Comrade McCain

A Tale of Two Campaigns: New Mexico Style

From this morning's Albuquerque Journal:

John McCain:

The Arizona Republican stood under a giant American flag on Mesilla's historic plaza, telling a crowd of about 3,000 people under a blazing autumn sun that he understands water, land, energy and American Indian issues better than his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
"Sen. Obama has never been south of the border," McCain said, triggering a smattering of jeers from his supporters. "He doesn't know these issues — I do. And I'm proud to be from the West."
McCain, accompanied by his wife, Cindy, was greeted by 1,000 to 1,500 people earlier Saturday in Albuquerque, where he delivered a feisty, 17-minute speech at the Spanish Village on the state fairgrounds.

Barack Obama:

"New Mexico: In 10 days, in just 10 days, you have the chance to elect the next president. You'll have the chance to bring the change we need to Washington," the front-running Democratic presidential candidate told an estimated 45,000-plus supporters who filled floodlit Johnson Field at the University of New Mexico and spilled across the campus and onto surrounding streets.

In two campaign stops in New Mexico John McCain got ten percent of the crowd Barack Obama got in his one campaign stop. The stark difference shown by supporters of the two campaigns is fascinating. People willing to stand in line for hours to see a candidate will probably be willing to stand in line to cast a vote for that same candidate.

Know hope.

ZOMG! The Hippies and Angry Negroes are Coming!

Shorter Glenn Reynolds: The DFH’s iz scary.

Does the Right really want to go there? Its not just Reynolds. The Usual Suspects are all on board with this notion that people calling Obama a "terrorist", "traitor", calling for his death at public gatherings and Governor Spice being booed at a hockey game are somehow equivalent. Jesus!






BTW shouldn’t The McCain campaign know better than to send Palin to a major sporting event? EVERY politician is going to hear some boos at a sporting event. Good grief just how stupid are these people?

But, alas, it really is scary to think we might have a President who will actually listen to ALL arguments before making a decision based on FACTS. Empiricism isn’t dead but the Right spent the last eight years making sure it didn’t get any life support.

Cole is Right: John McCain is a Coward

John Cole:

John McCain is a coward.

That sums up my own take on John Sydney McCain. A fucking coward. He has always been in it for himself. He is the son and grandson of respected Navy Admirals. Now this skinny.black guy, with the funny name is going to take away his rightful throne in the White House.

Boo fucking hoo. John Sydney McCain subscribes to the old adage, "Life's a bitch, and then you become one."

Best Debate Reaction Tonight

Jill Miller Zimon:

Let me posit this: In a VP debate, but maybe especially this one? That’s not the real question - because Biden and Palin are not running against each other. They’re trying to get their head of the ticket elected.

Given that, Biden did an excellent job working to get Obama support: he showed that Obama made a good decision in choosing Biden. That support Obama as a good decision-maker.

As for Palin, she met the basement level expectations set by her own party and ticket that’s treated her with nothing but sexism since they anointed her. And that, people like Pat Buchanan and Kit Bond, are calling a slamdunk against Biden.

‘Cept they got that wrong - she isn’t up against Biden. She needs to show that McCain’s choice of her shows that he has good decision-making abilities.

This election is about judgment and having a firm grasp of the issues. Its not an either/or proposition. You have to have both. Obama will be 44.

A Record of Accomplishment

From Tim Dickinson at Rolling Stone:

Last year, after barging into a bipartisan meeting on immigration legislation and attempting to seize the reins, McCain was called out by fellow GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. "Wait a second here," Cornyn said. "I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line." McCain exploded: "Fuck you! I know more about this than anyone in the room." The incident foreshadowed McCain's 11th-hour theatrics in September, when he abruptly "suspended" his campaign and inserted himself into the Wall Street bailout debate at the last minute, just as congressional leaders were attempting to finalize a bipartisan agreement.

Read the entire piece. Make Believe Maverick sums it up pretty well.

So Rick Davis Looked Into Putin's Eyes and Saw ...

Money. John McCain's boy just can't get out of the way, can he? This write up on McCain's Kremlin ties is damning to say the least.

According to two former senior US diplomats who served in the Balkans, Davis and is lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, received several million dollars to help run Montenegro's independence referendum campaign of 2006. The terms of the agreement were never disclosed to the public, but top Montenegrin officials told
the US diplomats that Davis's work was underwritten by powerful Russian business interests connected to the Kremlin and operating in Montenegro. Neither Davis nor the McCain campaign responded to repeated requests for comment.

Johnny Drama: Saving the world for oligarchs and murderers. Is it possible for the man to be more corrupt and morally bankrupt?

What I Like About ...

What does McCain's pick of Governor Palin really mean. In my estimation it says former POW McCain is Unfit to be Commander in Chief.

Much has been written about Palin's ability to lead the country. Both http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-bernstein/the-palin-pick----the-dev_b_129373.htmland Fareed Zakaria wonder alound if this isn't as much about McCain's poor personal judgment as it is about Govenor Palin's inability to put a coherent sentence together when speaking about Foreigh Policy.

Frank Rich has more to say about McCain. Read it. This might be the the best criticism of McCain yet. The withering assault on McCain and his mood swings are spot on. Do we really want a President with the inability to see beyond the end of his own nose?

Homework

Josh Marshall's thoughts on former POW John McCain suspending his campaign are spot on. Money quote:

It's like the biggest 'dog at my homework' in history.

As well it should be in response to the biggest 'trust me I'm from the government' canard in history. I don't know what the McCain campaign is thinking but I can say that I do not respect this morning because the only check thats going to be in the mail isn't being sent to me.

Man Love

The Governor Palin Euphoria Crest breaks sorrowfully upon the shores of reality. John McCain and his master now own this economy. The love that dare not speak its name is now the love former POW McCain cannot run away from. His boytoy broke the economy and now McCain must pay the price.

Life's a bitch when you get in bed with one, eh. George Bush and John McCain, the poster children for how to privatizing reward while socializing risk. Change you can believe in!

Grow. A. Pair. Already.

Boo fucking hoo. Did former POW McCain and his campaign staff check their balls at the door when they got into this election?

Chicken Little Antidote

Joe Biden does yeoman work on the stump. Its still early days to know if the market tanking will have any lasting effect on November 4th, but rest assured that every time former POW (in case you hadn't heard) John McCain opens his mouth about the economy nothing that revolves around Planet Reality is coming out of it. After being pummeled the last few days for being a liar the McCain campaign post convention high has crested is crashing weakly on the shores.

The Obama juggernaut continues.

The Long Slow Backfire

Via Sullivan:

It's actually quite rare to see a politician reveal themselves as solely,
solely about the pursuit of power as McCain has this past month. Bill Clinton
was more honorable and honest.

Wow. If you have never read Sullivan then you may not know that is one hell of a shot he's taking at McCain.

The Invisible Man

Frank Rich once again guides us through the web of deceit know as the GOP. I found this little gem telling (my emphasis added):

As is nakedly evident, the speech’s central argument, that the 72-year-old McCain will magically morph into a powerful change agent as president, is a non sequitur. In his 26 years in Washington, most of it with a Republican in the White House and roughly half of it with Republicans in charge of Congress, he was better at lecturing his party about reform than leading a reform movement. G.O.P. corruption and governmental dysfunction only grew. So did his cynical flip-flops on the most destructive policies of the president who remained nameless Thursday night. (In the G.O.P., Bush love is now the second most popular love that dare not speak its name.)

John McCain IS NOT an agent of change. Governor Palin IS NOT an agent of change. They are deeply steeped in the worst traditions of the GOP. Throwing your money away and making you feel good about! Got that? They throw your money away and make you feel good about because you don't have to pay for it today. Don't fall for it again.

The Authentic McCain

John McCain believes in Duty, Honor and Country and nothing else. That is a sad statement of fact. Women don't count in his world. Recall his awful joke about Chelsea Clinton?

He sent the letter of apology to Bill Clinton. BTW he thinks rape is funny...



We hardly knew ye, Johnny.

Last Columnist Standing

Frank Rich might be the only establishment media columnist who isn't a bedwetting, thumbsucking, sack of squawking bones. Today's column is spot on and make a quick work of the tomfoolery that runs rampant in the modern pundit class.

With the exception of McCain’s imprisonment in Vietnam, every aspect of this
profile in courage is inaccurate or defunct.
McCain never called for Donald Rumsfeld to be fired and didn’t start criticizing
the war plan until late August 2003, nearly four months after “Mission Accomplished.” By then the growing insurgency was undeniable. On the day Hurricane Katrina hit, McCain laughed it up with the oblivious president at a birthday photo-op in Arizona. McCain didn’t get to New Orleans for another
six months and didn’t sharply express public criticism of the Bush response to the calamity until this April, when he traveled to the Gulf Coast in desperate search of election-year pageantry surrounding him with black extras.

Even Rich, who can be one vicious bastard, is being too kind here. McCain is in bed and whoring himself to a bunch of War Criminals. John McCain does not deserve to be a Senator much less the President of this great country.