In the last week, we’ve seen the politics of fear and smear as the McCain campaign realizes that it is losing in places Republicans have typically won. Yesterday, both Barack Obama and Joe Biden addressed the negative attacks.
Joe Biden challenged John McCain to bring his campaign of smear to next week’s debate. Biden says, “when you’ve got something to say to a man, look him in the eye and you say it to him!”
See all of what Biden said:
Later in the day, Barack Obama wondered the same thing in an interview with Charlie Gibson.
The media have been doing research into the origin of the term “maverick.”You might be surprised to learn that, despite repeated proclamations to the contrary, the original maverick isn’t John McCain and it isn’t even Sarah Palin.
Turns out that the evidence points to the original maverick being a seemingly self-serving cattle farmer who never branded his cattle. Instead, the real original maverick wanted to claim everyone else’s unbranded cattle for himself. Kind of like what John McCain did when he noticed that the the “change” mantle was working for Barack Obama and decided to claim it for himself. In fact, the Maverick family doesn’t even support John McCain. They are strident supporters of Barack Obama’s candidacy for president. Interesting, to say the least.
When they heard John McCain was using the term “maverick” to describe himself, the Maverick family had this to say:
But when McCain and the media placed it in a political context, using the maverick label as the centerpiece of his presidential campaign, each and every member of this family was appalled. We continue to be.
Watch this CNN video on the Maverick family’s reaction to John McCain, the self-described maverick.
Even though most thought the most recent presidential debate was dull and boring, I was glued to my television the whole time. In my opinion, Barack Obama delivered a knock-out blow to McCain by deriding McCain for his horrible rendition of a Beach Boys classic song. Watch the clip below:
For those of you who don’t want to watch the whole clip, here’s the text:
OBAMA: I want to be very clear about what I said. Nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan. Sen. McCain continues to repeat this. What I said was the same thing that the audience here today heard me say, which is, if Pakistan is unable or unwilling to hunt down bin Laden and take him out, then we should. Now, that I think has to be our policy, because they are threatening to kill more Americans. Now, Sen. McCain suggests that somehow, you know, I’m green behind the ears and, you know, I’m just spouting off, and he’s somber and responsible. MCCAIN: Thank you very much. OBAMA: Sen. McCain, this is the guy who sang, “Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran,” who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don’t think is an example of “speaking softly.” This is the person who, after we had — we hadn’t even finished Afghanistan, where he said, “Next up, Baghdad.” So I agree that we have to speak responsibly and we have to act responsibly. And the reason Pakistan — the popular opinion of America had diminished in Pakistan was because we were supporting a dictator, Musharraf, had given him $10 billion over seven years, and he had suspended civil liberties. We were not promoting democracy. This is the kind of policies that ultimately end up undermining our ability to fight the war on terrorism, and it will change when I’m president.
Today I heard that nice old Sen. McCain talking about that pretty lady governor, Sarah: “I’m very proud of her, and proud of the knowledge and background that she has.” (The Superheroes leave the radio on here in the fortress while they’re at their day jobs so I don’t get too bored.) You know, I can relate a little bit. The Superheroes always tell me how proud they are of me when I catch a mouse or other critter.
In an article on Facebook and older users, Salon.com has some insight into the presidential candidates and their use of the growing social network.
An excerpt:
While Barack Obama has adeptly harnessed the power of social networking…John McCain has stumbled. A report released by the Pew Research Center this month indicated that Obama had 1.7 million Facebook supporters and 510,000 MySpace friends; McCain has 309,000 and 88,000 respectively. (The report did not mention that the Facebook group ‘I Have More Foreign Policy Experience than Sarah Palin’ has nearly 122,000 members.) McCain’s highest visibility via Facebook came in July, when he was busted by the New York Times for the GOP’s creation of a fake Facebook page for Obama. (The Internet is, after all, not Ohio — the manipulation of technology isn’t so easily concealed.) The Pew report praised Obama’s early adoption of social networking, and concluded that McCain had been too slow to the table.
While these numbers are compelling, I wonder what, if any, impact the size of each candidate’s Facebook following will have on the election’s outcome.
Not that I’m in the practice of giving advice to the McCain campaign, but maybe Sarah Palin should just keep her mouth shut. After all, she does have the right to remain silent, even if she doesn’t know it.
Sarah Palin has once again put her foot in her mouth. This time, she agreed with Barack Obama’s position on invading Pakistan if necessary. I wonder what her running mate, and Obama’s opponent, John McCain thinks about this. Well, we don’t have to wait long to find out. She brought him along on a follow-up interview with Katie Couric.
I think that neither won decisively even though the debate made me hate McCain more than ever. I mean who picked out his candy stripe tie? And he was hunched over the podium like a decaying monster with venom spewing out of his mouth – only to be followed by that forced, fake smile. John McCain shouldn’t smile. Rather than making him seem warm and cuddly, his smile reinforces what a mean guy he is.
However, while Obama certainly came across as the more statesman-like of the two, and he truly is lovely to behold, the guy has to learn to use some sound bites and pepper his answers with anecdotes. He should have wiped the floor with McCain on issues of the economy, but instead Obama was somewhat tepid. Rather than stress that the Republicans were against regulation, Obama should have said “In 8 years in Washington the Republicans let Wall Street run wild and now all taxpayers are paying the consequences. John McCain had a chance to impose rules on these major corporations and he chose to turn a blind eye and not do anything. Now John McCain says he’s going back to Washington to help broker a deal. When he caused the problem in the first place.”
Also, Obama has to give real examples of people he’s talked to suffering from loss of health care, pensions, 401(k)s and the like. And please, Obama, stop telling John McCain he’s “absolutely right.” He’s not.
Obama did a pretty good job, but at the next debate he really should deliver a knock-out punch.
Yesterday John McCain cancelled his scheduled interview on the Late Show with David Letterman in New York and told Letterman he was cancelling because he had to rush back to Washington to help solve the nation’s financial meltdown. Except he didn’t. As Dave Letterman was taping his show, John McCain was getting his makeup done in preparation for an interview with Katie Couric – also in New York. Apparently, McCain didn’t plan on leaving New York until the next morning. Hmm, needless to say, Letterman was heated. Watch the clip below. (more…)
I love how political campaigns work to shape the images of the candidates running for office. It’s only natural to take advantage of the opportunity to frame candidates and their opponents, but this year it has gotten a little out of hand. Take, for example, the images of Barack Obama and John McCain.
One has been labeled as an elitist and the other as a regular Joe Schmoe. One has nine homes in three states, 13 cars, a private jet and has been dubbed a regular guy. This same candidate has been a Senator for more than 25 years, but has labeled himself a reformer and calls his opponent, the same opponent he claims is lacking in the experience department, the epitome of all things that are wrong with Washington politics.
The other was raised by a single mother, had very limited contact with his absentee father, lived on food stamps and only recently finished paying off his student loans, but he is the one who has been labeled as an elitist.
