« Election Central Morning Roundup | Home | High-Ranking McCain Campaign Staffer Lobbied For Repeal Of Economic Sanctions Against Cuba »
Joe Klein: I Was "Wrong" To Call McCain An Honorable Man
Joe Klein, who early on maintained that McCain was an honorable fellow who could be counted on to run an upstanding campaign, recently wrote that he was beginning to harbor doubts about his assessment of McCain's character.
Now, however, he's made up his mind: He was wrong about McCain:
A few months ago, I wrote that John McCain was an honorable man and he would run an honorable campaign. I was wrong. I used to think, as David Ignatius does, that McCain's true voice was humble and moderate...Courage is grace under pressure. McCain showed it when he was a prisoner of war, and on many issues--yes, even on his stubborn insistence that the surge would work--but he is not showing it now. He is showing flop sweat. It is not a quality usually associated with successful leadership.
Is it too much to suggest that this might be something of a seminal moment, a key signal that McCain is losing the respect and benefit of the doubt of establishment opinion?
Advertisement
Comments (153)
I sure wish the Obama campaign would stop saying "John McCain is a honorable man" because it isn't true.
I also wish that they would go after McCain in a hard hitting ad instead of just putting out statements and launching lame-assed "low road" websites.
August 1, 2008 9:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
well, I think the idea is to box mccain in and use residual impressions of him as honorable as a foil against the new, negative mccain
August 1, 2008 9:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
But they're not doing that, Greg. They're just "sadly lamenting" that John McCain is doing something bad. Do you have any idea why they aren't taking advantage at all of the ammo McCain has handed them with paid advertising? The DNC hasn't run one ad against McCain and neither has Obama.
August 1, 2008 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's exactly what McCain wants. Then he can come back and say, "See, his "new politics" shpeel is just bullshit." It's the same thing that Hillary tried to do and Obama cracked a few times (see: the Wal-Mart jab). He's not going to do it again.
Obama's responses don't seem great in print, but on video they're perfect. Just like when he brushed his shoulders off after the debate. The "I don't have time for McCain's childish attacks, this country has bigger problems" response is perfect.
August 1, 2008 9:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
So you're saying that Obama shouldn't ever attack McCain because he doesn't want McCain to point out that Obama is attacking him? Good grief!
This means that Obama will effectively let McCain run his campaign. Kerry allowed Bush to run his campaign. At the convention, no one was even allowed to mention Bush/Cheney because Kerry didn't want the Republicans to bash him for going negative. He got ZERO bounce. At the Republican convention, they did everything except tar and feather Kerry. And immediately went up in the polls.
Obama has to make the case against McCain and for himself. Right now, he's scared to make the case against McCain.
August 1, 2008 10:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kerry got a bounce after the convention. A modest one, but he got one. The Swiftboat ads started August 4th. The Dem convention ended July 29.
Whatever bounce he got started to erode in August.
In any event, if Obama "attacks" McCain right now, it'll be interpreted by the talking hairdo class as "Obama is rattled by McCain". Not the image the Obama campaign wants.
August 1, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
The sources I've seen say that Kerry got zero post-convention bounce. Bush got a very small one.
That bounce historically has nothing to do with the election results.
August 28, 2008 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
If someone's attacking you with negative ads, you can either go negative yourself, or take a higher road.
I agree that the higher road isn't as effective as we would like it to be. In many ways you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. But Barack has nothing to gain from going negative. Even if there's not net positive from the high road, at least he keeps some principles, or has the right at some later point in the campaign to call McCain on the negative shit.
August 1, 2008 10:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCaine has ping-ponged on the issues so much I'm getting whiplash. Look McCain and his current staff are the most effective anti-McCain campaign aparatus that the Obama campaign could have dreamed up.
Allowing them to attack and not gain ground at this time is the thing to do. Allow them to continue flail about. After the convention they can pull out the old "BOHICA" line on McCain.
By the conventions end, Ace will have gaffed himself out. After the convention everytime McCaine Gaffes, all O has to do is cry "BOHICA".
BOHICA, it's what the artillery used to paint on their shells... (Bend Over Here It Comes Again).
August 1, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Saysyes,
Obama IS attacking McCain, he is attacking him on the ISSUES.
He is not engaging in character attacks, because he CAN't!
White America will no more tolerate a black man attacing a former POW than they would tolerate Obama attacking a white female.
Obama understands that, he understands the racial politics in America better than his supporters do!
If you recall, they tried to bait Obama into attacking his opponents prior to the Philly debate and Obama came out and disarmed them in TWO debates...he said after all his opponents attacked him on his being naive on foreign policy for saying to blast Pakistan..by saying..."I prepared for this debate by riding in bumper cars with my girls"....reMEMber that? Obama was confident and self assured about his position and his reasoning and couldnot be baited into going on the offensive and being tarred as 'the angry black man'.
