McCain Camp: We have underused P.O.W. Expect more.

[SirNitram]

Link

Choice insights from the McCain Camp. I wish it was parody.

The "Biden" ad: Advisors say that spot has been ready for "a couple days." The McCain team says they assessed that Kaine "utterly disqualified himself" on the basis of the experience question and asserted that Obama does not particularly like Evan Bayh. "Who did that leave?" So they had the Biden spot ready to go.

"Passed Over" ad: McCain advisors say they assesd the 3 a.m. Obama text as an "avoidable" slight to Sen. Clinton and a belated elbow for the primary season 3 a.m. call spot. As First Read mentioned in First Thoughts, the campaign featured Hillary Clinton's words as an attack on Obama in the latest "Passed Over" ad.

Reaction to Biden selection: McCain advisors say Biden's career has not been covered in the Pennsylvania media market. They acknowledge his Scranton, blue-collar roots, but suggest Delaware, with a very small media market, does not have the kind of bleed over seen in New Jersey where NY politicians/issues are saturated. Biden "will fire up conservatives," they claim, because of his positions and conduct on the Judiciary Committee. "That gives us license there," advisors say. Think Roberts, Alito and Clarence Thomas.

The JUDGMENT question: McCain advisors say Obama has waged his candidacy on his "superior judgment" and they point out that Biden supported the Iraq war vote, then advocated partitioning of Iraq which McCain folks call "a terrible idea." Obviously, they will press on the readiness factor, saying Biden has "strongly and consistently" criticized Obama's readiness to be president while Biden "spoke glowingly about McCain on a number of issues."

McCain folks will, of course, repeatedly hammer at the notion the Biden pick "undermines the change message." Biden and Obama also differed on some foreign policy issues and advisors point to Biden's criticism of Obama on the issue of sitting down with rogue leaders in the first year of a term in office.

The ABORTION issue: Advisors ask, "What happens to pro-choice Catholics in politics?" They face criticism from Church officials and related groups, they said.

ATTACK DOG ROLE: McCain advisors' assessment is that Biden "doesn't wear well" in attack mode, adding ,"There is no way he's not gonna make mistakes of a big nature."

THE HOW MANY HOUSES? ISSUE: Advisors have gone silent on Romney and other short listers. On the wealth factor... McCain advisors say the senator's response in the Politico interview was "in artful." They knock its potency by saying that voters "hate class warfare" and that "McCain doesn't come across as an elitist."

Advisors say if Obama gets "nastier" on that issue that opens the door for them. Advisors say the "Rezko deal stinks to the high heavens." They will be prepared to show McCain's "home" in Hanoi by using images of his cell. They claim they have not overused the POW element and insist they have "underused it." They say Americans think most people in presidential politics are wealthy and will point out that Obama "made himself a multi-millionaire after he entered public life."

They suggest McCain should have responded, as he has before, that he is proud of Cindy's family and grateful for their success and blessings. That they have four homes, including his work week residence in the DC area, they claim. The others, advisors say, should be described as Cindy providing for other family members -- an elderly aunt, a daughter, etc., live in property she owns.

STATE OF THE RACE: Advisors say, "I'll take it." when describing the tightening of poll numbers. They call the ABC poll with them down six an outlier -- though most polls showed about that margin a month ago. They are most pleased on their move on economic issues and suggest Obama won't be able to catch McCain on the national security polling. They assert Obama's unfavorables have risen while "ours have not" -- though that assemssment does not hold up in the most recent NBC/WSJ poll.

They will be prepared to show McCain's "home" in Hanoi by using images of his cell. They claim they have not overused the POW element and insist they have "underused it."

Uh, right. Sure there, kiddies.

[aerius]

If they really go through with it I'm leaving my TV off till after the elections.

[The Vortex Empire]

I wasn't aware being a POW qualifies one for presidency.

I hate Conservative politics.

[Shroom Man 777]

If they really go through with it I'm leaving my TV off till after the elections.

Aren't you in Canada? Why would Biff McCain ads end up in Canada?

[Glocksman]

Damn.
I wasn't aware that John McCain was a POW.
I guess he doesn't like to talk about it much.

[Stormbringer]

They will be prepared to show McCain's "home" in Hanoi by using images of his cell. They claim they have not overused the POW element and insist they have "underused it."

Uh, right. Sure there, kiddies.

It's pretty much inevitable.

They can't really trumpet McCain's brilliant economic plans because they amount to more of Bush's failed policy. They can try to spread negative stereotypes about Obama and liberal spending but that amounts to a negative and gains them little. Add in McCain's recent gaffe about his houses and he's hideously vulnerable if he starts talking to any one but plutocrats.

On the foreign policy front, McCain did back the surge which has produced some results. But the overwhelming majority of the American populace want to start getting us out. His hundred years comments, even if some what misinterpreted, are not going to be reassuring to Americans sick of sitting in the middle of a quasi-civil war.

They have to campaign by making McCain into some glorious war hero because he's shot any credibility to hell in getting the Republican nod. It's inevitable and not all surprising that they're going this route.

