Recently several of your contributors here have been emailing each other about John McCain's character. If you've been visiting the Agora for long, you can guess where the battle lines were drawn. In today's news cycle we have evidence that both sides in our debate can cite: McCain's repudiation of the North Carolina GOP's ad featuring Rev. Wright.McCainiac: "Did you hear McCain condemned the NC attack ad? What a great guy! See, he's about a new kind of politics, character and substance."
Dumb Anti-McCain Response: "Yeah, but if he's the nominee, what does it say about his leadership skills that he cant even get the NC GOP to stop running the ad?"
Astute Anti-McCain Response: "The worst thing for Obama is for McCain to go on TV and say 'OMG don't run this ad...it's so awful...no one look!!' McCain takes that position for two reasons: (1) it makes him look good, and (2) he knows that his condemnation of the ad takes it from running in a few local NC markets and instead shifts it to running in an unending loop on cable news for free."
McCainiac rebuttal: "You conspiracy theorist wack job, so he isn't supposed to say 'don't run the ad.' He sure isn't supposed to say 'run the ad.' No matter what he says you'll think he's up to something. I suppose we blew up the Pentagon too, right Jackass?"
Responding to the McCainiac: "Time will tell. If in a few days he's still trying to talk about his condemnation of the ad, why that type of ad is harming our politics, etc. That shows McCain is just a typical opportunist pol w/ a good PR shop. If McCain doesn't take shameless steps to try to keep spinning this, and merely says 'I've made my views on the ad clear, I'm done discussing it. That just gives you guys an excuse to keep running it.' Then score one for the McCainiacs."
Labels: 2008, Augur, John McCain, politics, tactics
An astute student of politics would conclude that he was, indeed, up to something, no matter what he says, same as Obama or Hillary.
That's the sane, measured response to any situation where a politician is involved.
Tom
This is a classic, no win situation for McCain.
McCain says nothing, and everyone yells, "There goes the Republican Hatchet Crew, and McCain does nothing to stop it. Typical politician."
While I cannot fault Tom's mistrust of politicians, nor can I suggest that McCain is a saint or even that he is what I consider a perfect candidate, I don't think that this is going to be as problematic for Obama as some might think it would be, if only because he has other larger problems which dwarf this particular ad.
It's looking like all of the TV stations in NC are refusing to run the ad anyway. With that news, it will be interesting to see whether McCain keeps condemning it, thus continuing to make it news, or stops talking about it, since it's a moot issue in NC.
BJP - Exactly. We'll have to wait and see. I just want everyone to see it for what it is if he keeps talking about it
In 1989, McCain took over $110,000.00 from Charles Keating to use his influence to have the senate "turn their heads" while Keating and others ripped off $30 billion in the savings and loan scandal from the American Public. Just Wikipedia "Keating 5". More recently, McCain has committed a felony in his use of campaign funds, should be disqualified as a candidate and put in prison. This isn't opinion, it's real, deal with it, he's a corrupt lowlife.