McCain Camp's New Attack: Obama Is The One Who's The Same As Bush
The McCain campaign is taking their effort to distance their candidate from the unpopular President Bush to a whole new level: McCain's advisers are now openly attacking Bush on Iraq -- and not only that, they're also saying that Barack Obama is the one who is like Bush on the war!
On a conference call just now with reporters, McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann compared Barack Obama's insistence on a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq to Bush's insistence that we were winning even as things went badly for years.
"I think the American people have had enough of inflexibility and stubbornness in national security policy," Scheunemann said. When asked later by the Huffington Post's Sam Stein whether the campaign was disparaging President Bush, Scheunemann dug in: "We cannot afford to replace one administration that refused for too long to acknowledge failure in Iraq with a candidate that refuses to acknowledge success in Iraq."
Forget "McSame." The candidate who would really continue Bush's policies is "BushBama."

That's just pathetic. That will never work.
July 16, 2008 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
And that's exactly why Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, and the other flapping lips on cable news will eat it up.
July 16, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't is clearly OBush or OBusha, not BushBama?
July 16, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bushama?
July 16, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
DO THE DADGUM MATH OHIOMEISTER.
IF Packer OL = Steeler DL, Then 2X Bush + FOX = Obama. I thought buckeyes made it through the snow to school.
July 17, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pathetic? It's hilarious!
July 16, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Desperation.
July 16, 2008 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Holy shit...this so orwellan...what sense does this latest example mean of McFuddle speak?..what is the point here?
July 16, 2008 2:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here Rovie, come here boy... That's a good Rovie . . . ok now go fetch!
Let's see how the MSM responds to this. If they don't mock the McCain incessantly about this nonsense, then they deserve all the scorn they are going to receive...
July 16, 2008 2:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha... Oh no, I just wet myself I'm laughing so hard.
July 16, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah definitely desperation. but does this also mean that obama should get the voters who approve of Bush too? If so then the mccain camp has conceded the nomination.
Awkward Exchange between McCain’s press aides and St. Louis Reporter
July 16, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
April Fools joke in July?!
July 16, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's pretty comical.
Having said that, I'd love Obama to keep branding McCain with the "third Bush term" meme he was repeating in earlier speeches. It was highly effective and was working, not sure why it was let go.
But as for McCain attacking Obama for being like Bush, simple retort: "Whose convention will Bush be speaking at?"
July 16, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
That DNC ad was masterful, what with the Bush-McCain "hug"--makes me cringe every time I see it.
The DNC should pony up some of its (teeny tiny amount of) cash and play that puppy on the TV, not just on the web.
July 16, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
No shit!
That was such a great ad.
July 16, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
HA! Exactly!
July 16, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
And Bush is beginning to make it look like Herbert Hoover's second term as well.
July 16, 2008 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're right! Remember studying about Hooverville's? Well... "Bushville" tent cities are cropping up all over the nation for people that have become homeless. We have one right here in Reno, NV.
We need someone that knows how to restructure dead communities to pump some life back into them from the ground up... like Obama has done in the Chicago area.
As far as having the best advisors coming on board for a presidential candidate- Jann Wenner's personal endorsement piece in Rolling Stone Mag for Barack shows that the top people are lining up by the day to back this guy.
Let's hope that McCain's camp foolishly goes with this crazy BushOma comparison campaign! And shoot themselves in the foot!
July 16, 2008 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
The maverick is backfiring like a pinto.
July 16, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't you mean like a small private plane?
Strategy '08
July 16, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
like a Nova. ¡Es no va!
July 16, 2008 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I figured one of y'all would've said "Like a 36 Packard" by now.
July 16, 2008 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
lol.
July 16, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
When will somebody ask McCain if the SURGE worked - why then do we continue to have 15,000 troops MORE than what we had in Iraq in 2007 BEFORE the surge? Why hasn't the total dropped a great deal from what we had in 2007?
Usually when something WORKS, that means there's LESS work to do and LESS workers (in this case - troops) needed --- not the SAME or MORE!
When will Pres Bush Visit downtown Baghdad now that the SURGE WORKED? When will McCain visit there WITHOUT troops and helicopters surrounding him?
The SURGE calmed things, but if didn't WORK - working means less troops, Iraqi's are securing themselves --- this hasn't happen.
http://coonsey.wordpress.com
July 16, 2008 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Coonsey- you wrote:
"When will somebody ask McCain if the SURGE worked - why then do we continue to have 15,000 troops MORE than what we had in Iraq in 2007 BEFORE the surge? Why hasn't the total dropped a great deal from what we had in 2007?"
Have you studied the "The Project for a New American Century" formed and signed in 1997 by all our idiotic cabinet members? The official site has been removed recently but you can google 1,000's of others that have copies and comments on it.
This whole thing is a bunch of boys sitting around smoking cigars and drinking scotch 'n puttin' their little pinheads together to figure out how to make a shit load of money. Cheney has the most shares in Halliburton of any of them, although they all have significant shares.
Newsflash!!! This isn't even a war.
Plain and simple it's stealing lives and money from whomever they can for as long as they can. As the UN said in the beginning- this is one of the biggest crimes ever made in recorded history on this planet. No one does anything because they are threatened or they disappear to one of the 7 torture/ holding camps.
Yes, let's call it what it really is- PROFITEERING to the maximum power. The World has been scammed. 9/11 was brilliantly pulled off to carry out their "pre-emptive strike for control of oil" to cloud the truth for most citizens.... but not all of us.
July 16, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right. Refused for too long to acknowledge failure in Iraq. Like when Bush walked through a Baghdad market wearing a flak jacket surrounded by 100 armed soldiers and guarded by air cover and said that it demonstrated how safe the market was? Oh wait.. that wasn't Bush...
July 16, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, Bush is more into the "It's so safe here that I have to sneak into another country without telling them and only have my visit made public once I'm doing a near-vertical take off out of the airport" thing. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad goes to Iraq and is greeted with what? Candy and flowers...
July 16, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
So he changes his position so often that Randy finds it hard to rebut what he says (as asshat Randy said yesterday on "All Things Considered") but now he's stubborn and won't change his position?
Who's minding the store there, anyway?
July 16, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent point. He's a stubborn, head-strong, flip-flopper...
July 16, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Somebody around here actually predicted just a couple of days ago that this is what they would do. Josh oughtta send that person a TPM mug or something. Or -- no, I've got it: a T-shirt with just the creepy grin on it, like the Cheshire Cat out of Alice in Wonderland.
July 16, 2008 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain can CLAIM he's not a second Bush -- but videos prove otherwise. I can't wait till they start showing up in October before election day on the daily news and talk shows.
Rachael Maddow on Countdown last night showed a video of him doing just that - supporting Bush 100%.
July 16, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this for real? Is only July and they're already out of ideas... This fall is going to be awesome: The Republican campaign is a series of accidents waiting to happen.
July 16, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (gasp)HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAWHAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA(wheeze; clutch sides)HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...etc. ad infinitum...
July 16, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, that pretty much sums up my reaction, too.
July 16, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
want to try something - embedding
July 16, 2008 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Didn't work, here's Countdown's website and story about BUSH/MCCAIN backing of Iraq!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#25695873
July 16, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain is getting desperate. Anything to seem relevant. He'll flip flop on this Bushism all too soon and then continue to flop, flop, flop.
July 16, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh my the McSame camp has simply sunk to a pathetic new low...I mean Obama like Bush? Oh dear oh dear, that is absolutely hilarious...Come November!
July 16, 2008 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
WOW! That's a quite a reach.
July 16, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Most Liberal Senator/Just like Bush"
Add it to the ever-increasing pile of contridictory labels the McCain camp is trying to throw at Obama.
July 16, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
When Bush was told Obama is the new Bush, W apparently burst in his signature quirky smile shimmered his shoulders and quipped, "I tol'ya, Texas Tan, works like magic." ..hheeee...[shoulder bouncing]...hheeee
July 16, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
well...when you're right, and you've been right since the beginning ofthis godforsaken enterprise, than yeah, you're gonna be infelxible.
