Latest McCain Robocall Alleges That Obama Denied Babies Medical Care
We've obtained yet another McCain campaign robocall, and this one levels perhaps the nastiest charge yet: It claims that Barack Obama callously denied newborns needed medical attention by opposing a measure to force doctors to preserve their lives when they survive botched abortions.
The call, which was sent in by a North Carolina reader, labels Obama "extreme" and to the left of Hillary, and charges Obama doesn't "share our values."
The call concerns the now-notorious Illinois legislation -- opposed by Obama -- that would have required doctors to provide life-saving care to such newborns. Give it a listen:
Script:
I'm calling on behalf of John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama and his Democrat allies in the Illinois Senate opposed a bill requiring doctors to care for babies born alive after surviving attempted abortions -- a position at odds even with John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama and his liberal Democrats are too extreme for America. Please vote -- vote for the candidates who share our values. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202 863 8500.
McCain himself brought up this charge for the first time at yesterday's debate, and this call suggests it's going to be a key closing attack for him. But as has been amply demonstrated already, the charge is highly dishonest.
So let's take stock. We now have documented four McCain/RNC robocalls, some known to be running in multiple states:
* One that questions Obama's patriotism by saying he put "Hollywood above America" during the financial crisis.
* One that says that Obama and Dems "aren't who you think they are" and claims they merely "say" they want to keep us safe.
* One that attaches him to "domestic terrorist Bill Ayers," whose group "killed Americans."
* And, now, the above, which dishonestly paints him as indifferent to the lives of babies.
These aren't the work of any fringe groups. Every one of these is paid for by the McCain campaign and the RNC. It looks like there's a huge wave of them blanketing the country. Seems pretty noteworthy.
Late Update: Steve Benen makes some important points about what it is we're really seeing here.
















I really like the way you seem so dismayed that the robocalls keep getting uglier and uglier.
I'm shocked - SHOCKED - to see Senator McCain wait until after the last debate to unload his most vile bullshit.
October 16, 2008 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
That way he didn't have to answer for them. Either he loses on Nov 4th and he'll never be asked about them or he wins, and he won't give a damn as the ends justified the means.
October 16, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
These people make me want to vomit.
There is no measurement by which they can lose badly enough. They disgust me.
October 16, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I disagree. I would like to see them lose 538-0. That would make me happy.
October 16, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
538-0, plus McCain falls off the dias after his concession speech.
October 16, 2008 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe Obama can save about 30 million or so for after the elections to give to some 527's to totally destroy McCain, Palin, Rick Davis and uncle fester once and for all. Make them regret ever being born.
October 16, 2008 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pretty noteworthy for the scumminess, yes.
This is just sordid lies.
The Republicans just don't get it yet - they are dying just because they have spent all their time, energy and money on this shit and not a bit of it on governing.
So they are going down as nastily as possible to make it harder for the Democrats to govern. I want the Republican Party dissolved and I want whatever takes its place to have a different name - Republican is synonymous with traitor to democracy, AFAIC.
I fucking despise what these people are trying to do to my country.
October 16, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
They are going to blame Obama, because they don't have enough money to go on traditional media.
It's Obamas fault for not taking public financing.
Huh?
October 16, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's Obama's fault because he refused to do eleventy thousand town halls like McCain wanted to.
October 16, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's Obama's fault because he's too "eloquent."
October 16, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's Obama's fault because he didn't keep walking in front of the camera like I did in the 2nd debate. Pacing is presidential, dammit!
October 16, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's Obama's fault that he's black and we can't really make fun of him like we'd like to.
October 16, 2008 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's Obama's fault that he didn't just lay down and let McShame win.
October 16, 2008 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's Obama's fault that he stays cool and sticks to the issues no matter how nastily the Republicans slime him.
October 16, 2008 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's Obama's fault because he wasn't a POW.
October 16, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you saying that McCane was a POW!?
That he did jail-time?
Wow! Do his supporters know this about him?
October 17, 2008 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's Obama's fault because he's too "eloquent."
October 16, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen!
October 16, 2008 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes! This upcoming election win, while sweet, is not winning the war but only a battle. The modern "conservative" movement must be demolished. The Republican Party has ruled by deceit, smear tactics, and character assassination. These are a cancer on a democratic society and cannot be tolerated.
