Chuck Hagel on McCain attack ad: He's "treading on some very thin ground here"
By SilentPatriot Sunday Jul 27, 2008 4:00pm
Sens Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed appeared on "Face The Nation" Sunday to talk about their recent trip overseas with Barack Obama, and although they may hail from different political parties, both senators agreed that John McCain's latest misleading ad is divisive and inappropriate.
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Hagel: "I think John is treading on some very thin ground here when he impugns motives and when we start to get into, `You're less patriotic than me. I'm more patriotic.' I admire, respect John McCain very much, I have a good relationship--to this day we do, we talk often. I talked to him right before I went to Iraq, matter of fact. John's better than that."
As he states very clearly, Chuck Hagel has been friends with John McCain for a long time. I think it speaks volumes when even he condemns these ads and says "John's better than that."
The most ironic part about this whole attack against Obama is that while Team McCain is accusing him of disrespecting the troops for not going to see them -- which itself is a bald-faced lie -- it is actually the McCain campaign who is disrespecting the troops by using them as political pawns. Had Obama made the visit while on the official campaign leg of the trip, he would have been accused of inappropriately using the soldiers for a photo-op. When he correctly decided it was wrong to make the visit while on a political trip, the McCain team then accused him of snubbing our wounded warriors.
In other words, he would have been criticized no matter he did. I'm happy to see senators from both parties willing to point that out and condemn McCain for his opportunistic and shameless smear.
Full transcript below (.pdf):
SCHIEFFER: Let me just ask you this, Senator Hagel. You're a Republican. For a long time you were very, very close to John McCain. I want to ask you later...
Sen. HAGEL: Mm-hmm.
SCHIEFFER: ...are you still that close? But he has been very, very hard on Senator Obama all this week and, I mean, the gloves have really come off. This morning...
Sen. HAGEL: Mm-hmm.
SCHIEFFER: ...in an interview on ABC he said, I think it was seven times, that Senator Obama simply doesn't understand the stakes in Iraq, he doesn't understand the situation there. And earlier in the week--we'll look at some tape here--here is how he put it at one point.
Sen. HAGEL: Mm-hmm.
Senator JOHN McCAIN: Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a campaign.
SCHIEFFER: He said this morning that Senator Obama's strategy was based, basically, on political expediency; that he chose--and these are Senator McCain's words--"a political path that would get him the nomination."
Sen. HAGEL: Well, let me begin by making this comment and answering your question. Both of these men are smart, capable, decent men who love their country. I think we as a nation are far better off for these two capable men. One will have to govern this country and bring the country together, as well as lead the world and bring the world together, and that's going to take a bipartisan consensus to govern. They're better off to focus on policy differences.
I think John is treading on some very thin ground here when he impugns motives and when we start to get into, `You're less patriotic than me. I'm more patriotic.' I admire, respect John McCain very much, I have a good relationship--to this day we do, we talk often. I talked to him right before I went to Iraq, matter of fact. John's better than that. And he's not asked for my advice on this, but since you've asked me the question, I think both he and Barack have got--have to be very careful here, because it's just not responsible to be saying things like that; again, if for no other reason, for the good of this country and the world. One of these two men, on January 20th of next year, is going to have to bring this country together, and the world, to deal with huge problems. I think the next president is going to inherit an inventory of challenges as big as Franklin Roosevelt inherited on March 4th, 1933.
SCHIEFFER: Well, let me--just in line with what you said, the McCain campaign came out with a new ad, because Senator Obama chose not to visit those troops in the hospital...
Sen. HAGEL: Mm-hmm.
SCHIEFFER: ...in Germany. Let's take a look at this.
(Excerpt from John McCain political ad)
SCHIEFFER: Senator Reed, now, you've done a lot of these trips. They call them CODELs, congressional delegations. Go--are you ever allowed to take cameras when you go in to visit to wounded troops? I thought that was sort of the general rule that everybody knew about.
