« Election Central Saturday Roundup | Home | Election Central Sunday Roundup »

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.


292 Comments

| Leave a comment

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.

user-pic

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

user-pic

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

user-pic

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

user-pic

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

user-pic

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.

user-pic

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.

user-pic

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.

user-pic

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............

user-pic

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.

user-pic

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.

user-pic

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....

user-pic

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.