He did it again in Philly, after his opponents attacked him in the opening minutes by saying...he felt like he was in the movie Rocky, but the only thing was he was Balboa"...that is how Obama 'attacks'...he points out the general nonsensical actions of his opponents by focusing on how they are being a complete moron and talking out of their asses. That is what he does, that is how he attacks.
Obama knows that if the questions are on substance that time is to his benefit because the voters WILL look beyond the shuck and jive for what they really want to know which is answers on economy and health care and national security as well as jobs and taxes.
He knows that folks have seen people distract them with fuzzywuzziness when the they have no answer.
Obama believe it or not is attacking McCain...he is giving him plenty of rope to hang himself.
When it comes time to jerk that rope, we will all witness McCain being strung up by his own petard.
In the meantime, Obama cannot get down in the gutter and sling mud or engage in an all out brawl that will not work for him.
America will only see a militant, fierce and uppity black man if he does so!
Obama is end this for the long haul..he is going to win but it will not be in the conventional way nor with conventional tactics as those are not the most effective in a country where race still matters.
August 1, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just wait until the debates begin, then everyone will see the differences between McCain and Obama. Kind of looking forward to it.
August 1, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I must step in, and enlighten the masses:
What you said about the debates is conventional wisdom, but there is plenty of evidence that debates don't mean a damn, anymore. I would not be waiting with baited breath for Obama to smite McCain, because even if he does... he won't. Not when the story is subsequently written.
What you said may have been valid, if this were 1960 and everyone were gathered at home, watching on the teevee. But it's not, and America is more balkanized now, with pockets of partisans who are open to changing their views on precisely nothing.
The "debates" are not large-scale moments of national commonality, in which an eager and largely clueless voting public learns its best impressions of the candidates, anymore.
And to top that off with proof, look at Kerry vs. Bush. Here you had an articulate, passionate, inetellectual, sharp, honorable Democratic candidate, fast on his feet, and fearless in speaking truth to the most powerful man in the universe.
Versus what? An INarticulate, stammering, unprepared, smart-ass, chuckling idiot with a suspicious-looking lump in his jacket (and a Kerry campaign too "honorable" to send an operative into the hall with a goddamned frequency jammer!).
Bush could have literally dropped trou and taken a dump on the stage. The smart and informed war hero lost the election because the daily barrage of propaganda from mainstream media reached more potential voters in toto than just another (yawn) TV program on CNN (and somewhere on the 500 available channels, there was a rerun of "CSI: Duluth", or something more tantalizing to millions of modern-day Amurcuns).
They told America Who Won The Debate (just as they did with Gore!). They told America what the Big Concerns of the day were (windsurfing then; "presumtuousness" now!); they told them, day in and day out, who Kerry was, and who The President was.
Whatever actually went down during the actual debate was meaningless.
August 1, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like to think that you were being overly cynical, but I fear that you are all too accurate. [sigh]
The corporate media wouldn't play such a decisive role if people in general took a little more initiative to think for themselves. Unfortunately, a lot of them just seem to want to be told what to think so they won't have to go to the effort to figure it out.
August 1, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said, Barry.
To make matters worse, Presidential debates used to be hosted and moderated by nonpartisan organizations like the League of Women Voters. No longer. Now it's the media corporations, with their known relationships, corporate parentage, interlocking directorates, and clear agendas that call the shots and write the questions. (Remember the "flag pin" questions and other distractions during the primary debates?)
You can bet that in these debates, Obama will get more distractions and attacks, and McSame will get Nerf ball questions.
August 1, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know. Have you heard McCain speak? Whenever he opens his mouth, both what he is saying and how he is saying it, he reminds me of our current president. I don't think a lot of people will like that reminder.
August 1, 2008 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Barry,
I do beg to differ.
Some elections can be won with strong debates or at least allows fence sitters a platform to feel more (or maybe less) comfortable with candidates.
I believe Hilary won Pennsylvania partly because of the debates which is why O didn't feel a need to continue them. Was it the only reason she won, I'm sure there are other reasons and Wright didn't help, but the debates DID help. Also, from what I understand Reagan (before my time) won the 1980 election after outshining Carter.
I have lived in the US for 12 years, so only saw the aftermath of Clinton winning. I believe part of why Bush beat Kerry was that Bush at least properly mobilized his base on conservative issues (Loosey goosey as they may be). Also Rove's GOTV strategy was good, which is why Obama's copying that part of their 2004 strategy.
