McCain's Cred
The Chuck Todd post I did about the McCain treatment by the press on Sunday has resonated far and wide (I wasn't the only one who caught that) and explains so much of their behavior towards our Democratic candidates and John McCain.
Let's recap. Foreign policy cred lets him get away with wild howlers on foreign policy. Fiscal integrity cred lets him get away with outlandishly irresponsible economic plans. Anti-lobbyist cred lets him get away with pandering to lobbyists. Campaign finance reform cred lets him get away with gaming the campaign finance system. Straight talking cred lets him get away with brutally slandering Mitt Romney in the closing days of the Republican primary. Maverick uprightness cred allows him to get away with begging for endorsements from extremist religious leaders like John Hagee. "Man of conviction" cred allows him to get away with transparent flip-flopping so egregious it would make any other politician a laughingstock. Anti-torture cred allows him to get away with supporting torture as long as only the CIA does it.
Remind me again: where does all this cred come from? And what window do Democrats go to to get the same treatment the press gives McCain?
The press will never give McCain the same treatment to our candidates and that's why we must stay on top of it because who else is there?
Fiscal credibility=Keating 5
Sounds perfect for the job- give him a few months to get his hands bloody, err, bloodier, and we'll have a new war criminal in the White House.
There isn't anyone else. The media are the modern version of "Kingmakers" just as the Praetorian Guard were in ancient Rome. Sure, there are foreign media outlets where Democrats may get a good word or two but the average American does not look at foreign media sources.
There's a good reason for the media's light touch. They might be accused of elder abuse. Elder abuse is often defined as a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person.
Pointing out all the lies, inconsistencies and outright BS flowing from the McCain camp would certainly cause him harm and distress.
It should be a worry for any Democratic challenger.
Would it matter if there was? Nobody would vote for them because everyone is either Dem or Rep. Everyone always says they want change, but when push comes to shove, people vote "safe". Everyone says they want fresh new faces, but always use the same old "experience" argument, like being a politician for a length of time makes you better at it, like an electrician or something.
will the dems hurry up and line up behind obama?
y'know, the repubs brought their a-game: they all got behind cranky mcdouchebag, as flawed as he is, and they've already got the whole cabinet filled as well as rough battle plans for a "mini-nuke" srike on iran.
dodd's got it right. so does richardson. so someone oughta just offer hillary majority leader, where she'll be able to maximize the use of her ninja soap opera squabbling powers -versus repubs instead of obama.
Golly, must be nice. This is a touch ridiculous however. He cheated on his wife, has questionable statements about nearly every policy around has flip flopped like a fish for years. I lost what respect I had for the man when he let GWB walk all over him, then kissed his ass in 2004. He sold his soul to be the nominee and the ink dried in 2003.
As much as anything else, presidential campaigns are won and lost by the media narratives that rightly or wrongly come to define a candidate. In the case of Repubican nominee John McCain, the seemingly unshakable narrative of the political "maverick" could not be further off the mark. At almost every turn, McCain in his eternal quest for the White House has reversed long-held positions, compromised core principles and swallowed his pride in order to curry favor with both the leading lights of the conservative movement and right-wing Republican primary voters. The untold story of campaign 2008 is simply that of John McCain's transformation from maverick to prostitute.
For the details, see:
"From Maverick to Prostitute: The Untold Story of John McCain."
Kudos to Kevin Drum. A wonderful column. Spread it around.
On the other hand, it sure does look like the media is serving as John McCain's walker. I mean, this Presidential race and events occuring around the world occur at a rapid pace and John mcCain just can't keep up. Heck, Clinton and Obama have already thrown out many ideas regarding the whole real estate mess while John McCain is back there putting along.
McLame's got no cred with me. I find the "media loves mccain" meme disturbing.
I wish someone would post a list, with contact information, for all of the MSM decision makers. Then we could bombard them with an email campaign.
i wish the dems would hurry up and nominate obama so we can all get to work on johnny mcdiapers.
did you know his pastor, john hagee, is said to be a so-called "end-timer"?
end-timers are those folks who were disappointed when y2k didn't wipe out humanity.
they're also the folks who drink arsenic-laced kool-aid when jim jones tells them to.
rumor has it john hagee, john mccain's b.f.f., prays daily america will launch a preemptive war on iran on behalf of israel. does anyone know if this is true?
Joe O. @ 10:
Let me also add that I have no problem with anyone's age. However, there does come a time when a person's age catches up to them, their mind and body start to slow down and they just are not up to the task that the job they are seaking requires. At some point, you realize that you are more of a liability than an asset. These "gaffes" and many other mistakes made by McCain are to frequent. Maybe John McCain has reached that point.
the corporate media is in the gop camp. a few exceptions, but most are gop shills. that's how they got their jobs.
When has the media seriously scrutinized anything or anyone? The MSM is tabloid trash, with a few exceptions.
If McCain belted out a another version of "Bomb Bomb Iran" in his t shirt and boxer shorts in a hotel bar the lead story would still be Rev. Wright.
i wonder how prominent italian-american self-made business tycoons feel about john hagee's views on catholicism?
And the longer the Dems practice fratricide the longer Johnny gets a free pass. I feel sorry for the guy in any debate he'll face, he'll be called out eventually
hey, john amato - good job on rachel today!
this attention will help get it straight... surely...
We all know that the MSM favors the GOP. I think that the coverage keeps our candidates in the limelight, which is good. With McCains gaffes we really don't have to attack him. He is his own worst enemy. We also know that when we get a nominee, it's going to be 100% negative against he/she. Let's appreciate the coverage our candidates are getting now. Some of it may be negative but, it is nothing compared to what it's going to be.
It's not a window, it's a fist-sized hole in a stall partition.
"Let me also add that I have no problem with anyone’s age. However, there does come a time when a person’s age catches up to them, their mind and body start to slow down and they just are not up to the task that the job they are seaking requires. At some point, you realize that you are more of a liability than an asset. These “gaffes” and many other mistakes made by McCain are to frequent. Maybe John McCain has reached that point."
Hmmm...who are the most consistently reliable voters in America? Seniors.
Please. I hope the DNC and Obama follow your advice and hammer McCain on his age. You have Berkeley solidly behind you...and the youth vote (the most consistenly unreliable and fickle voting bloc in America).
If you guys consistently keep harping on McCain's "senior moments" you are going down in flames, and not all your friends in the media can protect you and your candidate. Have you forgotten Ronald Reagan?
"We all know that the MSM favors the GOP. "
How utterly absurd! When the nation's news media have to be shamed by Saturday Night Live to actually asking questions of Obama...when the NYT smears McCain with a front page story alleging an extramarital affair...while this week the Washington Post ombudsperson tries to explain why the editors repeatedly shot down reporters requests to do a story on Obama and Wright.
Prior to Wright, Obama has benefitted from the most incredible Free Pass in modern American media history.
The Managing Editor of Newsweek observed in 2004 that the media wanted Kerry to win. He even measured the value of this at 5 percentage points.
Let's think about this for a minute. If there were no race for the White House, who would tune in every night to hear the latest news? The media HAS to keep McCain in the race, otherwise, revenues would decline. They will carry him on their backs to the election if they have to. The shareholders demand it.
McCain's obviously got better barbecue than the Democrats.
tr @ 15:
yyes and lucky you !the media gave us obama and clinton!
certainly
noisey
nonsense spent this entire evening talking about the dems and the 'discord' and the 'fighting' and the 'problems' .
[Deleted-Sitemonitor]
Scrapiron @ 28:
Tell ya what. When Barrack and the good Reverend who was right start stringing up white trash junkyard crackermorons, I'll count to 5,ooo before I say something:
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"Now where the fuck did I put that rope?"
and the anti-crook cred lets him get away with his very, very questionable involvement in the Savings and Loans Scandals involving his cohort Keating. Arizona politics, you know!
The thing the Democratic nominee will have going for them is that Joe Lieberman won't be able to whisper the answer in McCain's ear during the debates (which McCain will want as much as a free trip to Hanoi).
Marlowecan @ 22:
By the way, it was your boy at faux news (Bret Hume) who brought up the "senior moment" to explain McCrazys confusion, about who was fighting who in Irag. Also, what make's you think that seniors will vote for McCrazy just because he is old?
Marlowecan @ 22:
Indeed. And on what do most of these seniors depend? Social Security and Medicare. And to whom did the GOP want to give that money? Oh, Yes! Wall Street! Bear, Stearns and all those other good guys. McCain is just another rich Republican politician looking to drain the middle class and run government for the benefit of the moneyed class. I don't think you can expect that seniors look forward to having a rerun of the Bush administration.
Of course, today's seniors were adults during the Clinton years, and saw that trying to find an accommodation or reach a middle ground with the GOP is futile, and the Republicans can only agree when their position wins. That is why the young naive candidate has less senior support as well.
AngryOne @ 8:
Thanx for the link AngryOne, this is a superlative summation of McSaint
Chuck Todd thought Ron Paul should be excluded from the Republican debates, but never questioned John McCain's inclusion, even when Ron Paul had more cash on hand than McCain, and even when Ron Paul was right on damn near everything he said, and McCain was cluelessly baffled or just plain wrong. McCain's big moment in the debate was a joke about Mitt Romney being a flip-flopper, while Ron Paul's big moments were a string of Constitutionally based arguments on our foreign policy and the flaws in our economic system.
Ron Paul's inclusion made us a smarter electorate. John McCain's inclusion made us a more warmongering, stupider electorate.
Fuck Chuck Todd.
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