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McCain's Closing Ad Recalls POW Service, Takes Shot At Obama
John McCain's new 30-second spot, set to air in key states, presents a closing argument based on his POW biography, and the implication that he's the real candidate of substance:
"I've served my country since I was 17 years old -- and spent five years longing for her shores," McCain says, as footage of him in his Vietnam hospital bed is played. "I came home dedicated to a cause greater than my own."
McCain then talks about how he'll cut government waste and grow the economy, closing on his campaign's theme that Barack Obama is an empty suit, without mentioning him by name: "Don't hope for a stronger America. Vote for one."
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This is actually solid. If he started with this, and stuck to the themes of War Hero, Experience, Sacrifice, etc., his campaign might be in a much different place right now.
October 31, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
And picked somebody other than Palin. Ridge would have been the smart pick looking back. I mean look at the polls now, McCain would hold all the states he does now with Palin, and Ridge would have played much better in all the current toss-up states.
October 31, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, Ridge would have given McShame a shot at picking off Pennsylvania. But that's what you get when your candidate's a spineless wimp who can't stand up to the crazies in his own party.
October 31, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
But you can tell immediately that this ad wasn't made by someone in the youtube generation. Otherwise, why would the half-way frame (the default image of a youtube video) be a weird, freaky juxtaposition of McCain's face on a skull?
October 31, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope. This is plain fucking pathetic, and has been from the beginning.
Talk to most combat veterans and they'll tell you the same thing: the ones who did the most talk the least.
And vice-versa.
Honestly, he sounds like like an ex pleading for a pity fuck.
October 31, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Honestly, he sounds like like an ex pleading for a pity fuck.
That is damned funny. And accurate.
October 31, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain and Palin have given us no details as to how they are going to put this country back on the right track. All I hear is country first, and Barack knows this person and Barack that... This is getting so tired, and for all of you morons that vote for McCain/Palin, I hope you've enjoyed the last 6 years, because we're going to get more of the same if they win; in competency, stay the course even though I'm going the wrong way, Brownie you're sure doing a heck of a job, birthday cake on the strip (BushMcCain) while a natural disaster is occurring, a VP that doesn't know their role Palin is just like Cheney in that way, rich get richer, poor get homeless, penniless, no healthcare, no jobs (they all go overseas, rising food costs, a bad education system, and maybe even another war.)
Get the booze ready...please and I don’t drink, bring me some tissue, cause here comes more sh!t rolling down hill if McCain/Palin win.
[Noun, verb, POW!!!]
October 31, 2008 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's solid... by McCain standards... but there's always something in everything this campaign does that leaves you scratching your head, wondering if they're trying to defy convention to show their maverickitude, or just not paying attention. Thus we get a "first person" ad where the candidate never looks into the camera -- which creates distance from the viewer & kinda defeats the purpose of the first-person genre. And then out of nowhere Powers Boothe jumps in with just one word: "McCain", which is just weirder than weird.
Yesterday it was the "Not ready... YET" stuff, & now this. Who's getting paid to produce this crap?
October 31, 2008 7:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
His teeth look whiter in this ad.
October 31, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
They should have thought of that a long time ago. Every time he gave out with one of those smarmy yellow smiles, all I could think of was smelly dentures.
October 31, 2008 7:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
This post about the post-infomercial poll bounce is for Erik, just in case he wants to revisit the idea that it was just about expenditure, i.e. spending money exuberantly and irrationally, with no thoughts about producing or gaining anything in return.
October 31, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Which key states?
And I agree with Dorn76. But I tend to think that the economy meltdown precluded him from emphasizing these themes.
And the McCain campaign's tendency to scream POW POW POW in response to any attack irretrievably devalued the worth of his experience.
October 31, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree... after all, McScum is asking people to reward him for his POW experience when they are asking how a prisoner could feed them. And once they start getting serious, they realize there is no real connection between "a prisoner" and "feed them."
I guess disconnection is all.
October 31, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's good advice Johnny-boy and all my Republicans friends and family members plan on following it. There's only one problem for you: They're all planning to vote for Obama.
So yes, they're not "hoping" for a stronger America, they're voting for one. It just doesn't include you.
October 31, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
From the front page:
Palin fears for the 1st Amendment
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/palin-fears-med.html
Oh for fuck's sake... given the rest of her Constitutional Knowledge and lack there of, does Palin even know what the First Amendment covers?
John
October 31, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Um, in what regard, Charlie?
October 31, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
This woman is a menace -- does she not understand that the First Amendment is a restriction on the government, not on the media? And she supposedly studied journalism in college??
Please, let Obama win by enough that Palin goes back to Alaska with a big "L" for loser stamped on her forehead.
And please, TPM, I know it's Hallloween, but can you take down that big creepy close-up of her on the home page?
October 31, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
She's Bob Roberts without the balls or the guitar.
October 31, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, Ann Arbor, not to rub it in or anything (I hadn't seen you around since last week), but
MSU 35 UM 21
Go Green! Go White!! Go State!!! :-)
Oh, and Go Vote if You Haven't!!!!!!!!
October 31, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
No Moo U grads allowed on this site!
October 31, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know this is sacrilege, but I have ties to both schools, so I usually root for whoever's doing better in a given year. Unlike in politics, where I've been loyal to plenty of losers through the years...
October 31, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
So long as you don't pal around with those socialists down in Columbus!
October 31, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't worry; no chance of that -- even if it's not quite the same as it was in Woody's day.
October 31, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, no it isn't. I grew up in the final throes of the great Bo/Woody days and it's hard to describe to people (especially my husband, who grew up in Pac10 country and doesn't appreciate the beauty of "three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football). Even went back to The Big House this fall where UU beat UM, but nothing was quite as sweet as last Saturday! :-)
October 31, 2008 9:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I kinda like that Halloween shot. It'll induce a little "shrinkage" for any guy who was dazzled by those airbrushed Caribou Barbie glamour shots.
October 31, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Greenwich Village Halloween parade tonight here in NYC. I foresee MANY Palins around - what would make for a spookier night?
October 31, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pathetic.
October 31, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regardless of his service, he signed up for the job. He knew the risks. Does he therefore deserve my undying gratitude for the rest of his life even though he has turned against the very principles this country is based upon? No.
October 31, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah and his service record is a long way from shiny, too.
'
He fucked up more times in the navy than the navy will admit because of his admiral father and grandfather.
His service is a big fat FRAUD.
October 31, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
And I thought he was trying hard to separate himself from Bu$h.
October 31, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Second that.
October 31, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shoot I enlisted at 17 too...Wish he had this Ad out 2 weeks ago. Sorry John already voted.
October 31, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
He forgot the air quotes.
I was thinking today that the reason he uses that "device" so often is that he is conveying to the public (unconsciously, no doubt) that we were never meant to take seriously anything he "said" during his "campaign".
October 31, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
>"Don't hope for a stronger America. Vote for one."
We will, McCain, we will. Don't worry. You'll be back to Arizona soon.
October 31, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign. McCain, for the first (and last) time ever, on Tuesday I'm going to do exactly what you said to do.
October 31, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sorry, I know I'm biased but I felt sick in my stomach watching his face, hearing his voice and seeing him smile.
I'm beginning to see him as noise, distraction eating way national attention from real problems and real solutions.
Also, everything looks like B.S. when the "Palin" name appears at the end.
October 31, 2008 3:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree, but he's only a distraction until next Tuesday. And then, we'll have the end of term Bush shenanigans to put up with until January. Which, I think, will be significant. No matter how it seems, him and his folks aren't just sitting around. There's a lot of stuff coming.
I'd bet that we're going to have quite the number of distractions from now until Obama's sworn into office.
October 31, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
It will be significant. Congress is out of session, and he is screwing with many environmental protections, family leave, medical leave, etc. Bush is running amok.
October 31, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I knew this was coming from this crew. They'll try to screw things as much as possible on their way out the door. They know it's a matter of time before the course is reversed, but buying more time--by hook and more often, by crook--is their hallmark.
October 31, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah, and unfortunately some of their monkeying around will probably stick around for a long time.
October 31, 2008 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I've served my country since I was 17 years old - and by serving I mean graduating at the bottom of my class, being threatened with expulsion from the naval academy and routinely crashing my plane. McCain Frist."
http://pufferfish.typepad.com/
October 31, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL
October 31, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Abusing base privileges, possibly a/a killing another person (my fault), using my fly boy status to screw many women while still married, killed fellow serviceman when I screwed with my plane and set a ship's deck on fire......(thank god my dad was an Admiral)
October 31, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://judicial-inc.biz/82jjohn_mccain_and_the_uss_forresta.htm
On 29 July 1967, a devastating fire and series of chain-reaction explosions caused great loss of life on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV-59) after an unusual electrical anomaly discharged a Zuni rocket on the flight deck. One hundred thirty-four sailors were killed, and 161 were injured.
Read the link. McCain.
October 31, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
And running the other way when the USS Forrestal when up in flames -
Running all the way to a villa where he got drunk and chased women.
October 31, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Damn, you must have read the Rolling Stone piece, too!! :-)
October 31, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain was a POW?
Crap, I gotta change my vote.
October 31, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I came home to a cause, greater than my own. If my opponent had only agreed to ten town halls I wouldn't have had to become a complete ass and cause the GOP to go down the toilet with my defeat. I'm John McCain and I approve this message."
October 31, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Has John McCain ever recognized a cause greater than his own? It wasn't hewing to military discipline or academics at the Naval Academy. It wasn't being a competent pilot. It wasn't being a faithful husband. It wasn't serving honorably as a Senator. And it certainly hasn't been running a decent campaign for President of the United States.
No, I think McCain would have been much more accurate if, like George Washington Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, he'd said: “I seen my opportunities and I took ’em.”
November 1, 2008 12:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree - John BLEW it waiting to do this kind of ad.
October 31, 2008 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
His FIRST ad was all about being a POW - in fact, the first phase of his campaign was POW 24/7...it wasn't helping him much, so they they gave up on it to focus on other things.
NOW, with nothing to lose, they round third base and try to slide in at home with the original plan - vote for me because everyone should feel sorry for me!
October 31, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, McDouchebag continues to stay on message. You know, the "Don't Hope for a Better America" message.
October 31, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Once more absent from McCain's message: other people.
The contrast only became clear after the Obama infomercial: how many McCain ads have featured ordinary people? I'm not talking about Joe The Caricature here, and the lameness of running with Mr Not-That-Wealthy Not-Really-A-Plumber showed the disconnect. It's been a truly self-centred campaign.
October 31, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just because he got into Annopolis and managed to convince them to give him a plane after he'd already crashed two, and then when he crashed the last one... and was a POW, that does not give him a license to lie or cheat. Simple as that.
Liar. Cheater. You have completely betrayed the honor expected of a navy man, of an Annapolis graduate. You are unfit to serve.
October 31, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Word.
October 31, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Boo fuckin' hoo, McCain. Don't you think that you have milked this for about all it's worth? And what does it have to do with being president? Get your crazy ass to a VA hospital and see if you can squeeze some psych care out of them. Like all those poor kids serving in Iraq are going to have to do, no thanks to you.
October 31, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Boo fuckin' hoo, McCain. Don't you think that you have milked this for about all it's worth? And what does it have to do with being president? Get your crazy ass to a VA hospital and see if you can squeeze some psych care out of them. Like all those poor kids serving in Iraq are going to have to do, no thanks to you.
October 31, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are there any people out there who would be moved by this, other than their bowels, to change their minds and vote for him?
October 31, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah he moved me alright...Just got my VA check. He moved me to donate more to the Big O...
October 31, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry about the double post, but I do feel better now.
October 31, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
He milked it - enough to deserve about a hundred such posts!
October 31, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did anyone see the David Alan Grier show on Comedy Central where the token white guy on the "pundits" panel said McShame deserves to be president because he spent five years in prison, and then the others started chiming in with all the people they know who, by that standard, are qualified to be president. Like Mike Tyson, for example. Very funny.
October 31, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought the sctick about the voting machine"flipping" the votes was funny. Speaking of funny, why do voting machines NEVER flip to DEMOCRATIC candidates,but ALWAYS to REPUBES?
October 31, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: DEEP THOUGHT
Because they perceive the Jews as a handy dandy cudgel to beat Obama and peaceniks in general, over the head with.
If it weren't for that, they'd find a way to demonize them too.
October 31, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
In addition, Agrippina, part of the right-wing pseudo-connection to Israel is that there is apparently some belief among the Rapture crowd that Jews in Israel are to trigger Armageddon and the Rapture. Or something. I guess if Israel is just squished or something, then they're not in the right place to start the "End of Times" that results in most of us being destroyed and burning in Hell for all Eternity. Or something.
October 31, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Muslims are just today's sub for Jews (or, as Kit Bond might put it, "The Jew").
October 31, 2008 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are we gonna get our polling fix today?
October 31, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to get some money.
Back in awhile.
October 31, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to jinx this thing by sounding over confident but Obama could lose the following battleground states and still have enough electoral votes to win:
Florida
Indiana
Missouri
Montana
ND
Ohio
That doesn't mean we should relax, obviously the bigger the margin, the more legitimacy Obama has and the less likely either a November surprise or a stolen state or two will flip the outcome.
Remember how last spring, the Obama campaign said they could win without the big rust belt states? It seemed fantastic at the time but winning without Ohio, at least is doable after all.
October 31, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I did a little playing with one site and found that Obama needs to take Me, NH, VT, Ma, RI, Ct, NY, NJ, De, Md, DC, Pa, Oh, Mi, Il, Mn, Co, Ca, Or, Wa and Hi for 271 electoral votes. That leaves McCain with 267.
October 31, 2008 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just a fairly rhetorical rumination,but has John McCain ever held a job,with a paycheck that was contingent on NOT being funded by the American taxpayer?
October 31, 2008 4:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
More importantly, has any position he's held been strictly due to his own merits, or has his path been eased by the wealthy and influential.
From his appointment to Annapolis to his various Navy assignments, his father and grandfather made a huge difference in his advancement.
His political career was gain, made possible by a wealthy father-in-law and Republican connections.
Not that any of us achieve success completely on our own, Obama has had help from people who were impressed with him and gave him a shot too. But save for his time in POW camp, McCain's road to the presidency has been pretty smooth sailing.
October 31, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope. And as a lifelong military dependent, he has been on the government tit since birth.
We've been paying his way since day one.
October 31, 2008 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well Cindy's got some big ones, too.
October 31, 2008 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think McCain is damn lucky that Obama is winning. If McCain was winning, there are all sorts of points on which McCain's service could be shredded. Far worse and far more truthfully than the Swiftboating smears thrown at Kerry. If he wants to say his service is relevant, then so are the negatives of that service. OK, John's a "Maverick" (see, I can use airquotes, too). That hotshot maverickiness led to poor academy service, multiple plane crashes, international incident in Spain, car accident, adultery, etc.
And, here's the big one: getting shot down and captured. Because, here's the thing: the rest of his squad broke off and didn't fly so low because there was too much getting shot at them. He had to be the hotshot maverick, and got his ass shot down. And as long as we're on the topic of POW service, could we have McCain distinguish himself from his fellow 500 prisoners, the ones who didn't break.
Oh, he's been tested all right. And has failed those tests.
But, Obama is winning, so there's no need to go that low. Well, except here in the blogosphere, where we can openly recognize that the "honorable straight shooter" image is just that: an image, carefully crafted, and that he never was the man he's always been presented as.
October 31, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting point but I wonder if the MSM would have gone there.
Tom Brokaw was on Charlie Rose last night and he went all dreamy about McCain's POW experience. Especially for a lot of middle-aged and older guys, he's an icon who's image is beyond mortal, it's sacred.
I can't wait until service in Vietnam is no longer relevant for the presidency. It's such a false premiss for being a good president.
October 31, 2008 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
So let's see, guy who never served in the military idolizes those who did. How old does this story have to get--physical cowards in awe of someone who survived grievous hardship. Oldest tire swing in the book.
October 31, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting point but I wonder if the MSM would have gone there.
Tom Brokaw was on Charlie Rose last night and he went all dreamy about McCain's POW experience. Especially for a lot of middle-aged and older guys, he's an icon who's image is beyond mortal, it's sacred.
I can't wait until service in Vietnam is no longer relevant for the presidency. It's such a false premiss for being a good president.
October 31, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
is it me or can this be read as an endorsement for Obama?
October 31, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think its a safe bet to say he's getting ready to be shot down again.
October 31, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does anybody know if any Vietvets have come out in favor ,publicly, of McCain?There's a great site called VetVoice. Check it out.
October 31, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
The message should say "Would you get on a plain with a pilot that got shot down, and crashed 4, or is it 5 planes"?
Q.E.D.
October 31, 2008 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain Campaign Memo. Final Days. October 31 to Nov. 3:
Friday--POW
Saturday--POW, POW
Sunday--POW, POW, POW
Monday--POW, POW, POW, POW
Full Stop.
October 31, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
What John McCain doesn't say, is how he will unite the country after the most divisive campaign in living memory. How is he going to get all of those pinkos to back his agenda?
October 31, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain, oh, please stop begging. You are doing a disservice to real POW's.
October 31, 2008 6:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Predictable that he'd start getting nice towards then end. Best test to see whether Palin is running for this year or 2012 is whether she gets nicer. I bet not.
Starting Wednesday, let's start the campaign to oust her in 2010!
October 31, 2008 6:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, there's that damn "war hero" thing again. First of all, that happened decades ago, and probably left lasting psychic and emotional scars that have never been dealt with. Second of all, he may have spent quite a few years in uniform, but those years were spent defying authority, crashing planes, and chasing women.
I am not impressed, and I want my president to be a man of intelligence, reason and substance.
October 31, 2008 7:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, there's that damn "war hero" thing again. First of all, that happened decades ago, and probably left lasting psychic and emotional scars that have never been dealt with. Second of all, he may have spent quite a few years in uniform, but those years were spent defying authority, crashing planes, and chasing women.
I am not impressed, and I want my president to be a man of intelligence, reason and substance.
October 31, 2008 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
So one more time the man who hates to talk about his wartime sacrifice talks about his wartime sacrifice and implies that what happened 40 some years ago not only qualifies him to be president (why not call off the election?) but apparently entitles him to a pass for the least professional, most vile, most thoroughly dysfunctional campaign ever conducted by a major party. McCain has degraded himself in so many ways during this campaign, why not soil the one thing that he could be proud of in his desperate attempt to stem off irrelevancy and the contempt of his Senate colleagues.
October 31, 2008 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
If there are any NASCAR fans in here, they will understand this - John McCain is the Mark Martin of Politics.
October 31, 2008 9:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Onscreen: The ticket flashes, first McCain, then Palin. The announcer intones: "McCAIN........."
...*crickets*...
.....anyone hear a "PALIN" in there, or even just "palin"?
Where'd the energizer bunny go?
November 1, 2008 3:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yea, what was that "MCCAIN" about?
Totally random and pointless. "Don't hope for a better America, vote for one! -- MCCAIN -- I'm John McCain and I approve this message"
I dunno. I don't think it fits
November 1, 2008 9:23 AM | Reply | Permalink