QOTD
The Dems are going to need surrogates to impugn McCain’s record the way deniable shills did to John Kerry in 2004. John Cole shows them how to do their jobs:
And just as an FYI, being held as a POW and wrecking your plane on a ship and then being wrong about EVERYGODDAMNEDTHING in Iraq does not make you “Commander in Chief†material.
I’ve yet to get an obscurely sourced e-mail linking “Asiatic brainwashing techniques” with “unanswered questions about McCain’s years in Communist Vietnam,” though.
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Comment by LarryM —
March 7, 2008 @ 10:38 am
Seriously (in the sense that the brainwashing stuff, while fun, isn’t serious), he DID end up making treasonous statements while in captivity. Granted, he did it under torture that I wouldn’t have withstood. But the real heros among the POWs, who resisted the pressure to make treasonous statements … didn’t come back.
And how much courage does it take to drop bombs on civilians from 10,000 feet? Really his war time crimes and cowardice provide AMPLE fuel for a deniable smear campaign.
Of course, the devil woman Clinton is worse. As many reservations as I have about Obama, for the sake of this country, we better all hope that he emerges intact from the knife fight with the Evil One.
Comment by Thoreau —
March 7, 2008 @ 11:02 am
When the “Where were you during Vietnam?” question comes up, Obama can truthfully say that he was in the southeast Asian theater. OK, it was a cinema in Jakarta, but still.
Comment by Davebo —
March 7, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
Let’s see..
Shot down over Saigon and captured.
Made a Cameo on the Navy’s training film based on the fire aboard the Forrestal.
Graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy.
Get’s into the Naval Academy largely because both his father and grandfather were Admirals in the Navy.
There’s an incredibly familiar pattern here if only I could put my finger on it……
Comment by Derek Copold —
March 7, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
And how much courage does it take to drop bombs on civilians from 10,000 feet? Really his war time crimes and cowardice provide AMPLE fuel for a deniable smear campaign.
McCain flew a Skyhawk, a light attack craft used for close air support. He was attacking military targets, not civilians. Considering the number of Skyhawks that were shot down, and the fact that McCain volunteered for more service after the Forrestal disaster, I don’t think you can really call him a coward.
Any attempt to try this sort of tact will be met with response ads that’ll make the attack boomerang. I wouldn’t count on McCain making John Kerry’s mistake of playing dead.
Comment by Uncle Kvetch —
March 7, 2008 @ 12:44 pm
Any attempt to try this sort of tact will be met with response ads that’ll make the attack boomerang. I wouldn’t count on McCain making John Kerry’s mistake of playing dead.
True. And beyond that, these things only “work” (if that’s the right word) if the media picks up the signal and amplifies it. They did that with the Swiftboaters–they most emphatically will not with McCain. Barring something really extraordinary popping up, the narrative on McCain has been written : War Hero, Maverick, Straight-Shooter. Chris Matthews thinks he smells like Old Spice and victory, but this has yet to be confirmed.
The lack of media attention to the Hagee story makes this pretty obvious, doncha think?
So, Dems need to get used to the fact that the paradigm of 2000 and 2004 is still in place. This election will not be about McCain; it will be about the Democratic candidate and whether they’re fit for office. How you counter that effectively, I have no idea, but thinking you can effectively pull a Rove on McCain strikes me as wildly unrealistic.
Comment by joe —
March 7, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
McCain’s background with the Keating Five and other shady behavior in office is probably a better line of attack to take the shine off of him than going after his military record.
Comment by Barry —
March 7, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
The key is that “…and then being wrong about EVERYGODDAMNEDTHING in Iraq ” is not a slur, but an accurate description of McCain.
Also, ‘being a g-dd-mned corrupt wh*reson who holds himself up as honest so that he can command a higher price for his favors’ is a pretty accurate description.
Comment by Tony P. —
March 7, 2008 @ 1:33 pm
Randy “Duke” Cunningham was a fighter ace in Vietnam. It’s worth reminding warrior-worshippers of that.
John W. McCain: almost as qualified as Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Now there’s a slogan.
–TP
Comment by Nell —
March 7, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
Lines of attack that need not be made by deniable surrogates:
*Lobbying sleaze from way back (Keating and more) and continuing now — including the guy working “for free” and the one doing his lobbying work from the damned campaign bus.
*Being wrong about everything wrt the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Everything.
*Seeking and receiving the endorsement of a bigot whose “theological” and political program includes mobilizing Americans to launch another aggressive war in the Middle East to bring on Armageddon.
*“Bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran.” Real Commander-in-Chief-like behavior there, pal.
*Want more of the same? Vote McCain. Pictures of the hug, accompanied by reminders of the policies that have brought us $100/barrel oil, mass foreclosures, bank failures (Citicorp may not make it to November), imploding markets, soaring debt, recession, and endless war.
Comment by Uncle Kvetch —
March 7, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
The key is that “…and then being wrong about EVERYGODDAMNEDTHING in Iraq †is not a slur, but an accurate description of McCain.
It’s also an accurate description of 70-80% of the mainstream elite opinion makers and Serious Foreign Policy Thinkers in Washington. So nu?
Sorry to be such a wet blanket, but being wrong about every goddamned thing in Iraq has not, to date, cost anyone anything. (Au contraire–some people have ridden it to new career heights.) What exactly happens to change that between now and November?
Comment by Brian —
March 7, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
I would agree with everything Nell says, except portions of the last point: the various bubbles keeping the reality of the American economy (we are basically Argentina right now-a formerly wealthy country that has bankrupted itself) feebly afloat is fully a bipartisan policy direction.
Comment by Hesiod —
March 7, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
Ask, and Ye shall receive, Jim.