McCain's Campaign Gimmicks: Sarah The Moosehunter & Joe The Plumber

I know the election isn't over yet but the writing is on the wall. Come Wednesday morning the pundits will be filling the airwaves to discuss what went wrong with the McCain campaign. There are many reason for what looks to be a McCain lost but I think the real reason is the Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber gimmicks.

I read an article by Johnny Sisk writing at the Huffington Post, and he explained the whole John McCain campaign fiasco like this:

If you're looking for what's gone wrong with John McCain's bid for the White House, look no further than Joe the Plumber.

Like his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain's schoolgirl crush on Joe the Plumber has illustrated how badly the Republican candidate has misjudged the American electorate and mismanaged his campaign. In both cases, he enlisted uneducated rubes to campaign for him, hoping that these backwoods bumpkins could connect with and energize his red state supporters where he couldn't himself. And in both cases, his plan has backfired in horribly entertaining ways.

Damn! I couldn't have said that shit any better myself. But he's not finish he continues to lay it on McCain and his misreading of the American public:

By tapping a moose-hunting, God-fearing, pro-life hockey mom as his running mate, McCain (a man who prides himself on his "strategy" expertise) made the biggest strategic mistake of the campaign. He turned an election that had been a referendum on Obama's lack of leadership experience into a referendum on his own decision-making ability. McCain gambled with his VP pick, doubling down on a woman he thought could carry him to the White House by barking moronic drivel about lipstick on pit bulls.

The problem, of course, is that behind Palin's ignorant, uneducated, off-putting, and often hate-filled sarcasm - putting down community organizers? - was a woman who demonstrated a stunning lack of knowledge on everything from Bush foreign policy and Supreme Court rulings to a basic understanding of the Constitution. She claimed that she was the first line of defense from a Russian attack on Alaska and that the Vice President is in charge of the Senate. In other words, after two months of interviewing for the job, she still didn't know what the job was.

And he don't stop there, he goes on to serve up McCain even more by pointing out McCain poor judgement and taking the American public for granted with the duo of Palin and Joe the Plumber:

But the fact that McCain was willing to place our country in the hands of a woman whom he had met only once isn't what angers me most. It's that he put his candidacy ahead of his country. Country first? Hardly. Candidacy first.

***

Unfortunately, McCain has badly underestimated the intelligence of the American voting public. Certainly, in some parts of the country, this strategy has worked. But more often than not, it's led to the divisive cultural skirmishes that have marred his ineffective campaign. Two weeks ago, this strategy was evident in Palin's now infamous "real America" remarks. And this week, it's Joe the Plumber.

***

Just like Sarah the Pageant Queen, Joe the Plumber is yet another symbol of "real America" John McCain has trotted out and put on display, in hopes of convincing his red state friends that he is, indeed, one of them. After all, Joe's just like you! He's a hard working plumber who doesn't know the first thing about global economics or foreign affairs. McCain would be crazy not to give this man the mic.

After losing his party's nomination to a dim-witted moron eight years ago, why has McCain allowed two more dim-witted morons to appear at his rallies, field questions from voters, and speak on his behalf? I guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Poor McCain the jig is up, your gimmick isn't working this time around. I think McCain should have just been himself and argued his case to the American people and not insult us like he has:

There can only be one reason he would lower himself to this sort of gimmicky schtick -- because he thinks it's the only way he can win. Incapable of doing it himself, he's asked two fear-mongering idiots to light a fire under the collective, bulbous ass of his fearful idiot base.

Palin, who's good at reading a teleprompter and not much else, has already been rumored for a talk show host job when this circus leaves town on Tuesday. And Joe the Plumber is reportedly working on a record deal. I hope John McCain is happy. He couldn't win the election. But he did help two people win the lottery.

McCain Says He Will "Test" Our Enemy

It seem the old warmongering McCain is at it again, talking about starting more wars. According to Swamppolitics:

"I'm gonna test them,'' Republican John McCain said at a campaign rally in New Mexico this morning. "They're not gonna test me.''

