New McCain Attack: "Who Is The Real Barack Obama?"
You can sense a palpable shift of tone in the remarks that John McCain is now delivering in New Mexico -- a new level of frustration, combined with his most overt implication yet that there's something vaguely different, and perhaps sinister, about Obama that you just can't put a finger on.
From the prepared remarks:
My opponent has invited serious questioning by announcing a few weeks ago that he would quote -- "take off the gloves." Since then, whenever I have questioned his policies or his record, he has called me a liar.Rather than answer his critics, Senator Obama will try to distract you from noticing that he never answers the serious and legitimate questions he has been asked. But let me reply in the plainest terms I know. I don't need lessons about telling the truth to American people. And were I ever to need any improvement in that regard, I probably wouldn't seek advice from a Chicago politician.
My opponent's touchiness every time he is questioned about his record should make us only more concerned. For a guy who's already authored two memoirs, he's not exactly an open book. It's as if somehow the usual rules don't apply, and where other candidates have to explain themselves and their records, Senator Obama seems to think he is above all that. Whatever the question, whatever the issue, there's always a back story with Senator Obama. All people want to know is: What has this man ever actually accomplished in government? What does he plan for America? In short: Who is the real Barack Obama?
The tone of frustration here is unmistakable. But put that aside for a sec. This is something of a new tack for McCain in defending himself against those who point out his campaign's non-stop mendacity. McCain's new claim is that the charge of dishonesty comes from Obama alone, and that it's borne of a desire on Obama's part to avoid legit questions about his background, the implication being that there's something shadowy about it that he's trying to conceal.
Unfortunately for McCain, the charges of lying have come not just from the Obama campaign, but from literally dozens of news and fact-checking organizations.
Also note how McCain, under the guise of asking legit questions about Obama's record, slips in charged language designed to paint him as a scary unknown. "He's not exactly an open book." "There's always a back-story." "Who is the real Barack Obama?"
Oddly, when McCain delivered that last line there was a visceral roar from the crowd of McCain supporters, as if this attack -- there's an alien in our midst! -- has been the one they'd been waiting for.
Full text of McCain's remarks after the jump.
In less than a month, the American people will make a choice on where they want this country to go, and who they trust to lead us in a time of war and economic crisis. The time for debating and electioneering is drawing to a close. Soon it will be the time for choosing.Today we have seen a reminder of the importance of that choice. The action Congress took last week to address our financial crisis was a tourniquet, but not a permanent solution. Today we are seeing the stock market fall, and the credit crisis spread to other parts of the world. Our economy is still hurting -- working families are worried about the price of groceries, the price of gas, keeping their jobs and paying their mortgage -- further action is needed. We need to restore confidence in our economy and in our government.
Washington is still on the wrong track and we still need change. The status quo is not on the ballot. We are going to see change in Washington. The question is: in what direction will we go? Will our country be a better place under the leadership of the next president -- a more secure, prosperous, and just society? Will you be better off, in the jobs you hold now and in the opportunities you hope for? Will your sons and daughters grow up in the kind of country you wish for them, rising in the world and finding in their own lives the best of America? And which candidate's experience -- in government and in life -- makes him a more reliable leader for our country and commander in chief for our troops? Who is ready to lead? In a time of trouble and danger for our country, who will put our country first?
I set out on my own campaign for president many months ago. I promised at the beginning to be straight with the American people, knowing that even those who don't agree with me on everything would expect at least that much. I didn't just show up out of nowhere, after all -- America knows me. You know my strengths and my faults. You know my story and my convictions. And though familiarity in politics can be both helpful to a candidate, or not so helpful, it does at least fill out the picture and answer the essential questions. You need to know who you're putting in the White House -- where the candidate came from and what he or she believes. And you need to know now, before it is time to choose.
In 21 months, during hundreds of speeches, town halls and debates, I have kept my promise to level with you about my plans to reform Washington and get this country moving again. As a senator, I've seen the corrupt ways of Washington in wasteful spending and other abuses of power, and as president I'm going to end them -- whatever it takes. I will propose and sign into law reforms to bring tax relief to the middle class and help to businesses so they can create jobs. I will get the rising cost of food and gas under control. I will help families keep their home, and help students struggling to pay for college. I will make health care more accessible and affordable. I will impose a spending freeze on all but the most vital functions of government. I will review every agency of the federal government, improve those that need to be improved and eliminate those that aren't working for the American people. I will confront th e ten trillion-dollar debt that the federal government has run up, and balance the federal budget by the end of my term in office.
This is the agenda I have set before my fellow citizens. And the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent. Even at this late hour in the campaign, there are essential things we don't know about Senator Obama or the record that he brings to this campaign.
We have all heard what he has said, but it is less clear what he has done or what he will do. What Senator Obama says today and what he has done in the past are often two different things. He has often changed his positions in this campaign, and the best way to determine where he would really take this country is to examine where he has tried to take it in the past.
My opponent has invited serious questioning by announcing a few weeks ago that he would quote -- "take off the gloves." Since then, whenever I have questioned his policies or his record, he has called me a liar.
Rather than answer his critics, Senator Obama will try to distract you from noticing that he never answers the serious and legitimate questions he has been asked. But let me reply in the plainest terms I know. I don't need lessons about telling the truth to American people. And were I ever to need any improvement in that regard, I probably wouldn't seek advice from a Chicago politician.
My opponent's touchiness every time he is questioned about his record should make us only more concerned. For a guy who's already authored two memoirs, he's not exactly an open book. It's as if somehow the usual rules don't apply, and where other candidates have to explain themselves and their records, Senator Obama seems to think he is above all that. Whatever the question, whatever the issue, there's always a back story with Senator Obama. All people want to know is: What has this man ever actually accomplished in government? What does he plan for America? In short: Who is the real Barack Obama? But ask such questions and all you get in response is another barrage of angry insults.
Our current economic crisis is a good case in point. What was his actual record in the years before the great economic crisis of our lifetimes?
This crisis started in our housing market in the form of subprime loans that were pushed on people who could not afford them. Bad mortgages were being backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and it was only a matter of time before a contagion of unsustainable debt began to spread. This corruption was encouraged by Democrats in Congress, and abetted by Senator Obama.
Senator Obama has accused me of opposing regulation to avert this crisis. I guess he believes if a lie is big enough and repeated often enough it will be believed. But the truth is I was the one who called at the time for tighter restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that could have helped prevent this crisis from happening in the first place.
Senator Obama was silent on the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and his Democratic allies in Congress opposed every effort to rein them in. As recently as September of last year he said that subprime loans had been, quote, "a good idea." Well, Senator Obama, that "good idea" has now plunged this country into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
To hear him talk now, you'd think he'd always opposed the dangerous practices at these institutions. But there is absolutely nothing in his record to suggest he did. He was surely familiar with the people who were creating this problem. The executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have advised him, and he has taken their money for his campaign.
He has received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other senator in history, with the exception of the chairman of the committee overseeing them. Did he ever talk to the executives at Fannie and Freddie about these reckless loans? Did he ever discuss with them the stronger oversight I proposed? If Senator Obama is such a champion of financial regulation, why didn't he support these regulations that could have prevented this crisis in the first place? He won't tell you, but you deserve an answer.
Even after he refused to lift a finger to prevent this crisis, when the crisis hit, he was missing in action. He didn't start making calls to round up votes until after the rescue bill failed in the House and the markets crashed. We continue to see the price of delay today as the markets continue to fall. Today the DOW has fallen below 10,000. And yet, members of his own party said they felt no pressure to vote for the bill. Why didn't Senator Obama work to pass this bill from the start? Why did he let it fail and drag out this crisis for a full week before doing a thing to help pass it?
Again on taxes, we see a difference between what Senator Obama says today, what he said yesterday and what he has actually done. Over the course of this campaign, he has had many different plans to raise your taxes. During the Democratic primary, he promised to double taxes on every American with a dividend or an investment. He promised to raise payroll taxes. He promised higher taxes on electricity. Now, Senator Obama claims he will give 95 percent of Americans tax relief. He actually promised the same thing when he was running for Senate in Illinois, but once elected he never introduced legislation to do so. Instead, he voted for the Democratic budget resolution that promised to raise taxes on people making just 42,000 dollars a year. At the time, he even said his vote was intended to get "our nation's priorities back on track." If he's such a defender of the middle class, why did he vote to raise their taxes? Whatever ha ppened to the tax relief he promised them when he was a candidate for the Senate? And why should middle class Americans trust him to keep promises he has already broken?
Senator Obama and I both have differences with how President Bush has handled the economy. But he thinks taxes are too low, and I think spending is too high. The government's out of control spending has resulted in a weaker dollar, raising the cost of groceries and gasoline, and killing jobs.
I will veto pork barrel legislation and cut wasteful government spending. Senator Obama has a different plan. According to third party estimates, he will increase government spending by over 860 billion dollars. He has denied it, but he has refused to tell you how much he does plan to spend. What is the total of his increased spending? Americans deserve to know just how much more of their money Senator Obama intends to spend, and how much more debt he plans to burden them with.
Senator Obama has also criticized earmark spending, those wasteful pork barrel projects stuck in spending bills behind closed doors. And yet, despite his talk on the campaign trail, his actual record is full of requests for earmark projects. In his three short years in the Senate, he has requested nearly a billion dollars in pork projects for his state -- a million dollars for every day he's been in office. Far from fighting earmarks in Congress, Senator Obama has been an eager participant in this corrupt system. In one instance, he sought more than 3 million dollars for a new projector at a planetarium in his hometown. Coincidentally, the chairman of that planetarium pledged to raise more than $200,000 for Senator Obama's campaign. We don't know if they ever discussed the money for the planetarium, and no one has asked Senator Obama. But even the appearance of this kind of insider-dealing disgusts Americans. I'm going to put a stop to that, my friends, if I'm President.
I have made every single donor to my campaign publicly available, while Senator Obama has taken in over 200 million dollars from undisclosed sources. We have already seen the potential for fraud because of his refusal to disclose his donors. His campaign had to return $33,000 in illegal foreign funds from Palestinian donors, and this weekend, we found out about another $28,000 in illegal donations. Why has Senator Obama refused to disclose the people who are funding his campaign? Again, the American people deserve answers.
On health care, Senator Obama has been misleading you about my plan to give you more money for health care, and he has been equally misleading about his own plans. He has said his goal is a single payer system where government is in charge of health care and bureaucrats stand between you and your doctor. Under the plan he has proposed, he will fine families that don't have the kind of health insurance that Senator Obama tells them to purchase. He will fine employers who do not offer the health insurance that he thinks they should offer.
What he doesn't say, and what nobody has asked, is how big his fines will be. What he doesn't want you to know is that with a small fine, his plan will encourage companies to just pay the fine, drop existing health care coverage for their employees and leave them with only one real option: government run health care.
Who is the real Senator Obama? Is he the candidate who promises to cut middle class taxes, or the politician who voted to raise middle class taxes? Is he the candidate who talks about regulation or the politician who took money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and turned a blind eye as they ran our economy into a ditch?
Is he the candidate who promises change, or is he the politician who has bought into everything that is wrong with Washington? We can't change the system with someone who's never fought the system.
Washington is on the wrong track and I'm going to set it right. The American people know my record. They know I am going to change Washington, because I've done it before. They know I'm going to reform our broken institutions in Washington and on Wall Street because I've done it before. They know I'm going to deliver relief to the middle class, because that's what I've done.