Do not underestimate the hunger that Democrats have for change and the disillusionment that Republicans have in their leaders. My boss is a big time Republican and he's thinking about sitting this one out (Can't bring himself to vote)
August 1, 2008 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
time will tell about all of this, though I think everyone commenting here has a good grip on the tiger's tail as this all progresses
what I predict (Prediction!) is that once the negative McCain bottoms out and even his on-the-bus Freeload Rider media fans are inhibited from expressing their ululating suckuppery, that this is exactly when the "good" McCain "re"-emerges
this "good" McCain is still a false McCain, of course, as there really is no real McCain, but it will be the McCain that reluctantly emerged post-Keating 5 Scandal, when contrition was the only recourse he had; so he expressed it in his aw shucks I'm a bad boy manner and it became a virtue and made his political reputation as an "honest" thief (Hail to the...)
the "good" McCain will milk this for all its worth and the Freeload Riders will again expound on his noble character and unbridled humility, but it will be too late then, though not too late to throw a scare into the entire rest of the world not sucking off the teat of corrupt oil and/or military corporate power or wishing they were
not putting any money on it though; I wouldn't want to take your money
Love,
News Nag
August 1, 2008 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
That would certainly be in conformity to the Standard Beltway Consultant CW Campaign Playbook. Go harshly negative in the summer and then turn back into the very picture of sweet reason and honorable discourse long about mid-September.
August 1, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
"ululating suckuppery" -- LOL! I love that phrasing!
August 1, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, it worked for Mark Antony.
Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 2.
Is the campaign's constant praise of McCain's honor a eliberate attempt to trigger an association? I have no idea. That would be pretty subtle. I do know, however, that once upon a time, most every kid in America was required to read this play in high school, including most of the older folks Obama has the most trouble with (to the extent that he has trouble with any demographic, that is). And it's hard to imagine that the funeral oratory from "Julius Caesar" isn't firmly tucked into the subconscious of most everyone with a pundit's gig in the MSM.
August 1, 2008 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm impressed at your invocation of Marc Anthony's funeral oration from Julius Caesar. You make a very good point about the effectiveness of that speech in condemning the very people it seems to laud. I think it's probably a stretch to assume that very many people are going to think of it, though, when they hear Obama calling McCain an honorable man. I studied that play in high school, too, and remember it well, in no small part because a local theater company happened to mount a production of that play the same year. But it never occurred to me to link that speech with Obama's words.
Still, that doesn't mean people won't catch on to the meaning, if that is really Obama's plan. And if it is, I take my hat off to him. It's a risky strategy, but a very classy one.
August 1, 2008 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree, to some extent. They don't have to say that he's a flip-flopping scumbag, but they also don't need to keep repeating that he's an honorable man.
He isn't.
As for the ads? I imagine they're waiting until after the convention to unleash hard-hitting ads. Least I hope so.
August 1, 2008 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
So, let McCain paint Obama as risky, shallow, unpatriotic, self-absorbed and unqualified and drive his polls numbers into the toilet for a month and then respond? Is that their strategy?
I remember another guy who waited weeks to respond. John Kerry. Wonder what happened to him?
August 1, 2008 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
I hear you. I really do. And I don't understand the strategy of the Obama campaign myself. They have plenty of ammunition to run negative ads on the things that McCain has said himself, and I don't know why they haven't.
But my guess is that they're waiting until after the convention, when the audience is going to be much larger. McCain has gotten himself into a pickle with the race card, and perhaps the Obama camp is just waiting to see how that works out.
August 1, 2008 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
actually not true. Kerry responded, directly to the Swiftboaters, later the same day their attacks first aired. this is a constant false narrative about the 04 election. Kerry responded, and so did military experts, medical experts, fellow soldiers, etc. the story was kept alive, and alive, and alive some more by a complicit media which refused to state outright "these are lies", as Kerry did himself. it was famed as "is Kerry lying about his military service? film at 11."
right now I think Obama is just giving McCain enough rope to hang himself, and McCain has taken the bait wholesale. this is an endurance event, and McCain is sprinting near the end of the first lap.
August 1, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kerry's communication director has admitted that they underestimated the strength of the Swift Boat attacks...
August 1, 2008 10:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
sure they deserve part of the blame, but its not like they can just say what I'm alleging - that the media carried water for Bush. I'd be saying the same thing if I were in their position, taking responsibility for whatever part of it I could have done better. Kerry and staff could have done better throughout the whole thing, sure. but it simply isn't true to say that he waited weeks to respond - and I've seen Kerry himself describe the sequence of events numerous times himself, I've seen the press footage of him addressing the matter - that same day. that's all I'm saying.
August 1, 2008 10:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
I could not agree more. Meanwhile, Obama is cruising, building his ground organization, and saving his resources for the final battles.
August 1, 2008 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama won't fight McCain the way McCain wants him to. He also didn't fight Clinton the way the Clintons wanted him to--that's why the Clintons got increasingly frustrated. And that's what I see is happening to the McCain campaign. They're just swinging with a blind fold on now, and it's become a huge embarrassment in the eyes of voters, the press, and some of his own strategists. It will start to create more division in his camp, which has been fraught with problems from the very beginning.
What Obama does is defend himself and that's what's most important.
Regardless of what the national media goes on and on about, this game is won at the local level. As I understand it, the St.Petersburg paper wrote a pretty scathing article about McCain's recent tactics.
You really have to scan the local press every few days to see what they're talking about--FWIW, we all spend too much time obsessing about the MSM and not enough time keeping an eye on what goes on at the local level--politics is, after all, local.
August 1, 2008 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
McSame wants the narrative to be: everyone's taking the low road.
Resist the temptation and Gramps will hang himself as the Obama campaign knocks out the floor board.
August 1, 2008 11:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
It is MUCH BETTER for him to keep his cool and allow the likes of Joke Line to do the trashing.
Political jujitsu, folks.
People- including independent voters- are deeply worried about the condition of this country. I don't think the Rovian games are going to have their expected effect this time. People have more important things on their minds in this election cycle.
By the way, I think the ad Obama already did was quite good, and his pubic statements ditto. Curtly dismiss the crap without getting into a slugfest, and keep asking McCain when he plans to start talking about issues- that's the right tone and that's what Obama has been doing.
August 1, 2008 9:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
You're kidding yourself if you think the NYTimes and Joe Klein pointing out what a slimy campaign McCain is running is enough to knock McCain out of the race. Dumbasses in Omaha don't give a crap about Joe Klein and the NYT. Obama has to throw some punches himself.
Obama is running like a team with a 5-point lead with 8 minutes to go in the 4th. Instead of trying to score, he's just going to play defense and run out the clock. He's seems scared of doing something wrong so he won't do anything at all. That's what Kerry and Dukakis did when they had a lead, too.
August 1, 2008 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sigh. "Knocking McCain out of the race" is a wildly unrealistic goal. Stop drinking the media kool-aid and getting drawn into their stupid "expectations" that Obama "should" be ahead by 15 points or whatever.
He's doing fine. McCain isdoing... not so fine.
August 1, 2008 10:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think Obama should be up 15 points. He will only be up 7-8 because "he doesnt' look like those other guys on the dollar bills." But he's going to lose that 7-8 because he's a wimp. He's way to deferential to McCain, who, in turn is totally dismissive of Obama.
August 1, 2008 10:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
People that I speak to are pretty much amazed that McCain has gone full-on negative a month before his convention.
It leaves him nowhere to go, and reveals that he really has no vision for the country and his run exists just to push his opponent out of the way at all costs.
Obama does not even need to attack McCain at this point. There will be plenty of time for that after the conventions, and Obama is doing fine by just standing back and letting McCain define himself.
If Obama doesn't take the fight to McCain after the conventions, I'll be concerned. Right now? Not so much.
Plouffe and Axelrod do know what they're doing. Take a deep breath and watch them work, it is pretty entertaining.
August 1, 2008 10:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
You must have had a big serving of Chicken Little Soup this morning. I think you need to take a step back and understand just how different this landscape is in 2008. The media is a totally different animal in different respects largely because of blogs and the internet. Certainly they were on the scene in 2004, but not with the same effectiveness and (dare I say) credibility as 2008.
McCain's strategy depends on large part of the media giving him the benefit of the doubt. You've seen it countless times already (apologetic pieces about how uncomfortable he is with how his team is performing, excusing gaffes, etc.). But should also note that the landscape is shifting dramatically in the last week or so. Joe Klein, Howard Kurtz, whatever you think of them, are respected journalist--opinion makers. If they start calling bullshit on John McCain he's losing (lost) his ace in the hole. If Obama jumps in with a slew of attack ads, guess what? John McCain pulls them right back. Better to step back and let John self-destruct with a little derision and mocking to help it along.
So, if you have a lot of anxiety about the state of the race, here's what you do: volunteer at your local Obama campaign headquarters or the DNC headquarters or with your Congressperson or his/her challenger. Anything other than losing your mind trying to force Obama to run the campaign you would if you were in his shoes. Because you aren't.
August 1, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's strategy depends on large part of the media giving him the benefit of the doubt. You've seen it countless times already (apologetic pieces about how uncomfortable he is with how his team is performing, excusing gaffes, etc.). But should also note that the landscape is shifting dramatically in the last week or so.
So you don't think this is a problem?
Or this?