The comment followed McCain's warning that Democratic rival Barack Obama's camaign has "guaranteed'' people that the nation will face a test from enemies within months of Obama's election as president -- something that running mate Joe Biden asserted last weekend, Biden following that line with a remark that Obama has a "spine of steel'' for that test.

The McCain campaign has taken Biden's words, and put them in an ominous campaign TV ad warning that the younger, relatively inexperienced candidate for president will be tested by the nation's adversaries if he is elected. It doesn't have to happen, the McCain ad says

****
But today, McCain raised a new question that could escalate that sound-bite campaign war: Who is he "gonna test'' if elected president? And how?

"I have been tested,'' McCain said, with a certain gritted-teeth look at the state fairgrounds in New Mexico. "I'm gonna test them. They're not gonna test me.''.

A poster on Theygaveusarepublic describe this whole sorry McCain act perfectly:

I am not concerned about Obama's so-called lack of experience, and by the way, that is a stupid fucking argument, perpetuated by a desperate campaign and foisted on gullible morons. There is no training program for the presidency except the presidency. By that argument, the only person ever elected with experience was Grover Cleveland, and his second term isn't remembered as the halcyon days of American governance. Kennedy, on the other hand, who was similarly attacked, is fondly remembered for a steady hand and innate good governance, so STFU with the "experience" stalking horse already.

I am far more concerned about a warmongering old fool who sings "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran," laughs that creepy laugh and makes blustering, chest-thumping comments about testing "them" than I am about a young and thoughtful man who has moved every piece perfectly in this electoral chess match.

Bluster like that is, quite frankly, terrifying when it comes from a congenital asshole like McCain who has a violent temper, untreated psychological issues, a Napoleon complex and no impulse control. Can't you see him banging his $500 Ferragamo loafer on a podium while threatening to annihilate opponents. And rejecting that sort of bellicosity is the kind of change we need.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Palin Pissed At Her Campaign Handlers

You can tell when a campaign is sinking fast and know that they are going to get their ass handed it to them on election day. Why? Because they start pointing fingers and looking for others to blame BEFORE election day. If an election is close all the way to the end, the losing campaign normally point fingers after election day.

It seems Caribou Barbie, Gov. Sarah Palin is now frustrated with her handlers that were assigned to her by the McCain campaign. She's blaming the former Bush aides that were assigned to her for her now tarnished public image. There is a story of this on Politico in which she is starting to disregard the advice of her campaign managers:

Four Republicans close to Palin said she has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her, creating occasionally tense situations as she travels the country with them. Those Palin supporters, inside the campaign and out, said Palin blames her handlers for a botched rollout and a tarnished public image — even as others in McCain's camp blame the pick of the relatively inexperienced Alaska governor, and her public performance, for McCain's decline.

Let the finger pointing and the blame game begin, Palin is blaming her handlers and other people in the campaign are blaming her.

"She's lost confidence in most of the people on the plane," said a senior Republican who speaks to Palin, referring to her campaign jet. He said Palin had begun to "go rogue" in some of her public pronouncements and decisions.

"I think she'd like to go more rogue," he said.

I wonder what the old man at the head of the ticket have to say about Sarah deciding to go "Rogue" this late in the game. I got news for the McCain campaign, the entire campaign has been pathetic and has been totally outclassed by the Obama campaign. And as for Sarah Palin, homegirl is just not ready for the big stage, she can blame who ever you want but she need to look in the mirror. Just because she was popular in Eskimo country doesn't mean she will be a hit in the lower 48.

McCain Supporter Lied About Mugging

I had wrote about this story yesterday, you can read it here. A young white woman, who we now find out is a McCain supporter, claimed she was robbed and assaulted by a big black guy who carved a "B" on her face after he realized she was a McCain supporter. I said at the time that the story sounded fishy, well come to find out after her story was not adding up she has confessed that the story was a hoax. A MOTHERFUCKING HOAX!