[Pablo Sanchez]

The JUDGMENT question: McCain advisors say Obama has waged his candidacy on his "superior judgment" and they point out that Biden supported the Iraq war vote, then advocated partitioning of Iraq which McCain folks call "a terrible idea."

It's a bad idea to do it officially because it will create an Iran-dominated Shi'a section, a failed-state Sunni section, and a Kurdish section that will drive our ally Turkey up the wall and probably cause a war between two of our nominal allies.

Unofficially... isn't Iraq basically partitioned already?

McCain folks will, of course, repeatedly hammer at the notion the Biden pick "undermines the change message."

To the extent that a Vice President Biden will actually run shit in the Obama White House, which I think will be limited to foreign policy initiatives.

ATTACK DOG ROLE: McCain advisors' assessment is that Biden "doesn't wear well" in attack mode, adding ,"There is no way he's not gonna make mistakes of a big nature."

This is where the McCain response is vaguest, so at a guess this is where they are most afraid of him.

THE HOW MANY HOUSES? ISSUE: Advisors have gone silent on Romney and other short listers. On the wealth factor... McCain advisors say the senator's response in the Politico interview was "in artful." They knock its potency by saying that voters "hate class warfare"

Voters are often told that they hate class warfare, but I'm not sure there's any evidence to back it up.

and that "McCain doesn't come across as an elitist."

He doesn't come across as one, no, but the evidence indicates that he has much more in common with Paris Hilton than Obama has, and we can expect to see Biden hammering that point.

They claim they have not overused the POW element and insist they have "underused it."

I think this is a perfect symptom of the "actually this is GREAT for us" syndrome that colors GOP political talk. They never admit that any issue is anything but fantastic for their candidate, and when something is a problem they insist that the opposite is true. I think Biden's first job will be to take the "get out of gaffe free" POW card apart with a crowbar.

They say Americans think most people in presidential politics are wealthy and will point out that Obama "made himself a multi-millionaire after he entered public life."

Of course the comeback there is that McCain entered public life by marrying into money that he then used to win office. Is it better to use your notoriety to sell books and thereby become wealthy, or become wealthy by ditching your first wife for an heiress and then riding a political position on money you never earned?

They are most pleased on their move on economic issues

I don't think it will last, because of his "four more years" economic positions and staff, and the housing gaffe shows how blatantly out of touch he is with struggling Americans.

and suggest Obama won't be able to catch McCain on the national security polling.

I actually agree here, because Americans have shown over and over for decades that they don't actually understand the National Security issue and will reflexively choose whoever seems "toughest."

[Coyote]

Hell, they're already going to replay the Reverend Wright thing... they realize they have no cards in the deck so they're just going to keep playing the same crap over and over again...

[Bob the Gunslinger]

I wasn't aware being a POW qualifies one for presidency.

Well, see, it means that we owe him the presidency.

If a kid eats all his vegetables, he gets dessert. If a grown man is tortured for five years, he gets to have the Button. Simple.

[Aaron]

Aren't you in Canada? Why would Biff McCain ads end up in Canada?

Because we can get quite a lot of American stations here, especially if you have a dish.

[Vympel]

I still remember when the media jumped down Wesley Clark's throat when he made the utterly fucking obvious comment that "I don't think getting shot down in a fighter jet qualifies someone to be President."

The guy he was talking to responded with the most ridiculous, incredulous "Realllly?????" I've ever heard. What a bunch of girls.

[Darth Wong]

I still remember when the media jumped down Wesley Clark's throat when he made the utterly fucking obvious comment that "I don't think getting shot down in a fighter jet qualifies someone to be President."

The guy he was talking to responded with the most ridiculous, incredulous "Realllly?????" I've ever heard. What a bunch of girls.

You live on the far side of the world. In America, they've never entirely moved on from the mentality of the 11th century, when the ultimate citizen was the warrior-priest. That medieval mindset still dominates their culture to this day.

Hell, their entire conspiracy-theory subculture revolves around the idea that America was founded by the Templar Knights.

[Flagg]

What exactly does being put in a bamboo cage and being poked with a stick for 5 years have to do with you being President? I mean if anything it's a good reason why you shouldn't be.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Patriotic enough to fight in a directionless war, not smart enough to consider the bigger picture. He gets an A for the lobby test. You don't seriously think the president has any power, do you? They want a puppet, not a thinker.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Now, the bar for patriotism has been raised. You mustn't just wear a badge, a flag, whatever, you must now be a POW to be considered a Patriot.

The ridiculousness of the situation amazes me.

[Broomstick]

If they really go through with it I'm leaving my TV off till after the elections.

Aren't you in Canada? Why would Biff McCain ads end up in Canada?

Same reason I used to watch CBC when I lived in Michigan? There is some overlap at the border. And that was back when we only had like 5 TV channels and you had to get up to change them on the black and white set.

Frankly, I prefer to follow a lot of US politics on Canadian and British sources - less hysteria, more substance.

[loomer]

I wasn't aware being a POW qualifies one for presidency.

Well, see, it means that we owe him the presidency.

If a kid eats all his vegetables, he gets dessert. If a grown man is tortured for five years, he gets to have the Button. Simple.

It's rather like the John McCain experience on Family Guy.

You get locked in a cage, have a Vietnamese man poke you with a sharp stick, and bawl out that you want to be president.

[Darth Wong]

What exactly does being put in a bamboo cage and being poked with a stick for 5 years have to do with you being President? I mean if anything it's a good reason why you shouldn't be.

Is this a serious question? If so, it means that you meet the "experienced in war" criterion for public office. Mind you, that criterion was from the medieval period ...

In prewar Germany, it was also popular to have scars from war because they demonstrated your martial credentials; it was so popular, in fact, that some men would actually pay doctors to artificially scar their faces for this purpose. Of course, the culture of pre-WW2 Germany probably isn't the greatest one to emulate either ...

[Flagg]

What exactly does being put in a bamboo cage and being poked with a stick for 5 years have to do with you being President? I mean if anything it's a good reason why you shouldn't be.

Is this a serious question? If so, it means that you meet the "experienced in war" criterion for public office. Mind you, that criterion was from the medieval period ...

In prewar Germany, it was also popular to have scars from war because they demonstrated your martial credentials; it was so popular, in fact, that some men would actually pay doctors to artificially scar their faces for this purpose. Of course, the culture of pre-WW2 Germany probably isn't the greatest one to emulate either ...

It's more exasperation than anything else.

[Darth Wong]

Frankly, I don't think that their arguments mean anything. I don't know if they even mean anything they say. You're probably too young to remember the extraordinarily detailed arguments people would write about why Clinton's sexual dalliances were not just relevant to his presidency, but in fact struck at the very heart of what it took to be a good president. And it wasn't about the fact that it occurred in the Oval Office; it was about the kind of values that the man had.

But now that they are backing a Republican adulterer who started banging his new prettier wife while still legally married to his disabled first one, these same people are writing that such emphasis on a man's personal life is a huge red-herring to his ability to be president and any attempt to focus attention on it is scurrilous and disgusting. And they are retroactively rewriting all of their old "bash Clinton" arguments to say that it was never about the adultery; it was about doing it on "company time" (as if GWB has used his time so diligently) and lying to Congress (as if GWB and his cronies haven't done that either).

Bill Maher once said that Republicans think the most important feature of a president is that he fuck his own wife. I think he actually gave them too much credit; they have no real standards at all, so long as you vote for their guy. Any and all arguments they make to that effect are mere arguments of convenience, and reflect principles which they will discard at the drop of a hat as necessary.

[Flagg]

I remember the arguments. My favorite was that since he was "Commander in Chief" of the armed forces that made him a part of the military and subject to their adultery laws.

What pisses me off about McCain so much is that if he were a Democrat the narrative would be thus:

War hero? How could he be a war hero? First he got his plane shot down and then the second he hit the ground what did he do? He surrendered! Hundreds of thousands of fine American troops fought multiple tours on the ground in Vietnam, but once his boots hit the dirt and he saw the enemy he ran to them with arms raised high! And while tens of thousands of real American soldiers were dying for freedom, he spent the rest of the war in a luxury hotel in downtown Hanoi!

And it would fucking work.

[Darth Wong]

If I were a graphic artist type, I would love to make a mock McCain campaign ad, set to the music of Verhoeven's Starship Troopers.

Join now, for the Young Republicans! Do your part!

*images of kids stomping on pictures of Barack Obama and throwing bundles of arugula into the garbage*

Stop the left-wing liberal menace! It is up to you, citizen! YOU can make a difference!

McCAIN! He is a citizen! He is a soldier! And HE WILL WIN!

[Patrick Degan]

If I were a graphic artist type, I would love to make a mock McCain campaign ad, set to the music of Verhoeven's Starship Troopers.

Join now, for the Young Republicans! Do your part!

*images of kids stomping on pictures of Barack Obama and throwing bundles of arugula into the garbage*

Stop the left-wing liberal menace! It is up to you, citizen! YOU can make a difference!

McCAIN! He is a citizen! He is a soldier! And HE WILL WIN!

The problem is that the GOP would run with it.

[Patrick Degan]

Bill Maher once said that Republicans think the most important feature of a president is that he fuck his own wife. I think he actually gave them too much credit; they have no real standards at all, so long as you vote for their guy. Any and all arguments they make to that effect are mere arguments of convenience, and reflect principles which they will discard at the drop of a hat as necessary.

Like any sociopath.

[RedImperator]

Reaction to Biden selection: McCain advisors say Biden's career has not been covered in the Pennsylvania media market. They acknowledge his Scranton, blue-collar roots, but suggest Delaware, with a very small media market, does not have the kind of bleed over seen in New Jersey where NY politicians/issues are saturated.

Pants on fire. Two thirds of the population of Delaware live in the Philadelphia media market. You want to run a broadcast ad in New Castle County, South Jersey, Philadelphia, and the five-county suburbs all see it.