You don't have to hope that things will change when you vote for me. You know things will change, because I have been fighting for change in Washington my whole career. I've been fighting for you my whole life. That's what I'm going to do as President of the United States. Fight for you and put the government back on the side of the people.
Thank you.
"Senator Obama will try to distract you"???? REALLY?!
You've got to be kidding me. Ayers. Wright. "Hussein". All distractions from who? McCain and company.
I hope the American people are smarter than these guys give them credit for.
http://thepajamapundit.om/
October 6, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
"He'll try to distract you by talking about issues and policies and substantive things that matter, as if the future of our country depended on this election. But, rest assured my friends, i will not engage in such high-minded tactics."
October 6, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
ROFLMFAO !
October 6, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
More Rovian nonsense: Accuse Obama of what you're guilty of. These guys left reality-based campaigning a long time ago. And it might work (again)...except reality's kinda hard to ignore these days.
October 6, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was my first thought, too: it's a page from the Rove handbook. Everything I've read about Obama suggests he rarely shows anger and keeps a level head even under intense pressure. Ergo, ala Rove, take that strength and turn it upside down, i.e. Obama's actually a touchy hothead. It's the same as trying to turn attention away from Bush's service dodging by suggesting John Kerry was not a war hero after all. Sickening.
October 6, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm pretty sure they are. I'm praying they are, anyway.
October 6, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Deranged. The man is now obsessed with Obama.
October 6, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's sort of like Bill Clinton in the primary season. He became obsessed with Obama, and look what happened to him.
October 6, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point...and see how the fuckhead cannot help copycatting Obama literally each and every single time ("Senator Obama will try to distract you"). Obsessed he is.
October 6, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, he seems to have no idea how obviously he is projecting, let alone why. Now he's calling Obama "touchy". What next, the Big O is old, white, and wrinkled?
October 6, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since his audiences don't listen to what Obama and Biden say, it's easy to plagiarize content and claim it as your own. Who do you think they're gonna believe?
October 6, 2008 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
remember who is running McCain's campaign: Steve Schmidt. Rove's protege. there's no better example of Rovian political tactics than to go all-out in accusing your opponent of doing exactly what you yourself are doing that's underhanded to muddy the waters.
the idea is to put yourself on an even playing ground in the eyes of the media, who equivocate desperately anyway, that "the 2 candidates are getting angry and going negative". this (ostensibly) pulls Obama down while you just do your thing spreading more dishonesty.
October 6, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, that's quite Rovian. But that works only when it fits people's sense of reality. When not, well, it's just like another king-has-no-cloth moment -- at least (and I'm hoping) for this once the MSM mostly agree with that.
October 6, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
You have to wonder if they can pick up ANY undecideds with this approach. Is it even worth effort merely to keep die-hards from defecting? Guess that's all they have now.
October 6, 2008 8:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, and what did you do in your 26 years in Warshington, to set this country on the right track? You've pushed for deregulation, which has caused this country to come to a recession. That's what happens when the banks don't play by the rules while we do, and that's not fair.
October 6, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
We've lifted off for some strange extraterrestrial ride. It's not longer a campaign. It's a vendetta!
October 6, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
"no" longer
October 6, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
More like a death rattle.
October 6, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really think he's gone off the deep end. Total meltdown of the entire reactor - coming soon.
October 6, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
The strange thing is the people on his campaign are 100% behind him. No voice whispering in the dark asking if the course they're taking is rational and makes any sense.
October 6, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wait until November 5. The knives will come out soon enough.
October 6, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
If not sooner. When it looks insurmountable, look for the people jumping ship.
October 6, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Unfortunately I think there are a lot of Hillary Dems and former Reagan Dems who are looking for any excuse to not vote for a black man.
They have everything to gain from democratic policies but they can't get over that hurdle.
I just spent a week in NE Philly doing persuasion calls and canvassing for BO, in white working class neibs.
It is very sad but they WILL listen to Grampa McBombsAlot's mud and slime.
We would be lucky if JM melted down for all to see.