I don't know what they are going to charge her with but considering Amerikkka'a past, she should get more than a slap on the wrist, the heifer should be charged with a hate crime IMHO.

A couple of generations ago if she would have did this, there would have been some angry white mob roaming around looking for some black guy to lynch. Even today in 2008 with the racial tension directed against Barack Obama candidacy there could have been some racial violence going on in this day and age, all it takes is a spark.

Now there is a story over on Daily Kos that says the McCain campaign actually pushed the story. Here is what is being said:

John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established -- and even told reporters outright that the "B" carved into the victim's cheek stood for "Barack," according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson."

The McCain spokesperson's claims -- which came in the midst of extraordinary and heated conversations late yesterday between the McCain campaign, local TV stations, and the Obama camp, as the early version of the story rocketed around the political world -- is significant because it reveals a McCain official pushing a version of the story that was far more explosive than the available or confirmed facts permitted at the time.

So McCain campaign was willing to push a story before it was even confirmed that could have caused a racial war in this country just to win this election. McCain and his campaign is pathetic.

The faces of John McCain

At last night debate between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, McCain was making some of the craziest faces. Is the old guy loosing his marbles, check out some of the strange faces he was making last night:

So McCain should should be President because....

From Daily Kos

...at the direction of unrepentant terrorist Bill Acorn, Buddhist Democratic candidate Barack O'Leary, who is not eligible to run for President on account of the fact that his birth certificate says he was born in Europe, instructed a voter registration group known as Filbert to conspire with the Iraqi government to give risky loans to black people, which has caused the nihilistic practice of the U.S. government bailing out Walmart, which is especially bad when you consider the fact that Tony Rezko, who is currently in prison for letting gay men and women get married in Kenya, is trying to force them to unionize, a practice that maverick Sarah Palin said "No, thank you" to as mayor of Alabama when she wasn't steadfastly monitoring whether or not Vladimir Preston was or was not rearing his head out from Mexico, which we need to build a wall around, because the mostest importantest thing to the U.S. Americans is who is going to pick our orange juice for $50 an hour, which we can't do on account of the fact that Raila Odinga wants to tax not just the RICH, but the Sexual Education Class for kindergartners, which is why YOU MUST VOTE for What's-His-Name, who ABSOULTELY AND COMPLETELY has a plan to catch Harry Pelosi, and whom Republicans only nominated because the rest of their candidates were total ball-sacks.

Will Racism Destroy the GOP?

From Daily Kos

Yesterday, we were treated to the bizarre spectacle of John McCain trying to talk down his own supporters as their anger boiled over and they slandered Obama in crazed, often racist terms.

"No, ma'am," McCain replied to a woman's declaration that Obama was an "Arab terrorist."

Yeah - where would you have gotten that crazy idea?

Apparently, McCain and his advisers had no idea how ugly the strain of race-baiting they were stirring up would look, once it was out there in the light of day, and are now reconsidering their strategy. Funny, since anyone who's stopped by NoQuarter or RedState lately could have told them exactly what to expect.

McCain's strange contortions in trying to raise doubts about Obama show the dilemma the GOP finds itself in. The attacks that conservatives seem to relish most, be it Ayers, Wright, or Obama's obscure ties to African dictators, have practically no substance or bearing on the day to day concerns of voters and little appeal to the independents the GOP needs to win elections. But, should Obama get elected, that's exactly what we can expect from the right-wing noise machine, in spades. I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Limbaugh and Hannity are secretly salivating over the prospect of an Obama presidency, so they can crank the hate and fear up to 11 and sell lots of books with scary titles.

In some ways, the rise of Obama-hatred is just a manifestation of a larger trend that's been bubbling under for quite some time. With whites set to become a minority within decades, it may have been inevitable. Almost every country with a large influx of immigrants has seen a nativist political movement rise up to counter the cultural shift. Dovetail that xenophobic strain with the cultural conservatism that has been the mainstay of the GOP base for the past couple decades, and you could have a powerful movement focused on American traditionalism, one that has been building for some time but that was sparked into being by the first black president.

If Obama gets elected, expect to hear lots of "Remember when..." and "I barely recognize this country anymore!"

At the same time, this week's embarrassing focus on McCain's unruly crowds revealed that this movement could do more to hurt the GOP than to help it.

Republican Congressman Ray La Hood denounced Palin's attacks on Obama, saying they "don't befit the office she's running for" and "certainly don't reflect the nature of the man." It's also hard to interpret McCain's clumsy walking back of his own attacks as anything other than a response to GOP insiders worried about where this is taking them.

So they've lost David Brooks, and Bill Buckley's son...you have to wonder how many other fiscal/libertarian conservatives are going to flee the GOP if the turn towards "small town values" and cultural issues continues, combined with the newfound race-baiting rhetoric directed towards Obama. What happens if that rhetoric boils over into instances of right-wing domestic terrorism and violence a la Timothy McVeigh?

And so the GOP will face a choice, both now and in 2012. Do they go full-in with the culture war approach epitomized by Palin, Tom Tancredo and others? Or will they move in the other direction, towards a kind of social moderation of the kind practiced by Schwarzenegger or Michael Bloomberg? And, if they do moderate themselves, how will the rabid, nativist element of the base react?

And the Next Stunt: A shotgun wedding?

I take everything I read about American politics in the British papers with a grain of salt. But giving what we've seen so far, I can't say I'd be surprised if the moral jalopy that is the McCain-Palin Straight Talk Express sunk us even further into farce with something like this. From The Talking Point Memo

In an election campaign notable for its surprises, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice- presidential candidate, may be about to spring a new one -- the wedding of her pregnant teenage daughter to her ice-hockey-playing fiancé before the November 4 election.
Inside John McCain's campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin, 17, and Levi Johnston, 18, her schoolmate and father of her baby. "It would be fantastic," said a McCain insider. "You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week."

What will be McCain's next stunt?

From Daily Kos

Brace yourselves. Next week could be another crazy one in the McCain campaign.

The "I'm suspending my campaign" to go back to Washington stunt didn't work to move last night's debate to next week which would have moved the VP debate. And in the debate, Obama proved to many, especially the undecideds, what we already knew. The guy is ready to be president. And McCain?

McCain has got to counter Obama's debate bounce and get Palin out of the debate or off the ticket all together. A debate performance equal to her interviews could push McCain's numbers down in the 30s and Obama's up in the 50s. McCain could be sandbaging us with Palin's horrific interview performance. NOT. The thought of Obama over 50 and McCain in the 30s will force McCain to go to his bag of tricks once again.

The fact that Palin wasn't the post-debate surrogate for McCain speaks volumes. Even McCain's PR people can put an intelligent sentence together about life and world issues. It's crazy to think that Palin is the nominee for the second highest office in the land, but can't be trusted to speak for and about her potential boss. Unbelievable.

If last night's debate and Biden's post debate performance are any indication, we actually may not hear from Palin again. We all should feel for her. McCain has opened her up to scrutiny and a spotlight that she couldn't comprehend. Her performance in interviews? Imagine how she might handle the give and take and follow up questions in a debate that weren't in her talking points. She can't even get through debate prep.

McCain has got to change the subject again. That's all he knows. There is no strategy. There is no message. Just gimmicks. And Palin is probably the first human gimmick in politics. She needs to regain her dignity and respect and go home.

Expect some kind of announcement this week. Don't underestimate McCain's desperation.
***********************************************************************************

McCain Never Fails To Play The POW Card

From Daily Kos
McCain plays the victim every time he mentions his POW record in Vietnam. He appeals to our sympathy and collective guilt and this is supposed to make us all view him as a war hero - why? I thought heroism had to do with eluding capture, managing not to get shot down, turning it all around and sticking it to the enemy in the end. At least that's what Hollywood war movies (e.g., "Pearl Harbor") with their swelling scores and tearjerking finales, as well as every war hawks' idealized version of heroism teaches. McCain's actual POW record is so far from this ideal, yet we continue to have this version of McCain as the great old American hero forced down our throats day in and day out, by not only the MSM, but by his appeasing political enemies as well.

How does losing 5 U.S. Navy aircraft (4 not in combat), an estimated 20 hours of flight time over enemy territory, ending in the loss of the 5th airplane, and sitting in prison for 5 years, somehow qualify this wizened old Drama Queen American hero status? Why does his high-profile birthright as the son of a Navy Admiral and his giving up military information in exchange for much needed access to surgeons always get lost in the glamor of the hero myth? How is it that sitting another year in prison after refusing a repatriation deal make him more of a hero? Wouldn't he have done a greater service to his fellow POWs on the inside, by working to get them released from the outside?

**Snip**

John McCain's stubborn refusal to look Senator Obama in the eye in Mississippi last night is as good a metaphor as any for his failed foreign policy and short combat records. As a failed Navy pilot, he flew above, but never looked his enemy in the eye in Vietnam. He jumped on the Iraq war bandwagon without ever looking his enemy in the eye. And he'll gladly continue Bush's failed policy of refusing any contact with our enemies while beating the drums for war (with Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Venezuela, or anyone else that dares to assert their right to self determination).

All of this refusal of John McCain to face his enemies eye to eye makes me wonder what he is afraid they'll see if he looks them in the eye. I wonder if it's that he's afraid they'll see the same frightened youth that hid behind his father's name instead of being left to die like so many nameless fatally wounded true American heroes in Vietnam.

McCain Plays the Race Card

Since McCain has falling behind in the polls it seems he has resorted to that old republican party tactic of playing the race card. Check out his new ad that will be playing nation wide in the coming days:



Even the Times Online noted the subtle racism in this add:

This is hardly subtle: Sinister images of two black men, followed by one of a vulnerable-looking elderly white woman.

Let me stipulate: Obama's Fannie Mae connections are completely fair game. But this ad doesn't even mention a far more significant tie--that of Jim Johnson, the former Fannie Mae chairman who had to resign as head of Obama's vice presidential search team after it was revealed he got a sweetheart deal on a mortgage from Countrywide Financial. Instead, it relies on a fleeting and tenuous reference in a Washington Post Style section story to suggest that Obama's principal economic adviser is former Fannie Mae Chairman Frank Raines. Why? One reason might be that Johnson is white; Raines is black.

And the image of the victim doesn't seem accidental either, given the fact that older white women are a key swing constituency in this election.

John McCain & The Ghost of Keating Five

From the Nation.com
Back in the 1980s, when the US faced a major savings & loan crisis, John McCain intervened to protect S&L magnate Charles Keating--a major McCain donor and friend--from federal regulators. McCain was later rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee for "poor judgement" and embarrassed by the $112,000 in campaign contributions, trips and gifts he accepted from Keating. Following the entanglement, McCain became a born-again reformer and tried to scrub the Keating episode from his resume.

But the ghost of Keating Five lives on. Sherrod Brown, one of the smartest populists in the Senate, says McCain's behavior during that period still illuminates the character of the so-called maverick today.

Here's what Brown told Sam Stein of the Huffington Post today:


"It is not so much his economic proposals but his economic record," Brown said of McCain. "His main adviser is Phil Gramm -- he was his mentor in the Senate -- and you just tie it all together. Of course John McCain supported the oil industry, he has oil lobbyists working for him. Of course John McCain supported these trade agreements, he has got Wall Street people working for him... It is all wrapped up together. John McCain is a creature of these interest groups in Washington. He is no maverick and, from the Keating Five on, his ethics have been questionable. He's not a maverick and Barack has got to just keep hammering on that."

