Shays: McCain ‘has lost his brand as a maverick.’
By on Oct 29th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Shays: McCain ‘has lost his brand as a maverick.’
In an interview with the Yale Daily News on Sunday, Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) declared that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “has lost his brand as a maverick” and “did not live up to his pledge to fight a clean campaign.” Shays, who is the Connecticut co-chair of McCain’s campaign, “laid much of the blame on the far right” of the conservative movement, claiming that they have “hijacked” the Republican party. The AP points out that Shays joins a growing list of conservatives who are breaking from McCain.
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Afghanistan
Bachmann
Beck
Boehner
Bush
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
Dobbs
Economy
Election
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Global Warming
Hannity
Health Care
Immigration
International Relations
Iraq
Justice
Kristol
LGBT
Lieberman
Limbaugh
Maddow
McCain
Media
Military
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Public Plan
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Sports
Steele
Stimulus
Tea Parties
Technology
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
Will the last rat to jump off the ship please turn off the lights?
October 29th, 2008 at 1:13 pmAh, but McCain has an explanation for his failure to run a clean campaign — it’s all Obama’s fault. If only Obama had agreed to do town hall meetings with him, all this could have been avoided…
October 29th, 2008 at 1:14 pmIf a rat jumps off a ship and nobody cares does it still make a splash?
October 29th, 2008 at 1:17 pmThe growing list of conservatives breaking from McCain, they are the mavericks. They are the ones who refuse to be branded Republican. McCain would be voting for Obama if he were the McCain of eight years ago. Then he could be mavericky too!
October 29th, 2008 at 1:18 pmTruth is McCain was wearing Maverick (TM) knockoffs from SoHo all along.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:20 pmHow long are CT voters going to stand for a low-down dirty rat like Chris Shays?
October 29th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
October 29th, 2008 at 1:23 pmNo, and it’s still a Rat!
He’s lost all credibility, integrity, and character. He also seems to have lost his moral bearings. He has certainly lost rational judgement.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:23 pmTake whatever Chris Shay’s says with a grain of salt. He is just like Lieberman, a phoney opportunist who I hope will get his ass handed to him next Tuesday. He is such a clown and media whore.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:24 pmHard to lose something you never had. He was never any maverick, just a scheming political hack who would do whatever was expedient to advancing his career.
To me, he is just an hateful, angry old man. Hard to say how he got this way. After all, he never worked a real job in his whole life and married a wealthy woman. No financial worries. As for his five years in Vietnam, he was honored for his service by being given his first command, despite a checkered military career.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:25 pmSorry, being captured does not justify being handed the presidency fo the USA.
“McCain would be voting for Obama if he were the McCain of eight years ago.”
The only thing difference between 2000 and 2008 is the media treatment. They loved and admired him then – now, not so much. In 2000, he engaged in racial slurs, employed race-baiting KKK type guys for his campaign in the south, endorsed the Confederate flag (and then apologized), criticized and then praised Falwell, ran disgusting robo-calls in the south and in Michigan, misrepresented several policy positions of his opponents and talked about “beating Al Gore like a drum.”
But the media were in love and generally agreed not to report the bad news – only the stuff that furthered the media mythology of this consumate political opportunist.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:25 pmWe know that McCain gave up being a maverick a couple of years after the Bush gang slimed him in the 2000 Republican primary in South Carolina. This morning, Senator Obama said that McCain was not a maverick, but a sidekick (for Bush). Continuing the four-legged comparisons, I would say that McCain will soon be known as an also-ran.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:26 pmMcCain is a cranky old caucasian, bitterly watching the world turn into a community where acceptance, tolerance and respect for all of humanity is the only hope for the survival of the human race.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:28 pmMcCain has run a very good campaign considering the smears and other attacks put up against him and his running mate Palin. This comes as no surprise given the heightened scrutiny that he is under since he is running against a candidate “of color” (Obama’s own words).
In the history of American politics there always has been, and I dare say, always will be, smears, lies, and other questionable tactics used by candidates for political office.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:30 pmNot only has McCain lost his maverickiness, but I also think that he is (literally) losing his hearing.