Sen. REED: I don't think Senator Obama would have done that. Senator Hagel, Senator Obama and I visited the combat support hospital in Baghdad to thank those nurses, those doctors, to see patients that were there, to bring a bit of greetings from home and profound thanks. That should be in the ad that Senator McCain is running. I think Senator Obama made a very wise choice. If it's any suggestion that a visit to a military hospital would be political, he made the wise choice not to go. But when we were in Baghdad we made a point, at the end of a very exhausting day, to go in, see these magnificent young Americans and those doctors and nurses that give such tremendous care without a lot of fanfare, just to say thanks. He did it--the same thing. We went--
we didn't stay in Kabul, we went to Jalalabad to see the soldiers of the 173rd. We stopped in Basra to see our soldiers down there. We went into Anbar province to see soldiers there. Now, that is a completely distorted and I think inappropriate advertisement.Sen. HAGEL: Let me add to the--to that. As you know, Bob, the congressional delegation that you refer to ended when we parted in Jordan. At that point, it was a political trip for Senator
Obama. I think it would have been inappropriate for him--and certainly he would have been criticized by the McCain people and the press, and probably should have been--if on a political trip in Europe paid for by political funds, not the taxpayers, to go essentially, then, and be
accused of using our wounded men and women as props for his campaign. I think the judgment there--and I don't know the facts, by the way, I know what I've just read, and no one's asked me about it other than what you just asked about. But I think it's--it would be totally inappropriate for him, on a campaign trip, to go to a military hospital and use those soldiers as props. And I--so I think he probably, based on what I know, he did--he did the right thing. We saw troops everywhere we went on the congressional delegation. We went out of our way to see those troops. We wanted to see those troops. And that--that's part of our job, to see those troops, by the way, and listen to those troops, Bob. And we did.SCHIEFFER: Do you think that ad was appropriate?
Sen. HAGEL: I do not think it was appropriate.
SCHIEFFER: You do not.
Sen. HAGEL: I do not.
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Hagel is just the right person to come out and make a statement about this...funny thing you would think that McCain would remember being impugned and attacked by Bushco....
On top of that, Hagel would not commit to either presidential candidate--which is, at best, faint praise for the GOP candidate. Hagel, McCain and the GOP know they have nothing for America in November and McCain isn't the answer to ANY question facing America. Hagel saw those 200,000 people cheering Obama in Germany and knows that ANY Republican could not even draw 10,000 in Utah or Idaho if they were paid to attend (not counting protesters).
The patriotism required to sell out for meds ... like both McAyns ... is just breathtaking.
Actually, McGrampa is not. This campaign is proving that.
No Sen. Hagel...Grandpa is not better than this. On display are McStupid's true colors....lies, anger, jealousy, entitlement, desperation. No honor.
If Obama campaign wanted, they could use all that GOP McCain-bashing for ads...
not exactly the high road, but it's not like McCain has been or will be at all classy in any of this.
I don't agree with Hagels policies very often, but he is one of the few Rs I have respect for.
Desperate ad ideas from a desperate campaign.
The Obama sunami is about to wipe out the GOP.
Senator Hagel has been standing up to the right wing warmongers that hi-jacked his party for quite some time now.
Hagel calling Lieberman out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUf7vbuzMxI
And yes Senator Lieberman is part of the radical chicken hawk team that hi jacked our country and lied our nation into an unnecessary and immoral war.
Hagel is an example of how divided the Republican Party really is. Republicans values are lost with the Bush Administration and their followers. Hagel values what the Republican Party use to stand for. Many Republicans speak of how much the Party has changed and lost it's way. One thing I think Hagel said right was a Law Maker should put America first and Party second. If Americans allow McCain to steal the White House it could be our down fall. As more Americans both Democrat and Republican suffer from the recession look for voters to put the person in who could help them keep their jobs and homes.
haddanuff @ 8:
I certainly hope your right about Obama winning, but we have to be on the ball and very alert. The GOP is capable of some very slimy shit and will do ANYTHING to stay in power ........
ANYTHING !!
So much for running an honorable campaign, eh Grampy? Why does McCain's campaign sound more and more like Bush's 2004 campaign......? Oh yeah, Gramps has hired the same pig dogs that Bush had then.