I'd like nothing more than for McCain to self-destruct in the manner you describe. He should have long ago, and only the McCain media man-crush has kept him from doing so. The evidence that a "shift" is occurring is scant at best. A few words from a couple of people do not amount to the tectonic shift you are claiming, even in the narrow time frame of "the last week or so." Nor does it counter the barrage of petty "cultural values" style attacks (Arrogant! Presumptuous! Too big for his britches! Not One Of Us! Uppity! Elitist!) on Obama from wide swaths of the corporate media that the demonstrates.
Chicken Little? Meet Pollyanna.
August 1, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re-posting. Too many problems with the last post. Apologies; please ignore the first. Adding a couple of comments. Is it really so hard to add an "edit" and/or "preview" function, TPM? Come on.
So you don't think this is a problem?
Or this?
(EDIT -- To explain: Any regular reader of TPM should have very little question left in their mind that the McCain campaign, and the candidate himself, are totally lacking in anything resembling integrity. But Bob Schieffer and CBS won't let you say that.)
I'd like nothing more than for McCain to self-destruct in the manner you describe. He should have long ago, and only the McCain media man-crush has kept him from doing so. The evidence that a "shift" is occurring is scant at best. A few words from a couple of people do not amount to the tectonic shift you are claiming, even in the narrow time frame of "the last week or so." Nor does it counter the barrage of petty "cultural values" style attacks (Arrogant! Presumptuous! Too big for his britches! Not One Of Us! Uppity! Elitist!) on Obama from wide swaths of the corporate media that the TPMTV clip demonstrates.
Chicken Little? Meet Pollyanna.
August 1, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I smell troll poop here...
August 1, 2008 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Before you call me a troll, why don't your check out all of my posts here and at other sites like political wire. And FYI, I am a volunteer for Obama and a couple of statewide races. I'm also going to the convention. So stop acting like anybody who criticizes the Obama strategy is just causing trouble. You can stick your head in the sand but I won't.
August 1, 2008 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Un. Fscking. Believable.
Once again, (and again, and again, and...) any disagreement with or criticism of any move by Obama or his campaign gets you labeled as hysterical, a Chicken Little, or a troll (a concern troll, of course.)
Get over it, people. Find a new line. It's actually OK to express disagreement and concern. Neither Obama nor his campaign walk on water, and Obama has said as much multiple times. The fan club, however, seems incapable of internalizing that message.
Disagree with a commenter's points all you want. Point out where you think someone is wrong. Use, you know, logic. And, um, facts. The "troll" stuff is old, tired, and of course irrelevant to the actual point (which is why it's a classic ad hominem fallacy). Give it a damn rest, already.
So, if you have a lot of anxiety about the state of the race, here's what you do: volunteer at your local Obama campaign headquarters or the DNC headquarters or with your Congressperson or his/her challenger.
Uh, some of us are capable of multitasking. Doing the one doesn't preclude the other.
Me, 2006: Jerry McNerney (CA-10).
Me, 2008: Charlie Brown (CA-04, Lt. Col. USAF (ret.)).
Firedoglake post from Feb-2007 on Brown.
Both these districts were traditionally "red" (McNerney upset corrupt, hardline rightwinger Richard Pombo in 2006). So we're working both for MORE Democrats and BETTER Democrats. Brown nearly unseated the hard-line and corrupt John Doolittle (now under investigation in the Abramoff scandal). Doolittle isn't running again (sur-prahse, sur-prahse, sur-prahse), and Brown's opponent is now equally-hard-line Tom McClintock.
You?
August 1, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually today Zogby has Obama with enough electoral votes to win the Presidency. I am sure there will be some movement, but Obama is already there in the polls and some more states will change to increase his electoral votes. I hope Obama keeps this bru haha going till McCain spends himself out of business to answer the Obama very sensible ads and statements. McCain's war chest is glaringly small.
August 1, 2008 8:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
What I'd like to see is Obama keep repeating the "We're in deep trouble in this country, and my opponent wants to talk about Britney Spears and Paris Hilton" line, over and over and over and over. Use that ad, which has been the most successful, in terms of getting attention, against McCain.
August 1, 2008 10:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think that's exactly what he's going to do. Political jiujitsu.
August 1, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
YES!
CTVoter, that is precisely what Obama needs to keep repeating.
I have no doubt that he will. Not only will he keep asking what does McCain stand for, but he will also continue to say what he stands for as he rebuts McCain's lies with ads that use THIRD party statements to rebuke and demonstrate how baseless McCain's assertions are.
This is the most effective tactic as Obama can not get into a pissing match here...reMEMber when you get into a pissing contest EVERYONE gets wet.
Obama intends to remain dry...he knows that others can take down McCains nonsense and that he can continue to draw a contrast between them on policy.
August 1, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree that pointing out that McBush talks about nothing except Britany and Paris is effective. I have also heard him ask what is riskier- change or more of the same. Very effective I think. Both points should be in an ad.
