On McCain Picking His VP Tonight: Political Malpractice

Marc – remember back to the 2007 World Series.

It was the final innings of game 4, with the Red Sox about to close it out. It was at that moment that Scott Boras, baseball’s uber-agent, leaked to Fox that his client, Alex Rodriguez, had opted out of his mega-contract with the Yankees.

Red Sox fans were incensed – it tried to compete with our moment of triumph.

If you think that the McCain campaign – who’s been stringing along the MSM all week long with these video press releases – can resist the temptation to leak the name Lieberman or Pawlenty or Jindal to Chuck Todd’s Blackberry in the middle of tonight’s festivities, you’re deluding yourself.

Expect to find out tonight.

Baseball fans will remember that. Boras’ leak went over like a lead balloon, so much so that he later had to pretend he was sorry. It was a boneheaded decision that nobody defended, at all.

I think McCain could be setting himself up for a backlash here. Obama staffer Dan Pfeiffer says it would be “political malpractice”; Andrew Sullivan is calling it immature, but par for the course regarding their campaign. He also notes that this might be a desperate ploy to stop what seems to be a nice bounce for Obama. It’s probably a combination of both: McCain has demonstrated that he has no problems engaging in the worst of political tactics, and he knows he is nothing like he was in 2000. Maybe that’s why he is getting angry with reporters.

Update: A nice quip from Pfeiffer:

Pfeiffer did, however, call McCain’s bluff.

“If they do it, I will pay all of McCain’s mortgages next month,” he quipped.

Wow, Pfeiffer could be out a lot of money then. Oh, wait, John doesn’t own any of the homes himself, and they don’t have any monthly house payments besides.

August 28, 2008 - Posted by turneresq | Media Strategy, Veepstakes | 2008, John McCain, Vice President

3 Comments »

I bet they won’t do it – it’s so transparently political and childish, that it won’t happen.

After all, what are people going to be more excited about tomorrow morning: Obama in front of 75,000 or Pawlenty/Romney/Portman/Cantor?

Comment by dansac | August 28, 2008 | Reply
That’s why I like Pfeiffer calling the bluff. I guess we’ll see.

Comment by turneresq | August 28, 2008 | Reply
Obama,

You are the first candidate the U.S. has had in a long time that has continued to spread false information from the first time you hit the campaign trail.

I find your technique one of the most offensive I have ever experienced. I find your ethics are on the border of being unethical and your manipulation of the facts most disgusting.

It is common knowledge that the media will always press United States citizens to vote for the candidate who offers them the biggest kick-backs, pay-backs, and over-all “favors”. That is you, Obama.

Then look at your over all personas: Your stance, the way you hold your head, your gestures, the clothes you wear, the pronouns and adjectives you use. Everything about you is the personification of an individual, who does NOT, let me repeat DOES NOT, have the United States citizens interests’ at heart. You are an elitist and the persona I just described is living proof — your entire appearance is proof — FACT — of what I say.

Okay – now let’s talk about education. You have a law degree but did not practice law. Why? Readers – look this one up and you will see why. And, the result is not a positive one.

Then there is the community organizer work you undertook in the state of Illinois. That, too, has been overstated and turned into something “positive” that it in fact was NOT. Dear readers – check this one out yourself as there are many Illinois citizens who will tell you the “truth.”

My education – NOBAMA – is equal to or greater than your education. I do have the same ability as you to influence U.S. Citizens: And I certainly am taking the opportunity to exploit you for what you truly are.

You see I am an educator, who works for a famous “Research One” institution, who has the ability to write Journal Articles that all college students will use for research. The true facts about you will come out and in a place that will most definitely do the most good – to influence voters “young voters” on how to spot an individual who does not represent the United States in the capacity as he states he will. Make no mistake, Obama, people will definitely know the subject of the Journal Articles is referencing you and your 2008 Presidential campaign.

See you in “honest” fact-finding print.

Comment by Versailles | October 4, 2008 | Reply

Strategy ’08

Obama vs. the other guy, 2008