 2008 at 6:46 pmAND AND AND if John Biden was being investigated for ABUSE OF FKN POWER, you know damn well blitzer, gregory would make it a top story , as part of their cheap political theater they do 24/7, instead of reporting NEWS .
Yet nobody is asking why Palin's husband he refused to testify in person , and only by mail and she refused to testify all together, the other half of the laughable ' straight shooter" team " . GET OFF your ass cable, your pathetic as hell reporting real news and be consistent with the so called scandals you dredge up .
If you haven't seen the FAUX clip, about the "outrageous" Palin Newsweek cover photo, it's pretty hilarious. Short version is that they are outraged Newsweek didn't airbrush Palin's photo.
http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2008/10/your-awesome--2.html
October 10th, 2008 at 6:50 pmI think that the public should be wary of a candidate who doesn't run his own campaign. Does that mean if he was voted POTUS, he wouldn't run the White House. We all know the answer to that question, but it would be nice if someone would bring it up in the MSM.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:19 pmThis man is running for president, not "those around him". If he can't even control the message of his campaign am I honestly to believe he can have any sense of control over the presidency? There will be even more people running around for him at that point.
This isn't a good excuse. It's a terrible excuse from any angle. Either we're to believe that he doesn't care that they're doing it or he's involved in them doing it. Which of these is better?
October 10th, 2008 at 8:41 pmWhat Margerine said!
October 10th, 2008 at 9:36 pmMcCain spent $273,000 LAST year on hired domestic help at his HOMES . . . sure hope he controls THEM better than his own campaign STAFF . . .
Seems Palin has been running the circus without the Ringmaster? I don't think so . . . .
October 10th, 2008 at 10:42 pmDon't forget that when he was asked at a rally whether or not he was going to pursue anyone on criminal charges, McCain named Nancy Pelosi and Chris Dodd, stoking the fire.
October 11th, 2008 at 7:23 amBarney Frank, not Nancy Pelosi, sorry.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/10/mccains_frank_t.html
October 11th, 2008 at 7:36 amIf McCain is responsible for the rabble rousing and smearing done on his behalf, he's demonstrating a) leadership (getting these people to work together on task, and b) his willingness to descend to any level to get power.
If McCain isn't directing his followers, what leadership skills can he reasonably claim to have? I mean, if he can't demonstrate he can ride herd on the people who want to follow him now, when will his touted leadership kick in?
October 11th, 2008 at 10:21 amHe may have shown bravery and valor in his past life, but in this new edition of McMaverick, he has become just another moral coward. History will show that he destroyed whatever integrity he once had, in his shot at the presidency.
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March 31st, 2009 at 10:13 am