The bad week for John McCain you didn't hear about

[baldheadeddork]

I've been wanting to do a post on this, but I've had a hard time getting my brain around all of the shit John McCain has dived into this week with hardly a word from the mainstream media. Fortunately, a blogger at the HuffPo hasn't been overwhelmed with it all.

This is the week that should have effectively ended John McCain's efforts to become the next president of the United States. But you wouldn't know it if you watched any of the mainstream media outlets or followed political reporting in the major newspapers.

During this past week: McCain called the most important entitlement program in the U.S. a disgrace, his top economic adviser called the American people whiners, McCain released an economic plan that no one thought was serious, he flip flopped on Iraq, joked about the deaths of Iranian citizens, and denied making comments that he clearly made -- TWICE. All this and it is not even Friday! Yet watching and reading the mainstream press you would think McCain was having a pretty decent political week, I mean at least Jesse Jackson didn't say anything about him.

But let's unpack McCain's week in a little more detail.

1. McCain unambiguously called Social Security "an absolute disgrace." This is not a quote taken out of context. John McCain called one of the most successful and popular government programs, which uses the tax revenues of current workers to support retirement benefits for the elderly "an absolute disgrace." This is shocking - and if uttered from Obama's mouth would dominate the news coverage and the Sunday shows, as pundits would speculate about the massive damage the statement would cause him among retirees in Florida.

2. McCain's top economic policy adviser calls Americans a bunch of "whiners" for being worried about the slumping economy. Words cannot fully explain how devastating this statement should be from Phil Gramm. You would think it would be enough to sink McCain's campaign. Of course McCain only thinks that the economic problems are psychological.

(Edit to add: McCain said Gramm did not speak for him, which was a blatent lie. Gramm was in that meeting with the editorial board of the Washington Star to present and defend John McCain's economic policies. That was the only reason Gramm was being interviewed. He did the same thing a day later with the editorial board of the WSJ.)


3. Iraqi leaders call for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal, McCain gets caught in a bizarre denial and flip flop. The Iraqis now want us to begin planning our withdrawal - McCain however wants to stay foooorrreeevvveerrrr. So what does McCain say - First, he refuses to accept Maliki's statement as being true. Then he concedes that it was an accurate statement, but was probably just a political ploy to curry favor with his own people and WOULD NOT influence his determination to keep US troops in Iraq indefinitely. Yet, McCain in 2004 at the Council on Foreign Relations said that if the Iraqis asked us to leave, we would have to go. No matter what. But that was apparently a younger and less experienced John McCain.

But let's just look at his comment that Maliki's statement is "just politics." If that is true, then it must also be true that the American military presence in Iraq is so unpopular with Iraqis that the government is forced to push for a timetable in order to survive at the ballot box. That's a reason to stay for 100 years.

(Special for Deek: McCain's bizarre flipping and lying about what the Iraqis said was already noted in the al Maliki thread, you can find links here and here.)

4. McCain's economic plan to cut the deficit has no details and is simply not believable. There are so many things here. McCain pledges he would eliminate the deficit by the end of his first term (the campaign latter flip flop flipped about whether it was four years or eight years), but does not provide any details about how he would do it. Economists on both sides of the political aisle said that this was simply not believable, especially given McCain's other proposals to a) cut individual and corporate taxes even further, b) extend the Bush tax cuts and c) massively increase defense spending on manpower (200,000 more troops) and d) maintain a long-term sizable military presence in Iraq.

(Edit for Deek: Here's a rundown on why McCain's claims to balance the budget by eliminating wasteful spending and reforming entitlement programs are ridiculous:

5. McCain's deficit plan includes bringing the troops home represents a major Iraq flip-flop. Speaking of the long-term military presence - a story that has gotten absolutely no attention is that McCain now believes the war will be over soon. The economic forecasts made by his crack team of economists predict that there will be significant savings during McCain's first term because we will have achieved "victory" in Iraq and Afghanistan. The savings from victory (ie the savings from not having our troops there) will then be used to pay down the deficit. The only way this could have any impact on the deficit in McCain's first time is if troop withdrawals start very soon. So McCain believes victory is in our grasps and we can begin withdraw troops from Iraq pretty much right away -- doesn't sound that different from Obama's plan does it. Someone should at least ask McCain HOW HE DEFINES VICTORY - and why he thinks we will achieve it in the next couple of years.

6. McCain campaign misled about economists support. In the major press release the McCain campaign issued to tout its Jobs for America economic plan that would balance the budget in 4 years, it included the signatures of more than 300 economists who the campaign claimed to support the plan. Only problem is that the economists were actually asked to sign up to SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Um, hello?

7. McCain makes a joke about killing Iranians. Haha... that's just McCain being McCain. I am sure that is exactly how it is being reported in Tehran. This guy is running for President not to become a talk radio pundit. Yet according to the AP this was just a humanizing moment between candidate and spouse - I am not sure when joking about the deaths of civilians became humanizing.

8. McCain denies, flatly, that he ever said that he is not an expert in economics. Are you kidding?

Video link 1

Video link 2


9). McCain distorts his record on veterans benefits in response to a question from Vietnam Veteran, who then proceeds to call McCain out on it.

Video link

10.) McCain demonstrates he knows nothing about Afghanistan and Pakistan. McCain said "I think if there is some good news, I think that there is a glimmer of improving relationship between Karzai and the Pakistanis." Pat Barry notes how crazy this comment is..."Just what "glimmer" is McCain talking about?? Maybe he's referring to President Karzai's remarks last month, which threatened military action in Pakistan if cross-border attacks persisted? Or maybe McCain is talking about Afghanistan's allegations that Pakistan's ISI was involved in a recent assassination attempt on Karzai? Maybe in McCain's world you could call that a silver-lining, but in reality-land I'd call it something else."

Any one of these incidents and comments would dominate the news cycle if they came from the Obama campaign. Yet McCain barely gets a mention. The press like to see themselves as political referees - neutral observers that call them like they see em'. But they want this to be a horse race and so all the calls right now are going one way. How else can you explain the furor last week over the Obama "refine" comment - which represented zero change in Obama's position on Iraq - and the "swift boat" mania over Wesley Clark's uncontroversial comments (psss... by the way McCain exploits his POW experience in just about every ad - yet he says he doesn't like to talk about it).

This Sunday expect the ten incidents above to get short shrift from pundit after pundit, because after all Jesse Jackson said he wanted to cut Obama's nuts off.

I'm feeling a little more generous towards the lemmings on the Sunday morning shows. I predict they'll give equal time - fifteen minutes talking about Jackson and fifteen minutes glossing over this shit with McCain.

[Dakota Kid]

Huffington Post??????

See, folks, this is the shit I am talking about. THis would be like me posting a link from Newsmax. Biased as hell, and rarely 100% factual.

[baldheadeddork]

I'll go back and amend the post with outside links for each of the items. (And wasn't the HuffPo good enough for you when it broke Obama's "clinging to guns" remark?)

The amazing part is, that wasn't all of the problems the McCain campaign had this week. The Washington Post also ran a front-page story about a likely fight between conservative activists and McCain backers at the Republican convention over the party platform.

Conservative activists are preparing to do battle with allies of Sen. John McCain in advance of September's Republican National Convention, hoping to prevent his views on global warming, immigration, stem cell research and campaign finance from becoming enshrined in the party's official declaration of principles.

McCain has not yet signaled the changes he plans to make in the GOP platform, but many conservatives say they fear wholesale revisions could emerge as candidate McCain seeks to put his stamp on a document that currently reflects the policies and principles of President Bush.

"There is just no way that you can avoid anticipating what is going to come. Everyone is aware that McCain is different on these issues," said Jessica Echard, executive director of the conservative Eagle Forum. "We're all kind of waiting with anticipation because we just don't know how he's going to thread this needle."

McCain has spent the past year and a half trying to straddle the philosophical schism in the modern Republican Party. In primaries, he stressed his conservative credentials, but since clinching the nomination he has often reminded voters of his more moderate stances while professing his fealty to conservative positions.

A platform fight at the convention could disrupt that carefully choreographed effort by highlighting the stark differences in vision for the party separating McCain from some of the GOP's most dedicated activists.

The battle may not be avoidable. The current GOP platform is a 100-page document, and all but nine pages mention Bush's name. Virtually the entire platform will have to be rewritten to lessen the imprint of the president, who has the highest disapproval rating of any White House occupant since Richard M. Nixon.

It is the prospect of a total rewrite that worries some.

McCain is "really out of step with the strong majority of his party," said Myron Ebell, director of energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which opposes McCain's positions on climate change. "He might get what he wants. And he might get a change. But I don't think it's going to sit well with a lot of Republicans."