October 16, 2008 7:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Robo calls were so much easier before the Internets ruined the shadow games. Poor Republican Party. What's a group of fear peddling hate-mongers to do?
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
October 16, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not all voters use the internet a lot for news. But you are right in that this alerts a lot of us to these games. Plus the MSM loves to troll the blogs for leads.
October 16, 2008 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah -- at least one of the morning shows ran the prior one -- with no factual rebuttal or characterization of it as other than "robocall" and "negative.
October 17, 2008 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
The DNC should get a list of all strong Republican Voters and bombard them 8 times a day with copies of these recorded messages, so that they complain to the McCain campaign and ask them to cut back on ROBOCALLS!
October 16, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gee, now this. Big surprise.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/16/secret-service-blocking-r_n_135336.html
October 16, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yikes, the SS is now a partisan operation. And how deep does that go? I'm almost scared to ponder the question.
October 16, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Its official then. John McCain has chosen his own destruction over defeat with honour. With this massive batch of robocalls, he is crossing the Rubicon- forever will he be remembered as running the most horribly hateful campaign in history. All that remains to be seen is the next time he is up for reelection if he retires or is shown the door by Arizonans.
History will not be kind to this shell of a man
October 16, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is sickening. It really is. John McCain literally has no integrity left. None.
Is there any way to figure out how much this costs? I'm curious. When the RNC "goes dark" in Wisconsin, are these sorts of calls the exception?
And completely OT: the commenting function is sort of, um, "quirky" today.
October 16, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Commenting is quirky? I'll say. Not one comment that has posted for me today posted normally. Not one. They all have ended in: No nodes available or server stopped responding. The comments posted for the most part - but not one has posted normally.
And I hope you know I was being snarky down on the lower thread, too. And I wasn't really snarking at you or anyone else in particular, just being generally snarky.
;)
October 16, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I MOST definitely understood--you got my point immediately.
The Deep South: a vast cultural wasteland populated by rejects from the cast of "Deliverance".
And we all look alike.
October 16, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, duh, you all look like Tuxedo cats! ;-)
October 16, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, you regal Beagles all look alike, too! ; )
October 16, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, it's no "suitable" nodes are available.
I've never been one to stand on decorum. I'll be happy to use the unsuitable nodes.
October 16, 2008 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Um, yep. Sorry for the "quirky" double-post upthread.
October 16, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Um, yep. Sorry for the "quirky" double-post upthread.
October 16, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Understatement much? We'll see if MSM picks this up or if it is just ignored as inconsequential. It all depends upon people talking.
October 16, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excuse me, didn't John McCain vote AGAINST SCHIP(States' Childrens Health Program),that GW vetoed?
October 16, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is who McCain is, when all is said and done. At some point, most of us hope that tough times reveal our character in a good way. When we lose our jobs, do we start abusing our kids? Or our spouse? When disaster strikes our city, do we pitch in and help, or hoard our food and supplies?
Tough times for McCain has revealed himself to the world, and we'll never look at him the same way. He's gone from someone we disagree with, to someone we both feel sorry for, and do not respect.
October 16, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain has a history of defending racists-even when HE was being smeared himself in 2000. Example: McCain Strategist Opposed King Holiday
McCain Defended Controversial Spokesman Richard Quinn, McCain's who called the MLK Holiday "Vitriolic and Profane." Richard Quinn, was a South Carolina "strategist" for McCain in the 2000 campaign. In a Partisan View column, Richard Quinn wrote, "King Day should have been rejected because its purpose is vitriolic and profane. By celebrating King as the incarnation of all they admire, they [black leaders] have chosen to glorify the histrionic rather than the heroic and by inference they spurned the brightest and the best among their own race. Ignoring the real heroes in our nation's life, the blacks have chosen a man who represents not their emancipation, not their sacrifices and bravery in service to their country; rather, they have chosen a man whose role in history was to lead his people into a perpetual dependence on the welfare state, a terrible bondage of body and soul.” Quinn has also advocated electing David Duke, and sold T-Shirts through his magazine celebrating Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. [Partisan View, Southern Partisan, Fall, 1983; Partisan View, Southern Partisan, Winter, 1989, PFAW Release, 2/17/00] [Spartanburg Herald-Journal, 12/23/05; Vanity Fair, 11/04]
McCain Defended Quinn as ‘Respected’ and a ‘Fine Man.” Despite Mr. Quinn’s writings and history of racial insensitivity, McCain defended him as a ‘respected’ and ‘fine man’ and refused to fire him. [Associated Press, 2/18/00; New York Times, 2/8/00]--------------------------I see NO repudiation of Quinn!
October 16, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
BTW, kind of funny, but with the GOP favored ruling about voter registration yesterday in Ohio, Joe the Plumber is registered under Wo, not Wu in the spelling of his last name. I think maybe there is a chance he might not get to vote. In any event, after today, I doubt he will want to as now he is in violation of not having a license in Toledo, he is not answering his phone, and he is in deep shit.
October 16, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Turns out he's not officially a "plumber". He's not an "undecided voter". He's not really "Joe". And, of course, there's the Keating connection.
Too freaking funny.
About the HuffPost piece: you know what's too bad? It's too bad that Dana Milbank is such an unserious boob as a journalist. That story might get a little more attention otherwise.
October 16, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
For sure!
October 16, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!
That's just what he gets. He stuck his nose out there, so if it gets cut off, it's no one's fault but his. And of course, John McLame for making him the centerpiece of his side of the debate.
October 16, 2008 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
What license? I saw about the tax lien but what is this - work or drivers? I'll bet he's loving McCain about now.
October 16, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Work related.
And the local plumbers union (which, incidentally, endorsed Obama) isn't exactly pleased that Joe, Sam, Whatever the Plumber is calling himself a "plumber" when he's not licensed.
October 16, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Plumber's license.
I thought I read that Ohio didn't require one, which really rocked me back. Texas not only requires a license, plumbers have to do several hours of CE annually to keep their licensesw, like lawyers, doctors and dentists.
October 16, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tena, Ohio doesn't require one, but Toledo does, and he does business in Toledo. Also, he doesn't even have a contractor's license, so they are really P.O.'d at this guy.
October 16, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oo, I bet they are pissed.
October 16, 2008 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
O.K., listen up, the RNC has blown the lid on this -- and wide open too -- by asking who Obama really is, so I'm gonna tell you:
Who's the black candidate
That's a sex machine in Republican minds?
Obama!
Ya damn right!
Who is the man that would risk his neck
For his brother man?
Obama!
Can you dig it?
Who's the cat that won't cop out
When there's danger all about?
Obama!
Right On!
They say this cat Obama is a bad mother--
SHUT YOUR MOUTH!
I'm talkin' 'bout Obama.
THEN WE CAN DIG IT!
He's a complicated man
But no one understands him but his woman
Barack Obama!
***
Republicans, shut yo' mouth!
Can you dig it?
October 16, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL - I really love it.
October 16, 2008 4:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
xcellent! Ya damn right!
October 16, 2008 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
xcellent! Ya damn right!
October 16, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, man, somebody record this and get it up on YouTube!
October 16, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I saw this earlier today and was desparatly looking all over Cafe for it again. This is great!!! thanks.
October 16, 2008 6:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
And McCain knows all about these ads and smears because he specifically brought this up last night.
This is just proof that McCain is running out of money. How much can these calls cost? pennies? Obama is swamping him in television ad buys and McCain can't afford to match him there - so this is really his only avenue left.
Let's hope, like everything else, this backfires on him. Folks hate telemarketers, and doubly hate robocalls. This could be the campaign's attempt for free MSM coverage, they had a neat trick with web ads before the MSM caught on, and then released ridiculous television ads to get MSM coverage before the media caught on to the fact that these television ads would only air a handful of times.
With the debates done, McCain will have to spend money for exposure/coverage unless he appears on interview shows or says ridiculous things that make his newsworthy.
October 16, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Smear calls are incredibly cheap. Whether they're cost effective is debatable. I've never heard of anyone who got one of these who was anything but annoyed by them.
But I guess they think its kind of like the spam business model. If you get one imbecile to send you money for "cheeeeeep VI-ag-gra" from your online pharmacy with U.S. Doctors per ten million spams sent out, you make a profit.
But I've never heard anyone who said one of these calls motiviated them to vote for anyone (other than the candidate on whose behalf the call was made, that is. I've heard plenty of people say getting disturbed at home by these calls got them so mad that they flipped to the other guy or gal.)
October 16, 2008 5:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is what I am wondering: what percentage of the people who receive them hang up immediately? I certainly do.
I have a feeling that the people who listen are the same people who fall for telemarketing scams -- more than a few, but not much more.
October 16, 2008 10:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this what happens when you run out of money?
October 16, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's certainly what Hillary did when her well ran dry. And look how well that worked.
October 16, 2008 6:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
OMG. How long can a posting take??? I am aging here.
October 16, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOLOLOLOL!
October 16, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's more than frustating Amelie. Until today I couldn't post at all and when it finally worked it took 3 minutes. The Follow Me feature doesn't work, the update page doesn't work, I can't post a picture, etc., etc., etc. I have sent notes about each problem to the help desk. I tried to post this and it said I have to sign in although I was already signed in. Gggggrrrrrrrr.
October 16, 2008 7:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sorry for the country that he made it back from Vietnam.
October 16, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am glad McCain is the candidate. He's accelerating the demise of the Haters who hijacked the Republican party. He's literally wrecking the place. The more he flails, the more he turns off voters. The country is in terrible shape. Let's hope we can anchor a majority for 12-16 years and fix most of this. The worse McCain gets, the better our chance to develop a strong base that gives us the time and gumption to repair our home.
October 16, 2008 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
We anchored a majority for the 40 years prior to the Repug's getting the whole thing. They had it for approximately 12 and broke every fucking thing within reach -
Think about it - they didn't just break America - they broke the whole fucking world. Every stock and commodities market on the planet has been affected -
October 16, 2008 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
And with their moronic, fact-denying idiocy, they'll destroy the entire fucking planet because they'd rather ignore global warming than admit that Al Gore could possibly be right about anything. Great, yeah, hold your fucking breath until you turn blue and destroy the fucking ecosystem because the alternative would be admitting your basic stupidity, backtracking and agreeing with a Democrat you'd rather demonize, in order to acknowledge the obvious. Just as "genocide" was once a neologism, we'll have to come up with a term for the willful destruction of an entire ecosystem. What motherfucking scum.
October 17, 2008 8:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, now I'm all confused. Did Bill Ayers help Obama kill the babies or was he doing that with his Hollywood friends? And if it was Obama and Ayers who were killing the babies, how much did the people in Hollywood pay them to do it? And was that before, or after, they caused the financial meltdown and made us unsafe from the terrorists? And who are the "they" that did that again? I lost track.
October 16, 2008 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice snark but I think you make a great point-at some point it just becomes gobbledygook...
October 16, 2008 5:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait. I thought it was Britney Spears who caused the financial meltdown when she teamed up with ACORN, Frandie Mac, Hugo Chavez, Scarlet Johansson, Franklin Raines, Columbian labor leaders, and their Democrat allies to strongarm kindergartners in communist Virginia into paying for their sex education with credit lines extended to them by Joe Biden's hairplugs . . .
October 16, 2008 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right, right, okay. But who helped him kill the babies?
October 16, 2008 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greg: Do we need to donate for a better server system? It is really frustrating lately.
October 16, 2008 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Joe dislikes Obamas tax plan, Joe dislikes taxes, Joe dislikes taxes so much he won't pay the state of Ohio the income taxes he owes.
Joe the tax dodger, he can't be trusted.
October 16, 2008 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I rec'd the Ayers terrorist call in CO this afternoon.
October 16, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
How in the heck could any politician tell an MD to cease his or her Hippocratic Oath?
This defies belief! It also smears doctors.
October 16, 2008 5:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
So they're basically repeating the campaign of Alan Keyes when he ran against Obama for Senator. Good move. It worked so well for Keyes.
October 16, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey everyone, check out huge headline on Huffington Post !
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
October 16, 2008 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Holy shit! Huffpo says they're running these things in Texas. Last real poll (i.e. excluding ARG) I saw from there put McCain up 9, back at the end of September (ARG put em +19 last week, but, again ARG. Magic 8-Ball is as good.)
Either their internals suddenly have them peeing their pants there or they're suddenly worried about endangered Congressional seats. Not that those are mutually exclusive, of course.
October 16, 2008 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, these are just BS and everyone knows it. After the discussion in the debate about this crap it makes them look even worst. All I have read today is McCain seemed angry, cranky, upset at the debate while Obama was calm, cool and collected. Does McCain think this is going to help? I don't think he cares - he is just in a rage. I am sure the more learned here can think of a myth more appropriate but Medea comes to mind even if she is a little over the top. Destroying everything in a rage.
October 16, 2008 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm surprised they didn't accuse Obama of eating the babies.
October 16, 2008 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I NEVER listen to robocalls.
October 16, 2008 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Olbermann will bring this up, I am sure. Hopefully Rachel too, especially now with the story spreading like wildfire on the blogs.
October 16, 2008 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
O shit - that's the easiest prediction you'll ever make.
;)
October 16, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's hoping Letterman brings it up. Wouldn't that be sweet?
October 16, 2008 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oo, you never know. Dave ain't skeered of nobody and he's still pissed at McLame -
he prolly won't, but dayum that would be sweet.
October 16, 2008 5:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am fearful Dave will let him off easy. I hope not, but I guess the damage certainly has been done. Yes, it would be very sweet!
October 16, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
i'm sure they will, but the only people watching Keith and Rachel are you and me and others like us, who already know john mccain is, to quote sarah silverman, a douchenozzle.
October 16, 2008 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is North Carolina's first day of early voting.
One of the nice things about early voting is these scumbags have to put their cards on the table early. This gives us time to expose it.
October 16, 2008 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is North Carolina's first day of early voting.
One of the nice things about early voting is these scumbags have to put their cards on the table early. This gives us time to expose it.
October 16, 2008 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
The saddest part of these heinous ads are paid by us the taxpayers (remember $3 that we redirected to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund that pays McLame $85 million?).
How do feel for having to pay for these ads?
October 16, 2008 6:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad the ads don't have to include a "paid for by taxpayers" claim. The resulting harsh feedback from the public might actually influence McW's behavior. Then again, he and his advisors seem not to have been influenced by polling that suggests this negativity is harming McW's ability to attract independent voters....
October 16, 2008 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Next in their bag of tricks will be the Republican-sponsored repetitive, annoying calls which appear to originate from a Democratic candidate's campaign and which are intended to anger voters. This was another gimmick they resorted to in 2006.
October 16, 2008 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the solution to the Robo-calls, housing crisis, political "investigation" of Acorn, etc. After Obama wins, we turn in the list of all Republicans, send them all to Texas or Alaska for reprogramming, lock the gate, put massive amounts of Vicodin and Ambien in their water and keep them under video surveillance.
October 16, 2008 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps someone has already pointed this out, but robocalls aren't a terribly effective campaign communication tool.
Poor man's TV ad subsitute
October 16, 2008 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the solution to the Robo-calls, housing crisis, political "investigation" of Acorn, etc. After Obama wins, we turn in the list of all Republicans, send them all to Texas or Alaska for reprogramming, lock the gate, put massive amounts of Vicodin and Ambien in their water and keep them under video surveillance.
October 16, 2008 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excuse me - you can't just volunteer the entire state of Texas as a kind of leftwing concentration camp.
;)
October 16, 2008 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about just west Texas?
October 16, 2008 6:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fair enough, I used to live in Austin, that was OK. How about Fort Worth and Dallas?
October 16, 2008 6:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about where ever the fuck it is you're living most of the time -
October 16, 2008 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
California? Sure. Death Valley is available.
October 16, 2008 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
California? Sure. Death Valley is available.
October 16, 2008 6:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
NIMBY! lol...
October 16, 2008 6:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this site slow or what? My previous comment was Bill Clinton really stuck it to Bob Dole during last night's debate.
October 16, 2008 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, I hate to say it, Reagon actually had some pretty good zingers against Carter in last night's debate.
October 16, 2008 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
There you go again.
October 16, 2008 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!!
October 16, 2008 7:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
These calls must be cheaper than TV in cost per annoyance. And they can probably micro-target them as well.
McCain is low in $$ and Obama is going to buy an hour and a half of primetime TV just before the election.
October 16, 2008 6:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Any truth to the rumor that when funds get even tighter for the McW campaign they'll start advertising on Craig's List?
October 16, 2008 6:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
You mean that wasn't Palin that was advertising in the Erotic Services section?
October 16, 2008 7:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
someone needs to invent a word that means "disgusted and sickened times a million."
i've said this before, but i honestly like GWB more than mccain. well, i should say i dislike mccain more than GWB ... and i never thought it possible to hold more disdain for a human being than i do for GWB.
i just can't come up with a word to describe how this man makes me feel. it's absolutely horrid.
October 16, 2008 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
What does this tell us about the integrity and honesty of Mr. and Mrs. Maverick?
It should tell people all they need to know. McCain says he is not George W. Bush. Hmm? Could of fooled me.
They deserve to loose and they deserve to loose big.
October 16, 2008 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
they called my mom tonight. just so you know, I live in a statistical nightmare. My mom won't vote for Obama because he's black, and my sister is voting for McCain because of Palin. Welcome to my nightmare.
October 16, 2008 8:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've got a somewhat similar nightmare, though only my >80-year old mother has been involved since dad, the family's rabid Nixon-Reagan-Bush-donor, passed away a few years ago. I love her dearly, but the Catholic church seems to hit a large red button labeled "abortion" each election cycle and elicits mom's vote-Republican response. Even though she is disgusted by all of the corruption, and has refused endless phone solicitations from the RNC since dad died, mom still intends to vote for McCain and prays for a Supreme Court majority against Roe v. Wade. The whole thing is just gut-wrenching.
October 16, 2008 9:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
My mom will call me every night and talk about how much she dislikes McCain/Palin and I'm sitting there like... 'okay, so vote for obama!' I guess it's the bradley effect to some extent. I tried explaining that to her... she kept saying something like: " what do you mean there is a law that white people won't vote for a black man? " so, well, at least I tried.
October 16, 2008 10:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this our "October Surprise?" That Republicans are d*cks who will say anything, no matter how despicable to win?
October 16, 2008 9:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not much of a surprise, really.
October 16, 2008 9:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
We live in Oak Creek, WI and were the recipients of two robo calls today while we were at work - one about Obama not keeping us safe, the other about the Obama who has a close relationship to a domestic terrorist.
October 16, 2008 9:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
We received our first RNC robo call this afternoon. It was the one that accuses Sen. Obama of keeping company with terrorists. It felt like a violation of our happy progressive home -- a truly vicious attack. My husband tried to return the call and tell them never to call again, but that seemed not possible -- no human being answered the phone.
October 16, 2008 9:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is a new low for McCain. So far, his untrue smears have backfired. His reputation is going down the drain. The best way to fight back is to expose these robocalls
October 16, 2008 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
My guess is that many people are much more savvy about and weary of robocalling now days. It was quite novel in 2000 when Bush used it to such great affect against McCain (informing them, erroneously, that he fathered an illegitimate child with a black woman). It's ironic, however, to see McCain using a technique that so badly hurt him in the past. But, in light of the state of his campaign, one wonders if McCain even knows it's going on.
October 16, 2008 11:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
In Mn robo calls and mail...
A friend of mine said "I sent my mailer back to them to the return address and told them I was for Obama and take me off their mailing list, also had a phone call-- they left a number. So I called and left a message telling them to take me off their calling list, I was for Obama. It was a 202 or 206 area code. got another flier today.Was going to mail that back to but isn't worth the postage.. I tore it up and threw it..
October 16, 2008 11:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
For all the feigned outrage here, I haven't noticed anyone point out where the lie is. This robocall has nothing to do with a specific girl claiming she wouldn't have survived had this bill been passed, which is what the "debunking" link talks about.
The *fact* is he did vote against a bill that required treatment of infants born alive. Period. Nobody denies it. A bill with the exact same language and protections as the federal bill supported by Hillary just like the call says.
Truth hurts I guess.
October 16, 2008 11:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: Steve Benen's comment: "What would the Republican Party be without hate, fear, and ignorance?"
I can't think of a damn thing.
October 17, 2008 12:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm a Christian and a lawyer in Illinois, and I have to tell you, babies born alive in botched abortions have been protected in Illinois since 1975: Google 720 ILCS 510/6(2)(b). This ad is just a lie. And while Obama voted against banning "partial-birth abortion" as a procedure, he supports the ban that Illinois has had in place, also since 1975, on ALL late-term abortions, regardlesss of the method, except in cases where the mother's life or health demands it. Google 720 ILCS 510/5 for that. And forward this link to family and friends who are concerned about this issue. Barack Obama is not the monster that these ridiculous ads are trying to make him out to be. This is a last-ditch effort. http://enough2008.blogspot.com/2008/09/born-alive-babykilling-bs-obamabiden.html
October 17, 2008 12:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
David Letterman grilled John McCain on the Late Show!!
October 17, 2008 1:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Depends on who you're talkin' to. http://wwwjr.wordpress.com/
October 17, 2008 8:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Depends on who you're talkin' to. http://wwwjr.wordpress.com/
October 17, 2008 8:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry walt but linking to more copies of the same bogus arguments doesn't make them more legitimate. Have you read the text he links to? The bill only attempts to give the same human right for medical care to a "born alive" baby "who after that expulsion or extraction breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles". Born alive means just that in this case. It's a human baby that is alive by any reasonable definition of alive, and your guy voted down a bill that did nothing but make sure that baby would be guaranteed at least an attempt to keep it alive.
Epic fail in every possible sense of the phrase.
October 17, 2008 2:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
AOL has a poll out this morning ....it asks:
Who has your support?
McCain 52%
Obama 44%
I'm undecided 3%
Other 1%
Total Votes: 353,798
....hmmmmmmmmmmm..........and do you really believe that you will have to be at that great of a salary level before O'bammy takes some of your hard earned money and ''spreads it around a little so everybody can share the wealth''........personally I'll do the spreading around of my money myself. I don't need this guys help. Who the hell does he think he is anyway?
He ain't nobody......just a jive turkey, too cool for school, thinks he's a hep cat lawyer. hopefully more Americans are wising up to his connections with Ayers, Wright, Farakhan, Acorn, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ......Hell even his running mate is on record having stated that he is not ready to be President. That in itself says VOLUMES...Biden, now theres some HUGE change there!....but then again O'bammy is a citizen of the world and knows all there is to know about being President because he was a community organizer........hah! Something just doesn't smell right about him....Have a great weekend!
October 17, 2008 6:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Enlighten us, oh wise one, about Obama's "connections" to Fannie and Freddie. Or Acorn. Or Farakhan. Offer us that evidence you and your fellow asshats have been withholding that proves the "close" relationship between Obama and Ayers. Show us the way out of our ignorance with just a single shred of a warrant for any of you and your ilk's specious claims. Let us see the error of our ways, oh Kilroy6. Protect us from the burden of our critical minds that demand tangible evidence rather than hearsay and calumny. Tell us how to "smell" the truth through all the shit that's been thrown into the electoral process by purveyors of hate and ignorance, your base, the unholy alliance of bigots, theocons, and class warriors known as Republicans. Amen.
October 17, 2008 8:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
For all you who think that this stuff is "made" up, Please take a moment to listen for yourself to Obama's OWN words about how providing medical care for the dying baby would cause undue emotional stress on the mother.
http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2008/08/baipaobamamp3.html
You can listen to the mp3 or the wav audio
October 17, 2008 8:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Or they can just keep their head in the sand and keep chanting nothing with their fingers in their ears to make sure they don't hear any thing other than what they want to hear. There is no getting through to these sniveling liberals and you having the name of ''Angry McAngus'' says volumes about your state of mind and ilk. Please, come November 4th, come back and apologize for your idiocy after John McCain and Sarah Palin are in office doing the work of the American People. Even ''Angry'' folks such as yourself. If you can't find the correlation between O'bammy and all the names I listed then you are living in a fantasy land, possibly living off of Government subsistence. Good luck in la la land.......
October 17, 2008 8:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
For anyone that's ever gotten one of these calls, they're incredibly annoying and just reek of phonyism. They're also very cheap, which is entirely apparent to the listener. Yet another example of how Repubs think Americans are too dumb for their own good. Let's not vote on issues, let's vote on character! Boy howdy, didn't that work out well. I can't wait to see "W" this weekend...
McCain just doesn't get it--Americans want to hear about how he is going to fix our country, not lies about Obama's character. It's all they've got left, and the Republicans have been running on these fumes for the last two election cycles. The tank is running empty, and this year will prove to be a referendum on the Republicans' cynicical fear-mongering hate politics.
October 17, 2008 10:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
These calls are both scary and annoying: http://www.entertonement.com/clips/33868/John-McCain-Robo-Call
October 17, 2008 7:12 PM | Reply | Permalink