McC*nt is better than that? I'm not so sure. You have a desperate old man who will do or say anything to make up for what happened in 2000.
It isn't like he has a long and productive government career to look forward to if he's not elected president. He already has one foot in the grave...I don't think he gives a shit if he's viewed as too negative.
It amazes me that people see Obama as the bigger risk. McC*nt is clearly suffering from some level of Alzheimers. Add a hair-trigger temper and a serious case of Vietnam flashbacks and this dinosaur should not be allowed anywhere near the nuclear button.
And Obama is the scary one, huh?
McSame's campaign staff is flailing. It's a reflection on him as well. All they have left is to make shit up. Hell, they can't even produce a video without getting into trouble:
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/07/28/mccain-s-music...
The Truth Hurts @ 13:
When he went down to kiss Falwells Ass that was the end of whatever integrity he might have had, then he compounded things with his getting slimy with Hagee and that other religious puke.
Left&Left @ 5:
that i can agree with.
this mccainiac tactic is disgusting, transparent and shows the trouble the mccain campaign is in (despite some recent polling).
rove's paw prints are all over mccain's ass.
Left&Left @ 5:
That's a pretty good indictment of Father Time.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
McCain is a bad candidiate running a bad campaign.
But hey, I hear he knows how to catch Bin Laden.
So why hasn't anybody in the MSM asked McNuts
if has shared that info with Bush or Cheney or the
Pentagon or the CIA?
This old man is looking more the fool every day.
McSame's campaign is flailing. Probably leftover Repug hacks from the Provisional Coalition Authority.
Hell, they can't even get a make a video without screwing up:
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/07/28/mccain-s-music...
hagel is a great obama supporter...
but it would be folly for obama to choose him as a running mate (not that he will... just sayin' it would be a bad idea for obama)
You tread on very thin ice, not ground. sheesh
EVEN ANDREA MITCHELL of NBC just admitted that that McCain ad is a complete misrepresentation of the "facts opn the ground."
And the footage of Obama playing b-ball was DOD footage shot by military media people... of Obama shooting baskets WITH GIs. Why does McCain get to use this footage? Isn't THAT using the military for his own political purposes?
"John’s better than that.”
maybe the john of the past had a glimmer of hope at being better than that, but this years model.. far from it.
I seem to remember Bob Dole's campaign suffered from similar problems. If he just ran the campaign the way HE wanted to, it wouldn't sink to such pathetic levels, and yet he conceded too much power to the GOP talking-points. Same goes for McCain: he might have appealed to undecided voters back in 2000, but since he's letting his campain get run by the wingnuts he just coming across like McSame or McBush.
I'm not saying that he stands a chance of winning even if he didn't let the wingnuts run the show, because then he'll have no one voting for him on either side of the aisle. Poor bastard's in a catch 22.
displaced @ 22
"Poor bastard’s in a catch 22."
of his own creation i might add.
don't get me wrong, but
phuck chuck-the-erstwhile-fascist haygull
Grumpy McSame may be better than that, but maybe not. The problem is, he doesn't have anything else.
Perhaps John McCain used to be "better than that", but he certainly isn't anymore. not since he began kissing the arses of Bush & Co.
There is an absolute Karl Rovian stench to this ad.
Where's Clinton, Kerry, Biden, Dodd and Reid? All are sitting Democratic Senators and not one has come out and slammed McCain. This is a Rovian ploy and smacks of swift boating.
Grampa now has his staff on youtube removing posts and banning anyone who posts facts about his voting record in regards to the troops or veterans.
What a surprise....McCain's mafia will say anything. I'd certainly want to listen to Carly Fiorina after the stellar job she did at H-P. Wouldn't you?
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Obama_would_drag_US_into_depression_0728200...
Message to McCain: Cheney Betrays Our Veterans by Not Speaking to Them. Get on His Case, Will You?
The amazing balls of this ad is that it shows Obama in a gym with american soldiers cheering him on, while the voice over says that he's not making time to visit the troops. It's that kind of "What are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes" attitude that just blows me away.
Speaking of Rove, have you noticed how McCain is trying to challenge Obama about his lack of judgement. This is exactly what Rove did to Kerry when the Republicans challenged Kerry's service record.
John McCain, by approving this ad, shows us that he is not better than that. He will do or say anything if he thinks it will get one more vote for him. It was a low down ugly thing to do so that tells me that he is a low down ugly human being.
If how a campaign runs is any indication of the candidate, Sen. Obama's is raising the bar to a very nice level, while McCain's is wiggling in the mud.
Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
When the ad says that Sen. Obama went to the gym, did they think we wouldn't notice the picture was one of Sen. Obama shooting hoops with the soldiers? Do they think we are so stupid we won't notice? Or are they so stupid they think that is a picture of Sen. Obama in the gym?
This is just a pathetic attempt to try to bring Sen. Obama down since they have nothing to bring McCain up. Why aren't they making ads about the positive things McCain has done and that he plans to do.
I don't recall the swift boat ads of 04 having the verbal approval by bush at the end. At least bush was smart enough not to put his name on those ads. McCain should have looked the other way and allowed a 527 to put out this trash.
One more check on the "stupid" side of the page.
Well one good thing about this ad, We haven't heard nonstop "I was right about the surge".
willie @ 22:
This is just 8 years delayed. McGrampa would have run that same dirty and despicable campaign against Mr. Gore in 2000.
Wow, for Hagal to whack a fellow Repug is telling. You know their code,"Never speak ill of a fellow Republican. No matter what kind of Dumb-asses they are!" And for the record, a least Bush had his minions tear down Kerry, not himself.
Jebus @ 29:
Really? That's pretty sad and desperate.
November can't come soon enough when we get to see McSame make like an old soldier a fade away...
casper46 @ 37:
Kind of hard to crow that the surge is working after the three bombs that went off in Iraq today and killed all those people.
Rev. O.J. Flow @ 41:
With his melanoma coming back, he might"fade away" before November.
pissed off patricia @ 42:
A noun, a verb, and the surge.
pissed off patricia @ 42:
4 bombs
Hagel's Senate term is up this year and he is not seeking re-election. That's apparently what it takes to be able to speak one's mind in the GOP.
casper46 @ 45:
Don't worry, the reich-wingers are going to claim that the increased violence is proof that the surge is working.
I have a question for John McCain, "Sir, can you state in dollars exactly how much your soul cost?"
McCain on "thin ice" Karl Rove is feeding the McSame campaign the same twisted horseshit that worked for the Bush regime. McCain is stupid for taking this line it will backfire on him.
McCain has voted against Vet funding. He has not been there for our Vets
Ditto Dr Hussein, At least 50 people killed over 100 injured. And the bombers? Women. They are using either mentally disabled or fragile women to do their kiliing for them. Yeah, what a great idea it was to invade Iraq! Christ, I feel like Lady MacBeth, "Out damn spot!"
willie @ 24:
yep. Proof he wouldn't make a good president I guess. Now if only Rudy had won the nomination...
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Hold on, I'm laughing so hard I can't type.
Do you think that add was appropriate? Hagel "I do not think it was appropriate"
Why was McCain having lunch at the Fudge Haus instead of going to Germany to visit the soldiers?
This shit works both ways. Just show McCain and bush having birthday cake the day Katrina was drowning NOLA.
pissed off patricia @ 54:
Don't forget the dry humping that ensued between the two
pissed off patricia @ 54:
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/images/bush-mccain-katrina-3.jpg
Chuck,
"I'm John McCain and I approved this ad". Guess what Chuck, he's NOT better than that!
McCain is not on "thin ground"; he's moved to the dark side. Face it. He is no longer better than anything.
CMINCA @ 58:
Sorry, but when has McCain being on the right side of any issue?
The guy has been an asshole from way back, the whole maverick bullshit was nothing but marketing at its best.
I was discussing McCain with some acquaintances, and they seemed "disappointed" I asked them if they really had paid attention to McCain and what he stood for. It is amazing the number of assumptions that uniformed people have been fed regarding McCain. History rewriting at its finest, Goebbels would be ever so proud!
pissed off patricia @ 54:
... but that would not be "nice" and thus will not be used by the Dems.
If the DNC had the balls to show an ad with McCain and Boosh eating cake while having a split screen with people drowning in NOLA at the same time, his candidature would be more over... period.
Tyler Durden @ 61:
I'd help pay for the creation of that ad.
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 41:
No worries, there's plenty of us that will keep the flame alive by posting more. And I do it for free.
Greg Palast asking for help
http://www.gregpalast.com/obama-doesn%E2%80%99t-sweat-he-should/
Obama doesn't sweat. He should
In swing-state Colorado, the Republican Secretary of State conducted the biggest purge of voters in history, dumping a fifth of all registrations. Guess their color.
In swing-state Florida, the state is refusing to accept about 85,000 new registrations from voter drives – overwhelming Black voters.
In swing state New Mexico, HALF of the Democrats of Mora, a dirt poor and overwhelmingly Hispanic county, found their registrations disappeared this year, courtesy of a Republican voting contractor.
In swing states Ohio and Nevada, new federal law is knocking out tens of thousands of voters who lost their homes to foreclosure.
Tyler Durden @ 60:
I've never been a McCain supporter of any kind, but you must admit that he became especially creepy once he sold his soul to the Bush administration. Now he is just plain pitiful. Oh and he certainly isn't, nor has he ever been, a moderate.
For a humorous article on John McCain and his relationship with the Christian Right: http://www.alternet.org/election08/92934/mccain_doesn%27t_have_a_prayer/...
Exerpt: "The Republican party returned to power at the beginning of this decade thanks to a brilliantly innovative political hybrid represented in its most advanced form by the Bush-Cheney ticket -- a high-tech engine of ruthless neocon capitalism wedded to a half-literate aristocrat dunce hiding his alcoholism in born-again Christian platitudes. Add corporate money to fundamentalist-Christian demographics in a country as dumb and superstitious as America, and you can vaporize a century's worth of Al Gores and John Kerrys.
But here's how fucked that seemingly unstoppable coalition is this time around, now that the ticket is headed by an aging Goldwaterite named John McCain: The candidate has only recently come around to the idea that the Republican nominee in the age of Bush and the evangelical ayatollahs has to go to church regularly. When asked recently if he is an evangelical Christian, McCain answered, "I attend church." When asked how often, he said, "Not as often as I should.""
Is the ground as thin as J McCains parchment like skin?
questioning obama's patriotism is ridiculous...but it may be an effective strategy........obama spent a lot of time with troops....he has visited walter reed in the past. it's
bullshxt.....mccain is dirty
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 4:
McCain and staff said about 3 years ago that Rove was going to help them in 08....all I needed to read (The New Yorker) about McCain. One thing to forgive your enemies (S.C. Primary)...quite another to get in bed with them.
Sue @ 68:
Exactly.
Chuck ,
Hit the nail on the head re: both men being capable , its what McCain is capable of that scares me .
BO , should not ( imho ) attack the old fella , he is doing so well on his own .
Never correct your enemy when they are making a mistake .
Napoleon
This is just a theory but I think John McCain sold his soul to his wife. She has the money. She wanted to be Jackie Kennedy. Now, a lot men would probably do her but they wouldn't marry her. They would laugh about her behind her back. At least the smart ones would. This is a very weak man, this McCain that can be controlled by whatshername. But she pulls the strings. He isn't the same person several Republicans have said. No shit. He married a ball buster. Not too smart. But he never was too smart. He wants to be president so he can keep his wife, cause if he loses, she is gone.
Once again the MSM wouldn’t recognize fact and reality from fiction. You mean to tell me the MSM has the nerve to question Obama’s decision not the visit the troops in Germany while at the same time give McCain a free ride to tell any lie he can pull out from his ass. The MSM never once questioning the facts or calling McCain out for the desperate pathetic liar he is.
The MSM will always have its head up McCain’s ass. The MSM make pro wrestling refs look credible and full of integrity. In fact I think they are one in the same. They both follow a script (in the MSM case McCain and republican talking points) to fix a match.
BTW where is the Obama camp firing back and taking McCain out at the knees. You would think one of the first things they would do is hire the best of the best to handle their rapid response campaign.
no way will hagel outright attack mcoldfart
but this was pretty close
Speaking of opportunistic and shameless smears...
Republican Chuck Hagel accompanied Obama on his People Of The World Tour, presumably because Hagel shares a common position with Obama on an important issue central to Obama's entire presidential campaign; he, like Obama, was famously against the War in Iraq from the very beginning.
I wonder if Obama knows that Chuck Hagel VOTED for the Congressional Authorization For The Use Of Military Force in Iraq.
Moreover, does Obama know that Chuck Hagel actually WROTE (with Biden and Lugar) that Congressional Authorization For The Use Of Military Force In Iraq SPECIFICALLY in order for Congress to go on record in limiting their authorization for military force on the condition that Iraq failed the inspection process or presented a threat to our national security (neither of which conditions had been met when Bush invaded anyway, lying to the American people and Congress about it)?
In other words, Chuck Hagel wrote the very Congressional Authorization that was factually and intentionally NOT a "vote for the war" a point Barack Obama opportunistically and shamelessly smeared his opponents over during the primaries.
"Former Chief of Medical Operations for HQ USAFE at Ramstein Air Force Base Responds to Latest McCain Ad."
Here is the link
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1682
Oops,
Sorry, Take 2
♫..Bangkok Bob..♫ @ 11:
I could not agree with you more. The GOP is the slim of this country, minus Chuck Hagel. As we note, they are out there manipulating facts, framing issues to fit their means, and producing false polls to back them up. This has an accumulative affect that could bring about negative numbers for Barack Obama. Because they have the conservative media in their pocket, they have unlimited funding, and that amounts to enough factors to worry about.
Joseph
Joseph @ 77:
And the GOP along with their media cronies have managed to keep half of the American electorate stupid.
It's the only hope they have.
All other issues aside, I'd give Senator Hagel points for integrity here... something painfully rare these days... for speaking his mind openly about this matter, despite the fact that a colleague and old friend of his is the object of it. He obviously thinks the question of integrity involved is important, or he would have just kept his mouth shut about it, like any good mindlessly loyal party drone would.
I hope the blogs amp up the anti-smear postings in response to the lies from the wingnuts. They should also point out the hypocracy (like they've been doing) at every turn. Keep up the defensive attacks and show everyone the truth about the right. It would be a great win for the democrats if the blogs fought back and won with nothing but the truth.
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 41:
this $#!+'s been going on since ancient egypt, since stonehenge. he who controls the information controls the people.
it's why i always give amato an elbow for censoring 9/11 discussion. and i know why he does it. and it's his site.
but still the guy's a tough italian, don't be fooled by his delicate skills on flute.
The media is giving the liberal all the scrutiny, now this works great for Obama on one hand because he is not going to give them gaffe after gaffe or a long senior moment so the media acts like they are doing Obama a favor but they aren't. McCain gets to put out his message and the media reports it. This is good and bad for McCain, bad because his message is sloppy and disorganized, good because his whole campaign is sloppy and disorganized and receives no objective scrutiny. How hard is it to report on McCain with an Obama like intensity? I could fill a whole week of programming from one interview, like the one with GS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQxTkTjURd0 on Sunday. What is with the smile? Hell if Obama had McCains creepy smile he never would have got this far, you know that creepy forced that McCain does? Anyhow I digress, Fox, CNN, MSNBC follow Obama like the paparazzi, he waved , is his wave elitist? He smiled, is that a seed in his teeth? His shirt how much was it? Was it fifty dollars, a hundred? I mean every little thing he does is under a microscope turn the microscope that way! Y McCain would be behind 30 points if he had a week of scrutiny like Obama.
Chuck Hagel is presidential material.Why McCain or Bush? It smells alot!