October 6, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's just what it is from here on out.
October 6, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
This could be interesting. If he is really this frustrated and angry, he could blow his cork at the drop of a hat. If you were Obama, would you try and push a button that would make McLame loose it tomorrow during the debate?
October 6, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely. You bait, he bite. This man has a serious problem with controlling his emotion -- and that's what people will remember from those debates.
October 6, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a townhall meeting, they'll both be moving about the stage? It'll be interesting to watch McCain try and avoid looking at Obama.
October 6, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would not do so. And I'm a clinician. I doubt Obama will either. I hate to say this, but I think he's gonna do it all by himself, with no extra help.
October 6, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama holds his own there and says "John, you were wrong" (as he did in the first one) -- I think that's actually enough.
October 6, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was watching McLame during the first debate when Obama went into the "you were wrong" recitation. I thought it was obvious that McLame was not looking at Obama so that he wouldn't loose it. You could see the jaw flexing and the teeth grinding. I really think just one "John, you are just wrong about this and the American people know it" and he'll blow.
October 6, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, yes. That's how I saw him at that moment too.
October 6, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe. He did hold it together last time, and I think he'll hold it this time. Unless he really has gone off the deep end, him keeping it together will be one of the only things he can say later that he did right. He's gotta know what an explosion would mean.
That said, an explosion would be kind of fun.
October 6, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Obama's got him primed for a meltdown at this point.
The question is whether he'll push the button in question tomorrow night or wait until the last debate.
And remember, tomorrow night is a town hall - so the audience will be a serious wild card. Maybe it'll be an audience member who pushes McCain over the edge.
October 6, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Any idea how those people were selected to be there?
October 6, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama does not need to do a thing. mcCrazy is doing it all by himself. External reality is pressing upon him. And his efforts to maintain a near-delusional perspective are gonna break down at any point.
I do not want Obama to be the trigger. Though mcCrazy may see it that way.
October 6, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agree 100%. Obama should do exactly as he did in the previous debate. Be courteous, but respectfully point out McCain's lies. McCain's own anger was his undoing in the first debate by not looking at Obama. I'm thinking that that's a mistake that McCain won't make again tomorrow night.
October 6, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
And with two more debates to go, I suspect McCain will pull a Palin and start talking shit regardless of the question being asked. SHould prove interesting. Perhaps he'll meltdown in front of 50 million plus viewer.
October 6, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think he already has--by going over to shake his hand during the bailout vote. Obama knew the cameras were trained on them. McAngry did, too--and he wanted to lash out at him, but he knew he couldn't.
I love it. Fuck with him--smiling.
October 6, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
As Lincoln said:
Same rule applies here. It's better if Obama doesn't look like he pushed McCain over the edge. Just lead him up to the edge of the abyss and let McCain fall in on his own.
October 6, 2008 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Loose it or lose it? Either one will do nicely for sure.
October 6, 2008 7:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
He sounds like he is describing himself, not Obama.
October 6, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. Projection. Very, very primitive defense.
October 6, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Although its your area of expertise, I really don't think this is projection. I think this is what cynicism looks like when it rises to the level of pathology.
That said, McCain has unmistakably shown himself to be the most psychologically and emotionally troubled person to receive the presidential nomination of a major party since Richard Nixon.
October 6, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I read the first few lines and actually and to go back and re-read Greg's intro. I thought I was reading something from Obama.
October 6, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was Obama's fault that the House didn't pass the bill the first time around? Does he really think that people don't blame the House GOP?
October 6, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was Obama's fault for being born. And everything that followed that!
OMG, we have really gone round the bend here!
October 6, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right Thera. McCain is so close to the White House he can taste it. And Obama is in his way. The volcano is going to erupt soon.
October 6, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mccain needs therapy.
October 6, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
No. He is not suitable for therapy. Not workable. Indeed, any therapist might be in danger. I assure you in no way would I be alone in a room with this man at this point, trying to bring any reality to bear. Uh..Uh.
October 6, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
O god me either.
I do not understand why Cindy McLame stays. I know she's numb, but dayum - I wouldn't be alone with him either - under any circumstances. He's a seething mass of rage and hatred.
October 6, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
And incipient psychosis.
October 6, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really have to take exception to such a statement, TheraP, coming from a professed therapist.
The APA Principles, I am sure you know, states that:
Since you are offering this as a private person and not in a strictly public venue, the situation is not quite as severe.
Still, I personally find it very unseemly for you to present a professional opinion, and furthermore to suggest that the person is untreatable.
October 6, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tomorrow night Obama will say something like “John, at least try to look me in the eye when you lie about my position.” And McCain will leap across the stage and try to strangle him.
October 6, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
McFuddle will fall down and curl into the fetal position and start sobbing. His old mother will come up from the crowd to comfort him. Oh Johnny boy! MOMMY help me!
October 6, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
If anything even remotely close to this happens I will immediately die from laughter. It's been nice knowing you all! ;D
October 6, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Sonny Corleone moment has finally arrived. The man's sold out every principle he had convinced himself he held dear to achieve his lifelong ambition of finally outranking his daddy and all its done is put him further away, and his anger is all he's got left.
And of course they cheered. All wingnuts know in their heart of hearts that only white people are patriotic and they've finally been given permission to say it.
October 6, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Who is the real Barack Obama?"
The real Barack Obama is up +6 in NC in the latest PPP poll.
October 6, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice one.
October 6, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is so transparent. The Lee County Florida Sheriff who (at the Palin rally) said, "let's leave Barack Hussein Obama wondering what happened" is Sheriff Mike Scott. This is in Lee County Florida, home of tourism dependent Fort Myers.
Do they condone what their mouthpiece Sheriff is saying? Why not ask them?
County Commissioners in Lee County are Robert James (239) 533-2224; Brian Bigelow (209) 533-2227; Ray Judah (239) 533-2223; Tammy Hall (239) 533-2226; Frank Mann (239) 533-2225; Lee County Visitors Bureau 800-237-6444
October 6, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, if he was elected as a Republican, then they probably don't care. Not that one can't call him on it anyway!
October 6, 2008 4:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice to see Republicans on the defensive for a change.
October 6, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think most people recognize the sound of desperation, even if subconsciously. It's not going to play well. Obama just needs to keep doing what he's doing. Act like an adult. Let McCain go off like a nut.
October 6, 2008 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
And most Americans will never hear 98% of the content. Just whatever sound bite is pulled off for the news, most likely the attacks on Obama. In other words, McCain still is unable to communicate his vision for fixing the problems we face.
October 6, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
That repulsive runt needs a few sessions in Thera P's chair, because that was just a word salad of projection.
October 6, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please see below. I would never, ever agree to treat someone like this. Never. The person is not suitable for therapy. No desire to change. No insight. And quite possibly a danger to the therapist.
For the record, I would not treat Palin either.
October 6, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I was speaking figuratively, not literally. I wouldn't wish either of those cretins on you, for you are far too decent for that.
But both of those entitled jackasses have a problem. Really.
October 6, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bless you.
October 6, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain stretegy is simple. Try to scare racist and older white people into turning out in droves. Meanwhile, preachers all over the south are doing everything they can to tie Obama to revelations. I've heard it live and listened in on conversations.
McCain, already losing, is slowly inching towards a truly major mistake. Something bigger than his campaign suspension . Every week you can see he has talked himself into being more reckless and more vile. One day soon either McCain or Palin or one of their surropgates is going to cross a line so blatantly that it will put the final nail in their coffin.
October 6, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
No. He is not suitable for therapy. Not workable. Indeed, any therapist might be in danger. I assure you in no way would I be alone in a room with this man at this point, trying to bring any reality to bear. Uh..Uh.
October 6, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was meant for frankl above.