Carly "The Company Killer" Fiorina also kneed McCain in the junk on how some insurance companies cover Viagra but won't pay for birth control. Fiorina brought this up as an example of the inequality that McCain would fight when he's president, but there's a problem - McCain voted twice against bills that would have required this.

Carly Fiorina is one of John McCain's chief surrogates, talking him up particularly to that key target group, women. But Fiorina, ousted as chief of Hewlett-Packard in 2005, is not above rounding the edges on straight talk.

On Monday, as she discussed healthcare, Fiorina veered from a discussion of Viagra -- never a good idea for a campaign surrogate -- and seemed to stake out a new stance for McCain.

"Let me give you a real, live example, which I've been hearing a lot about from women. There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won't cover birth control medication. Those women would like a choice," she said.

But as the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America was happy to point out, McCain twice voted against measures that would have required insurance companies to cover birth control -- in 2003 and 2005.

Video link of McCain squirming and spinning when called on it.

[flylooper]

Baldy, I've been tracking all this--political junkie that I am, too--on the tube. I can't help but think that McCain looks and actually acts like a beaten man already. I may be wrong (I hope I'm not) but he just lacks any energy and, really, life--as he campaigns.

I get this feeling he's just about tapped out on enthusiasm for this fight. Weak jokes about putting Gramm in as ambassador to Belo-Rus. The "Dr. No" stab at labeling Obama, constant glitches in what his people say vs. what he says...and most of all unfamiliarity with the issues in any meaningful way. It's like he's weakly going through the motions rather than really diving into them and getting a handle on them.

The contrast in the demeanor of the two candidates couldn't be more stark. I have this notion that the GOP convention is going to be a total downer. Obama is renting Ivesco Field to give his acceptance speech, for criminny sakes. He'll be speaking to 80,000 people again, like he did he did in Portland during the primaries.

[Dakota Kid]

BHD, I would not use the Huffington Post as a source for ANYTHING. They are CLEARLY biased and we all know it.

And we all know where their bias lies.

[Dakota Kid]

BTW, McCain IS leading Obama in Missouri. Obama will not get this state.

[SXSMITH]

Originally Posted by Dakota Kid

BTW, McCain IS leading Obama in Missouri. Obama will not get this state.

He'll probably take Colorado by 1 vote. And that will be Trash. Then he'll never shutup!

[Trash]

Originally Posted by SXSMITH

He'll probably take Colorado by 1 vote. And that will be Trash. Then he'll never shutup!

Hey that would make a funny movie.

[Mr. Whippy]

Originally Posted by flylooper

Baldy, I've been tracking all this--political junkie that I am, too--on the tube. I can't help but think that McCain looks and actually acts like a beaten man already. I may be wrong (I hope I'm not) but he just lacks any energy and, really, life--as he campaigns.

I get this feeling he's just about tapped out on enthusiasm for this fight. Weak jokes about putting Gramm in as ambassador to Belo-Rus. The "Dr. No" stab at labeling Obama, constant glitches in what his people say vs. what he says...and most of all unfamiliarity with the issues in any meaningful way. It's like he's weakly going through the motions rather than really diving into them and getting a handle on them.

...it's almost as if he's acting like...

AN OLD MAN

He's a tired old man. Give him a break. His time was 8 years ago. Now? He needs a cushy job. Like Senator or Sunday morning commentator.

[SXSMITH]

Originally Posted by Trash

Hey that would make a funny movie.

So what is your prediction for Colorado? Obama by how much?

[baldheadeddork]

Originally Posted by SXSMITH

So what is your prediction for Colorado? Obama by how much?

Three percent. In for $5?

[jim schmidt]

Originally Posted by Dakota Kid

BHD, I would not use the Huffington Post as a source for ANYTHING. They are CLEARLY biased and we all know it.

And we all know where their bias lies.

Actually, when you use biased sources it's always easy to point out the lies. Innuendo ain't gonna cut it. Be specific.

[Trash]

Originally Posted by SXSMITH

So what is your prediction for Colorado? Obama by how much?

I would say Obama but it should be close.


Unless they find a Mulatto baby.

[Dakota Kid]

Originally Posted by jim schmidt

Actually, when you use biased sources it's always easy to point out the lies. Innuendo ain't gonna cut it. Be specific.

That is my point. Of course in your world, the huffington post is legit. Check.

[Tripped1]

Biased or not there are a number of valid points.

Go go third part vote, I'm not voting Democrat or Republican.