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McCain Ad: Obama Isn't There For The Troops Unless Cameras Are Around

The McCain campaign has this brutal new attack ad against Barack Obama, making the blatantly false charge that he doesn't care about the troops unless there are cameras around:

"And now, he made time to go to the gym, but cancelled a visit with wounded troops," the announcer says. "Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras."

"John McCain is always there for our troops."

As we reported yesterday, the Pentagon told Obama that the issue here was not that he couldn't bring cameras, but that he only had campaign staff with him and not Senate staffers. And since the Pentagon didn't tell him this until he had already embarked on his trip, it was too late for him to do anything.


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It's important to point out that this ad appears to be an attempt to capitalize on the new viral e-mail smear.

All in all, very Swiftboat-ish: deceitful, dishonorable and cowardly.

You know, at least Bush wasn't a hypocrite...

Yep. I've already received that email twice.

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That email has been debunked and the soldier who wrote it has retracted it. I think he's really in trouble because politiciking while in uniform is a no-no.

Oh thats a very big no-no. I can't believe anyone in uniform would be stupid enough to do such a thing. I predict this, along with that ad will mean a very bad week for John McCain.

Yes. Very sad that McCain would stoop to using such trumped up information to further his election cause. This from the guy who professes such loyalty to troops. This places McCain in the same area as bottom river cleaners who eat you know what. Who would have thought that the John McCain, war hero, would stoop to making certain some young soldier would get in a heep of trouble just to further his hateful campaign. One only has to wonder what despicable thing McCain will attempt just to further his campaign. Sad, sad that McCain has totally lost all moral authority. using a kid like this - beyond the pale.

It' not even really very Swiftboating because it's coming from the campaign itself, not some outside group!!!!

that is true, bush wasn't a hypocrite. he had the decency to just lie


McCain’s SuperMarket Trip: Insiders Edition

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this email bullshit really pisses me off. Email has turned into a tool to smear people and it really sucks. You can't counter the argument because it's email and it goes out to god alone knows how many people.

Fucking piece of shit.

My sentiments exactly

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I sincerely hope that Obama's campaign is smarter than Kerry's was because it's time to take the attack to McCain and NOW!

If Obama believes that Americans are too smart to fall for this sh*t all over again, he needs to remember the last two elections.

As Siegelman said, "Rove's fingerprints are all over this."

PEACE

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Well it is - haven't you figured that out by now? This campaign is one of the most well run I've ever seen.

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Oh, the Obama campaign responded with a 'strongly-worded' press release that began by stating that John McCain is an honorable man. As long as they refuse to insult John McCain they're heading for a Dukakis finish.

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I kind of agree. It's fine to be above the fray, so to speak, but this ad has to be answered in some forceful way.

So far, the Obama campaign refuses to go negative. I think that's going to have to change.

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I like the "John McCain is an honorable man" riff...


"Yet John McCain says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man."

Yes!

I used to wonder why Obama would always call John McCain a "war hero." I mean, if he's said it once, he's said it 10,000 times. In every speech. Obama always describes McCain as a "war hero." And at first I thought, "does he really want to give that up like that? I mean, he's just handing McCain a freebie." I couldn't get why Obama's campaign would want to help with what seemed like "positive" branding - at least from McCain's point of view.

But I kept thinking about it, and I think it's a good tack. The media had clearly already decided that "John McCain = War Hero." Nothing Obama says is going to change that. If he even tries to go for McCain on that ground, he just opens himself to all sorts of attacks on the patriotism/ commander in chief/ military experience blah frah. So he keeps pushing the "War Hero" even further, keeps his own tone respectful, and lets McCain go on the attack. The cynicism of an ad like this does a lot to undermine McCain's "heroism," or any claim to patriotism, troop supporting, or "straight talk." And a lot of the "honor" of McSurge's heroey goodness just deflates when confronted with this or this or one of his other honorable acts...

McCain is such a cry-baby when it comes to criticism of his own failed military career. I am sorry, but losing three planes and spending a war in a POW camp does not make you Commander in chief material as his hagiography claims.

Where is the honor in signing up for military duty if you then goof off military academy partying and graduate last in your class? McCain's neglect put other's lives at risk beyond his own.

If McCain was a liberal, his Rovian chums would be claiming that he deliberately deserted, dishonorably abandoning his arms to the enemy to avoid service. Then we would have the Wolf Blitzers of the world asking if the questions are fair six times an hour.

Ditto

Ditto

Yep, Rove's advising McCain, alright.

But this is just the standard Beltway consultantocracy CW in action--go hyper-negative in the summer and drive up the opponents negatives, then go all sweetness and light and heroic after Labor Day.

The Rove flourish, of course, would be taking the negativity into the realm of accusations of treason.

You're right. This has the stink of Rove all over it.

If McCain is so 'country first', then why has he done nothing to arrest Karl Rove and Osama bin Laden, allowing them to spew their hateful propoganda to the rest of the world?

The fact that both of those men walk free speaks volumes about just how bad his candidacy is, even setting aside the fact Rove is still advising Republicans.

After watching that ad, all I can think to say is that IT IS SOOOOO ON!

It is a very small ad buy, only in Denver, D.C., and Harrisburg, but that's all it takes, as the 24hour news culture will do the rest. The ad will be discussed on the Sunday morning news shows and shown repeatedly on the Monday cable-news-circus. The news anchors will pretend as if this is a serious matter to be debated, the scroll at the bottom of the tv screen will bear a question of "Obama stubs the troops?", and the talking-heads will argue over each other as to whether Obama snubbed or didn't snub. And then Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will poke fun at how ridiculous the accusation is and how asinine the media is. And depending on whether the story gathers legs via blog outrage and radio discussion, we'll rinse, lather, and repeat on Tuesday or wait for the next republican attack ad to do it all over again.

You've described it exactly. It's the same movie, over and over. They are airing it on television something like TWICE. It's media bait, pure and simple.


And will the media actually expose it for the lie that it is? Of course not. Wonderful media bias there.

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Obama's staff screwed up. Obama could have left the campaign staff, along with the reporters off the base and had a private visit with the troops. He didn't need his Senate staff with him to do that.
Instead McMaverick's team runs crap like this and Dems have to waste 2 days trying to get the real message out.

You mean McDesperado. :)

Even landing the campaign plane there could have been a problem. They tried to err on the side of caution, to avoid any appearance of impropriety, but by that point, it was no win either way.


You're absolutely right, listening to the Pentagon was a mistake. I hope Obama has learned his lesson.

I disagree. This whole issue appears to be manufactured with the support of the Bush White House.

That was the mistake. He should have ignored the Pentagon's request.

I disagree. They told him no, so what was he going to do, insist? Then McCain would have said Obama will not listen to the commanders 'on the ground' and demanded to see the troops for his own gain. This is a no brainer, and Obama did what was asked of him. He followed the rules, the only error was the Pentagon's dragging their feet and not telling him until the last day. Easily answered, not a big deal and no one will believe it is unless they want to in the first place. We had two days of the troops mobbing him, so that is out there too for everyone to see, which they did.

Nailed it.

Thank you.

damn if you do, damn if you don't............

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Not if you expose the hypocrisy in McCain's suggestion to defy the pentagon.

Damned if you do, indeed, damned if you don't remains an open question.

They need to have an add with Jim Webb stating how supportive of the troops John was during the GI Bill.

Let's nip this crap in the bud now. Obama had NO intention of ever bringing cameras in to meet the troops. This was about the Pentagon suggesting that given the nature of his trip, it could be seen as politicizing the wounded. He didn't take cameras with him when he visited soliders at Walter Reed. Nor in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he called several wounded soliders in the alternative.

Just making sure the facts are out there.

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Wait a minutes, didn't the military prevent Obama from visiting injured soldiers in his recent trip because he had campaign staff, instead of his Senate staff.

The big whigs at the Pentagon cannot afford an Obama presidency.

tb

I'm joining this discussion a bit late, but can't even allow myself the time to read each comment to the end to see if anyone has responded yet to your query: "Wait a minutes, didn't the military prevent Obama from visiting injured soldiers in his recent trip because he had campaign staff, instead of his Senate staff."

That's the point! They waited to advise him of this rule until his senate staff left to go back to the U.S. If this kind of sandbagging had existed in New Orleans, we could have kept the f'n levees from failing....


I wish they'd run an ad with his incoherent ramblings about the definition of a "surge" in the supermarket aisle, but they won't. Or one delineating all the "gaffes" he's made recently, but again, they won't.

Hopefully someone is working on a rebuttal now, even as they may still be in the air. We'll need a response in the morning.

Maybe, oh hope of hope, Americans aren't THAT fucking stupid this time? Maybe, because this is so transparent in its disgustingness, pandering, and mudslinging, American's won't buy into it? I hope.

Expect a lame-ass mellow rebuttal from the Obama camp. "John McCain isn't playing nice anymore and maybe needs a time out..."

But then again, I think the McCain people are hoping Obama responds and makes this a big issue. If Obama doesn't respond this small buy goes away, however if he responds then it could blow up and this small buy could pay off 10-fold, if not more.

I am afraid that Kaneblues has it right, though. Laura Ingraham and Bill O'Reilly will make the "small ad buy" into a national one -- for free -- by discussing this bullshit over and over again on their respective propaganda hours.

No matter who the Demcratic nominee was, we knew the negative attacks were coming. Even the media knew, as they told us repeatedly throughout the primaries.

The fact that McCain is going so negative so early tells me that his campaign doesn't like the polling numbers they're getting. What we are seeing is McCain's version of the kitchen-sink strategy.

Sure, democrats could throw a hissy fit, but at this point it's to Obama's advantage to take the high road. To get down in the mud with McCain at this stage is exactly what republicans want. They would much rather fight all the way to November than discuss and debate the issues. Look at their candidate and look at ours. Republicans want nothing to do with debating Obama on the issues. They will do all they can to take Change you can believe in and turn it into politics as usual.

Instead of throwing a hissy fit, the Obama campaign should make a calm and brief statement. They should point out Obama's record of supporting the troops, and publicly remind McCain that politicizing our troops in a time of war does a disservice to our troops and their families. Taking the high road allows Obama to present himself as presidential while continuing to represent change, and it adds fuel to the fire of McCain being angry and desperate.

My sentiments exactly

This is BLATANTLY dishonest! What the hell happened to running a clean campaign? This is just WRONG.

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The Obama team needs to have a very STRONG counter ad to this, perhaps even use Chuck Hagel in it.

I have no doubt that will be done. They have been very savvy with their strategy, and I don't think we need to react to every ad. This ad is just stupid, and my son saw one in NYC which he said came across as stupid also.

Well, glad to hear the McCain campaign is stupid enough to spend money on ads in NYC!

agreed if the media do their job there would be no reason for obama to send respond ad, hopefully this will backfire on mcslime.. i must admit i'm no fan of andrea mitchell but she spoke up for obama on morning joe..........

Obama doesn't need to respond to this ad directly. A simple public statement (which I guess they've already made) that McCain's attacks are dishonest, then a whole bunch of ads building in footage from the trip---the crowds, Obama meeting foreign leaders, and of course hanging out with troops who really like him. Just make McCain's attacks look like the ridiculous, desperate lies they are, without even dignifying them with a direct response.

Good take quinn.
I agree.

Thanks. As I think about it, though, I'm not sure he should use footage with the troops in ads. Would that be perceived as "politicizing their mission"? I don't know....

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Worked real well for Kerry.

Obama Campaign response:

John McCain is an honorable man who is running an increasingly dishonorable campaign," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor in an email to reporters Saturday evening, adding: "Senator McCain knows full well that Senator Obama strongly supports and honors our troops, which is what makes this attack so disingenuous. Senator Obama was honored to meet with our men and women in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan this week and has visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed numerous times. This politicization of our soldiers is exactly what Senator Obama sought to avoid, and it's not worthy of Senator McCain or the 'civil' campaign he claimed he would run.

The Obama campaign also sent along an excerpt from the Congressional Record meant to embarrass McCain for his tactics. In a floor speech from May 2007, the Arizona Repulbican said:

"How can we possibly find honor in using the fate of our servicemen to score political advantage in Washington? There is no pride to be had in such efforts. We are at war, a hard and challenging war, and we do no service for the best of us-those who fight and risk all on our behalf-by playing politics with their service."

Finally Jack Reed has weighed in on the issue -

I was with Senator Obama last week as we met privately with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Obama listened to their concerns and expressed his gratitude for their service without press or fanfare. He cares for our troops deeply and has worked hard to give them not only the resources they need, but also honor their service with a clearly defined mission and by providing them with the support they have earned when they come home. And just as Senator McCain's support of President Bush's veto of funding for our troops doesn't mean he does not support them, neither does Senator Obama's insistence that we not give George Bush a blank check.

Time for Obama to take out the heavy lumber, and lay out all the votes that McCain has cast against Veterans benefits.

Not sure why, but I don't see this sticking for some reason. I might be alone on this one. "He disrespected the troops" seems like too broad a charge, kinda like the "what will I tell my kids?!?" line of attack. And the "he loves the camera too much" stuff is vague and played out too. He's running for President, of course there are cameras everywhere.

We'll see... I hope I'm right that it fizzles.

I think you are absolutely right.

Seriously, if there was absolutely no response by the Obama campaign, then maybe, just maybe, this attack ad would take on some life.
But the Obama campaign has swatted it down as disingenous and ridiculous, which it is.
And any quasi-objective observer, or even corporate media talking-head would agree.

Yep, this sounds right to me. I think by this time next week we'll see Obama taking back the narrative of the campaign, and in retrospect this will look like a flimsy attempt to change the subject and distract from the huge success of Obama's trip. It's nice to come here and read comments that help me think this stuff through.

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There was no way Obama could win this one because the brass were out to make things tough on him. The senate staff/campaign staff conflict was an invented, on the spot, excuse. If it hadn't been that, it would have been something else. This was the same kind of crap as not letting the foreign service staff watch him speak. The administration is stacking the deck against him.

This is ad is terrible, man sorry guys I cant get worked up over such a piss poor ad. The maroons in the Mccain ad war room put togetheran ad going after Obama's supposed diss of the troops and they used footage of him in a gym full of troops to do it? Lmao in the famed words of that Guiness campaign BRILLIANT!

I don't know what the proper response should be, but whining about how unfair this ad is is not going to do.

I don't think going negative will work either, because the Corporate Media will simply spin it as attacking his PATHETIC war record.

I guess it is time he went national with the facts and calls out McStain to explain himself. The ad will get national coverage, so there is no damage to bringing the topic up.

Come the fuck on, people. Instead of "ooh, this is so mean" do 2 seconds of work and get the rebuttal out there:

Because of the logistical impossibility of visiting the Landstuhl hospital after his long-planned visit was suddenly questionably denied by a military bureaucrat, Obama made phone calls to talk to some of the soldiers privately instead. In the United States Senate, Obama has been a vociferous fighter for veterans' rights in housing, medical care, employment and their family situation as well as working for the well-being of current active-duty soldiers and their families in the form of, most recently, the G.I. Bill that John McCain had the unmitigated balls to oppose while calling the troops his friends.

