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McCain Radio Ad In Florida Denounces Negotiations With Castro Regime
John McCain is already pushing to consolidate support among Cubans in Florida, running a new Spanish-language radio ad attacking Barack Obama, without directly naming him, for wanting to negotiate with the Raul Castro regime:
"While some support a dialogue with Raul Castro, John McCain believes we should support the courageous men and women who continue to stand up for freedom in Cuba," says former Cuban political prisoner Roberto Martin Perez. "Rather than resume relations with Raul Castro, John McCain wants first and foremost for all political prisoners to be released."
The full English translation is available after the jump.
ROBERTO MARTIN PEREZ: This is Roberto Martin Perez, Cuban political prisoner for 28 years.
The harsh reality is that millions of my fellow Cuban citizens are prisoners in their own country.
Despite this, our spirit remains resilient; and John McCain knows that Raul Castro is like his brother, a man that does almost anything to stay in power, violating the fundamental rights of Cubans.
Now, he allows them to use cell phones and computers, but at the same time, censors the right to speak.
While some support a dialogue with Raul Castro, John McCain believes we should support the courageous men and women who continue to stand up for freedom in Cuba.
Rather than resume relations with Raul Castro, John McCain wants first and foremost for all political prisoners to be released.
As someone who has survived the harsh conditions of the Vietnamese prisons, John McCain knows that freedom in Cuba won't be achieved with concessions to dictatorships.
JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.
ANNCR: Paid for by John McCain 2008.
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Give 'em hell, McNo!
Hell, no, we won't go!
And you damn kids get offa my lawn!
(shake jowels menacingly)
June 11, 2008 12:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Another 50 years of this policy, and we will have the Cuban regime right where we want 'em.
June 11, 2008 1:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
And I want a pony, Roberto, but it ain't happening.
June 11, 2008 2:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ater exhausting all points about Hillary, now TPMEC is peddling McCain talking points ?
How about more coverage of democratic nominee, Eric ?
June 11, 2008 2:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
You know, you can't keep this up for another 5 months, right? :)
June 11, 2008 7:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
I know. If Greg & Eric continue to undermine democratic party's nominee's cause (this post is a perfect example of that undermining since it is all about McCain without juxtaposing Obama's views), may it is time look for other blogs for real democratic news.
June 11, 2008 8:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
See, I take it the other way around: TPM respects our intelligence enough to not think that posting Republican talking points (this is called Talking Points Memo, remember?) is going to influence us the way the Republicans want to influence us. Rather, it lets us know what "the other side" is saying. In order to combat their talking points, we first need to know what they are.
June 11, 2008 8:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
The idea that reporting what the McCain campaign is saying is evidence of some kind of bias is ludicrous. If you want a site where you hear nothing about what the other side is saying unless it's carefully packaged to tell you what's wrong with it, go hang out on a campaign site. I want to know what they're saying so I can be prepared to respond to it. This is a political news and discussion site, not a cheerleading site, and this is political news.
June 11, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's official, TPM is now too Right-wing for the Obamanauts! This is hillarious!
June 11, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wonder if his fall-back plan includes re-kidnapping Elian Gonzales??
June 11, 2008 3:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Guys if you're seeking and want more objective forum on Obama, various polls and statistics about the race, you should consider FiveThirdyEight.com site.
June 11, 2008 5:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
I expect this is less ambiguous in the original Spanish but:
sounds like he is saying Raul is is like McCain's brother. It took me three reads to get that they meant Fidel.nieddu, if you're going to use the comment section to post off-topic plugs for another blog, you might want to learn how to include a link, and how to spell 'thirty'.
June 11, 2008 6:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
FiveThirtyEight isn't really a TPM competitor. I hope it's a TPM source though. It's a polling analysis / horserace tracker site -- the best there is IMHO. But it's a totally different animal than TPM or TPMEC and yes, OT.
June 11, 2008 8:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the funny thing---some of those "courageous men and women" are in favor of discussions:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90259938
June 11, 2008 7:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Isolating the Castro regime plays into its hands. The remaining professionals in our State Department must know doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is madness. Lets face it, the only reason America continues to isolate Cuba is to placate a few old men in Miami.
With other states in play, I say it is time for a new common sense foreign policy approach to Cuba. Do with Cuba what we did with China. Open Cuba up to full throated American capitalism and culture. I bet a lot of younger Cuban Americans agree with me.
What do we have to lose?
June 11, 2008 8:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not to be too tea-leaf-y, but if McCain's spending money in June advertising to Cubanos, who've been automatic Repub votes for decades, isn't that a sign of vulnerability.
It sounds like they think Obama's Miami speech, esp. his support for remittances, was effective in that community, and needs a response.
June 11, 2008 8:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Possibly, however, based on everything else that the mcbush campaign has been doing, it seems like they are flailing all over the place already after a 3 month head start and with 5 months to go. They have no message and they are doing scatter shot things that make no sense. There is no cohesive strategy in evidence by their conduct. It is eerily familiar, almost like groundhog day when you think about it. Wow, obama has such an incredible organization and is such a great campaigner and candidate that he immediately befuddles the opposition and puts them on their heels. Go obama!
June 11, 2008 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nice to have yet another example that McCain intends to continue the Bush diplomatic policy of "you give us everything we want, and then we'll talk."
June 11, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Cuban population in Florida is changing...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-rosenberg/emun-nuevo-diaem-in-flori_b_102914.html
Lets see how far this ad will get McCain now.
June 12, 2008 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink