Letters to the Editor
-
I'd be Terrified if he was Behind. Even is Best.
The MSM loves a good "scrappy underdog come from behind narrative." The MSM also loves, loves, loves Straight-Talking Hero Maverick John McCain, whose credibility on all issues of national security is beyond cavil, and whose lack of cred on all other issues is just a subject for insidery chuckles.
Put those together, they'd hype him all the way to November.
On the other hand, put an Obama who's behind together with a dominating lead for John McCain, and everything Obama does or says will show what a big fat loser he is to straight-talking moderate John McCain.
-
I choose the latter.
Actually I think his easy ride with the media could well come back to burn him later. He's been saying so many stupid things in the public eye and on camera that can be gathered up and used as ammunition in a campaign. If the media was hitting him for every Sunni Shiite mix up or misunderstanding of the chain of command it would be aired out and not terribly useful in the fall when it will really count.
I say play the soft game now, as long as it's close the Dems can hold on to all their cards and play out his. A month or so before the general they can just hammer him with a barrage of his own words when he has little time to recover.
That said I think Progressive Media USA has the right idea in beginning to 'characterize' him now to set him up for the flurry of hits in the fall.
-
McCain Is Old
And kinda lame. And people are fed up with the republicans. But he could possibly pull off the comforting Grandpa role. We are running a risk if we make Buckwheat our nominee.
-
Don't forget the Democratic poll numbers are still split
The polls are running McCain against one democratic candidate or another, but not against the cumulative effect when they are united behind one candidate. That's a huge factor. And it will make a huge difference come summer when the Democratic party eagerly or reluctantly unites behind one candidate, as it will.
-
McCain
My thoughts are with EMStoveken and Moira Kelly. McCain's popularity will surge when Bush invents terrorist threats in order to intimidate voters. And then there is the voter suppression issue that could subvert actual polling numbers in the end. Then there is the gushing media. I live with a sick relative who watches MSNBC for about 8 hours a day, and all I hear from the show hosts (with the exception of Keith Olberman) is a series of manipulative questions that point toward the answers that they want. Then there was this one interviewer yesterday who spoke with McCain, and she could hardly even ask him any questions. She would occasionally try to interrupt his rants, but for the most part, she just let him talk incessantly and ignore her questions. In spite of his rudeness, she still seemed enchanted and starstruck at the end.
Oh, and debates? "Winning" a debate doesn't matter in the least, or Bush wouldn't be the current president. There are no real debates anyway--just a string of talking points without serious analysis or direct refutation. These events should be called "Presidential Interviews" instead of debates.
-
How to interpret a dead-even horse race
I've said it before and I'll say it again- McCain is going to lose his famous temper once betwen now and November and it will cost him the whole shebang. He'll come off looking like a crotchety old war horse, with no clue about the economy, who has flip-flopped more than his once possible running mate John Kerry. As someone here once pointed out, Bugs always beat Daffy, and no candidate this year is more daffy than Johm.
-
I think we're getting set up
If the media tells us McCain is dead even, or slightly ahead - irrespective the facts of the matter - it could be a precursor to all the electronic voting machine problems, the future purged voters, the whole universe of right-wing Rovian tactics to steal the election.
Who in their right mind expects the 2008 election to be fair, honest, and correctly recorded? I swear - we ABSOLUTELY need international observers for our election - 2000 and 2004 prove that we're no better than a banana republic.
It doesn't matter if McCain is ahead or behind - he has corporate support, and as a subset thereof, "media" support.
Basically, we're doomed.
-
Well, the one horse just says to the other horse...
"..Whinny' you gonna ..get the !@#* outta here?"
The 'whinny' and the profanity are added by me to what actually was a quote by one of CNN's pundificators, when asked how the "two Democratic rivals" should handle their 'rivalry'.
"..'tied' with his rivals"
Obama is 'tied' with Clinton?
Ah the smell of horse manure in the morning...
-
How to interpret a dead-even horse race
It is discouraging. The reasons:
The mainstream media will not, all of a sudden, develop a spine that has been notably absent for almost seven years, simply because the Republican’s name is “McCain” rather than “Bush”. Senator John can safely count on softball questions that could have been written by Karl Rove himself, along with reporters who will fill in the “proper” answers when John flubs his own.
The Republican smear machine will start spreading slime at levels that will reach embarrassing proportions (as though they were capable of embarrassment)
The Conservative media will, of course, amplify those stories by, “just asking the question”, and then repeating each lie as though it were truth.
The result will be that some time into the fourth year of President McCain’s second term in office (and the twelfth year of the all out Iraqi Civil War), the press will start wringing their hands and asking, “How could we have been so fooled, AGAIN?” Just before they begin the process of lionizing whichever member of the Bush Family is planning to be the next President, after John McCain was so nice as to keep the seat warm for them for a few years.
-
McCain is...
A good campaigner, there's no doubt about it. He has managed to earn the trust, respect and slavishness of the national media and he knows how to talk about his issues in ways that seem new even if his solutions are aged. I have always said that he is going to be a tough opponent no matter who the Democratic candidate is.
However, the Dems have not yet gone to work on him in any substantive way, which leaves a lot of room to push his poll numbers down. The problem is that in the past (Gore/Kerry) Dems have been such cowards when it comes to elevating their opponents' negatives that it never happens. It's as if they forget to do one-half of what you're supposed to do to run a good, vigorous and strong campaign.
However...
I have seen Obama supporters say they can't wait for Obama to go to work on McCain and the Republican attack machine--well, where is it? His race speech was magnificent and showed some true courage (not enough in my opinion though), but we haven't seen him yet really take a hard swipe at the Republicans. It has been nothing but how he will bridge the divide. The trouble is that Repiubalicans and especially the religious/financial/cultural right wing don't want a bridge and they don't want anything to do with Obama or Clinton.
As for Hillary, the Bosnia story ended her chances right there. It is time to acknowledge that she did herself in with that and is rediculously vulnerable to repeated attacks like those that destroyed Kerry and Gore.
If Obama really wants to start getting those hesitant Dems he needs to show that he has some fire to him. He needs to show that he is going to pick the flag up and defend our interests and that he is as willing to fight against the Republican right as he is Al Quaida and so on. I want to see him cut to the heart of what is wrong with the right and all that they have done is wrong. Because McCain is going to be very effective at putting forward an argument to fool people into thinking that has never been better since Reagan and more of the same is what will keep us safe/prosperous/democratic/mora/etc.