In a recent piece about McCain's campaign, a republican strategist (I forget who it was) observed that McCain's quest was hopeless "unless they take (Obama)out"

Looks like they got the message.

Yep. Kitchen-Sink Knee-Capping time from Mr. Ethics, John W. McSame.

You know, all you have to do to counter this is bring up Jim Webb's bill, easy stuff. I actually think this ad is over the top, and therefore, silly, i.e., the gym, (with the troops watching). You can't tell they are troops, but it is obvious it is out of context. He hadn't been to Iraq in years makes it sound like a vacation destination. Finally, McCain at the end just sounds old. Very old.

It is the economy, this is all fluff, Obama succeeded with international success and helped waylay the experience noise, and where to go from here? Health care, keeping jobs in the U.S., creating news jobs through innovative issues such as global warming / renewable energy, helping people save their homes due to foreclosures, etc.

McCain cannot fight these and win. This ad is over before it has started, and McCain looks like a small bitter man with nothing to add to the conversation.

"John McCain is always there for our troops." ....

Did John McCain support Jim Webb's GI Bill????


Some ideas for response ads:
"What happened to John McCain?"
The ad could contrast McCain's position pre-presidential election, with his current
positions
Or showing him and Pres. Bush parroting the same talking points on the surge/time horizons and asking "What happened to straight talk?"

And of course always ending with the damning "do you have an opinion on that? - McCain staring for five secsonds - fade out..

Only an idiot will believe that ad.

The narrator didn't even sound sincere.

Exactly. And McCain at the end sounded like they woke him up to say he approved the ad.

Well this topic is getting play on the yahoo main page with McCain personally chiming in saying if he wanted to meet injured troops and was told he could not there would have been "a seismic event".

Hmm...wish John McCain would have taken such a stance and supported the GI Bill.

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A "seismic event," huh?

So Grampy McSame would've blown a gasket, creating an international incident by defying the Pentagon while overseas, politicizing "the troops" in the process.

Imagine the furor if Obama dared to defy the Pentagon while abroad. Obama acted wisely throughout an overseas trip that has been nothing less than a smashing success, leaving the punditocracy groping for ways to construct this race as a legitimate contest.

But its possibly the most serious race of my lifetime and quite competitive. We must take bs like this seriously, using McCain's depraved tactics as data points to be deployed by well placed, well organized surrogates that will turn throw the old man's crap back in his face. It isn't clear that the Obama campaign gets how to dispatch a reserve army of important supporters to hammer away with effective, repetitive, meaningful, yet easily accessible messages.

McCain has given Obama an opening here. Obama's surrogates should call out the dottering hypocrite for his lack of dignity, question his temperament, and further expose the duplicity inherent in McCain's candidacy, again and again and again.


Yeah, in his shorts, maybe...

What is interesting is the response that will come in less than 24 hours. The Obama camp has been quick and effective in its responses and John McCain is wide open on this issue.

UPDATE: Rhode Island Democrat Sen. Jack Reed responds to McCain's ad:

I was with Senator Obama last week as we met privately with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Obama listened to their concerns and expressed his gratitude for their service without press or fanfare. He cares for our troops deeply and has worked hard to give them not only the resources they need, but also honor their service with a clearly defined mission and by providing them with the support they have earned when they come home. And just as Senator McCain's support of President Bush's veto of funding for our troops doesn't mean he does not support them, neither does Senator Obama's insistence that we not give George Bush a blank check.

This guy is such a loser, Cindy McMoneybags was going to go on a Navy Craft- but got denied by the Pentagon- what about her JOhnny? Does she not care about the troops?

Yawn. This is lame ad that isn't even worth the response from the Obama campaign. McShame is a loser and we all know it.

NO, this add requires a response in less than 24 hours. Obama can not let himself be swift boated. If John wants to take this road, than he will need to come to grips with his vote against and outright opposition to veterans benefits and the GI Bill.

The best way for Obama to counter this attack is to not get drawn into it. McKnowsNoShame has only been able to attack the narative dictated by Obama this week. So, move the narrative on to the more relavent subjects of the economy, energy and environment and we'll see if McShameless can spin the surge into those topics.

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This is a distraction. Let McCain own war. Don't play the game in their territory. Obama's bigger problem is that he's not connecting with Americans on the economy and issues at home. Make war a cost not a benefit.

I just posted a message on McLames Youtube page blasting his new ad, you should see the response i'm getting from the McLame 'nuts.'...lol.

I see that McCain doesn't filter his comments for his Youtube videos. I just posted a nice scathing remark about his video too.

I guess a few wingnuts will eat this ad up but I think the vast majority of the public will simply be left with the impression that McCain is a bitter, angry old man. The ad is so lame you would kind of expect to see it as one of the fake commercials on Saturday Night Live.

Obama practices a kind of political jujitsu. He gets under the skin of opponents and their increasingly desparate attacks bounce off him and land on the attacker. It happened to Alan Keyes, it did to Clinton and it will to a hot-head like McCain. McCain is going to blow his lid at some point in this election and it won't be pretty.

McCain blowing his lid will be a beautiful thing!

McCain's attacks are so over the top they will only resonate with the most rabid segment of the Republican base, people who wouldn't vote for a Democrat if their lives depended on it.

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Obama team needs to counter attack with an ad showing that McCain is politicizing our troops and how dishonorable he is by doing this.

It should be a strong counterattack ad.

Maritza,

I understand what you're saying, but the ad is so shameless and pathetic it doesn't even warrant a response. We know who really loves the troops and its not McCorpse.

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Obama needs to get his messaging together.

His campaign rebuts McCain with good ideas but doesn't hammer away, turning the attack against the attacker, taking control of the "narrative."

A response is needed. I am tired of the swift boat crap and it won't end if you don't stand up for yourself.

The swift boating won't end until the election. If Obama wins, it won't end until the election in 2012. Republican candidates can't run on substance, they don't have any.

Despite the opinion of many Hillary supporters, Obama has taken the high road all along. It would be a mistake to stoop to McCain's level.

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Obama could effectively deploy surrogates in response to this tripe and, in a reasonable yet accessible and polite way, turn McCain's attacks against him.

This doesn't mean stooping to McCain's level. Engaging and taking control of a discussion that, no matter how depraved, will command much attention is a necessity of the highest order.

Obama could effectively deploy surrogates in response to this tripe and, in a reasonable yet accessible and polite way, turn McCain's attacks against him.

The Obama campaign tends to choose their battles carefully. They might give this ad a day or two to see if it gains any traction. If it warrants, I am certain they'll respond. Maybe the only smart thing McCain has done is release this on a Saturday, since the Sunday talking heads will undoubtedly be pushing his narrative tomorrow.

Obama has done a good job so far of not allowing his opponent to define him, although this is due in part to the amateurish manner in which the McCain campaign has been managed to date.

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Problem is, Ratfood (lovely name), I used to think the American people collectively had good sense but then they re-elected Bush. Now I see that the old Swift boat philosophy is coming back and I know people who are drinking the Kool aid....college educated people who can't critically think their way out of a paper bag.

Why are we bothering to send all our kids to college when they aren't learning how to think there???? There are many who still believe Obama is Muslim and that he isn't patriotic. They ought to have their IQ's tested and then their ability to reason assessed. I am a retired college professor and actually know many students that have had to leave our nursing program after getting decent grades before coming to us because they actually couldn't think beyond yes and no answers. Trust me, you don't want those folks at your bedside if you want to live to go home! We also don't want politicians who can't think to drive us deeper into the hole we're in. I think Obama stands a better chance, way better than Mc Cain who will surround himself with better people, hopefully, more ethical, new ideas, new paradigms and a clearer eye on the middle class which has slowly been decimated since Reagan.

I'm voting for the black guy.

Ditto.

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Great comment! I've read this before (from you or others?), and like good manners, it may always be appropriate!

Politicizing injured troops. Real nice. The GOP & McCain are completely scrupulous.

I think you mean SCREW-pulous.

this is disgusting. i sent it to all my republican friends (the reasonable ones) and i know they'll find this just as distasteful. new week, new lows for this clown. does he have no honor?

Reasonable Republicans? Talk about cognitive dissonance...

Why didn't he just visit the injured troops without the cameras? Nevertheless, politicizing injured troops ... Real nice. The GOP & McCain are completely scrupulous.

For about the gazillionth time:

The press were never going to take part in this visit. The Pentagon called and said they uncomfortable with him coming to the base with campaign aides and on campaign money. So he decided not to go out of concern that it would be viewed as a campaign event. Instead, he called wounded troops and talked to them over the phone.

The whole thing about cameras is a blatant, vicious lie.

Yeah, and the Kerry Swiftboating was too over-the-top ridiculous to ever stick either...

I don't recall anyone arguing that.
It was that there was no response to it that was the trouble, especially when you have vets saying on the commercial that Kerry was basically a coward. This only has a voice over.

But this vid is only part of a larger attack. Here's a quote form the Yahoo! article -

Obama was flying from London to Chicago on Saturday when the McCain campaign issued a statement from Joe Repya, a retired Army colonel who said Obama had broken a commitment to visit the wounded Americans, "instead flitting from one European capital to the next."

"Several explanations were offered, none was convincing and each was at odds with the statements of American military leaders in Germany and Washington," Repya said. "For a young man so apt at playing president, Barack Obama badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks. Visits with world leaders and speeches to cheering Europeans shouldn't be a substitute for comforting injured American heroes."

BAH! I blew the block quote. It's all supposed to be quoted.

Politico has an article on that retired colonel's blog. Apparently there's some racist stuff on there...

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Exactly!

If this shit isn't taken seriously it will cost Obama the presidency.

We need to hammer away at McCain, using ads like this, his endless lies and other pathetic distortions to brand the old man the shallow, crass, intemperate warmonger he is and make it stick.

This ad is bullshit.
And it comes across as bullshit, loud and clear.

Absolutely.

I've been meaning to start my general election donating. Visa card, come out of your wallety lair!

And you can expect this line of attack to dominate the Sunday shows tomorrow, rather than Obama's ME/Europe Tour. McCain knew they had to go over-the-top to wrest away positive coverage.

No way.
Are you kidding me?
The first AA candidate for President gets back home from his world tour, and a slap-dash attack ad played in two media markets becomes the top story on the Sunday news?
Maybe on Glenn Beck or Faux Noise, but no where else.
You're too paranoid Jonze.
Hey no one wants a Kerry repeat, but this attack line or attack ad ain't gonna lead to it.

The ad is lame, but Karl knows that. The Kerry take-the-high-road approach may not work here. It's time to hit back hard. If they bring a knife, you bring a gun.

We absolutely cannot afford another summer of 2004.

Here's how you respond. You call Colin Powell (forgive him for his sins at the UN; he's too valuable), and let him know that his choice is now clear, and it's time to endorse. Call a major press conference for Monday morning, and line up a series of generals and Iraq vets who support Obama, and let Powell take the podium.

McCain would be toast.

I admit, a nice image. Who knows? The Clintons pushed the Kennedys to an endorsement, maybe McCain will push Powell.

I just cant get that concerned over this...seriously Mccain's campaign is unhinged, grossly negative ads this early? I realize they want to establish a message but something tells me Obama's folsk saw this coming perhaps not specifically with this but nonetheless a similiar tact. They will respond and pivot to the economy where Mccain's weaknesses will become more an dmore evident.

The McCain camp keeps baiting Obama to go negative because that's the only way they can achieve parity and drag him down to the level of his message-less attack campaign. Obama should rebut the ad, as they already have, and move back onto their positive message for America.

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I think you're on to something, cute green amphibian...

How about a creepy voice-over ad about how McCain left his severely injured wife for a young rich woman (lying about the timing of it in his book, at least if you believe his divorse papers), featuring some choice quotes from Ross Perot (who paid for Carol McCain's medical treatment) such as this one:

McCain is the classic opportunist. He’s always reaching for attention and glory. After he came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona. And the rest is history.


Don't you really think this was a cooked up charade between the Bush DoD and McCain? It smacks of a one two punch set-up.

They're too inept to be that coordinated. McCain's team wasn't the only group suffering watching Obama's trip this week -- the WH was as well. It must make them all a bit nuts to see a politician so well received when Bush's approval is in the cellar. And who knows the level of politics even going on between Obama's retired general, who was supposed to be setting the whole thing up, and the Pentagon, where he used to work. This whole thing makes the general look ineffectual within Team Obama, I'm sure.

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A counteract ad should attack McCain on using the troops for political purposes to try and win an election.

That will go to McCain's character.

Also, the Obama campaign should send the counterattack ad to its 2 million online donors and ask for donations to counteract the McCain camp trying to swiftboat Obama.

The Obama campaign could raise MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of dollars on their counterattack ad.

They could raise a $100 million on such an ad because it would REALLY fire up his donors.

They could title the email "The swiftboating has begun..."

Unless they want to save that claim for when McCain and Co bring up Rev. Wright. You know that's coming sooner or later, but probably closer to Nov. 4th.

Sad for McBushSame...He is such a loser...This will fireback...

Time for Obama's surrogate to go after him...

I find the actual commercial pretty stupid actually, more sophomoric than anything else.

But if you want to call these people out on it, get the people who created it on MSNBC for an interview, or CNN.

I would like to see Obama put John Kerry front and center on this ad. Something like "I know swift boating when I see it. It was ugly in 2004 and it's even uglier when coming from John McCain."

Good (and Kerry would surely do it if asked). But carries risks because -- unfairly -- Kerry has become a symbol of ineffectual counterpunching. How about Hagel? Powell?

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How 'bout this for not supporting our troops.

All those who decided to attack a country NOT involved with 9/11

All those who voted to send troops to their death and destruction without even bothering to look at the evidence...

All those who allowed the military and VA hospitals to go to utter demise because it wasn't important enough to support the past veterans who lost so much during the preceding wars...

All those who are voting to keep the military budget high because their relatives and friends are making fortunes...

All those who pass by the homeless veterans without offering them a place to stay and help them get on their feet..

Perhaps we need to ask the bigmouths in Washington just how many veterans they have taken into their homes to help them through some crises...

Yeah, right...


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Yep when they send the counterattack ad to the 2 million donors, they should have John Kerry in the email introducing the ad saying that the McCain camp is trying to Cain camp from swiftboating Obama.

He could say please donate $5, $10, $25 or more to help us run this ad and stop McCain from swiftboating Obama.

I really think if they did this they could raise $100 million.

This would really FIRE UP Obama's supporters. Obama supporters are really energized by Obama. This will fire them up more.

The swiftboating has begun.

It's time to take off the gloves.

Maybe this worked four years ago, but NOT THIS TIME.

McCain: Himself First

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Also, Obama should have Hagel and Reid go on all the shows on Monday BLASTING McCain.

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I wouldn't use John Kerry in the ad but Reid or Hagel. However, I would use John Kerry in the email to the 2 million donors saying that McCain is trying to swiftboat Obama and please donate.

Also, if there was ever a time that Colin Powell was going to endorse Obama, now is the time. He could do it on Monday.

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I made a video in response to this earlier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StvCkAFKu4w

great job..................

Yes, it is logically ridiculous for McCain to say that Obama isn't supporting the troops however McCain needed this ad for one simple reason: the troops are supporting Obama.

What a crappy ad. :(

I wonder if they would have let Obama in on his own without his staff? If so that would have been better than not going in at all. They had to know he'd get blasted for it.

What a McPrick! He should just rent the bloody Grimace suit and be done with it.

Watching McLaughlin Group

Q. One word answer: how was Obama's tight-rope-trip abroad?

A. Five unanimous votes: Flawless.

Pax,
M.

Loooks that the attack will continue tomorrow in McCain's interview in "This Week":

“If I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn’t visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event.”

Disobeying the Pentagon for his own benefit...
...that's really honorable, right?

McCain: Himself First

The source of the quote is The Page & ABC blogs.

Check it out if you don't believe me.

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Obama's surrogates should call McCain's judgment into question, pointing out his recommendation to disobey the pentagon while abroad as evidence of his uneven temper.


This is why the McCain campaign did this ad. There was no way that they could let pictures of Obama being adored by the troops in Iraq dominate the Sunday talk.

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That's just ridiculous. Landstuhl, Germany is over 400 miles away from Berlin and has no major airport aside from the military base (Frankfurt is the closest, and that's still 80 miles away). If the DoD informed Obama that he couldn't bring campaign staff or press on base, then landing his plane recently refitted with his O logo there wasn't exactly an option, and there was zero possibility of figuring something else out with less than a day's notice.

Looks like McCain is running Bush's 3rd campaign.

I think Obama should have just said, "Okay, then forget the cameras and the staff, I want to go in and see these guys on my own."

That way he would have looked like a hero and the Pentagon would have had egg on its face.

I wouldn't worry about that. The important thing is to punish the Republicans early and often by showing and talking about what they don't want shown and talked about: the troops supporting Obama.

i think the obama ampaign will take care of mcc once they settle back in the states. meanwhile, enjoy this piece of good news. it is the new electorial map

mcc's state of AZ isn't for him!!!

http://www.pollster.com/polls/2008president/

i think the obama campaign will take care of mcc once they settle back in the states. meanwhile, enjoy this piece of good news. it is the new electorial map

mcc's state of AZ isn't for him!!!

http://www.pollster.com/polls/2008president/

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I'm worried this is part of the Rovian tactic of chipping away bit by bit with attacks here and there and building a meme of Obama's "empty-suited vanity". We pooh-pooh this for the distorting sh*t-stirring it is but will it work on "small-town" America, I can't honestly say. Smears work because they stick, even if they were strongly rebutted. How could a Purple Heart lose against a Draft Dodger over rumor-mongering and a meticulously constructed ridiculous "effete elite Euro" cartoon effigy of Kerry, but it did happen. Americans can't be this stupid, right? But the test of the pudding is in the tasting.

I'm not talking about rebuttals. Rebuttals exist in the realm of logic: this is politics. Make them pay for their disgusting behavior by proffering a successful Obama amidst the troops every time they bring up this nonsense. Make them fear to utter "Obama" and "troops" in the same sentence.

McCain's campaign is contemptible, but so his McCain. This sort of attack is no surprise from a man who has such a despicable personal history. It wholly bewilders me that this fumbling, mumbling senior citizen is considered qualified for the Presidency, much less the Senate. Obama's counterattack should be deft, swift, and determined or else he will appear soft and incapable of responding to the virulent lies that are yet to come.

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I mean, this country voted TWICE for Bush, amidst an unpopular war, low approval ratings, Enron, Abu Ghraib torture scandals, failure to capture Bin Laden, you name it.

In fairness, the Supreme Court elected him once and whether he even won the second time is a matter of dispute.

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True, so unless the margin of winning is beyond such shenanigans, it will happen again. McCain/Rove knows this, and their strategy is to chip away at this margin.

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Did anyone else notice that the "gym" photo in the ad was Barack Obama playing basketball with the troops in Kuwait?

what a dirty piece of shit

He should respond with McCain being against the GI Bill. If he wants to talk about "supporting the troops", bring it on:

http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/05/mccain-and-republicans-reward-troops-by.html

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Sorry, but Obama and his staff got completely outfoxed by McCain, the Pentagon, Bush, and of course Rove. They should have anticipated this kind of crap would happen, and the way around it would have been to plan in advance, with press releases announcing the plan (of course not the date), that the visit to the wounded troops would include Hagel and Reed, making Obama's visit simply part of a Congressional delegation visit, not a campaign visit. Doing it that way would mean that any last-minute Pentagon shenanigans would have affected three US Senators on a Congressional visit, not one Senator running for President.

Obama and his staff walked right into this one. And as ridiculous and trivial and stupid as McCain's ad is, it's no more so than the whole host of ads run against Michael Dukakis over Willie Horton and flag burning in 1988. The Dukakis campaign people were completely unprepared for that level of mud, got caught with their pants down repeatedly, and had no clue how to meaningfully respond. McCain obviously got this ad out quickly, and the only way to counter this is with ad buys in the same states McCain is buying in, with a coordinated aggressive PR assault on McCain bringing in people like Webb, Hagel, and others with military credibility to appear on television. Anyone who thinks that a single press release by Obama is going to come remotely close to countering the PR disaster this could become is in for disappointment. So far, there's no evidence I've seen that shows that Obama's campaign geniuses are any better prepared than Dukakis's were. Thinking that diffident counterpunching via high-minded written statements is going to beat the gutter-level GOP smear machine is incredibly naive.

I agree, bluestatedon. The Obama people definitely got outfoxed. It's time to bring in Carville or whoever the Democratic Rove is. I know that's not pretty, but the Republicans are very, very good at this. Look at how they chopped up Kerry, who was a bona fide combat veteran. And they are just beginning to crank it up with this ad.

It doesn't matter how stupid or infuriating these ads are. They're like the body punches in a boxing match, and they do take a toll after a while. Time to fight fire with fire.

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He got outfoxed in the same way Clinton outfoxed him. The Obama campaign now has permission to take the gloves off. Ask Hillary Clinton about his counterpunching ability. This was a major fuck up by the McCain campaign. The skinny guy with the funny name is going to hand McCain his old, decrepit, Depends wearing ass.

Pointing out that Obama is in good enough shape to get in the gym and ball probably wasn't the best strategery either. But McCain does have his man crush Bush to hug on if he's feeling a bit uptight.

I look forward to this next.

I disagree with your viewpoint. You seriously want the obama campaign to over analyze ever action in a paranoid way?

It is a campaign and this crap is unfortunately going to happen. What demonstrates abilities of the campaign is how they respond in the first 24 t5o 48 hours.

So far, the obama camp has done well. Getting surrogates who were there to comment. Now it is time to have an ad that counter punches the McCain camp for his hypocrisy.

carville and the clinton ilk are not needed or necessary

It wasn't that Dukakis didn't "meaningfully respond," he didn't respond at all.
Obama's campaign swatted this crap down as being craven and disingenuous.
When a jackass brays, you don't bray back.
You tell everyone, "look at this jackass."
Obama's campaign has handled this correctly. The last thing he should do is over-react.

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I disagree with you bluestatedon. The Obama campaign should hit back HARD on this with everything that they got.

All is NOT lost on this one.

I don't get the "woe is us" mentality. McCain is throwing the most obviously desperate hail Mary I've seen in a while. Punish him for it.

It is a desperate ploy but brace yourself, the Sunday morning McCain backers aka MSM will pretend it makes a valid point.

I don't think the reaction will be, "McCain has a point, Obama doesn't support the troops."
That is, after all, the message in the ad.

So, is he visiting the troops or not? I think this whole Europe trip ends up looking like a premature victory lap if he doesn't make at least as big a showing with the troops in the Middle East.

At least, that's the way the Rethugs will spin it. I just know it.

I am, sure the Obama campaign is more adroit than McCains. Within a few days, if not hours, they should have a rebuttal that will juxtapose Ace's whining and his (Obamas) adhereing to the rule and letter of law. That regardless. of the current administrations double standard, he will soldier on and work within the rules and consitution.

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Problem is, Obama is *not* hitting back hard enough. We know the routine/strategy, McCain runs a few ads but it gets picked up and amplified 1 million times by the echo chamber on air and on the net. It's a dirt cheap but effective "snowflakes" attack. Obama has to launch a big enough response in the same state such that the echo chamber would feel "obliged" to also state his response to show a modicum of the modest "fair and balance" fig leaf they pretend to hold. It has to be that when someone raises this fraudulent, libelous ad, they would also mention, even in a half-hearted way, Obama's answer.

The only comfort I get from this is that since it's not a 527, McCain's bloody fingerprints is all over it and will backfire on his carefully preserved mediated myth of a straight-talker.

FDL has posted a pretty funny spoof. Definitely worth a look.

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Qwerty,

The Obama campaign just landed in Chicago. Let's see what they are made of on Monday when people are paying attention.

Wahere's the Sargent first Calss when you need him?

The AP fully took the bait.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25866166/

The AP (biased as they have blatantly become) will always take the bait, as will the MSM. That doesn't mean it resonates with voters. This will be over before you can blink, and McCain sounds like a petulant child.

The AP also had this in the same article:

The McCain campaign's criticism came as it grappled for another day with the intense media attention focused on Obama's tour of the Middle East and Europe. The Arizona Republican had goaded Obama into visiting Iraq and Afghanistan, then watched as Obama's meetings with the leaders of those countries and Jordan, Israel, the Palestinians, Germany, France and Great Britain dominated the political news.

Yeah, it's got Rove's stink all over it. Just like the new word on everyone's lips is "presumptuous". Bob Cesca said he can see Rove sending an e-mail out to his media address book asking, "Is Barack Obama too presumptuous? Hmmm. Oink."

Well, it's time to go negative on McCain who didn't have the decency to refrain from attacking while Obama was overseas when he couldn't. Here is the ad:

Ask "Who supports the troops where it counts?" and then run down the litany of times that McCain has voted against funding for veterans and soldiers. Tag line: "Supporting the troops is more than a photo op." Or run a juxtaposition ad with Obama looking presidential in the Mid East while showing McCain being corrected by Lieberman over Shiite v. Sunni. Or remind voters that when McCain went to Europe in March, he didn't visit soldiers either, but skipped Germany altogether when Merkel said she was unavailable. Hit hard and then hit harder.

Sorry but the Obama campaign just got derailed. There's something wrong with this story and it's growing legs. If they Pentagon said no to the General why didn't Obama just go without him? If he was worried that the event might be criticized as being political he skipped visiting the troops to avoid criticism? I'm an Obama supporter but I'm telling you this is big trouble.

I couldn't agree more. The impression is all that matters, and the danger is that McCain will be able to frame the narrative. I think the next 48 hours are critical. MTP in the morning is going to seem a bit strange, because it was pre-taped in London so it may not capture the moment we are in now. Surrogates need to be get on point and be sent out. to the airwaves The message needs to be shifted away from this mess-up and may even require announcing the VP earlier than anticipated. The story is currently the top headline at both CNN and MSNBC websites. This isn't good, folks.

I couldn't disagree more.
Get into the gutter like a Chicken Little, and Obama diminishes himself.
Respond to it (that was the mistake of Kerry and Dukakis- not responding) but don't be an asshole like McCain.

I think the criticism rings hollow when for the first part of last week, nightly news had video of Obama meeting troops, shooting a three pointer in front of cheering troops and then being greeted like The Beatles at the Baghdad embassy(?).

Sure Barack stepped in it a bit, but in pushing this McCain is using the troops to score political points. McCain also comes off rather disingenuous in a statement he'll make tomorrow on one of the Sunday shows, where he says to paraphrase "If I wanted to see troops and somebody from the Pentagon told me I could not there would be a seismic event". The question bears couldn't McCain be meeting troops at the very minute he's whining on the television show?

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ROFLMAO - In. Your. Dreams!

Relax. Obama and his camp will manage this storm as they have other ones in the past. Don't lose faith. Give the team some time to respond. Say 48 hours.

"John McCain is always there for our troops."

Didnt he vote against giving our troops proper gear several times and voted against some war funding? hmmm.. not really "always" there.

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Of course.

It's now up to the Obama campaign to MAKE THAT POINT.

I'm still waiting.

To all those worrying or feeling like Obama got smacked, it is a non-starter. Maybe you will feel better by reading this great article about this week by Frank Rich. Well worth the time and you will feel a lot better.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/opinion/27rich.html?ex=1217736000&en=47f8ad4b4e1fe227&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Thanks, Amelie -- you're always a reliable source of perspective!

Rich's Money Quote (???)

McCain - Commander in Chief of The Surge

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Yep - that is a beauty of a quote.


While drama-queen commentators on television last week were busy building up false suspense about the Obama trip — will he make a world-class gaffe? will he have too large an audience in Germany? — few focused on the alarms that Mr. McCain’s behavior at home raise about his fitness to be president.

I always read Frank Rich and agree with him most of the time. His characterization of McCain in this column is spot on. Still, in the last paragraph he makes a passing reference to Obama's "vanity." Perhaps I'm missing something...

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This is absolutely disgusting. McCain has shown himself to be a dishonorable man. I don not understand why Obama camp are letting him get away with this. Obama and his surrogates need to start treating him as the dishonorable person that he is. I do not understand why democratic leaders are not coming out and pouncing on McCain when he makes these ridiculous statement. Can you imagine the deafning chorus that will be emanating from the right wing if Obama had come out and made a statement that McCain would rather loss a war than a political campaign. I dare say there will be a senate resolution tabled to censure Obama for such statement. I have this nauseating felling that we are looking at at Kerry redux. I hope to God to be disabused of this notion soon.

A few of reasons A)Hammering McCain will only rally the GOP base behind him B)I think Barack Obama is well aware that he cannot come off as the Angry Black Man. Such an image will hurt him more than this smear ever would and C)He wants to be post-partisan (as much as realistically possible) and attacking guns a'blazin will only make it harder to work across the aisle in the future. (of course he needs to worry about winning the election first things first, but I think he'd got a pretty good pulse on things)

Obama is running on what he is and what he wants to do, McCain is running on what Obama isn't and why Obama's ideas are wrong - McCain doesn't have a message or identity of his own and we're three mere months out from the election.

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I don't think Obama responding makes him an angry black man. The man has to defend himself and his campaign/supporters, because HE HASN'T WON YET. Defending yourself is a good thing when missiles are coming at you. You get to survive. He can become post-partisan AFTER he wins the election. You run in the election that you're in (including how it is) not in the one you wish you were running in.

He doesn't need to attack first like Hillary did, but he needs to respond as firmly and bull-dog like as she would of as the nominee.

Come on Obama campaign be tough. I'll be watching the next few days (hopefully, not too long) for a response (that's better than what the campaign gave).

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Obama campaign response:

"McCain is always there for our troops, except for when it comes to veterans' benefits. Maybe that's why he voted against Sen. Webb's bill to provide our troops with educational benefits, etc etc when they come home."

Kick the old geezer right in the nuts.

Please someone help us we can't do it ourselves
these are against the rules
troops are not to be used in this manner our lives depend on it...

these people are not thinking this is wrong, we are in harm way with the enemy...if they see us disrepected by our own mccain, think man think

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Who cares what people on TPM think. Whether you want to believe it or not, Republicans know how to make effective ads. They know how to rally the right demographics and they know how to go on the offensive.

Instead of focusing on the visceral and primal, Democrats make arguments that are too detailed to really sink in. There's been so many McCain gaffes, and Iraq flip-flops over the past two weeks, that I'm frankly SHOCKED that the Obama campaign has not capitalized on McCains incoherent foreign policy.

Where the F*#$%# is his staff? Why the F%#$% are they not on the offensive. If they can't make a big deal about the Maliki timetable, McCain's concession or McCain's flip flop on the Afghanistan troop increase I don't see WHAT they're going to attack McCain on.

Stop sitting on your asses, Obama people. This is your election to lose.

Easy answer, Obama followed the political protocol of leaving politics at the shores. That's what makes all of McCain's weak attacks so shameful. He was trying to strike when Obama couldn't respond without being called out. Now that he is back in the U.S. it is time to attack.

McCain should know about surrender, he is the only one in Congress that has ever surrendered to the enemy.

McCain will not ruin us and Obama will not save us.
McCain has experience and Obama has none.
Obama has charisma and McCain has none.

You're all a bunch of knuckleheads.

Reasonable, informed people shoud choose to not vote. To vote is to be complicit in the empowerment of one of these guys and neither should be president.

Well, I'll be sure to look for on the ballot in November since you know so much.

As sick of I am of McCain's dishonest and dishonorable attacks, not visiting the troops was monumental screw up by the Obama people. Saying it wasn't will only make it fatal.

No, see, the Pentagon wouldn't let him in. They waited until he was practically at their doorstep before saying "Oops, actually we can't let you in." Obama's hands were tied since his Senate staff was kind of thousands of miles away at the time. I don't know if they would have just let HIM in and no one else, but I doubt it.

Not Obama's fault, people.

I am looking forward to the foreign relations committe to have hearings with the State Department vis a vis their Policy towards Presidential Candidtes and the the Defense Appropriations commitee on their policies re: Congressional visits.

Obama should just say that the troops are already bogged in fighting an impossible war and he is not about to put them in a political war just because McCain-Rove-Republicans lack judgment.

hagel and reed will be on 'face the nation'

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not only is it swiftboat, but it's from the PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE!! He's not even trying to hide from the fact that he's impugning the character of a fellow US Senator.

John McCain is disgusting. For a man I used to have a bit of respect for, he's done.

Gross. Disgusting. John McCain. Just like Benedict Arnold, a disgraced American veteran.

That Pentagon spokesman has had it in for Obama for a while. Do you remember Obama telling the story about the Captain who was telling him about the number of troops and equipment they were supposed to get and didn't get it? That spokesmand was the one who put out a statement smacking Obama down; when they actually went and interviewed the Captain, he backed up Obama's story along with facts from the ground and the DoD had to backstep their smackdown. Now, considering the State Department telling staffers they couldn't attend an Obama rally because it would appear to be partisan, what the hell do you call it when the freaking Amabassador to Canada arranges McCain's campaign speech in Canada and attends the speech as well? Non-partisan? You decide.

And off we go!


July 26 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Barack Obama, pivoting to the U.S. economy after a nine-day trip abroad, said he is convening a meeting on the economy July 28 that will include former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

He is so kicking their butt.

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O yes he is.

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I just want the Obama campaign to go on the attack on McCain and the economy. They can use the "nation of whiners" comment in killer attack ads.


Time for Obama to turn loose some ex-military surrogates -- not to quibble about the reasons for canceling the hospital visit in Germany, but to call BU__SH__ on McScum's alleged support of the troops.

The voting record is clear, and it directly contradicts McScum's scurrilous lies about having "unanimous approval" from veterans organizations. Here's just one small example from Disabled American Veterans' legislative scorecard:

http://capwiz.com/dav/e4/cinfo/?id=157301

http://capwiz.com/dav/e4/cinfo/?id=157311

...hit 'em where it hurts!

LK

"An awkward unscientific lie can be almost as ineffeectual as the truth."
- Mark Twain

McSame is an OLD TROLL and disgusting idiot...nuff'said

This...is London.
And the great Murrow's spirit is buried here.
I'm sure he'd be for Obama, for he disdained that part of America that he knew was suspicious of learning and culture.
Western Europeans think the same way. They can't stand the provincial, hick attitudes in America and the dumb arguments that are made for incompetents like McCain---who seems to think that he and Bush are the only ones who can kill 4,000 American troops and a million Iraquis. Obama hasn't the experience to duplicate it, so they say.
Well, I'd say it's Obama in a cakewalk but then I remember that in 1932, with the country's falling apart and with 15 illion out of work, Hoover still got 16 million Depression votes, almost 40% of the total.
So there's a wacky tradition in your country that's perpetuated by those old familiar Republican favorites---narrow-mindedness and greed.
If Obama can overcome them he then is indeed something special.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today.

Let's remember what everybody thought about how brilliant the Clinton kitchen sink strategy was. The argument was that Obama could not respond properly beause to take off the gloves would force him to abandon the new politics approach. Well, he found a way to fight back without playing dirty and, as I recall, it worked out. Unlike the Clintons, who always sold themselves as tough people who could get things done, McCain has always basked in and benefited from the image of not being a typical politician. Well, anybody following 2008 closely, or the reality of McCain's career, knows that image was a crock. Never-the-less, it was an asset that he has now pretty much thrown away. As for Obama getting outfoxed, this was really a matter of amoral people being willing to abuse power. Even if he had gone to visit the troops, without cameras, McCain could have claimed he was playing politics with our wounded soliders when the Pentagon told him not to do so. I agree that Obama needs to respond, but he can do so in a positive way -- he's been there for the troops, supporting the Webb GI Bill of Rights, doing other things for them, even getting some people who are no longer active duty that he helped as a Senator to talk about it. We all know where Bush and McCain have been on helping the troops. Finally, unlike the Swiftboat attacks, which were delegated to a third party, this is something McCain is doing himself. It is possible Karl Rove, if he ever had a touch, is losing it. This is something to take seriously, but not something to panic about. And, the last thing Obama and his campaign want to do is to force stuff like this to make them change their game. In other words, this requies a tactical rather than a strategic adjustment. (Not that McCain would understand the difference).

I completely agree. There's a certain category of independent voter out there who is pretty vague on the issues, but pretty rigid about the abstract value of "honesty."

In the past, McCain has had some cred with those people, but when he pulls this kind of transparent BS -- not to mention various other gaffes and sophistries -- he spends some of that cred in an effort to slow Obama's momentum. He's burning up a limited resource, and he's doing it in late July.

McCain = Fucking Scumbag

There is still a 30% approval rating for Bush no matter what happens. It seems Bush would have to poison their pets to lose their support. Even then, they'd give him credit for not killing their whole family.

So it is important to remember that McCain wouldn't be doing this if he didn't think that there's another 25% that are listening.

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Bush = Dinsdale Pirahna

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For a long time the refrain on Bush has been if his lips are moving he is lying. The same now applies to McCain. He is moving his lips, therefore he is lying.

You know, if it was all about the cameras, why did Obama visit the wounded troops in the Green Zone in Baghdad. No cameras there. The argument is foolish but that doesn't stop McCain. That is how it is with stubborn old fools like McCain. They carry on to the point of looking foolish.

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You're in Dallas?

I'm in Dallas part of the year. I'm not there now, I'm in Taos, NM.

When I'm in Dallas I'm in Lakewood.

Hi. :)

Christ this one lousy and I do mean lousy ad and its in freaking July. This is all Mccain has? Seriously you guys need to settle down and have some dip. Obama will respond, and it will be composed, precise and clear. Mccain is on the defensive and is lashing out in all directions. The ad that has so many of you spooked...the idiots put an image of Obama in the ad shooting a basketball in a gym with the troops!!! Good ad my ass, Lee Atwater is doing Olga Korbut flips in his grave. All Mccain's ads thus far have been godawful and why this is getting so much blog time seems bizarre to me to say the least.

Every time McCain or his campaign has something to say, they question the morals, ethics or patriotism of Obama. Based on the issues, they lose so personal attacks are what they have left.

The Republican brand should have a warning label, it's poisonous!

It may be a small ad buy, but McCain still has some fans in the hopelessly liberal obama loving media.
From the AP...

"Obama's campaign called the accusation "wildly inappropriate." His spokesman has claimed that the visit to a military hospital in Germany was scrapped after the Pentagon raised concerns about political activity on a military base. Earlier, though, the campaign had said Obama decided the visit might be seen as inappropriate politicking. However, the Pentagon said the senator was never told not to visit."

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Fortunately, the Pentagon is already on the record - with their own statement - as having told him he couldn't visit with campaign staff.

They'll be walking this one back within a week's time, just like they had to walk back their lie about the soldier in Afghanistan who told Obama they weren't getting the supplies they need.

These guys aren't just liars; they're stupid liars who don't seem to realize that all of the stuff they try to lie about is stuck all over teh internets tubes for anyone to pull out and whack them with repeatedly over the head.

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However, the Pentagon said the senator was never told not to visit."

Fucking goddamn liars!

McCain has a great point. Obama didn't visit the troops.

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Because the Pentagon revoked his permission to do it.

Nice try.

Clearly you need a new name as a "truthseeker" you are not. Try "Liar" since it fits. And learn the difference between "truth" and "opinion", sport.

McCain has a great point. Obama didn't visit the troops.

Too bad you can't emulate him.

Your posts never have a point

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He didn't? What were all those pictures of him in Kuwait then?

You are so full of crap.

on 'face the nation' reed and hagel talked about how they didn't like that video....

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Which video, the McLame ad?

Good.

So where was McCain when the care at Walter Reed was going to hell? ALways there? Gimme a break!

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O but McLame loves the troops - to death. Just like all the Repugs. He wants to honor their service by getting more of them killed.

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But when I listen to Obama tell us that he's not bringing the troops home, he's just sending them to Afghanistan, I think maybe all of them ought to set up an infinitely recurring event to visit the wounded troops every Sunday afternoon forever. Are we ever going to have anyone run for President who doesn't believe war is a perpetual state of being?

BO live on CNN at 12 noon EST.

CNN Media Watch:

"Reliable Sources" didn't mention the ad at all. On contrast, when the New Yorker cover came out, they just jumped on it.

On "Late Edition", the McCain interview is taped and Obama speaks on the UNITY convention live.

For CNN TV, the ad doesn't exist yet.

I'm watching ABC, even George Will doesn't mention the ad.
They're all talking about Obama's trip, Maliki's endorsement, his meeting with Merkle, Brown, etc.
So much for the chicken little predictions here that "this ad will overshadow Obama's trip."

My immediate reaction to the news that the Pentagon would not allow Obama to visit injured troops in Germany was that it was a SET UP to later use as a negative about patriotism . . . strictly a ROVE play. The fact it was perfectly timed to correlate with all the Sunday political talk shows was by far no accident . . . all good little purchased so-called journalists are following the PARTISAN rules of the present MSM.

counterpunch is coming....I would not want to be Johnny come monday morning. In his incoherent interview on ABC's This Week in which he said Jack Welch will fix the mortgage crisis, he appeared gleeful on the latest attack ad on Obama.

He was stupid for having been taped commenting on the topic and now it will bite him in the ass.

when the narrator talk about "obama would rather go to the gym" they showed obama playing bball with the troops. this was a sloopy commercial.. its was notice on abc news blogs. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/new-mccain-ad-b.html

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I think one antidote to this ad would be Chuck Hagel endorsing him, and slamming McCain in the process. It's not enough to say that you're displeased with the ad, although that was a good place to start.

C'mon, Chuck. Stand up and do the right thing.

I am watching CNN's live boradcast of BO at this UNITY convention. Did Suzann Malveaux take a shot at BO when she suggested just now that there is more BO "needs to learn"?

She tried, but failed.
Ramesh tried the "are you willing to admit you were mistaken about the surge."
Obama replies, "I've never heard one journalist ask John McCain if he thinks he made a mistake authorizing the war in Iraq."
*applause*
He then knocks it down again. Ramesh thankfully, did not do the Katie Couric "was it a mistake or wasn't it."

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"We can't keep spending $10 billion a week in Iraq...."

Yes!!

But what good does it do if we just transfer the $10 billion a week to Afghanistan?

Because that's where the war should be fought?

When Barack was asked about if he was wrong on the surge, he said that nobody asked McCain if he was wrong on the war.

Point, set, match!

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He said the same thing to Tom Brokaw.

I expect it's not coincidence and that this will be a recurring comment from Obama.

And all that media bias towards Obama? An analysis of the three networks reveals that they were much harsher towards Obama than McCain.

Good stuff. I recommend people read this. The authors of the study aren't a bunch of Obama supporters, either. Fox News has had them on in the past to document claims of media bias in the past.

The media might cover Obama more, but it also covers him more negatively>

I'm watching the CNN event, like I assume a lot of people are (why don't we have a thread for this?), but I missed the McCain Q&A..

Obama is getting asked really tough and leading questions that sound like they were penned by the McCain campaign. Did McCain get this same kind of treatment?

That said - Obama is doing a fantastic job.

yeah i mentioned it in an earlier post, CNN's Suzann Malveaux second question implied that BO is learning as he goes along. she must still be hurting from the smack down Joe Biden gave her at the CNN debate with Rep talking point question.

Ugh... more surge talk. It's so annoying. Yes, we put a HUGE amount of troops - of course it was going to make a difference.

Why did he vote against it? Because it's the IRAQ WAR! Putting more Americans into this tragic war is not something he could've supported.

Any another one (repug, christian, conservative)bites the dusts.

The repugs has many divisions of persons willing to fall on their swords for their cause. Besides, a guardsman from Utah will be treated as a hero by those in Utah for having the courage to speak up. It should be obvious to the most casual observer, Utahns are extreme right conservatives and such rants and raves are gospel especially if spoken by one of their own.

Truth is not the issue, only winning counts, by whatever means necessary. What really matters is how the MSM treats such garbage without lending support by questioning if what was said might or might not be true.