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McCain Raises Money Off 35th Anniversary Of Release From Hanoi Hilton
You really do need to watch this new video that the McCain campaign has just put out -- it's a neat preview of the sort of appeals we can expect in a general election.
The video is part of a fundraising appeal -- the campaign is raising money off of tomorrow being the 35th anniversary of his release from the Hanoi Hilton. That and his POW experience are the subject of the vid:
The campaign has also sent out a special e-mail promoting the video, and asking recipients to donate to McCain's campaign.
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Comments (20)
I find it more than a bit ghoulish than McCain seems so eager to profit from his time as a POW.
I was tortured, therefore, i should be president. But not only that, you should give me MONEY because i was tortured.
March 14, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
To be fair, John Kerry tried to build his campaign off similar footage. Should have worked, too -- if folks didn't start making stuff up.
That said, what strikes me about both McCain's logo and his POW pitch is that it is so outdated. The best they could do was to reference street ball and the NBA...
Imagine the Obama-McCain matchup? It's a CLEAR choice between old and new, past and future. I'd be thrilled if this was where they anchored their campaign. His service was honorable, he sacrificed for his country, but it was a different time and a different war that the country is tired of fighting over.
March 14, 2008 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
although I've sworn off Daily Howler until Hillary loses, one of my favorite riffs of his is on McCain's reluctance to talk about his years as a POW.
He's so relucant to discuss it, in fact, that he brings up his reluctance to discuss it nearly every time he opens his mouth.
March 14, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think this is clever, there is no counter to it from the Dem side that isn't crap (some kind of swiftboating) and it speaks to character, which more than anything is still what elects a President. His character as shown here is unimpeachable, so it will have to be on the policies that we win.
BTW, I think Hillary or Obama could disassemble McCain pretty well in a debate, so lets bring them on!
March 14, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not going to vote for him but as far as I'm concerned, any way that he wants to use that horrendous experience is up to him. I have no problem with it.
March 14, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm just wondering how the guys who didn't make it out of the hanoi hilton would feel about john mccain raising money off of his experience there.
March 14, 2008 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
thats not to say he shouldn'ttalk about it if he wants, or that the experience isnt a very important part of who he is. But to raise money off of it just seems, to me at least, inappropriate.
March 14, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I imagine they'd say "Give'm hell for me, too".
I disagree with about 3/4ths of his political positions, but he damned well earned the right to use his experience in this way.
March 14, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dear Senator McCain,
Thank you for your long service to this nation. With that in mind, THIS is what you have become. Shame on your sir. Shame.
Sincerely,
A Grateful but Disappointed American
March 14, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I totally respect John McCain's service and his bravery under those terrible conditions. But if he is going to use that experience as an indication of his character and integrity, it got to be more concise than this. Watching this video is like listening to the men in a retirement home swap war stories. Its all very difficult to follow and doesn't strike the chord its meant to. I'm afraid that it just contributes to the idea that McCain is out of touch with this generation. Again, I appreciate his courage, but in a political campaign you have to understand your audience.
www.greenpieceblog.com
March 14, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
What was McCain doing in Vietnam. Pretty much what he now wants to keep doing in Iraq for another hundred years.
What do you think he was doing when he got shot down. Here is a hint for you. He was not dropping sandwiches and balloons on the North Vietnamese peasants in their own homeland. Sure he suffered a lot after he got captured, but people keep glossing over the fact that he was actually on air missions to kill a lot of Vietnamese people in their homeland. What right did McCain or America have to do that. The Vietnamese people had been fighting a war of Independence against the French colonial powers, and when they were just on the verge of gaining their Independence, in steps America to try and prevent them from doing so. America killed over two million people in Vietnam. The Vietnamese people did not kill a single person in America.
America was dropping napalm on the people to burn them alive, and also poisoning them with agent orange.
America committed genocide in Vietnam, and John McCain was one of the many dealers of death from the skies.
March 14, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
NO! Liam, you go find out what it means to have a civilian controlled military first, then you come back and talk.
March 14, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
What the hell are you raving about? Lots of people refused to engage in the genocide that America waged on the people of Vietnam when they were trying to gain their Independence from France, just like America did from England.
Your argument is that the killers were just obeying orders. Gee, where have we heard that excuse before. Didn't America execute a lot of people who used that excuse as their defense.
March 14, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's been 40 years of discussions pointing out the differences between Germany and Vietnam. Have you done any research on that or are you just pulling things out of your hiny?
Until you can talk about civilian control of the military, you're not worth spending time discussing this with.
March 14, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maturity is the ability to make finer and finer distinctions. Has McCain's age brought him to a maturity which would distinguish good wars from dumb wars? Has he the maturity to see the difference between going to war to defend our country and a pre-emptive invasion to wrest control of oil resources?
March 14, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Flip Flop McCain. Flip Flop.
First McCain was going to "follow Bin Laden to the gates of Hell". Now McCain is cowering in the back of his Crazy Talk Express because he is afraid that the other guy is actually the one following him.
Flip Flop McCain is now afraid of his own shadow, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has endorsed him for Commander in Chief, ahead of Senator Obama.
Hillary is the new Lieberman.
March 14, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think this cuts against mccain. Emphasizing vietnam just emphasizes his age at this point more than anything else.
I liked mccain in 2000, not anymore by a long shot. I wish he would have beat bush in 2000. I don't think that we would be where we are today if he did. Of course, I liked Gore more than him though.
March 14, 2008 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorta what I was thinking. I guess it's good for a fundraiser where there may be older donors but I can't imagine him running something like this on TV. Particularly with the white haired talking heads.
fwiw, I'm actually into mccain's age. Might be the only thing he has going for him (for me). I'm into the idea of an older/elder president with all of the experience and wisdom that age implies.
March 16, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is why the republicans want Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination. They want to refight the same tired battles of the 1960's. Vietnam, Woodstock, and all the culture wars of the past forty years.
Barack Obama is not of that generation. Those old battles are not his. He takes the air out of the republican strategy, and makes McCain debate today's issues and defend Bush policy.
March 15, 2008 12:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
The video at the link below gives a different and quite interesting perspective on McCain and his loyalty to his country. It paints a picture of someone who puts his political career above principle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFM1xqqTX_g&feature=related
March 16, 2008 9:48 PM | Reply | Permalink