Obama Campaign -- Gasp! -- Mocks McCain Again
Today John McCain hit Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton again for voting against the no-withdrawal-timetables Iraq bill.
Now Obama's campaign spokesman, Bill Burton, has just responded to McCain's broadside in a statement that's notable for the gentle mockery directed at McCain for his habit of skipping votes in the Senate:
"As a senator who takes his duties seriously, and has also showed up to vote more than once this month, Barack Obama considers few responsibilities more important than his votes on the war in Iraq. Obama opposed the war from the beginning and, unlike Senator McCain, is committed to ending it as quickly and responsibly as possible."
"...and has also showed up to vote more than once this month..." Snark!
Between this and Obama's recent mockery of McCain's Baghdad Stroll, it's clear that the Obama camp is relishing every opportunity to use McCain and his recent antics as a foil -- something that probably appeals to Dems more than ever with McCain's embrace of the surge. Camp Obama just isn't afraid to make fun of the guy and to highlight his buffoonery.
And so we'll say it again: Barack, this is just not done. Everything McCain does is born of unimpeachable integrity, so we do not -- repeat, do not -- take such a dismissive tone with such a revered figure. D.C.'s elders will strongly disapprove of your insolence and David Broder will shake his head and murmur his disapproval.
This is not something that I see as bad or unfair for the Obama campaign. However, since Obama and Co. went out of their way to paint him as this crusader of some sort of new politics, being overly aggressive could come back to haunt him. I saw a similar thing in the CA governors primary where one candidate went around with a "positive campaign pledge" but ended up being quite negative. His numbers tanked after that.
May 30, 2007 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
:-)
Attacks on the patriotism of Kerry and even a triple amputee from Vietnam and the mother of dead soldier are not only allowed but mandatory among the wingers.
But then the wingers despise McCain more than liberals, who generally respect and even admire service to the country.
The normal line of attack by the rightwing against McCain has been much like that of the obscene attack by Kissinger on Solzhenitsyn; i.e., he was too damaged mentally by his imprisonment to be in full control of his faculties.
The obvious deterioration and pathetic kissing up of McCain to the religious fanatics is too sad to this liberal to fully sympathize with the joke.
McCain is an easy target today as a caricature of what once was. A far more worthy target is Romney, who has shown a breathtaking lack of principles even for a politician.
Best, Terry
May 30, 2007 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Democrats are in a tough spot here. They have to mock McCain's gaffes in the short timespan before he commits another one.
May 30, 2007 6:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is McCain really a serious candidate? The GOP will never nominate him. It's a bit of a waste of time here.
Obama should look into Rudy's credentials. Now there's a candidate worth mocking.
"Thank God George Bush is our president." -Rudy Giuliani
May 30, 2007 6:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain is the one pointing fingers at Obama and Clinton for wanting to end the Iraq war. If Romney made the claim at every campaign stop instead of telling folks we can hire him for free (I'd say you get what you pay for but that's still too much) then he'd be a target too.
May 30, 2007 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't happen to be an Obama supporter, but I do think he' doing the right thing -and going about it in the right way- in ridiculing McCain.
Senator McCain doesn't get a free pass to say whatever he wants to merely because he was a Prisoner of War. He is a public figure by choice, after all, and a candidate for President to boot. He should be held to account for anything he does that's stupid, and BTW it would be a huge mistake to connect that in any way to his service.
Obama is hitting the right points IMO. If McCain doesn't like it, maybe he should stop saying and doing stupid things. The other aspect is that responding to McCain's attacks actually burnishes Obama's credentials as an "Alpha Male". He's not only countering the older established bully, he's making people laugh at him as well.
-Dave Adams-
May 30, 2007 9:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Respectfully disagree, gq. Obama has been saying that Americans need to come together to solve their problems. I happen to agree with that. That's a far cry from holding hands, singing Kum-ba-yah, and letting folks who disagree with you knock you around. I simply see nothing wrong with striking back at a bully, which McCain certainly is.
The vast majority of voters will see nothing wrong with this. And Obama's message of being positive and bringing voters together is a far cry from a "positive campaign pledge" which is simply silly with the GOP leading the negative campaign way. I like the way Obama responds to this sort of thing.
It will not cost him votes, IMHO.
May 30, 2007 9:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Republican governor of California won reelection only because he stopped behaving like an idiot. While he was behaving that way it was possible to defeat him - even movie star obsessed California can take only so much buffoonery in its governor. But, Ahnold's advisers persuaded him to take the job seriously and act like he took it seriously, and that ended any Democratic chance last year.
Hoppy in Sacramento
May 30, 2007 11:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pretty silly, fellow.
Hasn't Kerry's experience taught you anything even if Kerry is beyond hope?
It is bad to be a veteran and worse any kind of combat veteran.
Even George Bush knows that.
Do you want people thinking you are dumber than Dubya by saying things like that?
What is not so hot is beating up a cripple. McCain is little more than a derelict these days.
You think he is more than that?
You think it takes a real man to beat up a cripple? Not my idea of manhood.
Best, Terry
May 31, 2007 12:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
I love the Obama campaign's response. Keep it up!
May 31, 2007 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink