New Rudy Rollout Begins
It looks like the designated attacker on the issue of Obama's foreign policy adviser going to Syria will be none other than Rudy Giuliani.
As we reported below, the McCain campaign has been planning to make an issue out of a new report in the New York Sun saying that the adviser, Daniel Kurtzer, provided advice to the Syrian government last month. Now comes this release from the McCain campaign:
Senator John McCain's presidential campaign will hold a press conference call with former New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani and Randy Scheunemann, McCain 2008 Senior Foreign Policy Adviser to discuss reports that an Obama campaign Middle East adviser was recently in Damascus for meetings with Syrian officials.
As always, we strive to bring you tomorrow's McCain smears today.
Rudy seemed to have disappeared into one of his many bunkers/love nests for months after abandoning his multi-million-dollar campaign. But now he's back in full 9/11 spewing force.
Indeed, it was also announced today that Rudy will keynote the Republican National Convention. Hey, at least it won't be tough to write the speech.
...noun...verb...9/11...noun...verb...9/11...
we need a pit bull like Joe Biden as VP more than ever to attack back.
its obvious Obama isn't gonna fight back against these monsters on the republican side like lieberman and jewliani
August 20, 2008 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
August 20, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
dude that's offensive for a lot of reasons, but as a jew i'm most offended that you're accusing giuliani of being one of my people. he's a roman catholic.
but you're a bigot anyway, so i'll let this slide.
August 20, 2008 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rudy is finally coming back from Florida?
August 20, 2008 2:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of 9/11 - I'm a little surprised the Republicans didn't schedule their convention one week later so it could end on 9/11. How could they have passed up the opportunity to have a full fledged 9/11 pandergasm?
August 20, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg: not sure how else to let you know.
Keep your eyes peeled for the abortion attack that's being prepared as well. I'm not sure if the plan is to save it for debates or to launch on its own at some point.
August 20, 2008 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
And the Rev. Wright attack. Though this card will be played in late October.
August 20, 2008 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
If that issue gets a rollout before the convention, then we'll know that McCain's veep choice isn't Lieberman.
It will be mighty tough to criticize Obama for anything related to choice when your own running mate is for choice.
August 20, 2008 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about Iraq if your VP pick voted for it in the Senate?
August 20, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree, Lalo, and it's going to get ugly.
I think the easiest way for Obama to fight back on the issue is to play off McCain's statement that "life begins at conception"...if he believes that, he must also believe that many forms of contraception are abortofacients. Obama needs to ask McCain point blank if he believes that these contraceptives should be illegal and if not, why the discrepency. If you want to wake up women in this country (and many, many men also), threaten to take their preferred method of birth control away.
August 20, 2008 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Threaten to charge any woman who has a miscarriage after participating in horseback riding or an athletic event with negligent homicide.
August 21, 2008 2:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yup...Barack Obama - celebrity, terrorist, babykiller, anti-christ.
August 20, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
You forgot Indonesian immigrant and muslim.
August 20, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh wait. Those are true.
August 20, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm getting the feeling like the McCain Campaign is trying to get Obama to pick Biden.
Biden going to Georgia at Saakashvili's request, when Saakashvili is in bed with the McCain camp, and now rolling out Rudy Guiliani to have people calling for Joe "noun, verb, 9/11" Biden to counter.
I think they want Biden selected because it kills Obama's main criticism of McCain - he's part of the Washington problem, trampled Obama's mission of change, and given all the votes Biden has made over his 35 years they plan to dissect all questionable votes to distract from talking about issues.
August 20, 2008 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
And if Obama doesn't choose Biden and instead chooses an outsider, then the argument from the McCain campaign will be that it's too inexperienced a team at a time when the world is too dangerous.
Look, the McCain campaign is going to find a way to attack whoever (whomever?) Obama chooses - so I think the smartest thing Obama can do at this point is, all things being equal, choose whoever (whomever?) he is most comfortable with. Except for Bayh....I really don't want Bayh...
August 20, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
How come we don't have designated attackers? I hate to be a chicken little, but the lack of consistent/strong attack dog surrogate action on behalf of Obama is driving me nuts! Where is everyone???
August 20, 2008 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
The obama camp doesn't want any it seems. You get the usual suspects on the Sunday shows, but they have to be completely on message. You stray off message or speak without permission and you are excommunicated (see Clark, Wesley).
August 20, 2008 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
They're all busy complimenting McCain.
August 20, 2008 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nah, that's Bill Clinton and Hugh Rodham's job....
August 20, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't forget Tony Rodham.
August 20, 2008 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anybody else think Obama should schedule a competing event in Dayton next Friday across town from the McCain VP announcement? The campaign could schedule it on relatively short notice so that McCain can't pick up and go somewhere else (after all, he has to spend two weeks roping up a crowd of 10,000), but with enough warning to completely outdraw McCain. The press would have to cover it, and they'd have to call it "bold" and "aggressive." (Even if the campaign is a little skittish about huge crowds post-Berlin, the positives would outstrip the negatives.)
Alternatively, he could try the same tack in St. Paul on the night of McCain's convention speech. He wouldn't get live coverage, of course, but if he gave a jaw-dropping speech across town to a huge crowd, it would eat into McCain's coverage.
August 20, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Romney and Pawlenty are two speakers in Colorado for the GOP's "Shadow Convention", so if Obama pulled such a stunt, it would be fair game. Of course that wouldn't stop McCain from making a fuss about it.
August 20, 2008 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
This will be weak, coming from Rudy. Especially with some of the foreign security contracts he is associated with in the past! But, it will be interesting to see how the MSM covers it, considering they barely paid lip service to the Randy Scheunemann connections to Georgia.
August 20, 2008 2:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was talking to a friend of mine's father the other day about the election, and this guy is a very smart, successful businessman who pays attention to politics. He brought up the whole Georgia thing and how McCain's been talking to the President every day and I was like, "That's because his chief foreign policy advisor is a lobbyist for Georgia!"
He had no idea.
August 20, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can't help but wonder if some of that lobbying included weapons acquisition. Sure wanna go back and look at votes associated with Georgia, made by John McCain and Tren Lott!
August 20, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or it could be that McCain is the head of the Senate Armed Services committee and this is part of his responsibilities.
Or it could be that they're both Republicans.
Or it could be that McCain's experience is valubale to the President of the United States.
Or it could be that a democratic Georgia is something that McCain strongly supports.
Or it could be that an advisor has inside knowledge in Georgia.
Who should the President be listening to, his enemies?
Maybe this guy isn't really smart, just smarter than you.
August 20, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
All of that might be true.
...Or it could be that you are an idiot troll and don't know what you are talking about!
August 20, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now that there's funnay! What experience of McCain's would be so valuable to the POTUS exactly? His POW experience? His bouts of dimentia? Fogu, sometimes you're just a stitch to read (even if you don't realize you're being so).
August 20, 2008 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Head of the Senate Armed Services committee. Experience to get there and experience gained there.
Maybe if Obama had had meetings of his subcommittee he'd have gained some experience.
August 20, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Technically, he's the Ranking Member not the "head" (if by head you meant Chairman) of the committee. And experience gained in what precisely? How to turn down military budget requests? Do you even know what that committee is responsible for? Again though Fogu, thanks for the chuckles.
August 20, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
He is amusing, by Troll standards, isn't he?
August 20, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Congresswoman Tubbs apparently died this morning/afternoon from the aneurism. RIP.
August 20, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a shame.
August 20, 2008 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Turns out the Plain Dealer and CNN were a bit premature.
Also as relates to this new "attack", the guy was on a trip sponsored by . . . wait for it . . . American Bar Association.
August 20, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Boy, the convention can't start soon enough.
I do have a grudging admoration for how the Republicans run a presidential campaign - the ruthlessness, the intense focus, the dedication to completely destroying your opponent. Wow.
August 20, 2008 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
during the primaries, I was impressed by how well the Obama campaign counterpunched. this approach has either disappeared altogether or been entirely ineffectual. either the Obama campaign learns that a fight is a fight and begins to fight, or this election is down the toilet. as for me, until I see some sign of backbone and courage in the Obama campaign, I will stick with the congressional efforts where a number of candidates seem to be willing to attack and attack (and by the way, seem to be doing fine). how very fortunate we are that not only is the Obama campaign the only "new politics", post-partisan outfit in the Presidential contest, but they have also centralized the entire message and neutered 527's that might have some of the missing backbone.
August 20, 2008 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wasn't impressed with how the Obama campaign counterpunched--they didn't counterpunch, hardly at all, during the primaries, and I clearly recall all the criticizing that went on around here about that issue.
The only time that the Obama campaign started to completely dominate the airwaves and attention (after the Iowa win, of course) was in the month of May, where every time Clinton seemed to gain some momentum in the national talking head race, the Obama campaign rolled out some new and exciting endorsement.
But they sure didn't counterpunch in March or April, and they're following the same tactic in this case, it seems.
August 20, 2008 2:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Everybody who has direct donation withdrawals to the Obama Camp should call and cancel them saying you're not going to keep supporting a campaign who doesn't want to fight. Say that you've decided you better save that money for the eventual McCain Presidency middle class screw-over.
August 20, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, that will show THEM, won't it?
August 20, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Money talks. Everything else is just white noise.
August 20, 2008 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
It will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, jonze.
Imagine if the donations drop off. The media will be blaring "OBAMA CAMPAIGN IN DISARRAY!!!!!!!!!" and the donations will continue to slide, thereby handicapping the campaign more.
Stupid strategy, unless you want Obama to lose.
August 20, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or Obama's camp could sit up and realize that people will support a fighter. That the money will be there if he starts at least pretending that he gives a damn.
August 20, 2008 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is anything happening in the Obama campaign today, or is Election Central just going to focus entirely on what comes out of the McCain campaign?
August 20, 2008 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
It certainly is true that this seems to have become "McCain Talking Points Memo". There is hardly ever any positive coverage of Obama anymore.
August 20, 2008 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
there never was in the general. it was ALL NEGATIVE. 72% negative.
August 20, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
And you're one of the handwringers making that happen. @@
August 20, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jonze does an excellent job of tearing into the rare positive news that Election Central does post, pointing out how it's not really that positive.
August 20, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a gift.
August 20, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's hilarious, is what it is. No matter the situation, I can count on you to point out the inevitable downside for Obama. You do a pretty nice imitation of traditional media in that sense.
August 20, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is an excellent point
August 20, 2008 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama has to get on the offensive. He is doing nothing but warding off attacks. He is like a punching bag and considers it a good day when he doesn't get punched too hard. This new attack by McCain/Giuliani will provide a perfect opportunity to counterattack. In case the Obama folks have forgotten how: first, a sharp retort to the attack itself (not a whiny complaint about unfairness); then, bring it back home to McCain in a big way. Something plausibly related to the initial attack (even if only tangentially, it's just the hook, after all) but something that opens up an avenue for the MSM to turn on McCain. Got to do it NOW!
August 20, 2008 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Paging Joe Biden. Paging Joe Biden.
http://strategy08.wordpress.com
August 20, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
As I posted above. I think this is exactly what the McCain Camp wants.
I'm off the Biden bandwagon.
August 20, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I read it, and respectfully disagree.
They made Rudy the keynote speaker of the convention!!! The guy's a joke and Biden helped kill his campaign.
http://strategy08.wordpress.com
August 20, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
It seems like Ground Hog Day with you guys. You piss and moan everday about Hillary, Bill and all the other coconspirators whom are sabatoging the Obama campaign. Is it possible Senator Obama is not as stong on the stump as you thought. I am HRC supporter who now enthusiastically supports Obama but can't figure out why you are still stuck in the primary campaign. Grow up or get out!!!
August 20, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Make me.
August 20, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
The object is to win the election. Period. When people are unfocused it only helps McCain and the Republicans. Stay united.
August 20, 2008 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
By the way: Why isn't Camp Obama attacking the MSM for its pro-McCain coverage? Why does McCain get to make gaffe after gaffe without attention? Why isn't McCain saddled by the MSM with Bush's catastrophic policies? Why? Because Obama has not made the MSM do so, that's why. Feedings and Beatings. That all the MSM responds to. Time for some serious beatings.
August 20, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
That Rudy conference call didn't start well. From Ben Smith:
August 20, 2008 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did he really say Citgo was an American Company? What an asshat. I love that they brought him back, the guy is a total disaster.
August 20, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
If it's an American company then are the wingnuts going to stop attacking Joe Kennedy for his commericals?
Actually, I believe Rudy meant to say that it's a 9/11 company.
August 20, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
HOW IS THIS RELEVANT WHEN THE MEDIA DOESN"T DO SHIT ABOUT SCHEUNAMAN>???
BULLSHIT
August 20, 2008 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll tell you why. Because the Democrats don't have a surrogate out there blasting McCain for having a top foreign policy adviser who is a paid lobbyist of an warring country that clearly wants the US to intervene on its behalf.
Now, why the Dems don't do this is absolutely beyond me. Go figure.
August 20, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg, I don't know if the press call is supposed to be today or tomorrow, but could you find out exactly what the "attack" is supposed to be?
Is it that Obama's adviser going to Syria is presumptuous? (McCain spoke/speaks "several times a day" with Pres. Saakashvili)
Is it that Obama's adviser may have a conflict of interest being so close to Syria? (See: Scheunemann, Georgia)
Is it that by meeting with Syria, Obama's adviser is indicating that Obama is against Israel? (Israel has also met with Syrian leaders, so Israel is similarly against Israel by this standard)
I'm just a bit confused. Where is the "there" there?
August 20, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have no idea what the Mayor of 9/11 and the McCain Ambassador to Georgia said on the call, but here - from the NY Sun story - is Michael Goldfarb acting and sounding like the complete tool he is:
The deputy communications director for the McCain campaign, Michael Goldfarb, quipped yesterday: "If one of Senator Obama's advisers has been to Damascus, we just wonder how many have been to Tehran."
I guess that's one line of attack. How witty.
August 20, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
This 9/11 is 9/11 great 9/11 news 9/11 for 9/11 Obama. 9/11
Seriously, Rudy tanked big-time in the primaries. He's a tool and most of the country, including Republicans, seem to agree at this point.
I can't wait for the GOP convention. Bush? Cheney? Rudy? Lieberman? LOLOLOLOLOLOL
August 20, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah, that IS an all-star line-up isn't it?
I just hope there's a shot of all of them on the stage at once with McCain. If so, there's your closing photo for every Obama campaign ad during the fall: You want THESE guys to run things again?!?
August 20, 2008 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the GOP line up for the convention is a real problem. I do not see any real inspiring speakers and knowing that Cheney and the Bushies are speaking will hurt McFuddle...the only bump I see there for him is one on his freakin head!
August 20, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
No doubt Rudy will flesh out his speech for the GOP keynote. Now it will be a smooth blend of ...
noun ... verb ... 9/11 ... noun ... verb ... Ronald Reagan! ... noun ... verb ... 9/11 ...
August 20, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rudy = douchebag
Lieberman = slimy douchebag
McCain = rotten old douchebag
August 20, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama said this today in Martinsville, Virginia:
"John McCain – let’s face it – he has a compelling biography,"... "He is a POW and so that is what people kind of think about instead of focusing on the fact that he wants to continue the same economic policies that George Bush has been doing for the last 8 years."
..."so my job in this election is to say I honor his service, but I don't honor his policies and I don't honor his politics."
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/20/obama-kaine-doing-such-a-great-job/
August 20, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like the verb tense. McCain is a POW.
Prisoner of War is all he will ever be.
August 20, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Unlike a lot of people around here, I've been pretty loathe to criticize how Obama's choosing to run his campaign - hoping that he'll take the gloves off beginning next week at the convention; however, I'm beginning to be annoyed about how he insists on saying he honors McCain's service everytime he mentions his name.
I mean, I understand why he did it in the beginning, but it's time to stop. At this point, if someone tries to paint Obama's words as attacks on his service then he can maybe say it, but enough already. Why does he insist on reinforcing McCain's one strength?
August 20, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, but you know, that's kind of weak. He doesn't have a "compelling biography." Besides being a POW, he's a vain, pampered, corrupt gloryhog. A posturing blowhard and a half-educated nincompoop. Is it really out of bounds for someone to point that out?
August 21, 2008 12:44 AM | Reply | Permalink