McCain In 2004: "Bin Laden May Have Just Given Us A Little Boost"
This is a live one. John McCain said he strenuously disagrees with top adviser Charlie Black's comment that a terror attack on U.S. soil would help McCain's campaign -- but more evidence has just emerged that McCain does believe this, or a variation of it, anyway.
The latest? Back in 2004, as McCain was stumping in Connecticut on behalf of GOP Rep. Chris Shays, McCain said flatly that the recent release of an Osama Bin Laden tape had likely given the GOP a "little boost."
This is courtesy of The Hour, a daily paper in Norwalk, Connecticut, in November of that year (also verified in Nexis)...
But as McCain greets two breakfast-eating business partners, one from Stamford and the other from Bridgeport, the topic turns to the presidential race. The two men tell the senator they support President George W. Bush, and to that end, McCain says, "(Osama) Bin Laden may have just given us a little boost. Amazing, huh?"....The two men, who requested anonymity, nod their heads in agreement. Later, while riding with Shays on an RV to a rally at the Stamford Government Center, McCain further explains, "(The video) is helpful to President Bush because it puts the focus on the war on terrorism."
The reference was to a tape of Bin Laden that had emerged a few days earlier. The McCain camp didn't immediately return an email.
Of course, it's perfectly possible that McCain believed that the specter of another terror attack on the U.S. helped the GOP back in 2004, and no longer believes that it would. But clearly, in the past a little light bulb has gone off over McCain's head and he's had the thought that the possibility of an attack would help Republicans. The thought isn't exactly foreign to him.
Black also said that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto had also helped McCain, something the McCain camp also disavowed. But back in December, when the assassination happened, he said it could "serve to enhance" his "credentials."
The point, again, is that McCain does believe, or has believed, what Black said, even if he's now saying he doesn't. After all, he told us so himself -- twice!
Greg ... Really?
Surely you don't believe this. I damn sure don't.
June 25, 2008 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
ironic...
June 25, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can live with irony, though it seems more like sarcasm to me!
June 25, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Irony is the core of sarcasm.
June 25, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
The creepy part of his comment is the "Amazing, huh?" at the end.
So McCain himself has said that bin Laden gave him a boost, and a political assassination provided him with an opportunity to court more voters.
One of his senior campaign strategists thinks a terrorist attack on the US would be an "advantage".
I find these people loathsome.
June 25, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
It reminds me of how they like to use Bin Laden to promote our staying in Iraq indefinitely. "But Bin Laden says Iraq is the central front on terrorism so we have to stay there". (paraphrase)
Oh, really? He's an honest broker? We can certainly trust his words to help us determine our strategy and tactics in fighting against him.
This is an episode of "Things That Make My Head Want To Explode". Next episode, give it a week or less.
June 25, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's the height of inanity. Yes, let's let this nutcake nursing a solar system size grudge against the West determine how we act in the world.
Talk about ceding power.
June 25, 2008 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's how the politics of fear works -- especially when you've got nothing else going for you.
June 25, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's just a fact:
McCain is trusted more to handle terrorism (plus-19 points), the situation in Iraq (plus-6 points)
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/061908_release_web.pdf
If Black should be fired it's for stating it the way he did. Just like Obama is trusted more on the Economy right now, a new economic crisis will help his chances...that doesn't mean he wants one to hit and his handlers shouldn't say it.
June 25, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, you're linking to a poll run by FauxNews, and categorically calling it "fact"?
I don't see how any of your arguments after that hold any water.
June 25, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I have to wade through your Huffington post BS you can suck up some FoxNews once in awhile...consider the source, don't discount it out of hand.
June 25, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's disturbing is that the American people do seem to think McStain is better. Why would the country invest such confidence in a clown who was last in his class (ok, second to last), was shot down by "rice eaters" and crapped on our soldiers by admitting he was a baby killer. Exactly what part of McStain's monumental failures in the military qualify him as someone who can defend us?
June 25, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Conservatives who won't vote for Obama now won't vote him even if a new economic crisis hits. Would you?
On the other hand, the majority of the people who aren't strongly politically-aligned have broken for Obama so far. Another economic crisis wouldn't net Obama any significant gain. It would make his job more difficult if he is elected as well.
On the other hand a terrorist attack would shift support from Obama to McCain. If McCain were elected, a terrorist attack would make his job easier, just as it made Bush's easier after 9/11.
Net result, a terrorist attack would benefit McCain, and a new economic crisis is neutral at best for Obama.
June 25, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice to know the Faux news viewers think an old man who cannot tell the difference between Shia and Sunni is the one they want at the helm. I mean, what the heck, they're all a bunch of brownskinned muzlim terrorist, right? They're all the same, ain't they?
June 25, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gallup essentially confirms your numbers, which is regrettable, since it appears people are misinformed, but there's time yet to correct this impression.
It's also worth remarking that no one has asked a few kilovoters if they would change their vote if the United States had a terrorist attack, and to whom. People's support of McCain may stem from the fact that we haven't had an attack up to this point. Not likely though.
June 25, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
And that creepy smile McLame delivers after a snarky comment. I hope America will wipe it off his face.
June 25, 2008 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
And I'd like someone to ask him the following: in 2004, you said bin laden may have given Republicans a boost. But now, you disagree that a terrorist attack would help your campaign. Why do you think bin Laden helps Republicans, but terrorist attacks don't?
June 25, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Uh...because a terrorist attack kills innocent Americans and is not something he wants to happen. That doesn't change the fact that he polls 19 points higher than Obama on his ability to combat terrorism.
June 25, 2008 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Currently Obama is polling significantly better on who American want for their president. Are you saying that polls = reality?
If Yes: Obama is a better president
If No: McCain may not be the best to handle terrorism.
Allons-y!
June 25, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope I'm saying that McCain polls higher when the discussion is terrorism or Iraq, lower when the discussion is the economy. Therefore if there was a terrorist attack his numbers would go up...doesn't mean he wants it to happen or wishes for it to happen...
June 25, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
How would it help Republicans if after 8 years of telling us we have to give up our civil liberties and fight expensive wars in Iraq so they can make us safer here at home, Bin Laden (who they didn't show much interest in capturing/killing) manages to land another body blow on America? I think this is wishful thinking on the republitards part that this would benefit them... Why wouldn't the reaction be "wait a minute, I thought these people were keeping us safe... ? what the fuck?" That was the deal right - plunder the country's treasury, enrich your friends, screw up the economy, etc, just don't let us be attacked again. Never mind that they were asleep at the wheel pre-9/11 anyway, if they don't hold up their end of the bargain all bets are off and public reaction isn't quite so predictable, no?
June 25, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
"That was the deal right - plunder the country's treasury, enrich your friends, screw up the economy, etc,"
You forgot poison the water, take school lunches away from the poor kids and throw grandma down the stairs.
June 25, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, he who quoth fox news, grandma is fine thanks to the failure of the Social Security "reform".
June 25, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
June 25, 2008 6:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
SFCWallace,
You said it, man. Black and McCain are being very candid with their comments, acknowledging that the conservative agenda rides a wave of fear. For some people, 9/11 was the best day of their lives.
June 26, 2008 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wallace, if Bin Laden is such a serious threat to the United States, why hasn't Bush captured or eliminated him in Afghanistan? Why is he still running around free after nearly 7 years?
If he's not a serious enough threat to prioritize, then how can Republicans even consider making him a campaign issue?
Do Republicans not think that the American people will ask themselves those very same questions this year?
June 25, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dude, Republicans don't make him a campaign issue, the people do. The people who are called for polls and answer "I think John McCain can handle the issue of terrorism better than Obama." That's who makes it an issue.
June 25, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wallace, do you even bother to look at McCain's campaign material before you write stuff like that?
McCain's own webite references some 116 press articles about Bin Laden:
http://www.johnmccain.com/Search/?keyword=Bin%20Laden
Here's a quote from a recent one:
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/NewsReleases/33CC3D77-5EB5-40DC-8FAE-444847968593.htm
June 26, 2008 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
You have an interesting posting logo. Have you ever defended this nation on the battle field? You're logo suggests you support militarism.
June 25, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Moveon needs to request that McCain fire himself.
June 25, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
This comment should be outlawed for people at work who don't want to laugh out loud upon reading it... give me a warning about the funny factor at least. I almost choked trying not to laugh. (I'm easily amused).
June 25, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I see a good bumper sticker there! Head for CafePress immediately!
June 25, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looks like we need a Ministry of Truth to scour The Internets using the Google to help the McLame with the memory.
Cudos on the research guys.
June 25, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Disgusting. Repugs may as well sign a treaty will Bin Laden. You shell out those timely videos and we'll ensure your safety.
It always surprised me people like me who live in more "vulnerable" places (NYC, SFO, LA) seem insulted by republican fear mongering, while folks in Mayfeild, Ohio or Opelika, Alabama seem to sucumb to fears of another attack. Irony.
June 25, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
It infuriates me.
The people directly affected by 9/11 in the NY, CT, NJ and PA regions are the ones who have emphatically rejected Bush. Go figure.
June 25, 2008 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain may have military experience, but these comments make him seem no different from George Bush and the current crop of chickenhawks who so cavalierly send men and women to kill and be killed from behind the safety of their desks.
McCain's crass analysis of the impact of a terror attack on his political fortunes, and his flippant attitude toward matters of life and death ("bomb, bomb, bomb Iran") show how unfit this man is to be President.
He would have a better chance of being elected if he just hid in his house until November.
June 25, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
McStain has NO military experience. He has POW experience. He sat out the war. And remember, torture isn't really all that different from a fraternity hazing. So really, what kind of war experience does he really have?
June 25, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eveyone one I know was directly effected...
June 25, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some were more directly affected than others. If you want to make the case that someone in Mississippi, with no relatives lost in the carnage, and their life relatively undisrupted was affected to the same extent as families who lost individuals, and all the people who live and work in this area, go ahead, but it's a specious comparison, and you look like an idiot for making it.
June 25, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's a stand-up comedian from NY (his name escapes me at the moment) who had a bit about this a few years back. It was something like, "People in the small towns are the ones freaking out. 'It could happen here.' No, it couldn't. The terrorists aren't going to crash a plane into an Applebee's."
June 25, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's the ultimate symbiotic relationship. Repugs need the threat of bin Laden to scare the people getting screwed by their policies into voting for them. Bin Laden needs Repugs for recruitment.
June 25, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Pakistanian Candidate!
June 25, 2008 6:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm waiting for the picture to emerge of Rummy shaking hands with bin Laden over security gurantees for the border regions of Pakistan.
To quote Rev. Al, "Mr. President, this is no longer the age of Kodak."
The tech the military maintains would make your heart stop. Anything we see is 20-30 years old, tech-wise. The military knows exactly where he is.
The reason he draws breath is because he is needed. No other explanation satisfies.
War crimes indictments Feb 2009
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-borosage/time-for-a-grand-inquest_b_109021.html
June 25, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The tech the military maintains would make your heart stop. Anything we see is 20-30 years old, tech-wise. The military knows exactly where he is.
The reason he draws breath is because he is needed. No other explanation satisfies.
War crimes indictments Feb 2009"
You've obviously never been in the "military" and my Tin Foil Stock futures just doubled again.
June 25, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
You've obviously never been in the "military" and my Tin Foil Stock futures just doubled again.
This makes no sense whatsoever.
June 25, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
...anyone who has been in any of the armed forces would laugh at the claim that there's some super secret high tech "Bin Laden" tracking device out there. Dude, we used to go to the Armor convention every year to check out all the high tech stuff that we didn't have. There are companies out there, civillian ones, with some really cool stuff. It wasn't until the past 6 or 7 years that we started getting anything "high tech" like High Techs for instance, and camel backs and GPS's...seriously.
June 25, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Keep eating what is spoon-fed to you. Nohing at any (alleged) "armor convention" has value or it would not be there.
You are being lied to, and not by me.
June 25, 2008 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps this why Obama's campaign hasn't called for Black's firing. They know that there is more to this story that will give them mileage. Sadly, McFuddle sometimes just speaks the truth to the stupid! GOP game plan = terror and more terror which will fear you into voting repugican....
June 25, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think you're right. Why get him out of the campaign, and end his chances of saying something even more asinine?
June 25, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not surprising McCain thought that in 2004, or that he might still think focus on terrorism would help his campaign today. One of the questions in the LA Times/Bloomberg poll released yesterday was:
McCain led Obama 49-32 on that question, so that's some evidence that he's viewed as being stronger against "terrorism" than Obama by the general public.
It was certainly a tasteless thing for Black to say, but as a campaign strategist, it's his job to consider many possible scenarios and how they might affect the race. So it's not so surprising that he'd have an opinion, or that he'd believe an attack might help McCain. No doubt David Axelrod has also gamed out such scenarios, and worse, at least in his head.
June 25, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Via Andrew Sullivan
"I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company," - John McCain, talking candidly of his time as a prisoner of war on Fox News last March. Fox never broadcast the comment and removed it from the transcript of the Hannity interview. How many times have they broadcast a similar comment by Michelle Obama?
June 25, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
...you know? That's actually an incredibly touching quote. Hilarious that the right wing's straitjacket of things you are and aren't allowed to say about America ultimately bars them from expressing legitimate emotion about their country...
June 25, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, it bars Democrats. McStain said it and nobody blinked. Michelle said it and the rethugs crapped their pants.
June 25, 2008 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
No. McCain said it and Fox stripped it from the transcript because they knew they couldn't not hammer him for that completely innocent comment after taking Michelle to task for her equally innocent comment.
June 25, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's just uncomfortable to watch, McCain in such disagreement with McCain!
June 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha ha ha. Too bad, Walnuts. PWNED!
June 25, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Someone should ask him if he thinks he really would be 12 pts behind instead of 7 if Bhutto hadn't been assasinated.
June 25, 2008 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Republicans are talking about Bin Laden again?
Must be an election year.
June 25, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
His campaign will dismiss the first quote as out of context and the second quote for the parenthetical attribution.
The question will then be: Will the media let this slide? They have so far. Even though these protests serve to call journalists liars and journalistic practices shoddy.
June 25, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, this is probably a truism what black, mcbush, the clintons and virtually every talking head has been saying. I don't like it, but it is probably true. We just have to hope and pray that there is not another terror attack or an attack on iran. It's out of our control.
June 25, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bingo! Marioth.
Why haven't we captured Bin Laden? Because this administration needs him.
When CIA operative Gary Bernsten had Bin Laden pinned down at Tora Bora, he called for troops to help capture Bin Laden. They never came. We didn't have them. They were in Iraq. That was the important war.
This administration and the republicans that have supported the war in Iraq (including McCain) now consider the war in Afganistan as NATO's war.
It is hard to fearmonger the people, if Bin Laden has been captured or killed.
June 25, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
"He says his Jawbreaker team tracked bin Laden to Afghanistan's Tora Bora region late in 2001 and could have killed or captured the al Qaeda leader there if military officials had agreed to his request for an additional force of about 800 U.S. troops." Ok, your premise that 800 soldiers were not available to this guy because of the war with Iraq is a complete farce. There were 1000 U.S. Marines at the Base in Kanduhar airport at the time...if the CENTCOM Commander thouhgt they were necessary he would've deployed them.
June 25, 2008 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
What if the Republicans want bin Laden to stay alive so they can keep up veneer of a never-ending War on Terror?:
http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/06/osama-bin-laden-as-emmanuel-goldstein.html
Thought food.
June 25, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Follow the money.
A President Obama's DoJ will have it's work cut out. I would really like to hear more from a constitutional lawyer about how he intends to address this fundamental problem. The DoJ sets the tone for what is permissible throughout govt.
The Fine report is the rip of the iceberg. We'll be hearing a lot more about the Honors Program.
See, tampering with the judicary was really dumb. Now the criminal enterprise has done pissed off its own lawyers.
Watch out!
June 25, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
The year is 2032 and the GOP feels Osama capture is the number one goal for this election!
June 25, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Expect to see a video of Lieberman in a bin Laden costume a week before the election.
June 25, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
In refererence to "the repugs should just make a deal with Bin Laden..." It's already been done. Reagan had a deal with the Iranians to hold onto the hostages until after the elections. It's amazing how a little flag lapel pin can overwrite such treasonous acts.
June 25, 2008 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
How do you make your voice do that?
June 26, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
SFCWallace, at the time of the Tora Bora incident, the military had already been ordered to ramp up for the possible invasion of Iraq. Gen. Tommy Franks was put in the position of having to pull troops out of Afganistan.
Although Kandahar AB had slightly more than 1000 marines, they were barely enough to defend the base if necessary. The city of Kandahar had been placed under the control of Militia Leader Gul Agha Sherzai. Gen Franks nor the military leader at Kandahar AB trusted Gul Agha Sherzai could hold the area without significant US military backing.
June 26, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink