McCain pilots presidential campaign...and, predictably, crashes it.

[elehhhhna]

Worst. Judgment. Ever.


We DEFENDED that bitter sonofabush when Rove attacked him through his adopted child. Now he's approved an ad that insults two young women, one of whom's parents are McCain campaign contributors!

[babylonsister]

1. First problem I have here:

why is it considered offensive to these two women to be compared to a Harvard grad, prez of the Law Review, a respected lawyer and community activist? That escapes me completely.

[elehhhhna]

2. do you find the ad flattering to either of them?

[babylonsister]

3. I believe their common denominator was celebrity.

I guess, depending on your age, the girls might be considered so. I find the ad totally ridiculous and unflattering, to McCain. I actually couldn't care less about the girls.

[SoCalDem]

4. The public thinks of them as airheads, bimbos, lightweights

who are unjustifiably "famous".. THAT's what McCain is using them for in the ad.. Republicans use the strength of an opponent, and bizarro-it into a weakness (in the public's eye)

Kerry.. intellectual, bilingual, purple heart winner..ends up being assaulted for being French-effete-wimpy..having his military service minimized (see band-aids,swift-boaters)

Gore..the intelligent, steady, wonkishly smart..long-time happy marriage, years of service, two term vice president...turned into liar-liar, boring, wooden..


This is classic Rove.. Attack head-on..never back down..never apologize, turn every positive into a negative, and then cry like a baby when anyone dares to call them on it..

[babylonsister]

5. Here's another theory...

John McCain Plays the Race Card
Bill Press
stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust

Posted July 31, 2008 | 09:33 AM (EST)


"I have great admiration and respect for Senator Obama."

If so, McCain has a funny way of showing it. All we've seen and heard from him for the last month is a string of personal attacks, culminating in yesterday's ad smearing Obama as "the biggest celebrity in the world." He's just another famous, pretty face, in other words, and not ready for the presidency.

True? No. Childish? Yes. But that's not all. This ad is also deliberately and deceptively racist.

Of all the famous celebrities they could have compared Obama to, why not Tom Cruise? Or Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Donald Trump, or Oprah Winfrey? Why Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? Why two white blond bimbos?

Only one reason. It's a somewhat tamer version of the white bimbo ad used so successfully against Harold Ford in Tennessee. In juxtaposing Barack Obama with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, the McCain campaign is simply trying to plant the old racist seed of black man hitting on young white woman. Not directly, but subliminally and disgracefully.

One thing for sure. This isn't the John McCain we first saw in 2000, running a campaign on the issues. And this isn't the positive McCain campaign he himself promised us for 2008. This is a campaign that, from the beginning, is nothing but negative, personal, dirty and, yes, racist.

[SoCalDem]

7. Rove is WITH him this time..not against him..

and you are right.. this whole race thing is dangerous, and McCain's people know exactly what they are doing..

They (and to be fair HRC's campaign) use euphemisms, symbols and hints, but never quite come out front with it, and if Obama does/says nothing, it;s the old "democRAT-senator/party" thing in overdrive..but if Obama's campaign dares to respond, they say HE's playing the "race card"..

Mccain's campaign knew they would have a hard time addressing the race issue, so they are doing it obliquely, and sitting there waiting to pile onto any response, so THEY can somehow be the victim... just as BC did in South Carolina..

Classic passive-aggressive technique.. and unfortunately the first one who uses it, has the edge,.

Mccain's party WANTS people to be afraid of the "angry scary black muslim man who wants to rape your virginal white daughters and steal your jobs", but he dares not just come out and say.. "I'm white, he's black..vote for me.."

[babylonsister]

9. TPM had some words of wisdom today about how

the Obama campaign should/could be handling this. You are spot on about bringing up the race distractor.

How Low Can He Go
07.31.08 -- 4:48PM
By Josh Marshall


It seems we're in for another bout of that great biennial bit of sad-sackery just can't help unwittingly stumbling into racialized imagery and code-words when all they're trying to do is create a good old fashioned smear ad. I feel their pain. Love is a battlefield. But before returning to that subject I wanted to hit briefly on a related matter.

Yesterday at TPMCafe, Theda Skocpol wrote that whatever the McCain camp is doing, the Obama campaign, writ large and small, will only play into his hands by getting into an argument about race. That after all is one of the things the McCain camp is trying to do. What they need to do is go on the offense, hitting McCain with vivid ads on his numerous vulnerabilities. Like the fact that he embraces all of George W. Bush's policies and the his own evident desperation.

It may surprise you. But I completely agree. As a matter of messaging and campaigning, parrying this sludge requires a deft hand, and the Obama campaign can't let itself get sucked into a debate about race and racialized campaign messages. But that's their issue. Not ours. My interest is on shining a spotlight on what McCain's doing.

It was always clear that it was going to be hard for John McCain to emerge from this campaign with his reputation and the presidency, simply because of the rough terrain any Republican faces this year. At this point, it's clear that by the end of this, the reputation is going to be shot. There's just been too much demonstrable lying on the candidate's part, too much sleazy campaigning, too much outsourcing his campaign to Karl Rove. More and more editorialists and even some of the prestige pundits are starting to see it.

So that means, he has to win. Because if he doesn't, he's got nothing left. All he is a four term senator from a medium-sized state with no legislative record. It's an eminently worthwhile task to chronicle his descent.

[SoCalDem]

11. But but but.. he's a Heeeeee-ro.... a war heeeeero

how dare ANYONE question a HEEEEE-ro?

[Disturbed]

6. Sen. Obama needs a VP that will do what needs to be done.

What is that? The Obama VP needs to be on the attack on every level of McLame's supposed strong suits.

[babylonsister]

8. I'd settle for a couple of intelligent surrogates at this point.

Senator Kerry smacked down Kyl on a program this afternoon. We need to see lots more of that.

[ColbertWatcher]

10. Best. Analogy. Ever. Beautiful! Thank you! n/t

[UTUSN]

12. BwahaHAH!1 K&R #2 for best subject line!1 n/t