August 1, 2008 6:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great comment and so appropriate. But keep McCain spending money he has so little of just to keep himself from looking totally idiotic.
August 1, 2008 8:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let us not ignore the Shakespearean irony:For Brutus is an honourable man
August 1, 2008 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oops, you got there first.
Good doggie!
August 1, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly!
The famous and important Julius Caesar quote, or speech, by William Shakespeare, can often follow the theme of treachery, ambition, love, revenge, irony and hate.
This is precisely how Obama ATTACKS.
He will force everyone to realize how dishonorable McCain is by continuing asserting how honorable he is in the face of continued acts of sleaze, guttersniping, backbiting and complete and utter disregard for the serious problems we face on a national level.
Obama will force folks to note that it is possible for McCain to show the same disdain and complete lack of awareness when it comes to foreign policy by using less than honorable tactics and strategys with world leaders that will continue to imperil the security of America on the global stage.
The pundits will eventually start asking those questions of themselves...just as Klein has become so inclined to do. When folks start questioning their own judgement rather than Obama attacking mcCain and playing a blamegame...then the real idiocy is seen by all.
Folks start saying WTF? Is this McCain? Is this how he hopes to run diplomacy and solve issues and bring about consensus?
How in the world can he meld policy when he goes around calling people names and ridiculing them like some frat boy..that is grade school demeanor.
O yeah, someone will recall..he acted this way throughout his ENTIRE military career..and no one in the military thought he was officer material they NEVER promoted this guy.
and then they will recall...this must be what Wesley Clark was saying about McCain.
BINGO...then the dominos begin to fall...
All because McCain is an 'honorable' man.
August 1, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama is taking a page straight out of Shakespeare.
In Julius Caesar, Marc Antony effusively praises Brutus and Cassius as being honorable men--right after they had killed Caesar (this is the "lend me your ears" speech). The praise, however, was of the kind that their claim to honor rang hollow. By the end of the speech, the crowd realized how dishonorable Brutus and Cassius really were, and the crowd completely turned against Brutus and Cassius.
August 1, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
On the money.
August 1, 2008 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly!
"The famous and important Julius Caesar quote, or speech, by William Shakespeare, can often follow the theme of treachery, ambition, love, revenge, irony and hate."
This is precisely how Obama ATTACKS.
He will force everyone to realize how dishonorable McCain is by continuing asserting how honorable he is in the face of continued acts of sleaze, guttersniping, backbiting and complete and utter disregard for the serious problems we face on a national level.
Obama will force folks to note that it is possible for McCain to show the same disdain and complete lack of awareness when it comes to foreign policy by using less than honorable tactics and strategys with world leaders that will continue to imperil the security of America on the global stage.
The pundits will eventually start asking those questions of themselves...just as Klein has become so inclined to do. When folks start questioning their own judgement rather than Obama attacking mcCain and playing a blamegame...then the real idiocy is seen by all.
Folks start saying WTF? Is this McCain? Is this how he hopes to run diplomacy and solve issues and bring about consensus?
How in the world can he meld policy when he goes around calling people names and ridiculing them like some frat boy..that is grade school demeanor.
O yeah, someone will recall..he acted this way throughout his ENTIRE military career..and no one in the military thought he was officer material they NEVER promoted this guy.
and then they will recall...this must be what Wesley Clark was saying about McCain.
BINGO...then the dominos begin to fall...
All because McCain is an 'honorable' man.
August 1, 2008 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
You forgot an important point in your story line...but who gets to kanoodle with Servilia?
August 1, 2008 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
You can't fight the "honorable" label. It won't work. The man refused preferential treatment (early release) from Vietnam. He is a War Hero - like it or not.
What you can do is wonder if he would sacrifice his principles just to be president. The man had principles, he decried the lies and dirty tricks Bush used against him in 2000 - now he'll do the same to Obama if it helps gain power.
You can also wonder if he now cares more about war than he does about the warriors as his opposition to the New GI bill and his support of torture indicate.
Just how far will he go to win - just how power hungry is he - just how much of that honorable man is left?
That, I think, is more believeable approach. Admit he was once good, hope that man still exists, and wonder just how badly he wants to be the most powerful man on earth?
August 1, 2008 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think they mean it in the same sense Mark Antony meant it of Brutus--ironically. By repeating "Brutus is an honorable man." he makes his treachery even more stark.
August 1, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Saying that McCain is honorable has NOTHING to do with McCain. It's about saying that mature white men are honorable. It's about the black guy showing respect to the man... before he slaughters him in the election. It's about the black guy being polite to the past... before he takes us into the future. It's about not offending a demographic.
And good for Obama. He gets this.
August 1, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are dead on target Mike2 about the race dynamic. However, calling him 'honorable' is also how Obama highlights his lack of principles to that same demographic...they see it. It is the exact subtlety that generation used with asses. That is not the hip-hop generation that is rude, crude and socially unacceptable by using vulgar in your face verbage to humiliate and disrepect people in public venues.
Obama gets this because he has said time and time again, his grandfather was a WWII vet and that is who Obama sat and talked with at the kitchen table. He knows very well how to communicate best with that generation. All he has to do is pretend he is speaking to his grandfather and all the right words and messages roll right off his tongue, in just the way they like it, understand it and are willing to accept it.
August 1, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Me2...that "war hero" meme is fact by endless repetition
August 1, 2008 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Frankly, it is not up to Obama to label John McCain anything. McCain is doing himself in with NO help from Obama. I want Obama to just keep the ads coming on this issue until McCain squanders all his budget on this truly ridiculous claim that Obama introduced racist ideas into the campaign. McCain camp has had a dismal record on raising funds and the Obama camp keeps taking in money by the thousands from all sorts of small donations. Let McCain alone. He is too stubborn to admit his stupidity but he will go to the wall spending money on this one issue for nothing. No one thinks Obama was racist. We all KNOW McCain was racist in his portrayal of Obama with two white girls, ala reflections of the Ford ad last election cycle. McCain will pay dearly for that stupidity and Obama knows exactly what he is doing. Let the racism in McCain come to the forefront and let Obama just stand back and let McCain destroy himself. Remember, Arizona has a very checkered past when it comes to civil rights for Blacks and Indians. Both groups were relegated to segregated schools. A fact that is reflected in John McCain's thinking to this very day as demonstrated by his racist ad. Shame om McCain.
August 1, 2008 8:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
A lot of us believed that McCain was an honorable person who cared about the country and the quality of the nation's politics apart from his own narrow self interests. I know I did, even though I always understood that McCain is thoughtless and kneejerk conservative on economic matters.
But the idea that McCain is honorable and unselfish is impossible to believe any longer, and we should all understand that having started down the gutter-low road, he must follow it all to the end, because he can only preserve his reputation if he wins (at all costs). Even then, it will polarize and disillusion millions. But he can try to rewrite history, as winners do.
Even for those of us who sort of liked him in the past, it was always clear that McCain is a person of explosive, contemptuous temper and a tendency to unbridled jealousy when others do well. These emotions took over here when he saw Obama do well on his foreign trip. Emotionalism, unbridled contemptuous temper, and uncontrolled jealousy are very, very worrisome and supremely risky qualities in a president of the United States. They could easily spell more disaster for our country, on top of earlier disasters from a Bush Junior who is thoughtless, rigid, and simmeringly resentful person (he pretty much went to war to get at Saddam Hussein).
Will the press and the commentariat adequately explore these fundamental flaws of McCain's character, temperment, and judgement? And will they probe the wierd notion that he is experienced -- certainly not in any matter requiring executive management or judgement or balanced consideration of tough trade offs.
As for the Obama campaign, it should never again speak of physical appearance -- except to joke about ears and about ridiculous ideas like the Wall Street Journal's suggestion that he is too skinny to be President. Forget anything smacking of skin color -- which is the simplistic way Americans define "race."
BUT to the degree that personal attacks are raised for push back, why fear to point out that McCain and his campaign have made scurrilous, hateful claims questioning Obama's honor and patriotism? They have -- and those are fundamental to their fear strategy and deserve strong push back. Don't let them get away with deflecting all criticism from McCain and his fear campaign. Just focus the criticism on the stuff they have done for all to see.
Theda S.
August 1, 2008 9:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Nope! They're gonna keep selling that snake oil right up to Nov. 4.
Check out this headline from the front page of WaPo this morning. I caught it as I was waiting for my order at Starbucks. Made me snort out loud! :)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080103032.html
Ha! "Complex Intellect." Mmmmm...okay, then.
The entire article reads as an apologist's rationalization for the fact that the man simply cannot live up to his own false public image. The more exposure he gets, the more he will crumble. Can the mainstream press keep patching him up? I don't doubt that they won't stop trying.
August 1, 2008 10:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
I read the article and I disagree that it was primarily apologist in tone. I thought it was, in many ways, an unflattering portrait of McCain. My take-away from the story was that McCain was a wildly emotional person. I can't see that is a good thing for a guy running for president, especially one who is fighting an undercurrent of whispers that he has a terrible temper.
August 1, 2008 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
I, of course, agree with your assessment of McCain's character. The man is a disaster, and the thought of him in the White House would spell ruin for this country (as if the last 8 years hasn't been enough to do us in).
But, this article takes every display of exactly who and what McCain truly is, and gives it a helpful bit of spit and polish.
Example:
- We've seen McCain as being terribly inconsistent, perhaps unstable. Here's how Kaiser portrays him:
Inconsistent, unstable? Nah...he's just complicated - a striver and a combatant. That explains the tricky "temperament" problem you or I might have witnessed.
- You or I might have noticed that McCain comes across as being out-of-step, behind the times, not in touch with contemporary society. Here's how Kaiser sees it:
McCain, out of it? Nah...he's just made of that good old-fashioned patriotic stock, that we don't have enough of, but are in sore need of in this country.
- You and I, who've been around for a while, have read the papers, and have fairly good memories, may recall some of John's colored past. He hasn't always displayed the kind of principled and high-minded behavior that he seems to aspire to. Kaiser acknowledges that:
Yes, yes - even the honorable, former POW, John McCain, has failed to live up to his own high standards. But, you know what? He's a big enough man to admit that. Let's move on now and remember how honorable and reform-minded he is - and did I mention that he was a POW?
- I mentioned that McCain has - well, rumor has it that he has a bit of a temper. Kaiser can explain that:
See, the dude's a fighter. He's like a street fighter - he just reacts. Cowboys and tough guys are just like that. Boys will be boys and all.
- You might have noticed that McCain doesn't seem to hold to any consistent policy positions. Kaiser explains it this way:
See, although he's been talking Republican Party line, he's actually more like Teddy Roosevelt. He's Mavericky, don't you know? That's his brandname. And don't forget it!
Of course, there's plenty of unflattering stuff about McCain in here for you and I to consume - stuff that we already know about good old McCain. But the article is written to help explain all of that away, for those who have some doubt about Obama and are open to being convinced that maybe McCain isn't as bad as he might appear. Because the fact is, McCain CANNOT hide who he actually is. It's out there. This emperor is stark naked. But, the press will keep trying to drape him, as long as they can get away with it.
August 1, 2008 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent analyis CarolBIG!!
"I think his mind is visceral," Hart said, "driven less by thought and more by feelings. This doesn't mean he's totally reactive or without logic or thought processes; it just means he's a fighter pilot. He reacts to circumstances."
-------------
Sounds like John Wayne to me!..and it sure will to those geezers his age too.
"McCain is a figure from an old-fashioned America that is out of fashion in our most cosmopolitan precincts -- the America of "Gunsmoke" and Gary Cooper, not "The Daily Show" and George Clooney. For McCain, "Duty, Honor, Country" isn't patriotic pablum but a credo to live by. And he has worked out a way to apply the credo to politics. "
--------
Wow...so this guy doesn't need to be honorable when it comes to politics because ..um...look at how irreverent The Daliy Show and George Clooney are?
I am just shocked that he forget about Bonanza, Rifleman and Spencer Tracy..not to mention Mr.Smith Goes to Washington.
Unbelievable how they are making all types of excuses for this guys temperment being wholly unsuitable in todays world to engage in diplomacy. this is not the America of Gunsmoke or Rifleman or John Wayne...heck those tactics and mindset will not be able to lead America in the 21st century.
I sure hope someone writes a response to this out of touch piece of nostalgia when America was the mightest country and the most powerful..it just ain't like that no more!!
Charleton Heston and JohnWayne are dead as well as Miss Kitty.
August 1, 2008 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
and the meta message behind the 'Celebrity' ad was not that he was as ephermeral as Brittany or Paris. . .they were calling him a GIRL!
the WWII generation realizes that.
August 1, 2008 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I once saw McCain making a speech before some audience, which I can't remember, and he went all serious and said with conviction;
"I will never surrender in Iraq. I will never surrender in Iraq."
With Iraq, I think he's internalized the win/lose thing. I think he's still fighting the Vietnam war and he doesn't want to "lose" again. He may feel that all he went through was for nothing because we pulled out, and if we "win" in Iraq his suffering as a POW and the Vietnam war itself will be ameliorated. He should be made to
define "win."
When McCain said what he did about surrender in Iraq, I thought to myself; this guy is scary, he's looking for a war to win.
August 1, 2008 2:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bub...bub... but I thought the the landscape was shifting dramatically in the last week or so??
Or... maybe not.
August 1, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Your link doesn't seem to go anywhere...
August 1, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, I'll try again. It's actually a comment upthread.
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/joe_klein_i_was_wrong_to_call.php#comment-2995390
Here it is in link form.
My point: I think Publicola Hussein is overconfident, and generalizing from WAAAY too few data points.
August 1, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for weighing in on this, especially with such clear expository thought. Valuable!
The one thing I would wonder about though (not troll-like, I hope) is if McCain truly has to stay negative all the way till November.
I think t