Hey, John McCain: Have you bothered watching the ad you condemned yet?; NYTimes piles on
Did you know that John McCain lambasted the North Carolina GOP’s anti-Obama/Jeremiah Wright ad without having seen it?
Yes, this noxious little tidbit was tucked into an AP story three days ago when the controversy broke and has been little remarked upon since. When I mentioned this fact at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference dinner last night, much of the audience gasped. Obviously, the word hasn’t gotten out there enough:
The ad opens with a photo of Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright together and a clip of Wright, whose incendiary comments about race have bedeviled Obama.
“He’s just too extreme for North Carolina,” the narrator says in the 30-second spot. “We asked them not to run it,” McCain told reporters traveling with him in Kentucky. “I’m sending them an e-mail as we speak asking them to take it down.
“I don’t know why they do it. Obviously, I don’t control them, but I’m making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there’s no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don’t want it,” McCain said.
McCain said the ad was described to him: “I didn’t see it, and I hope that I don’t see it.”
Let me repeat that:
“I didn’t see it, and I hope that I don’t see it.”
He didn’t bother to watch the 41-second video before his campaign leaned on the NC GOP to withdraw it.
He doesn’t want to see it, lest he sully his delicate eyes.
Yet, he’s so indignantly sure “that there’s no place for that kind of campaigning.”
And then he has the gall to turn around and knock Obama’s elitism.
Congratulations, Sen. McCain: You’ve out-snobbed Snobama.
Yes, without having seen the ad or talked directly to the NC GOP officials, he’s absolutely convinced that he’s right about his knee-jerk assessment of their supposedly bigoted motives.
McCain Math is the same as MSM Math: Southern + Republican + video featuring radical leftists who happen to be black = RACISTRACISTRACISTRACISTDANGERWILLROBINSON!
Naturally, McCain’s New York Times editorial board endorsers at the NYTimes were happy to oblige and pile on with a Pavlovian editorial this morning calling the ad racist and divisive, “shameful and ugly.” Congratulations for giving your friends at the NYTimes the rope to hang North Carolina Republicans, Sen. McCain:
The assertion that Mr. Obama is “just too extreme for North Carolina” is a clear bid to stir bigotry in a Southern state…Senator McCain was right when he said, of the new ad, that “there’s no place for that kind of campaigning — and the American people don’t want it, period.”
Now he needs to get his party to listen.
Here’s the vid from yesterday’s Today Show interview with McCain that I blogged about yesterday:
The transcript:
VIEIRA: Okay. I want to switch gears here and talk about the latest controversy. It’s over an ad in North Carolina coming two weeks before the Democratic primary.
VOICE OVER: For 20 years, Barack Obama sat in his pew, listening to his pastor.
REVEREND JEREMIAH WRIGHT: And then wants us to sing God bless America? No, no, no.
VIEIRA: The ad says, quote, “just too extreme for North Carolina.” Now, you have called this ad degrading and you’ve asked the state party to pull it. But so far, they’ve refused to do that. Why do you think they’re not listening to you, a? And why do you believe they would continue to raise questions about Senator Obama’s patriotism?
McCAIN: They’re not listening to me because they’re out of touch with reality in the Republican party. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and this kind of campaigning is unacceptable. I have said that. It will harm the Republicans’ cause. And I’ve done everything that I can to repudiate and to see that this kind of campaigning does not continue. I have engaged in and will continue a respectful campaign of either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton.
VIEIRA: Senator Obama said if you wanted to, you could get that ad pulled because you are, after all, the nominee and the standard bearer. So if you can’t get the ad pulled, does it raise any questions about your leadership?
McCAIN: I don’t know exactly how to respond to that, except that I would hope that Senator Obama would repudiate and apologize for his remarks concerning the heartland of America where his elitist remarks indicated that people who are hardworking dedicated people, who harbor traditional values and principles and value their religion and the Second Amendment of the Constitution would not be treated in an elitist fashion. I hope he’ll apologize for that.
How about you apologize first, Sen. McCain, for running to the liberal media to once again trash conservatives as racists for exposing hard truths about the hard Left?
Not bloody likely.
***
Following the cue of McCain and Howard Dean, there are now two TV stations who refuse to play the ad because it is “offensive.”
Always happy to show it here again (with a reminder that the NCGOP could use your financial support):
Meanwhile, McCain continues to give himself special dispensation to challenge Obama’s relationship with Weather Underground radical Bill Ayers.
Because, you see, raising questions about a Radical of Color is “not appropriate and unhelpful,” but raising questions about a Radical of Pallor is McCain-tested and RNC-approved.
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Trackbacks
- Marginalized Action Dinosaur » I bet the email took longer than watching it would have.
- Is “Panama” John McCain Right To Condemn The North Carolina Repubican Party’s Anti Barack Obama Ad? | The Gun Toting Liberal™
- Macsmind
- The Unalienable Right » A Shameful, Ugly Editorial from the NY Times
- McCain: “I didn’t see it, and I hope that I don’t see it.” » Pursuing Holiness
- The Other McCain: See No Evil?
- Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator
- Michelle Malkin » John McCain doesn’t want you to know this, but…
- Classical Values
- Ace of Spades HQ
- Hey Look, It's More Reverend Wright | The Patriot Room
- Right Wing Nation » Astounding.
- Maggie's Farm
- College Republican Federation of Virginia » Does McCain Need Obama? - NC GOP Ad
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » McCain says Obama’s “Fox News Sunday” interview makes Wright fair game?
- Michelle Malkin » Nevada GOP convention chaos: McCain outmaneuvered by Paulians, party leaders shut down voting
- Michelle Malkin » McCain: Umm, okay, maybe Wright’s fair game after all.
- The Rehabilitation of Jeremiah Wright Begins « The Sisyphus Files
- Michelle Malkin » SNOBwear makes headlines
- Michelle Malkin » Spanking John McCain
- Michelle Malkin » McCain to speak at open-borders La Raza (”The Race”) conference
- One Old Vet » Blog Archive » McCain to speak at open-borders La Raza
- He’s listened, he’s learned — nothing | Cold Fury
- Michelle Malkin » Dedicated to Michelle Obama: Do I make you proud?
I’m too out of touch to vote in ‘08
Romney Jindal ‘12
Every time I think I just might be able to vote for McCain he does something stupid. As a North Carolinian, I don’t think I am the one that is out of touch.
I agree with McCain on defense. That is about it. He preaches tax cuts, which is great, but he also voted against the Bush tax cuts, so I don’t trust him on that one.
We are stuck with the choice between a hard-core Marxist, a hard-core Socialist and a liberal. Oh joy!
jeffjackie, that is one ticket that I could wholeheartedly support! Rohan, I, too, am behind McCain on defense. However, he is definitely showing his liberal leanings! I just don’t understand the direction of the Republican party. Why would they want to distance themselves from their conservative base?
I will wear my nosepiece in order to cast my vote for the RINO nominee solely because he would do less damage than either of the other two with a Democratic controlled congress.
There isn’t one viable candidate for president, therefore I still stand by my previous position. I will not vote for anyone except local officials.
McCain is either an idiot OR he has hardening of the arteries or he’s on meds that make him live in his perpetual world of disconnect.
He is a demoncrap as we all know. He should just shut his trap instead of showing his ignorance.
He so panders to the left it’s sickening.
He is such a egotistical fool and so self absorbed. He cares nothing about his party.
McCain is a liberal. Period.
Who this RINO chooses for his VP will determine whether he gets my vote, or I sit at home and let Hillary or Obama win in a landslide.
I conclude that McCain wants to be President even less than Fred Thompson and is deliberately throwing the election. My alternate theory is McCain is dumber than dirt.
One more aside…
In recent years we have seen several Congressmen and Senators “change parties” in mid-stream.
Must I wonder whether McCain might subject the American people to the same turning if he is president and finally realizes how far out of touch with conservatives he is?
If McAverick thinks he can control what others do in the Republican Party he is sadley mistaken. Reality Check numb nuts we are not your mind numbed robots we will not submit, we are not liberals, we are free thinkers who see thru your sheeps clothing. Arrogant a$$ should do this and let surrogates do the dirty work,
ok.. so now we got the green light NOT to like McCain this weekend.. allright!! We await your orders MM…John McCain Baaaaaaaaaaad.. Some need to grow a Pair and take a stand. Say it and mean it.. cause this is what you re going to get and like it…for four years if you dont… (grow a Pair)
My question is why should NC bother running this ad if the goal is to help get McCain elected? At this point the best thing for the republican party is for him to lose. If it is being run to help Hillary ok, I guess she would be a better president than Obama.
Maybe it’s because I just woke up and have’nt had any coffee. But could you elaborate?
I can’t even go with McCain on defense - not when our borders are wide open and he, if not directly in words, but in policies directly supports that and ignores our laws.
Thank you Senator McCain for once again throwing the GOP under the bus…..
Are you trying to lose my vote?? Because you’re doing a fantastic job of it right now…..
I echo the comments above. It will be interesting to see exactly how McCain snatches defeat from the jaws of victory (as his two opponents bloody each other), but I am confident he will do it.
I thank him for his service in the Navy. But he will be remembered as a worse candidate than Dole.
Speaking of Dole, will McCain man up and resign from the Senate now that he as the nomination? Dole resigned, McCain and the democrap nominee should as well.
McCain doesn’t see a lot of things. Like how he might actually need some conservative support to win in November. He is running the 1996 Dole strategy of voting against a Clinton.
I am only donating to Republicans on a per job basis. Congratulations NC GOP.
Who’s sitting around waiting for orders??? When McCain does something right, he gets an attaboy, when he does something wrong, he gets what he deserverves. We aren’t allowed to take it one issue at a time??
If you have a candidate you agree with 100% of the time your either brainwashed, lucky, or not paying attention….
#14 your=you’re….PIMF
McCain’s words: “…will continue a respectful campaign of either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton.”
Hhhhmmmm….Johnny were you being respectful when you threw 4 letter words at a fellow Senator during the immigration debate?
Just another Senator trying to be President who says “Do as I say, not as I Do.” McCain the hypocrite.
Hey …as an informed and in touch North Carolinian he is making it mighty hard to even consider holding my nose and filling in the bubble beside his name come November. The designation “unaffiliated” North Carolinian is looking very interesting…..hmmmm.
This statement - “I didn’t see it, and I hope that I don’t see it….” should cause alarm for any voter who is considering casting his lot for this man.
At the risk of repeating myself, I will do so:
The sudden MSM-driven rise of this man’s campaign (he was fawningly shoved down our throats by the MSM, which ignored the very best conservative candidates and trashed Mitt Romney) was absolutely depressing to me.
McCain has now demonstrated that he is not only mendacious (recall how he attacked Romney relentlessly, accusing Romney of saying things that Romney did not say, during the primary campaign); slippery (remember the “gang of 14″ and the midnight alien amnesty deal); but he is also rigid and closed-minded in his refusal to even watch the 41-second ad that his own party members have put together to win the war of words against the opposition.
We are in some very deep trouble here. There - I’ve said it again. And I will not vote for this man. I do not like him and I do not trust him.
I’ve already stated my intention to not vote for McLame. My bumper sticker will read, “Don’t blame me - I voted for Michelle Malkin”.
Few republicans in the country got much more than a choice between McLame and Huckabee. If only one actual elect-able conservative would step up to the plate, like Michelle or Duncan Hunter for example, and declare, “Ok, enough is enough, I’m running for president independently to save the USA from certain destruction.”; my generous campaign donation would be on it’s way in a heartbeat. Oh how I’d enjoy seeing two liberals, McCain AND thedemchoice both ‘Perot’ each other into the ground and lose to an independent conservative.
Really, how much sweeter could it get than that?
Isn’t that just special? McCain’s triangulation strategy. The media is ecstatic because they have a no-lose situation with the Three Stooges still in the race. Powerline enumerates McCain’s recent renewed bashing of the right. Katrina was Bush’s fault….we are worse off than we were eight years ago economically (despite all the growth since then)…..Yes, we might well think that this senate buddy behavior is a reminder of Dole and Kemp’s hands off behavior against Clinton Gore.
We see what the left wants and we see how McCain is on illegal immigration and AGW, oops I mean climate change. I know how utterly clueless Obama is and yet Juan McCain doesn’t want the Wright issue raised? There ought to be a law that no senator can be POTUS….pompous self-congratulatory jackasses as a group.
My feeling right now is there really is no choice in ‘08.
As for Alan Keyes, it was no issue that he was basically excluded from most all the debates. Bet if he were a dem, they’d be screaming racism. I saw how the Paultards went ballistic when their savior was excluded by Fox. Not that I think Keyes would ever go far in any case. Fred Thompson is adored by some but he kind of reminded me of Perot’s POW admiral running mate- why am I here? I doubt whomever GOP picks for Veep will make much difference either.
It seems that a McCain Presidency would elicit more kissing of Teddy Kennedy’s dupa and getting along with the opposition, that means caving to what pelosi and reid desire.
Perhaps algore will be called upon and he can save the planet? Sell more secrets to China, earn more money from carbon credits, starve more people by making more ethanol from corn. I guess Air Force One is more fuel efficient than those Gulfstreams that manage 300 gallons of fuel an hour and the White House more effcient overall than that Tenn. estate that uses 21 times the average amount of electricity.
I doubt I’m the only one sick of it all. All the choices are really no choice. I thought new SCOTUS appointments might be reason to choose Mccain, but no doubt “compromise” would be the watch word there also.
I wonder how many people will vote for McCain no matter what he says or does. He is a “republican” after all and he apparently knows that some people will vote for him no matter what position he takes or who he supports. We are so lost as a people. We get offered crap and more crap and some people will brush it off and say that it really doesn’t smell that bad. We are heading to a tyrannical socialistic, multicultural & globalist hell. I wonder if there will come a day when what is left of conservative traditional Americans will stand up and say enough. No matter what the cost.
Was this country really founded by people like Patrick Henry or Henry “Light Horse” Lee? I am beginning to think that was all make believe. We sure have none that blood running through us today.
John’s got a single track mind … It’s all about me me me me me — and if you don’t do what he says, then you are finished with him. It’s a military thing.
I recall a friend of mine in ‘04 telling me he was not voting. When I asked him why, the response was, “I just don’t like either candidate.”
At the time I didn’t really understand where he was coming from. I was one of those ‘if you don’t vote you can’t complain’ kind of people. Now I realize how foolish that statement is.
It’s like someone giving you a choice between a plate of cat hair and a bowl of used motor oil and saying, “Bon appetite!”
Then you say, “What? Are you crazy? This isn’t food! I don’t want this crap.”
“Well, if you don’t eat don’t complain about being hungry.”
John McCain Sucks.
Barack Obama Sucks.
Hillary Clinton Sucks.
Definitely not a McCain apologist here but bashing Bush is probably a sound strategy, seeing as how the current President has record low popularity numbers. No Republican candidate would want to come off as an extension of the Bush presidency. As for McCain’s constant pandering to libs and the msm, does he really feel this way or is he trying to come off as a “good guy” or a “clean” candidate?? I’ve never felt so hopeless before an election, and in light of Clinton/Dole ‘96, that’s saying something.
Jindal/Steele 2012.
NIMBY McCain
Harris… Very well said and right to the point.
Come on, everyone! Don’t we have this figured out NOW if we didn’t have it figured out before: John McCain despises conservatives and everything we stand for. This isn’t about the ad being offensive or somehow bad campaigning. It’s about John McCain ONCE AGAIN not giving a sh*t about what Republican conservatives think or feel. He won’t watch the ad nor even meet with the very people that he should be courting for votes, and ads insult to injury by criticizing them??? That takes some guts, let me tell you. And it’s not the first time he’s insulted, belittled and condescended to conservatives. The only way that John McCain has anything remotely in common with conservatives is that he’s opposed to abortion, and really I don’t even trust him not to flip-flop on that if it served his purposes.
He’s a liberal. He has no respect for conservatives or anything we believe in. He is NOT our candidate. He’s just the leftover rubbish after all the other losers couldn’t hack it on the trail. But they weren’t real conservatives either, so we didn’t miss much.
No matter what happens, we are going to end up with a liberal in the White House.
The only think I can think of that can possibly salvage this trainwreck is if McCain chooses a real conservative as his running mate…someone like Bobby Jindal. Otherwise, we’re screwed for the next 4 years. I can’t see McCain doing that, though. Why would he choose someone who represents the very things he has shown that he despises?
With the 3 candidates that we have to choose from this election, I will feel like a citizen executioner, going to vote. Pushing the “record votes” button will feel like I just started the IVs. So long USA, and farewell, Constitution.
THAT IS IT.
McCain, you’re an a$$.
Monday morning, I AM SWITCHING TO DEMOCRAT PARTY affiliation.
If McCain thinks he is going to win this election by NEVER criticizing a “person of color” (the Muslim and Hugo Chavez-like Barack Obama), we will never will this election.
No wonder liberals like McCain so much when he hates confrontation. That is a godsend to the MSM and fits into their infallibility card: No one can criticize Barack Obama because he is black.
This “respectful campaign” is going to end in defeat.
What is McCain thinking?! If liberals WANT you to pull an ad, it is not nuclear physics, they ARE SCARED of the ad because they know the ad is effective.
If McCain has not learned this by now, I fear for his chances of winning this election. . .and then we are stuck with the socialist and Muslim Barack Obama.
The key to winning American elections has always been to get the “vital center” to vote for you. McCain needs these 25% of the electorate to win pure and simple. He knows that the committed left will never vote for him. He knows that the committed right will begrudgingly vote for him in the end. This rejection of the Obama ad is part of his campaign for the center vote which is really the only voters in play and up for grabs. The Democrat’s strategy will be to cast him as a crazed right wing racist Klansman. By repudiating that ad, McCain is just deflecting that inevitable attack.
Rush nailed it yesterday…
essentially asking how “Maverick John” had any business trying to play the
REPUBLICAN PARTY LEADER…
especially in “cram down” mode.
As Rush observed…
“We’re all mavericks now, John…”
AlturaCt: “Was this country really founded by people like Patrick Henry or Henry “Light Horse” Lee? I am beginning to think that was all make believe. We sure have none that blood running through us today.”
We do have this blood still coursing through the veins of the country. These folks can be found running for local elections. Go find them, donate to their campaign with time and money, then vote. This country will not change if we only concentrate on the national elections. One last thought, I think we have a some Patrick / Patricia Henrys on this blog…are we making a difference?
On a positive note….
Please don’t take this as any endorsement of McCain, because I don’t think this was the intended effect he had in mind. But…. this ad has gotten a tremendous amount of play thanks to his bitching about it, and all that exposure didn’t cost the North Carolina GOP a dime.
In fact, their local ad received national exposure. Thanks to the North Carolina GOP for helping out their fellow conservatives.
I may just send them some money today.
“I wonder if there will come a day when what is left of conservative traditional Americans will stand up and say enough.”
Yes, that day might come. But, unfortunately, it will involve guns and ammunition. I know this because I have met these people and they in turn know more people who are just like them. Many of them have backgrounds in military and law enforcement, so they know what’s the what. I would go so far as to say (without saying too much) that I personally believe there is an underground movement of sorts involving freedom-loving Americans who are just– shall we say–very quietly getting prepared for “whatever”. They are all over America, especially in the middle and the south. These are not crazed right-wingers or blood-thirsty militants. They are normal peace-loving people who, if push comes to shove, will do whatever it takes to defend this country.
Some of them might even be posting comments to this blog and others like it.
Yes, Rush nailed it, pointing out how it has been OK for McCain to be a ‘Maverick’, but now he wants everyone in lockstep to his commands. Damned hypocrite.
Even if McVain chooses a solid conservative VP, would that person even have a voice???? I don’t really think so. It sounds good in theory, but I doubt any VP under McVain would have much of a voice. I can’t vote for this man. When I get email solicitations to support him I hit the delete key. When the RNC called me asking for donations, I gave them a piece of my mind for being turncoats. I consider myself Independent now and I told the RNC that and I told them that they are a large part of why the Indy movement has exploded. As other posters have said today, I will be voting for local officials only and leave the POTUS blank, as it won’t really matter anyway.
” I AM SWITCHING TO DEMOCRAT PARTY affiliation.”
If you insist on doing that, then please at least DON’T vote for Hussein Obama.
Folks I totally understand hard feelings. Lets face it McCain sucks on a lot of issues. He is not a conservative.
However, he is a bit more ethical than Clinton/Obama. He will not waste as much money, hopefully not appoint as liberal federal judges and he is strong on defense.
I honestly wish there were a do over button, that we select new candidates and start over, but that is not going to happen.
I have to vote, and unfortunately, I have to vote McCain. As much I think some in this country deserves four years of Obama/Clinton, I know the country cannot afford it. I lived through the worst of Carter and we are suffering from the unrepairable damages he did (Iran, South America, etc…)
Most importantly, I know our troops deserve better. I will not see the sacrifice of our troops go to waste and hand over the middle east to Iran simply because I do not like McCain.
It would be nice to take back the house and senate. Then we could suffer four years of anyone. However, things do not look good in that respect either. Handing the entire federal government over to the liberals will doom our military and destroy our future. Unlike the last time, there is no Reagan waiting in the wings.
Ms Malkin, reserve me one of nose plugs please. Have a great day everyone.
“Even if McVain chooses a solid conservative VP, would that person even have a voice????”
I really, truly hate to say things like this, but let’s face it: McCain is no spring chicken and his health history is NOT GOOD. Yes, I will take my chances on a strong conservative running mate.
You know, “just in case”.
I wholeheartedly agree. I have been supporting canidates who are traditional and running locally. It must change from the bottom up.
I also didn’t mean to disparage anyone here per se but I am also absolutely tired of the “lesser of two evils” or McCain at least supports X. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. As are many current day “republicans”.
I wont madamevengier, I’m doing it as I can’t remain a member of a party that constantly ignores its base. It is what I can do now to start putting a message across that we, or at least I, won’t settle for McCain. My voting come November will be aimed at Congress, but as for POTUS, heck, put Donald Duck up there and he’s got my vote.
“he is strong on defense.”
Like his open borders policy is strong on defense? Like aligning himself with an America-hating jackas* like Juan “I visualize a BLOC” Hernandez is strong on defense?
No thanks.
Worse still…
damned lying, liberal, hypocrite…
As I’ve said before, we have much more to fear from a McCain in control than from a very weak, ineffective President Obama…
if any doubt that, look at how he is trying to steer the party he was prepared to leave TWICE in this decade!
This was before Rush knew McCain has not bothered to listen to the ad. There is nothing here the McCainites can refute.
Behold the Republican party nominee. But hey, he can win!
Pretty much mu feelings also. I worry most about the judges the next president will appoint as I want constitutionalists seated.
“I really, truly hate to say things like this, but let’s face it: McCain is no spring chicken and his health history is NOT GOOD. Yes, I will take my chances on a strong conservative running mate.
You know, “just in case”.”
I understand what you are saying, but for me it would have to be Reagan Part Deux. Don’t know if that exists.
I will support local conservatives. We have an excellent Rep. by the name of Sam Johnson in my district. I will do whatever I can to keep him in office.
As a side note, I am off to exercise my second amendment rights while I still have them. There is a gun show in Fredricksburg today.
So, for the trolls that are about to attack,
“Isn’t today the day you check in with your mothership”?
SirKnob….
I find myself clinging to my guns and Bible a little tighter each and every day.
Is wanting to close Gitmo “strong on defense”? Is wanting to try captured terrorists in American courts with full Miranda rights “strong on defense”? Is his opposition to waterboarding “strong on defense”?
This seals it. I’m not voting for McCain, period. Too bad, so sorry. This sad excuse for a maverick RINO will just have to get elected without my help. If that means Pres. Obama, too bad. I won’t vote for this open-borders Benedict Arnold.
#49
Don’t forget, the terrorists will have to face those tough Clinton/gang of 14 judges!
And no waterboarding so the next American city can go up in flames.
Maybe the terorists will get heat stroke as they prance through the wide-open southern border.
The McCainites baffle me. He is as weak in his strong suit as everything else.
I’ll vote for John McCain only because he is far more conservative then the “HilObamanation” that’s running on the Democratic side.
I would have thought McCain would have learned to not diss his conservative base after the immigration fiasco.
I’ve never seen so many politicians shoot themselves in the foot when an opportunity knocks on their door.
This is trully becoming the campaign of demanding an apology from your opponent.
I think that what’s really behind this is that McCain wants Hillary to lose badly in NC. He is afraid the ad will reduce the Obama vote & help Hillary, and he believes that he will run better against Obama than Hillary.
Rather than being honest enough to state his beliefs up front, McCain is using the NC Republican Party as a scapegoat, and sacrificing them so he will get to run against Obama.
The presidential election is a Hobson’s Choice in the end. However, if O’bama gets it you’ll most likely wind up on a potato peel diet. He’s hell bent on the destruction of the middle class.
From the moment Obama became a serious contender, it was obvious that anyone who attacked/criticized him or his associates in any way would be vilified as a (white) racist. Everyone also knows that the Republican Establishment is terrified of blacks and will do anything to appease/placate them for the mythical teeny-tiny, itty-bitty percentage that will make Republicans the “majority party forever” — as one dimbulb of a conservative told me once. It will never work, can never work. RINOs can throw as many white males under the bus as they want, the democrats will always trump them. I believe, and I am sure someone will correct me if I error, Reagan got a higher percentage of the black vote than either of the Bushes. But the Republican establishment does not want to hear about Reagan. Ever.
To be blunt, black people despise pandering and public displays of weakness. It just alienates them further, and they simply see it as a green light to increase their demands. Over the last four decades, Republicans (with democrat help of course) have been essentially subsidizing black racism, while penalizing their base. And what happens when you subsidize anything? You get more of it. And what happens when you increase the cost of being a member of the Republican base? You reduce the number of republicans. It’s basic economics, right John? Oh, sorry, as you have stated publicly at least twice you don’t know any economics.
The undeniable fact about McCain is that he is never more comfortable and confident than when he is attacking a Republican who dares to even give the appearance of disagreeing with him. Though I have heard many stories of him ripping into “fellow” republicans and conservatives, I have never heard one in which he has done the same to a liberal/democrat. The man is a millstone around the party’s neck. What Bush was unable to destroy, admittedly not much, McCain will finish the job.
The shocking thing is that he’s not “far more conservative” than they are. On issue after issue he is in complte agreement with them. Contrast his defense of Kerry and Obama, and his friendship with HRC, with his relationship with conservatives.
Maybe McCain is strong on defense - at least as long as he’s defending the left from the right.
Good point and worth considering. I never know if McCain is bright enough to be that many steps ahead, but I do have some faith in his advisors.
We shall see come election time. Perhaps we will all assail him as a genius some day…..
That was NOT easy to type by the way.
As opposed to Juan “Open Borders” McCain I suppose. Politicians as a group are bent on destroying the middle class.
#52
Ted Kennedy has a higher ACU rating than Obama. If these were your only two choices, would you vote Ted president for the good of the country?
The argument for McCain is similarly ridiculous.
I must be missing something . . . just what is wrong with that add?
#59
What’s the alternative? A write in for Mickey Mouse. Good luck.
We’re down to the lesser of two evils. Chose your poison.
Well, it is stronger than Barack Hussein Obama, who wants all of these and much, much more. See See-Dubya’s post just to the right of this post about how Iraq has strengthened the American position in the world.
Of course, Barack Hussein Obama wants us to pull out of Iraq because he hates America, and what is bad for America is good for him and his wife. At least, McCain has many conservative positions. Barack Hussein Obama has NONE.
So to not vote for McCain would be extremely foolish.
Also, I notice all the longtime Democratic supporters–one of them Ragspierre–are back on the site once again pretending to be disenchanted Republicans who will “not vote” or who “will change their party affiliation to Democrat,” or who “will vote for Obama” etc.
They “used to be Republicans” and were never liberals before this election. Riiiight!
OT
Drudge has a pic of Obama wearing a USMC shirt.
His campaign is funded and propped up by anti-military groups like moveon and Code Pink.
I hope bloggers make an issue of this.
His supporters have attacked Marine recruiting stations.
Better than helping lead the country down the road to perdition. There should be a Constitution Party/Libertarian option on the ballot if you are principled. McCain is too dangerous even as a pragmatic alternative.
Better hurry up and get your Constitution/Libertarian party moving - time is running out.
McCain is once again showing his true colors. His present rhetoric is just to convince us conservative rubes that he really, really is a conservative. And this time he is really, really is serious.
Liar!
In God’s name, why? McCain is supposed to be this American patriot, and Obama is supposed to be the ultimate anti-American candidate. Plus, we know that McCain is good friends with Clinton. Why would McCain want to keep Obama alive?
This line of argument remainds me of all the people who praised Bush’s “rope-a-dope” strategy of standing there like a punching bag while the Dems destroyed him. The thinking seems to be that these people can’t really be stupid and incompetent, there must be some method to their appearent madness.
This is not some brilliant ploy on McCains part. It’s him behaving exactly the same way he normally does. Remember, he trashed the Swift Boat Vets and defended Kerry as well.
Gabe #62, pull your head in, I’ve been a member here for a long time, and a staunch Republican from birth. BUT I do not take kindly to being stabbed in the back. EVER. and if it is your choice to bend over and take it again and again, then you deserve it. I for one refuse to. Of course you chose to ignore that I also posted that I am doing this as a protest against McCain, and that I also said I will not be voting for a POTUS, and that I said I will be voting Republican in Congress.. but og course those facts don’t matter do they, you just want to accuse anyone that doesn’t agree with you of being a liberal don’t you. Yeah, I can see you fitting right in with McCain..
The alternative…for me…is NEVER to allow people to force me into a false two-choice position when I can find a third way that preserves principle.
For me, the clear third choice is to send the RNC…NOT my party as a principled conservative…a resounding F for their output in this year’s presidential selection process.
I don’t…won’t…can’t support McCain at all…ever.
And I consider him the GREATEST of the proposed evils since he would make the most effective PROTUS, while being the putative leader of the RNC.
He would get more of the agenda accomplished than Hil-billory or Obama COULD. Same agenda.
I notice that the people who say things like that tend to avoid getting into specifics. McCain, allegedly, has a few conservative positions. And it takes a real leap of faith to believe that he is serious even about those.
On the other hand, he has fought long and hard for his liberal positions.
The GOP needs to come up with somebody other than McLiar at the convention. It’s that simple. I will not vote for a liberal Democrat just because, for the time being, he has an “R’ after his name. And the only reason he still has that “R” is because Jeffords beat him to the punch when it came to switching parties.
Gabe is a liar.
I have never voted for a Dimocrate in any presidential election, and I’m in the short run up to my sixties. The last person I voted for with a “D” beside his name was Phil Gramm.
I am a paleo-conservative, and won’t allow anyone to lie about me or mischaracterize who I am.
Endorsing BO is way down on the list of why neither Perdue nor Moore will get my vote for NC governor. Their own actions in the positions they currently hold speak much louder than the words of any ad.
But for the record, McCain has been out of touch with reality in the Republican party forever. He should fall to his knees and beg forgiveness for even trying to include himself with the 3 presidents he mentioned. Memo to John McCain: Butt out. NC doesn’t need you to tell us how to run the affairs of this state.
As for paying any attention to anything Vieira or the NYT has to say: how utterly irrelevant these NY liberals are to anything involving a Republican.
For those of you who say you will sit this one out, I implore you not to do so. Forego voting for POTUS if you think none of them deserve your vote (I’m leaning that way myself). But there are state and local reps that could use and deserve your support. Also ballot initiatives that will affect your wallet or another aspect of your life. The people running for city council, mayor, state rep or senator, and governor are people that could end up in Washington DC in the next generation.
Let’s do our part to see that the next generation never has to choose among the likes of the 3 we are voting (or not) for in 2008.
Form the NYT to state that the ad in question is intended to “stir bigotry” is absolutely ridiculous. There is no bigoted context in that ad. None. It shows a presidential candidate’s pastor on an unhinged anti-american tirade.
For the NYT accusation to hold any water at all, one has to come to the conclusion that ANY attack on a black candidate is per se bigoted. The Times gives Obama a pass on criticism based on his skin color. Welcome to the 21st Century definition of passing.
When will Republican politicians learn that they cannot out-pander (or out-cringe) Democrats when it comes to devoted Democratic Blacks, and they shouldn’t try. How about just treating everyone as people and according “minority” views the same weight - no more and no less - as those of anyone else.
Conservatives have a rock-solid platform on which to stand and argue - the basic principles of conservatism, oft articulated here. A pol from the Right who strays from these principles just hurts the only major party positioned to apply them, and pandering won’t repair the damage.
Here are three:
1) He wants to stay in Iraq.
2) He fought for John Bolton’s confirmation.
3) He is pro-life and has promised conservative justices like John Robert and Samuel Alito.
And yet some “conservatives” would choose Obama over McCain?! Doesn’t make any sense. McCain can be very annoying, as his demand that NC GOP pull the ad demonstrates–but he is FAR better than the Hugo-Chavez-like Barack Hussein Obama.
McCain called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and I quote, “dishonest and dishonorable”. This was a totally unwarranted vile and despicable statement on his part.
At the very least his attacks on those who would be on his side in the normal course of things, show that his judgement is poor and his political sense of who his real enemies are, is lacking.
I am not a sheep - I do not flock to the McCain fold just because someone tells me he is a Republican and the party nominee. He does not represent my conservative values, as evidenced by his past and present deeds and words.
Some people tell me I have no choice but to vote for McCain or we’ll all go to the devil. Sorry, that sort of blackmail and not-so-subtle pressure is not going to work. I voted for President Bush twice, and look what it’s gotten me and the country. Does anyone think that McCain will be more conservative than Bush? He will not!
*sigh*
Yup.
Shouldn’t lgm, Rusty, TheOtherSide etc., be here defending McCain?
After all, everything written on this blog is so damnably wrong and all.
They name streets after liberals: one way.
That said, I have to wonder if Wright is becoming a bigger problem for McCain than B. Hussein Obama.
Nobody will leave Iraq. It isn’t there choice alone, and it is a choice that will be informed by necessity.
Whoopie! McCain did something that confused his otherwise unbroken liberal string of conduct.
He promised…!?!?!
Cool. Let us all suspend thought, memory, and instinct, and run down to the McCain shop to volunteer!
Sorry, not me, bud.
The elitist Senator McCain has been in politics so long that I doubt he remembers what it was like to be the honorable US Naval Officer he once was. There is a world of difference between the two men and I respect Captain McCain, but loath the grumpy old man he has become as a US Senator. His track record as a congress critter leaves a very bad taste in my mouth due to his compliance in doing all he can to enrich himself while helping the liberals in destroying the US Constitution and nothing could wash it out to make me vote for him.
Here’s a blindfold for you Gabe.. you can pull the trigger come November.
Boomer, I even question McCain’s honor as a military officer - he wouldn’t have made it out of bootcamp if it wasn’t for his daddy pulling strings. Mt father was a USN LCdr, and putting him in the same group as McCain is an insult to my father.
From the NYT quote:
I wonder if anyone at the NY-Times has ever even seen the ad? I doubt it.
I’m sure they felt perfectly justified in labeling it as racist - sight unseen - as it meets their two main criteria for being racially intolerant: 1.) It’s a Republican ad played against a Democrat; 2.) it is meant to influence voters in a Southern state.
It truly is enlightening to see how tolerant the NYT is in all things political, and what high standards they set for objective reporting.
We are SO screwed.
and if they have, do they know where North Carolina is?
iamsaved said:
That is simply NOT true. When you examine the 1992 election, Perot introduced a split on the ‘republicaneque’ side. Bush 41 opened the door for Perot by being too liberal.
The equation is the same but instead of having a split among conservatives; the REAL differences between McCain and whichever of the other two - outside of their respective rhetoric doubletalking to their respective regimes- is MINIMAL. Hillary ain’t going pull out of Iraq; she’s actually a hawk. Obama said he’d force Pakistan to accept all out attacks within their borders whether they like it or not. Likewise, McCain is just another open borders, put America last like the other two. Without an independent or third party candidate the choice now really is as Harris (#22) put it - between eating cat hair or motor oil.
An independent real conservative will stand a VERY good chance of winning the same way that Bubba won - with less than a majority of the popular vote while RINOS and lightweight libs, (those that vow not to vote for the dem primary candidate opposing their choice), go crazy voting for McLame while the radical ones hang in there for Hillary or Obama.
BUT WHO? I really do believe Michelle has the brains to be president. She certainly has a lot more than any of the other three AND she’s a beltway OUTSIDER. The most important asset though is that, on top of her intelligence, she’s an HONEST person.
I’m not just some shill for Michelle though; there are others who would fit the bill like Duncan Hunter for example. (Imagine if Rush Limbaugh announced his candidacy tomorrow, there’d be INSTANT apoplexy on the left and we’d have the man who runs America actually running America! .. oh well, but that’s just dreaming ..)
“I’ll vote for John McCain only because he is far more conservative”
Just say you’ll vote for John McCain. Leave it at that. Make up all the reasons you want to, like “he’s not as bad as Hillary”. Whatever. But don’t call him a conservative of ANY level or any degree. Not even “compared to…fill-in-the-blank”.
Repeat: JOHN McCAIN IS NOT A CONSERVATIVE. PERIOD.
For all of you who say no one is going to force you to vote for John McCain… I don’t see where anyone is forcing anyone else to do anything. Do what your heart desires. But be realistic. You can have all the “ideal” situations of another conservative candidate or a third party to run but I’m here to tell you, it ain’t going to happen.
By not voting, you’ve made your choice. I’m sure the world will stand up and applaud your insight and wisdom.
McCain indicated he might draw the line on a Samuel Alito because ‘he wore his conservatism on his sleeve.’ “
’nuff said.
I am going to do a write in of my vote.I am going to do like Lewis Black said and write in Ronald Reagan.
McCain can Hope all he wants to that isn’t going to change how his political opponents operate. If McCain truly wants to be President he can’t act like a Pollyanna. I must not be living in the same world as John McCain.
Yes I said Pollyanna, and what is the color of the sky in your world John McCain?
“His track record as a congress critter leaves a very bad taste in my mouth”
I live in DC, as I’m sure many posters here do, and word on the streets from reliable sources is that McCain is a royal pain in the as* when it comes to interpersonal relations. He is rude, throws temper tantrums, can be generally humorless, verbally abusive and looks down on women–young women in particular. His temper is well-known and legendary. And he doesn’t like to listen to others.
If people thought George Bush was stubborn and hard-headed to deal with, very much “I don’t need permission from anyone”, just WAIT until John McCain is in the White House. He will tell us all (Americans) to kiss his as*. He will.
He’s practically doing it already.
I am always surprised when so-called Christians fail to get a stand on principle.
iam, we do what we do REGARDLESS of what the world will do or say…much less hoping for anyone to applaud or even recognize what we do.
We do it because it is right.
Always a revelation on these pages…
I still do not understand what is racist about the ad. It is not like they ran Wright’s anti-whitey tirades. Maybe that could be seen as playing on racial fears, but even those are Wright’s words. Obama chose to expose himself, as well as his family to this racist Pastor, and will have to suffer any consequences that follow. Obama’s judgement concerning Wright is fair game. As far as McCain goes, he needs to get a clue. The constant slamming of conservatives will not get him elected. McCain needs to stay out of my sight until November, so he can get my vote in the General. McCain will not get my vote on May 6th. I will write in Mark Levin. Sorry Michelle, but the rules say you must be 35 to be President. Maybe in the future.
Not the precious independents and liberals in his base, just the Constitutionalists.
I know ex-Senate staffers who are scared to death of a McCain presidency. You should be too. He is nuts.
From my perspective, the ONLY thing racist about this controversy is that McCain is clearly discriminating between Wright and Ayers…
he can attack Ayers, but not Wright.
The ONLY thing that makes that possible is the RACE of the two people in question.
And that, “my friends”, is racism…
Frankly, I wonder if all of the discussions about McCain are moot.
According to the primary numbers the democrats have two to three times the voter participation that the republicans do. This will probably carry over to the general election in November.
I think I’m going to change my nick to “WeAreSoFrigginScrewed.”
I can’t help thinking, what if they had an election and nobody came?
McCain is the Republican version of Operation Chaos.
Oh, Madamevengier…..yup..
madameveniger: who are these “reliable sources” who put out the “word on the streets”?
#98
As a “so-called” Christian, I am taking a principled stand. Just because it doesn’t coincide with your idea of “principle” does not invalidate mine.
I feel that John McCain is far more conservative then the two Democratic candidates even though he may be just left of center.
I don’t believe John McCain is as liberal and evil as many commenters on this blog do. Is he the ideal candidate? No.
Have you found an ideal candidate? If so, point him or her out? We can probably point their short-comings out as easily as you do John McCain’s. I don’t recall any of the other Republican candidates being the “perfect” candidate.
Again, if you chose not to vote based on your “principles” then so be it. You’ve made your choice. I too have a choice, unprincipled or not.
iamsaved is the sort of Repubican who does not compromise out of neccessity, but because he enjoys doing it. It gives him a buzz of moral superiority. Sort of like the way Bush prides himself on the fact that he keeps his mouth shut while the left destroys him.
I seriously do not like McCain. It is going to leave a very bad taste in my mouth to vote for him.
Just a part of the reason that all three candidates scare me.
Her post is just inside the beltway BS…
I would say the one not voting is the one not compromising. My choice is a compromise if I’m willing to exercise my vote and select the “best” candidate the Republican party has chosen to nominate even though he wasn’t my first choice.
Do you base that on anything other than your feelings? This “far more conservative” man seems to have a much warmer relationship with his left-wing friends in the Senate than with, say, Sessions or DeMint.
One you conceed that the GOP is set to nominate somebody who is left of center, you have to conclude that the convention needs to pass on him and nominate somebody else. Forget principle, which you seem to hold in low esteem. Simple common sense and self-preservation demand that we drop McCain.