He didn't you uninformed lackey. Hamas just said they would like him to be President as he can at least have a conversation, unlike GW who just blows hot air. And, I think Jimmy Carter did a good thing. If you don't communicate with people, you never resolve a damn thing.

That claim and line of attack is so profoundly dumb on so many levels.

But by all means, please do keep it up :) If there's one thing America will care about at the voting booth, it's that the McCain campaign and its GOP surrogates are claiming his opponent has received the blessing of Hamas.

I agree that the whole "war hero" thing is at least a bit puffed up, but the fact is that most low-information voters (and a good number of those who follow politics relatively closely) see him that way. If you read "Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind" by Al Ries and Jack Trout, they point out that once a person has decided on the "position" of a thing or person (usually a consumer good, but politicians are similar enough), it is very difficult to change that. It can be done, but it takes time and subtlety.

So by saying "I know McCain is a war hero, which is why his actions are so surprising," you're actually providing a criticism of McCain in such a way that it fits in with the audience's preconceived ideas about McCain. You're not asking them to do the mental labor of challenging their deep-seated assumptions about him, and are instead using those assumptions as a launching point for legitimate criticism.

If you want to challenge the "war hero" position, it's got to be done slowly and gradually. Personally, I doubt there's time to do it before November, but I guess anything is possible.

Ok, well then Osama Bin Laden has endorsed McCain and the Republican Party.

They both want the same thing, to continue the war in Iraq. Osama for McCain.

On a serious note, who gives a shit what Hamas or Osama want. I'm a little more interested in what the American public wants. Apparently Republicans are little insecure that if they present their tax cuts for the Rich, war for the Rest platform straight up, they'll lose power. Bunch of pansies.

McCain's statement was completely incoherent. there is no sensible way of parsing it. if iraq is peaceful then why would we need to be there? what is the goal in our presence there? i don't know if you heard mccain's strained explanations but to hear him say it the goal is for no US soldiers to be getting killed in iraq. and so i guess its ok for US soldiers to keep dying in iraq to try and meet that goal of...not having US soldiers dying in iraq.

if obama were making incoherent statements about iraq and either deceitful or frightfully ignorant statements regarding (sunni) al-qaeda members training in (shi'ite) iran, it would be the end of his campaign. what do you want him to do when confronted with such statements from the McCain camp?

do incoherency or deceit deserve respectful silence? the press corps certainly seem to think so. i somehow don't think the Democratic nominee should feel similarly restrained.

Hamas wants Obama to win. What the f*** is a lie about that? It's T-R-U-E.

Don't you think Hamas (or al Qaeda, or any of those groups) knows that their "endorsement" would be the kiss of death for whichever candidate they mentioned?

Why is it that people like you seem to think these groups are evil geniuses, but when it comes to manipulating elections you apparently believe they lack even an eight-year-old's understanding of human psychology?

You're clearly an idiot. Go back to your bridge, troll.

Matthew this is what you and your Republican friends have done to our troops, please pass this on to your other Republican friends.
Look if you can bare the truth:

http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1111

Why does Osama want McCain?

the one most peculiar aspect common to the wingnut mentality is an inability to grasp the political analogy to 'mutually assured destruction'.

this HAMAS ENDORSES OBAMA line is an example; perhaps we should ask WHY any given morally repugnant person, group or entity endorses the Republican party. you know, neo-nazi groups, the Klan, or say even the international terrorists who have trained against the best military on earth in Iraq and exported their skills, thanks to WHICH party?

another good example is illegal warrantless surveillance and data mining conducted by the federal government in secret, in collaboration with the private data carriers.

wingnuts have a congenital failure to ask themselves a question, namely: are you as happy with a President Clinton or Obama spying on you illegally to 'keep you safe' as you are with a President Bush or McCain?

either that or they are not weak-brained and intend merely to adopt the shrill, deceitful and yet too-often effective tactic of loudly denunciating the very same surveillance initiatives when the baton is passed across the aisle.

won't that be a hoot.