¶ AIO
October 29th, 2008 at 1:31 pmNow, that’s what I call “straight talk”
October 29th, 2008 at 1:33 pmunfortunately, the republicans who are now speaking out on McCain are the same one who are nominating Palin Sacks, to be the face of the new republican party.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:36 pm“The Borgen Project has some good info on the cost of addressing global poverty.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:39 pm$30 billion: Annual shortfall to end world hunger.
$540 billion: Annual U.S. Defense Budget.”
I had a lot more respect for McCain before this election. He has really played fast and loose with the truth. Somehow, I think he just got desperate, and he lost his moral footing. It is kind of sad, but I still want Obama to win big time!
October 29th, 2008 at 1:44 pmJT Says:
——————————————————————————–
McCain has run a very good campaign considering the smears and other attacks put up against him and his running mate Palin. This comes as no surprise given the heightened scrutiny that he is under since he is running against a candidate “of color”
Let’s see if I got this straight. You are saying that McCain has done very well for himself, despite working under the disadvantage of being a white man?
October 29th, 2008 at 1:45 pmI think he should just go ahead and quit while he’s behind.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:45 pmMcCain has, in his desperation, been willing to say anything, then contradict it, while telling lies that even he looks sheepish telling. He has lost his last shreds of dignity, decency, and maverickness.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:49 pmCool, let’s brand a great big effing “M” on McIIIrd’s forhead, right next to the “L” for loser.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:57 pmShoeless, don’t put up a straw man that’s easy for you to knock down.
October 29th, 2008 at 1:58 pmJT, you must be the Strawman from the Wizard of Oz, because whining that John McCain is at a disadvantage because he is a white man is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:03 pmJT:
October 29th, 2008 at 2:04 pmStrange thing is that many of the rightwing pundits that actually get pay to talk shit have claimed that it hasd been a piss poorly run campaingn and that ias why he is losing. Why should I buy your argument to the contrary?
No wait, that isn’t the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Whining that Barack Obama has an unfair advantage because he is a black man is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:05 pmNot only has he lost his Maverick image, he’s completely lost his MIND
October 29th, 2008 at 2:07 pm“Lost his brand as a maverick” is rather funny to me, because the term “maverick” literally originated from a rancher who refused to “brand” his cattle.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:08 pmThe underhanded, careening out of control campaign that McCain has run is an eyeopener as to how he would run his Administration. A clear lack of focus, a win-at-all-costs attitude, a blustering, pig-headed old man looking for a fight, lying and pandering for approval while riding his predecessor’s failed policies over a cliff, taking the rest of the country with him. The one decision that we have seen him make, the selection of Sarah Palin, shows us the knee-jerk mentality with which McCain bases his decisions. This man wants to be Commander in Chief so bad but doesn’t give the rest of the job description of President of the United States much thought, quite like the way he approaches deeply serious issues that are hobbling this nation, with no thought for the long term and no real solutions to the problems other than how they will affect his friends in big business and the neocon base. This is not a leader. A “maverick” that doesn’t like to follow the rules and relishes in being an @sshole to people he doesn’t like is NOT the kind of person we need representing the US to the world. We’ve had eight years of a petulant, stubborn dictator wannabe and we cannot afford another. On the other hand, Barack Obama has shown intelligence, un-nerving calm and a strong ability to lead throughout his well run campaign. Despite outright lies and racism from the other side he doesn’t take everything personal, is decisive in his planning, sees the long term over the short win and has shown a remarkable knack for making the right decisions. There is a very tangible reason why Bush has, despite his “stay-the-course” attitude, come around to reluctantly accept Obama’s ideas and even try to make them seem his own (holding talks with Iran, setting a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq, going into Pakistan after Bin Laden). All McCain can seem to muster is a litany of “bomb, bomb Iran”, chest thumping at Russia and a pledge to remain needlessly in Iraq until he himself could kick that can down the lonely road to the president to follow him. Obama’s plans for the economy have been hailed by many economists while McCain’s proposals will drag this Nation even further down the hole that Bush has dug for us. Senator McCain IS NOT A LEADER! The last thing America needs is an aging “maverick” lumbering through the White House looking to flex his military muscles at every turn. THANKS BUT NO THANKS, JOHN.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:11 pmJT, I’m with shoeless. mccain has flipfloped his way through this whole campaign. He has lost ground every time he made a move.
