Attacking John McCain on policy differences, as powerful as those might otherwise be, is not going to get it done. They are ineffective attacks this year. The reason is that the voters are factoring in the strong likelyhood that the Democrats will be in control of Congress and will put constraints on a President McCain. [More after the jump]
I have been reseraching John McCain's POW experience and the anecdotes he has told about that experience over the years. McCain has taken some heat recently for obvious pandering lies about his POW experience, such as his love for Abba before beocming a POW and that he recited the 1970's Pittsburgh Steelers D-line as his squardon mates under interrogation.
Most recently, there is the "cross in the dirt" story that closely resembles one told by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Here are a few others that have not been widely publicized.
A major question that the McCain stream Media is NOT asking is what did President Bush know about Georgia's planned military raid into South Ossetia, and when did he know it?
President Bush and Vice President Cheney had promoted Georgia as an ally and a beacon of "Democracy" [Although the current crisis was partly precipitated by recent parliamentary elections that the opposition claims were rigged in favor of the ruling party] on the preiphery of the old Soviet empire. And they were pushing for their entry into NATO. So, does anyone seriously believe that the Bush administration was unaware of the Georgian plans to go into South Ossetia with force?
Oy. John Edwards tells an interviewer that he was a young Senator, who quickly became a Vice Presidential nominee. Then he became arrogant and nacissistic!
Couldn't John Edwards say he was just an ass? Why did he have to throw Barack Obama under the bus to save himself?
A new Democratic-leaning group that is looking to intimidate potential donors to conservative 527 groups and other independent efforts is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the legal takedown of one of the groups.
The newly formed group, Accountable America, is planning to send "warning" letters to nearly 10,000 major Republican donors next week listing the potential legal and publicity headaches they might face if they decide to finance one of these groups.
The mailings will also include an announcement of a $100,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to the criminal conviction or fines of at least $10,000 for the violation of campaign finance laws or other statutes by a conservative outside group.
This will be short and sweet. Not that the Obama people take my advice (lord knows), but the McCain campaign has given you a beautiful gift all wrapped up in a bow for you to hammer him on in swing states across the country.
The issue? Where is John McCain going to store all the radioactive nuclear waste his 45 new nuclear plants will produce? [More after the terrorist fist jump]
There is a reason why the MCcain campaign is accusing Barack Obama of "playing the race card." And it is not simply to defend themselves from the legitimate complaint that the MCCain campaign is laundering race-nbaiting appeals through their surrogates in the rightwing noise machine and the RNC. [More after the terrorist fist jump]
I am surprised this has not been brought up before in any serious way. John McCain is on the record, explicitly stating that he lied about his position on an issue to get votes.
And, as is typical with the media's McCain love -- they gave him CREDIT for it! [More after the terrorist fist jump]
John McCain's campaign is becoming a "target rich environment."
The latest attack levelled by the Three Stooges John McCain's crack campaign staff is that Barack Obama is soft and hypocritical on genocide. [More after the jump]
For those of you who missed it, I busted John McCain on a blatant, bald-faced, pandering lie that revealed McCain to be a two-faced, say-anything-to-win politician.
A man who will lie about even the most personal and important events in his own life to gain votes.
But, to summarize, McCain said that in order to trick his captors as a POW, he gave the names of the Steelers defensive line instead of his squadron mates. This, it turned out, was a blatant, obvious, pandering lie. (See my diary from yesterday for the iron-clad details). Now, the lie is getting a little bit of play in the media.
In an interview this week with a local Pittsburgh TV station, John McCain provided the following anecdote about his time as a POW in Vietnam:
Transcript:
"The Steelers really made a huge impression on me -- particularly in their early years."
[...]
"When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the physical pressures that were on me, I named the starting lineup -- defensive line -- of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron-mates!"
I have a simple suggestion: whenever the Democrats, us or the Obama campaign refers to anything said by John McCain's so-called "Trth Squad," we should refer to it by its most prominent member: Orson Swindle.
A simple, straightforward statement by the Obama campaign justifying its decision to forego federal funding for his Presidential campaign could blow his critics out of the water, and actually make John McCain look bad.
I previously likened McCain's play for Hillary voters as akin to a 1970's, chest-hair exposed, medallion-swinging, platform shoe-wearing, Hi Karate-smelling, polyester liesure suit-donning, swinging lothario.
PREFACE ADDENDUM: I think many of the commenters are not seing the forrest for the trees. Flat out rejecting Hillary as the VP, and saying there is no way she can be on the ticket is a recipe for disaster. It takes away any incentive Hillary may have to act responsibly in the ways I set forther below. If she believes she has a legitimate shot at being put on the ticket -- provided she responsibly follows the steps I outline below at a minimum -- she is more likely to unify the party and make Obama stronger. Not because she has great character, but because it is in her self interest to do so. We must harness Hillary's ambition and self interest to our advantage. With that understanding -- please read my diary.
In the heat of the moment, and after a grueling and ofttimes divisive primary season, the last thing Obama supporters want to read about is Hillary Clinton becoming Barack Obama's running mate.
This diary is not about whether she should or should not be Obama's running mate, however. It is advice to Hillary Clinton on HOW she could make that happen -- or at least dramatically improve her chances.