Stein points out that Obama referenced the S&L crisis in a speech today.


"Instead of sensible reform that rewarded success and freed the creative forces of the market, too often we've excused an ethic of greed, corner-cutting and inside dealing that threatens the long-term stability of our economic system," he said. "It happened in the 1980s, when we loosened restrictions on Savings and Loans and appointed regulators who ignored even these weaker rules. Too many S&Ls took advantage of the lax rules set by Washington to gamble that they could make big money in speculative real estate."

Yet Obama missed an opportunity to remind voters of McCain's ties to Keating, and the Arizona Senator's response the last time taxpayers faced an economic crisis caused by crooked deregulation.

Back in May, Obama said the scandal was still fair game. "I was just asked previously about a whole host of issues and associations that are a lot more flimsy than John McCain's relationship to Keating Five," Obama told reporters. "What I said, I can't quarrel with the American people wanting to know more about that and me having to answer questions about it."

What better time than now?

Approval Ratings: The Public v. McCain

McCain Unplugged

Checkout John McCain at a rally unscripted and unplugged. He's stumbling about on stage, not making any since what so ever. Is this the guy that America might pick as the leader of the free world?

McCain Adviser: Raise Retirement Age To 70

It's coming.

According to Phil Gramm, senior economic adviser to John McCain, the retirement age will have to be raised.

Gramm told the Washington Times that a bipartisan deal might include raising the retirement age to 70 over 30 years, indexing the benefits of wealthier retirees to inflation rather than the more generous wage rate, and creating a private account program for younger workers.

This means that if you are 40 and under, you will be working as much as 5 years longer than your parents did.

Source

There you have it folks, Republicans want you to work as slaves for corporations until you drop dead. What a plan, if you're dead then the government doesn't have to pay Social Security. Let's not forget administrations for decades have borrowed money from the Social Security trust fund, if they put back the money they've borrowed instead of blowing in their oil wars, there wouldn't be a problem with Social Security and we could all look forward to retiring at the age of 65 with full benefits.

McCains economic advisor says Americans are a nation of whiners

This was supposed to be John McCain's week to re-re-launch his campaign, this time with a tightly focused message about the economy and how he plans to fix it. He had a nicely staged debut in Denver, even if the experts quickly demanded to know how he could preserve George Bush's tax cuts, stay in Iraq and yet balance the federal budget by 2013. Details, details! Still, McCain was back in the game.

Then a one-man thundercloud named Phil Gramm rained on McCain's Main Street parade.

In one of the more boneheaded remarks in recent presidential politics (and Gramm has uttered others) the former Texas senator declared that we are in the midst of a "mental recession" and that we have "sort of become a nation of whiners."

***

McCain, polls show, is struggling to persuade voters—even in his own party—that Republicans deserve to retain stewardship of the economy. Obama and the Democrats are way ahead in polls on questions related to jobs, health care, gas prices, business regulation, the mortgage mess—you name it.

At a time of $4-a-gallon gasoline (or more), of falling home prices in most American cities, of skyrocketing food costs and steadily rising unemployment rates, dismissing worried American voters as whining, depressed basket cases is, well, insane. Read the entire article

These remarks came from a millionaire Republican, this is the conventional thinking of these rich, Reagan idolizing, selfish Republicans. They think that supply side economics solves everything and if you can't make it then it's your fault and you should get off your ass and stop whining. Those cock roaches don't care if the majority of people are struggling as along as they and their love ones are making a killing. Republicans Pols are fucking theives, half of them should be locked up in jail some where and the rest should be sent packing.

McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare

Sen. "Sraight Talk Express" McCain seems to have run off the side of the rode.

McCain's pastor problems

One of Senator's McCain spiratual advisors. Where is the mainstream media obsession with this loon? I guess they only have a problem with angry black preachers.

Did John McCain Collaborate with the enemy in Vietnam?

Let the swiftboating begin!!!

The Real McCain sex scandal