The IRAQ WAR WAS A HUGE MISTAKE.
It's in our interest to end it and get out of there as quickly as possible.
McCain seems to think that just because "the surge has worked" that that somehow justifies us going into Iraq in the first place.
Of course, they can't concede that the war was a mistake. So this is what they have to do...
July 16, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. The audacity of it simply leaves me breathless. Are they really so short on plausible lines of attack? Wow...
July 16, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure I can keep up with the many different faces of John McCain. And maybe that's the strategy. He's just too blurry to pin down and that's how he'll get elected.
A true flip-flopper knows how to flip, then hold for a certain period of time, then flop.
For a man over 70, he changes positions pretty quickly.
July 16, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of reporters, has everyone see the video of the St. Louis Fox reporter sparring with McCain's press handlers, from Huff Po and that is posted on the TPM home page? Hilarious! Seriously, worth the 3 minute watch. Guess not all press are fond of the McCain BBQ! LOL.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/16/reporters-spar-with-mccai_n_113085.html
July 16, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain campaign is turning into the monkey house at the zoo. Just fling any crap you can find and hope some of it hits.
July 16, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
i think they know they cant win in a fair fight over the issues.
so they're just trying to muddy the waters and try to make Obama seem less "pure" than he actually is...
July 16, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg? Erik?
When Randy said this, could anyone hear audible giggling, or anything?
Are you going to have the audio of this?
July 16, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Up is down, down is up, left is right, and Obama is Bush.
If this actually sells with the American public we might as well convert the nation to a complete oligarchy, because we will have shown to be too damned stupid to be trusted with a representative government.
July 16, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Black is white. Up is down. Less is more. More is less. Green is the new pink. Fred is the new Ginger.
What the fuck is the Schuenemann doing? What a moron.
July 16, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Last week, he was accused of flip-flopping for suggesting that he'll listen the commanders on the ground to implement his withdrawal plan. Now he is too stubborn and bush-like in his policies. Yesterday senator Mc Cain told us that only facts should dictate policies but he has no problem supporting the decision to go to war based on false assertions. He still thinks that it was the right to invade Iraq even if we have not found WMD and Saddam has no link to al-qaeda. If Senator Mc Cain win this election, it will be because he is able to pull out nonsense on a daily base without being called on his inconsistencies by the medias.
July 16, 2008 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am now dreading the next New Yorker frontpage.
July 16, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!
July 16, 2008 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
One Week: Greatest Flip-Flopper ever known, will say anything to win.
Next Week: Too Stubborn, too stuck in his own ways, just like Bush.
Third Week: ?
July 16, 2008 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gods, they aren't even trying anymore are they? Have they conceded defeat this early on?
McCain 08 will make Dole 96 look like a well focused, spirited disciplined campaign.
July 16, 2008 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
But without Bob Dole's charisma...
July 16, 2008 6:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
karl rove is that you? why ar eyou throwing your friend under the bus?
July 16, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Which Bush?
July 16, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Obama acknowledges progress and success he must agree that McCain's POV is correct.
If not, his 16 month timetable will seem unrealistic and he'll have to admit his preconception was wrong or do another flip-flop.
Clever.
July 16, 2008 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's not the case at all.
McCain's assertions of success provide a good argument for withdrawal.
July 16, 2008 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Scratch that, I guess it's clever if you're a moron with no grasp of the complexities of foreign policy or the counterintuitive nature of McCain's argument.
In other words, if you're like Bush...
July 16, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
He acknowledged that violence was down--last night, on Larry King. Did you miss that?
July 16, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
you're confusing strategy with tactics.
even if the tactics are correct (the surge for example) that doesn't mean the overall strategy (going to war in iraq for no good reason at all) was a good one.
it's perfectly possible to think the surge has worked (even tho it really hasn't acheived the goals it was supposed to) and to think the war was a mistake in the first place and should end as soon as possible.
July 16, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink