McCain can't 'distance himself' from Bush
By Steve Benen Thursday May 01, 2008 8:00pm
A couple of weeks ago, the Politico’s Jonathan Martin reported that a key aspect of John McCain’s general-election strategy is to “drive a triangulated contrast among himself, the Democratic nominee and President Bush.”
Reuters reports today that we’re starting to get a sense of what this strategy looks like in practice.
Slowly but surely, Republican presidential candidate John McCain is putting some distance between himself and unpopular President George W. Bush.
This week it was the ill-timed “Mission Accomplished” banner that the White House hung behind Bush five years ago when Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq.
“I thought it was wrong at the time,” McCain said in Cleveland on Thursday, proceeding to criticize Vice President Dick Cheney’s various comments over the years that the Iraqi insurgency was in its “last throes” with “a few dead-enders” all that was left.
Last week, McCain surprised some in the White House by declaring Bush’s leadership “disgraceful” during the crisis over the 2005 Katrina hurricane that walloped New Orleans. “Never again,” McCain declared.
The motivation is pretty obvious; Bush is, after all, “the most unpopular president in modern American history.”
But in the end, McCain and his campaign are badly missing the point.
Login or Register to post comments.
Grampa Simpson and Bush are connected at the hip. Hopefully the American people will see right through this charade.
We need 527s to push the McSame meme hard until election day.
If Bush turned around too quickly then McCain would break his nose.
I don't understand where the repugs are upset with running this ad. It's not like something was taken out of context.
The old fart really plans to stay there forever. He likes a Middle East Korea....or Japan...or whatever you want to call it.
Hey America....MUSLIMS DON'T WANT US ON THEIR SOIL.....PERIOD!! Get it stupid?
More of the same....exactly. That's not a "swiftboat ad", such as the bullshit they throw up in the air. It's fact.
Kerry was a traitor. Obama hates America. That's all nonsense trash, but you don't see the douchebags getting upset about running blatant lies. They just seem to have a problem with the truth and reality.
The motivation is pretty obvious; Bush is, after all, “the most unpopular president in modern American history.”
I wish the Democrats would operate on that same motivation. And the Press...
With McCains remark today about the war being for oil(now he claims it was the Gulf War ???)Bush is going to drag him down like an anchor. But lets say it's a close election like in 2004? Then the Americans are truly dumb-asses. Because you know the neo-cons are going to steal it.
In effect, McCain's strategy is to say that ALL OF BUSH'S IDEAS WERE RIGHT, but he was just INCOMPETENT when it came to IMPLEMENTING them.
Sadly, there are quite a few Americans who are waiting eagerly to buy that.
"100 Years McSame"
And we aren't about to let him. =)
Pericles, well said. Bush isn't just incompetent. He is down right destructive. That's just what we need! Another four more years with the old man who shakes his fists at clouds.
P.D. @ 6:
They've already gone half way to stealing it before the election has even started! The fascists on the Supreme Court have already obliged the Republicans, and disenfranchised about 1/4 of the Democratic votes by coming down in favor of the VOTER ID ACT.
Bitter Jerry @ 2:
I saw a DNC ad that came down hard on McLame.
Hey McBush--
When you step in a big pile of
shitBush, the best way to get it off your shoe is with a bunch of free beer and your wife's toothbrush.Pericles, your right. The Voter ID Law is an effort to disenfrachise voters. And I can see Scalia, Roberts, Alito and Thomas signing it with glee. That is one thing Bush did to screw this counrty, he gave us Alito and Roberts. Two right-wing nut jobs.
Hulk @ 4:
I still don't understand why troops are still in Japan and Germany. The fall of the Warsaw Pact and the fact that with the interconnected economy we share neither we nor the PRC can actually fight state that there's no reason for those troops. OTOH, Kim Jong Il is just enough of a fruitcake to invade the South if we withdraw. Hopefully the Kim dynasty moderates some, so that North Korea doesn't end up becoming the People's Republic of Jesusland to some South Korean Commodore Perry....
Look at the video and you can really see how old McCain is. He's all hunched over. Mr. Burns comes to mind, and we all know Mr. Burns is a right-wing nut job.
fastfeat @ 13:
yeah my wife thought it was bad tooth paste!
Bush is the most unpopular president in modern history, and yet, they spent only a day with that story. McCain made that outragous statement and it will be forgotten by Monday. But Wright will be talked about again and again. Do I see a pattern here?
P.D. @ 18:
Yes.
Pericles @ 7:
This IS exactly what the guys who used to drink Bud in bottles but now can only afford whatever cheap draught is on tap want to hear! Yeah, they voted for Shrub and he fucked 'em over like everyone else, but they'll have a hard time justifying voting for a woman or a black. But a "WAR HERO" who would have kicked Iraqi (and will kick Iranian) ass HARDER--THAT'S who these guys want to vote for!
[Deleted. Off topic. The topic is McCain and how/why he's turning his back to Bush. Thank you. Site Monitor]
[Deleted. Off topic. The topic is McCain and how/why he's turning his back to Bush. Thank you. Site Monitor]
Just checked out the link above to The Carpetbagger Report, which linked to MSNBC. Prior to listing the one area where he differs with the Bush Administration, McCain blabbed about this:
Sen. John McCain: Well, I think that there's many philosophies and views and vision that we share for America. There are other areas, specific areas, in which we are in disagreement. Chris, I think the American people will make their choice for the presidency on who they believe, not only their record, but how they articulate a vision for the future. That's why forums like these, very honestly, are things that are important to me to be on so I can communicate directly not only with the people of this country but with the young people of this nation.
He's definitely got the bullshitting down pat.
[Deleted. Off topic. The topic is McCain and how/why he's turning his back to Bush. Thank you. Site Monitor]
[Deleted. Off topic. The topic is McCain and how/why he's turning his back to Bush. Thank you. Site Monitor]
Hmmmmm. Katrina hit Louisiana Aug. 29, 2005.
Wanna know where John W. McSame actually was . . . and with whom?
fastfeat @ 20:
True, and the saddest part is that they HAD to choose McCain because he was the only big name Republican left who wasn't a CHICKENHAWK that spent the Vietnam war hiding under his bed in a dorm room.
I think that was why the right wing noise machine initially hated him so much. It was an exercise in self loathing for them to come to grips with the fact that the chickenhawk label is accurate, and that the only non-chickenhawk left in the Republican party is not a 'real conservative.' But it's all part of the conservative self-loathing, hypocritical pattern. Modern conservatism is as much a mental illness as it is a political ideology.
if he can't distance himself from the bush leaguers then it serves him right. everyone talks about him being an american hero for his time spent as a pow in vietnam, yet when the rove machine attempted to smear him with what they thought were vicious allegation of him fathering a heaven forbid black baby, he not only did not fight back, he sidled up to that same machine in later years. Yes, this is the man we would have to lead us. and that's not even saying anything about his senility. will he get darth cheney as his vp so that the crown canbe passed to him.
I can see Romney sucking up to McCain now for the VP spot. Romney scares me. The way he confronted that reporter after asked why a lobbist was working for his campaign. I thought he was going to strike him.
McCain is toast and anyone in the Repuke Party who is an up and comer and is asked to be his VP would be wise to distance themselves from the very idea. It should be seen as doomed to anyone but the Romney's and other talentless attention seekers.
McCain won his last election in AZ 76-21% (see:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/elections/2004/az/)
What has he done in AZ to get that many people to vote for him? Who votes for him? Lot's of bigots and rich people. Who can vote in AZ? Looks like registration is pretty fair (I checked the state website). So how did he convince so many to vote for him? What kind of machines do they use? Has anyone looked at the voting process? People are not that stupid without being manipulated. Seems like there are a lot of good questions. Could somebody from AZ respond. I live nearby and have always been mystified by the vote totals there.
enough, I have tried to understand how people could vote for McCain. Or any other Repug for that matter. But with McCain it's the 'He's the Maverick' crap. Which is kind of stupid. He seems like a Bush toadie to me.
McCain says he thought Bush's "mission accomplished" speech was a bad idea at the time? McCain gave his own mission accomplished speech on the floor of the US Senate just a couple weeks after Bush's.
McCain is also claiming he never said the Iraq war would be easy, but there is video evidence abound of him predicting an easy, short conflict.
McCain can't distance himself too much or he'll lose those 28% bush lovers.
If you watched any cable news today you know that all the uneducated are voting for McCain or Hillary. People that don't even know what the f**k is going on because they don't follow politics are making the decision. They are threatened by someone that appears smarter than them. Rolling Stone has a good article about what Hillary's appeal is to her followers. Not very flattering to her supporters but it is a good read.
Just keep running the multitude of pictures showing McCain hugging the bastard. Some of them are so graphic in their suckupitiveness, it's suggestive to reasonable people that these 2 way be sharing a motel room later.
Nothing wrong with that if their wives are hip to it. But McCain should know better, never be caught on camera shaking hands with a war criminal and for god's sake don't hug one, ever!.
Correct me if I'm wrong (as I'm not completely certain) but we never had an actual treaty as signed with North Korea and South Korea that signified the 'actual end' of the Korean War. I think we're in a 'cease-fire' mode. If that's the case, then technically we're still at 'war' with North Korea, and have been for 58 years (since 1950). And as we've been in South Korea since then we're well on our way toward 100 years. Not sure if McCain wants to make the comparison, as he has anyway, with the Korean situation when relating it to Iraq in clarifying his '100 year war' comment. We're in a '58 year' war with North Korea so it seems he really MEANT '100 year war' in this same sense. I can see it that way and, as he is the alleged 'straight talker', I'll take him at his word the first time. His weak explanations are just excuses. He meant what he said and that's the end of it. sorry, sir, you can't have it both ways.
And another thing that he purposely, or ignorantly, or arrogantly, seems to forget when speaking about our potential '100 year' presence in Iraq is what the Iraqi people think about that. what would they perhaps think and even want to do about our presence during that time span. one would think that certainly way before 100 years had passed things wouldve been taken over by their government and their people so our presence wouldnt even be needed. hopefully. odd that McCain and his ilk dont seem to mention that part of it. i wonder if theyd say it was implicit in what he said. forgive me, sir, if i reject that nonsense. you have to be clear and nothing but being clear is acceptable. you mean what you say the first time and as you presume to be president its not too much to expect at all for me to want that from you. im sure you understand. and even if you dont, who cares. just get with it and stop making excuses for your misstatements.
McCain says....“I thought it was wrong at the time,” McCain said in Cleveland on Thursday".....if the old horses arse thought it was wrong at the time, why didnt he say so?
Reason, because he was right up the horses arse, Bush. Trouble with McCain he is trying run with the wolves and hunt with the hounds...the useless old liar wants to seat himself, humpty dumpty style on the fence, deciding what course to follow which doesnt appear to be agreeing with buffoon Bush, yet isn't going to upset the Republican idiots who have put him where he is.
What a jerk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To be sure, McCain is a douchebag, but Dems can't distance themselves from indecisiveness, dumb boosterism, middle of the road mediocrity, failure, etc. Put it this way. It's nearly eight years into the toxic Bush era, and while Bush has succeeded at exactly nothing in that time, the Dems have likewise failed at every single political gambit; and the left still wants to give the country over to them...!
Makes no sense. The Dems couldn't get out of their own way for a f**king primary.
How do you think they'll do at nation-leading?
There's plenty of idiocy to go around. I was a lefty until a few months ago. But the left is just a bunch of anemic failures. Now I'm some third thing; not conservative, not liberal.
McCain can not hide his WAR talk!
But the DNC is hardly backing down. In a statement released to The Huffington Post late Friday, DNC communications director Karen Finney said, "John McCain should stop whining. We can see why John McCain doesn't want people to see this ad, but its time for him to defend his own words. Clearly John McCain knows that the more people learn about his real record and his willingness to keep our brave troops in Iraq for 100 years, the more they'll see he is not the right choice for America's future."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/02/dnc-to-john-mccain-stop-w_n_999...
Bush and the neocons with the Republicans backing no less , have pretty much destroyed the Republican party , only the Democrats could possibly blow this one , snapping defeat from the jaws of victory as they say . Bush's approval rating is now the lowest in polling history and McCain may as well have Bush tattooed on his old ass and fore head .
The only difference between McCain and Bush is that McCain served in Vietnam as a fighter pilot, got shot down and was captured...while Bush was a hot-shot Texas Air National Guard jet pilot who went AWOL, then got his daddy's pals to doctor his service record to try to hide that little Bush chickened out, and that little Bush spent most of his service commitment lying drunken in some gutter somewhere.
Otherwise, McCain and Bush are the same, like two peas from the same rotten Republican pod.
Login or Register to post comments.