About time. This is a good start, and they need to press this message of McCain as dishonest and dishonorable. Childish works too.
Update: And the St. Petersburg Times is up with an editorial that just eviscerates McCain.
The Straight Talk Express has taken a nasty turn into the gutter. Sen. John McCain has resorted to lies and distortions in what sounds like an increasingly desperate attempt to slow down Sen. Barack Obama by raising questions about his patriotism. Instead of taking the Democrat down a few notches, these baseless attacks are raising more questions about the Republican’s campaign and his ability to control his temper.
When I read the Obama camp response by spokesman Tommy Vietor to the McCain Britney-Paris ad, I did a reflexive “w00t!” upon these lines:
“On a day when major news organizations across the country are taking Senator McCain to task for a steady stream of false, negative attacks, his campaign has launched yet another. Or, as some might say, ‘Oops! He did it again.’
I said a, “Hell, yes! This is the response needed!” But then I read the rest of the response, which had been truncated by Mark Halperin at Time’s The Page:
A little more back-and-forth on this because it’s important. Turner did some further critiquing of Obama’s response team, and got it almost entirely right (even if Armando is cited). Five follow-up points for the Obama team:
1) Stop being so deferential to McCain
You don’t have to keep pretending like he’s a great guy with a bad campaign, or that he was once a good guy who’s lost his way, as David Axelrod did today:“It makes you wonder whose behind all this because this isnt the John McCain we expected.”Or with the campaign’s use of sentences like: “John McCain is an honorable man running a dishonorable campaign.” He’s calling your candidate a traitor to this country, why are you being so nice? You don’t have to worry about reminding people about his service, McCain does that by himself plenty. Hit him and hit him hard.
2) McCain = Bush 3rd Term.
If Obama isn’t saying that in every speech (the way he used to – and it was working!), he’s not doing his job. It hurts me to admit that Armando was right about something, but he’s right about this.
3) McCain is totally out to snacks on the economy.
Seriously guys, his chief economic adviser said it’s all in our heads, and McCain himself hasn’t got a clue. In an interview he was asked what the first thing he’d do to solve the economy is and his response was “Cut spending.” REALLY?! C’mon now.
I agree with Dan that the response to McCain’s latest silly ad is mostly on the mark, but Obama needs to do more. Much more. I sometimes disagree with Armando over at TalkLeft (he seems to be hypercritical of Obama on occasion), but his criticism of Obama on his response strategy is spot on:
So John McCain is being bashed for his mendacious ad about Obama not visiting the troops because he could not bring cameras. Whoop dee doo. The problem is for three days that ad got run on free media. Dirty politics works and McCain has now shown who will go as far down in the gutter as it takes.
And why not? Dirty politics works. The Gallup tracker now has a once 9 point gap Obama held down to 4. Rassmussen has its Obama 7 point gap down to 2. Three guesses how that happened.
I’ve come around to the thinking that the Obama team response to McCain’s ridiculous attacks is not sufficient by a long shot. McCain’s Ads are indeed awful, but firing off press releases is simply not enough. There needs to be a series of hard-hitting response Ads from the Obama camp. I think McCain’s attacks are driving up his negatives, but I completely agree it is having an effect on the polling. Frankly, I don’t understand what Senator Obama is waiting for. This is the time when candidates get defined, and Obama isn’t doing enough to define McCain.
Update: David Axlerod has gone on the attack now on this. Good, but we need more, however. Response Ads are the key.
McCain launched a ludicrous ad today that compared him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton:
The Obama camp normally responds with some convoluted message about how “it’s a shame to see McCain’s camp distort…yada yada yada.”
Today?:
“On a day when major news organizations across the country are taking Senator McCain to task for a steady stream of false, negative attacks, his campaign has launched yet another. Or, as some might say, ‘Oops! He did it again.’“
Obama just hit John McCain hard on the economy in a town hall meeting in Springfield, Missouri (note, I’m mixing prepared remarks with paraphrases that I’m watching) and debuts a great new line: “They have nothing new to offer, but they want you to think I’m risky. This time it’s too risky NOT to change.”
My opponent believes we’re on the right course. He’s said our economy has made great progress these past eight years. He’s embraced the Bush economic policies and promises to continue them.
Senator McCain wants to debate taxes, I’m ready. I just was just reading that Wild Bill Hickock had his first duel right here in Springfield, MO. Family legend is that Wild Bill is a distant legend of mine (I’m serious). I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s the legend. I think it’s true because I’m ready to duel John McCain on taxes right here.
Right now, the Washington Post report about Barack Obama is now being slammed by House Democrats as being taken wholly out of context. The Washington Post story reads like this:
Obama’s Symbolic Importance
By Jonathan Weisman
Perhaps he’s beginning to believe the hype.
In his closed door meeting with House Democrats this evening, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama delivered a real zinger. According to a witness, he was waxing lyrical about last week’s trip to Europe, when he concluded, “this is the moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the world is waiting for.”
The 200,000 souls who thronged to his speech in Berlin came not just for him, he told the enthralled audience of congressional representatives.
“I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions,” he said.
Cindy McCain kicked off the meeting by describing her recent visit to Rwanda, saying that she was amazed by women there who have recovered from being raped during the nation’s genocidal war in the 1990s.
“These women are far stronger than I could even hope to be,” she said, adding that they reminded her of her husband, who was held in captivity in the Vietnam War. “He suffered and overcame what happened to him. My husband, like the Rwandan women are the essence of hope, the essence of strength and the essence of courage.”
OK, let me first say that I have no idea or ability to comprehend what happened to John McCain in the Hanoi Hilton.
That said, McCain was a prisoner of war, not a victim of genocide. To compare what he went through to what the Rwandan survivors went through is apples and oranges. Where does the analogy end? Is McCain like a Holocaust survivor? Is he like a black family in the south that survived Jim Crow? Read more »
Could we be on the cusp of an announcement? On Countdown, Howard Fineman said he has talked to one of the three of Biden, Kaine and Byah, and that person told them that the vetting is essentially done, and that the VP is down to those three.
I would be very surprised if he announces this soon, but there is growing speculation that an announcement could be imminent. Will the VP make it down to MO tomorrow for a joint appearance? I still lean towards closer to the convention, but that final three sounds about right to me.
Update: The New York Times throws some cold water on an imminent decision.
Yet Mr. Obama has not conducted formal sit-down interviews with candidates, aides say, and a decision is believed to be weeks away, not days. His aides say there is no particular rush: the campaign seems to be going well for him at the moment, and so he does not need the burst of attention and energy that typically accompanies the announcement of a vice-presidential choice.
Strategy ‘08 is a new blog dedicated to covering issues surrounding the 2008 Presidential Campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain. Authors are long-time bloggers and unabashed Barack Obama supporters dansac, slinkerwink, turneresq, zenbowl, smash artist and gdh1 who often post on DailyKos and elsewhere.
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