He’s white and that’s the only reason he’s still even in this race at all. Even that won’t get him a win…..that’s how bad his campaign has been.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:11 pmRep. Chris Shays (R-CT) declared that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “has lost his brand as a maverick”
It’s impossible to lose that which you never had.
“I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends… that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”
Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:21 pmIn fairness to John and Sara, it can’t be easy fronting for the Party of Treason.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:22 pmFred, I’ll take you one step further:
If Obama were a white man, McCain/Palin would be polling at 19%-22% (the same % as the hard-core wingnuts who still support Bush).
October 29th, 2008 at 2:24 pmJT Says:
Time to stop drinking that koolaide, wake up and see reality, Bud.
The white is black, up is down, 1984ish view of the world is not fooling anyone except the lowest IQ voters any more.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:26 pmIt fools JT.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:30 pm‘Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) declared that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “has lost his brand as a maverick” ‘
“Maverick” like the “Straight Talk Express” have never been anything more than campaign slogans for a shallow, petty, crooked man with a lust for power.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:30 pmThat so called “brand” never really existed!
October 29th, 2008 at 2:32 pmWait, did JT just equate scrutiny with smears and attacks?
Someone please remind me, which candidate was accused of being a closeted Muslim, a Marxist, and a socialist, then had those accusations echoed by TV & radio stations?
October 29th, 2008 at 2:36 pmAdlai Stevenson also said:
There are worse things than losing an election; the worst thing is to lose one’s convictions and not tell the people the truth.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:39 pmJT Says:
Shoeless, don’t put up a straw man that’s easy for you to knock down.
Shoeless, you should listen to JT, since he has lots of experience in putting up straw-man arguments that are easily knocked down.
/snicker
October 29th, 2008 at 2:41 pmJT had to run for obvious reasons…..he stuck his foot in it.
Please, jt if you’re still out there, compare the things the mccain campaign has said about Obama such as calling him a terrorist or unAmerican compares to what has been said about mccain.
I believe the case has been well made that mccain is not in this to help the average American…..his constiuants are wealthy business people, not joe the plumber.
Joe’s just a dummy who wants to be right…..to bad, he picked the wrong side. Keep listening to your bosses Joe, they know what’s good for you.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:55 pmNow I’m confused. Who will show up at that D.C. area house to resurrect the Republican brand after the election?
October 29th, 2008 at 3:01 pmShays’ sudden Come-to-Obama moment is no doubt a function of the stiff competition for his seat in relatively liberal Western Connecticut. I don’t think he’d be shocked, shocked at the usual tone of the Republican campaign if he weren’t in a neck-and-neck race.
As for McCain & his sleazy campaign, I’m with those who think he was always sleazy — complaining about the racist Rovian tactics against him while waving the Confederate flag is about as two-faced as you can get.
As for his post-2000-election apology, that’s a tactic he has used many times. Do something despicable to get elected, then after the election, say you’re sorry so everyone sees how “honorable” and “human” you are. I think for McCain the statute of limitations has run out on that well-worn stunt. Are we all going to say, “Oh, that’s okay, John,” after the election when he says he’s awfully sorry he called Obama an unpatriotic terrorist socialist anti-American anti-Israel Hamas-backed elitist airhead? I’m not.
I’ll put Chris Shays’ little moment of clarity up on RealityChex.com, but more for comic value than for anything else. If you want to see a stunning actual moment of truth, take a look at the “Must-Watch” on RealityChex.com (center column near the top) at http://www.realitychex.com — it’s quite remarkable.
October 29th, 2008 at 4:09 pmJT Says:
WOW. That was among the most purely delusional posts I have ever read and the rightwing has a LOCKDOWN on delusion. There have been plenty of smears alright smears of OBAMA. He wasnt born in Hawaii, he is a Muslim, he palls around with terrorists, and so on DEEP into the mud. Smears of McNobody? Not so much. As for Palin she is just an idiot that people are calling on being an idiot. It isnt a smear to notice the Emperor has no clothes as much as it would HELP your delusional cause if it was. I suggest you try letting reality into your world, that would be Planet Wignut. Better start with just a bit, dont want to put you into a coma with such a shock to your system. Then try a bit more and eventually you might be able to visit us on Planet Earth. We have a nice climate and many good Thai restaurants.
October 29th, 2008 at 5:09 pm