October 6, 2008 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
So after 2 years of campaigning, 20 odd debates, hundreds of rallies and townhalls, hundreds if not thousands of interviews for both print and video media, McCain still doesn't know who Obama is? I think that's his problem more than Obama's.
October 6, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nor does he know himself! Which is worse.
October 6, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're the therapist, but I kind of lean toward thinking he does know himself deep down and absolutely hates himself.
But he's not self-aware, I totally agree with that.
October 6, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think he's got we call a "vertical split." Like bill had about monica. But this is far, far more perverse.
I'm truly concerned here. Because you can push away the truth for a long, long time. And he may never recognize the "truth" about himself. But he may begin to see the landslide of events crashing on top of him. And depriving him of what he believes is "his due." (like cheney, but way, way worse!) And that pressure could lead to a mental fracture. You either recognize reality and deal with it. Or... you've crossed the line... into craziness. There are only those two choices. Or someone steps in, medicates the guy, and ... I don't the sequel to that.
October 6, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
In past elections, I might worry about this turn.
Not this time. People are too close to this election and it's about health care and the economy. Obama can easily spin the Keating Five "smear" into something relative. Why? See: Stock Market.
Also, at this point, I really have hope that most people are seeing McCain for what he is. A petulant screaming baby that's obsessed with Obama and winning. He wants to win by hell or high water, consequences be damned. It's really sad.
October 6, 2008 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
During Palin's rally in FL, somebody in the crowd yelled "Kill him!" This was reported by Chris Cilliza. This kind of shit is only going to increase. With Hannity stoking this kind of racist crap, and with Obama crushing McCain in VA and NC, expect the appeals to the "base" to be more vile, more racist, more raw, more violent. Hoo-boy. Our nation is going through a really important self-examination right now.
October 6, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're exactly right.
October 6, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pretty pathetic of John and his campaign to stoke those flames. Scratch that. Pretty disgusting.
October 6, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's a point at which you'd have to consider it illegal, I would think.
October 6, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's a point when you just call it a Klan meeting. That's chilling. But I want people to see it and hear it.
I want it everywhere. THESE are the only type of scum they can attract. And Unstable/Unable just keep stoking it.
They and their pathetic racist ilk can just burn in hell for that. Fucking make them own it.
October 6, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fuck...wha???? I hope the Secret Service is doing their jobs...I so didn't need to hear that.
I'm not surprised, of course. Just didn't want the confirmation, as silly as that may sound.
October 6, 2008 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Link, please...
October 6, 2008 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I watched Hannity's crap last night and am sick. McCan't and his cronies are doing nothing but insighting hatred. They should all be ashamed!
October 6, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain Campaign continues to try to co-op *every* word that the Obama Campaign uses. From Change on down the line. Now it's trying to claim "distraction".
Clearly the Campaign and speach writers spend half their time watching Obama and figuring out what they might be able to steal to wrap around themselves. It's pretty numbing at this point.
John
October 6, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shee-it. They are co-opting *their own* words. Wasn't Palin blabbering on about being and "open book" in regards Troopergate?
October 6, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes and Sarah Starburst stole Biden's line about building schools in Afghanistan. And managed to fuck it up.
October 6, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
As pointed out on the front page, they're co-op'ing "angry" and "touchy".
I wish the Obama Campaign would start using the words "Comb Over", because you know what's next:
"My friends... why is Senator Obama so angry and touchy when his Comb Over is mentioned."
-McCain
The McCain Campaign is starting to remind me of:
"Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!"
-Future Senator John Blutarsky
"Germans?"
-Otter
"Forget it, he's rolling."
-Boon
We all would be laughing at this if he was 20 points down in the polls - he'd be a national joke. Instead, we all are still nervous that some miracle will fall from the heavens in his lap and we'll be stuck which this batshit crazy man as our next President. Worse - surrounded by the nuts who've run his campaign.
John
October 6, 2008 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's your vector, Victor?
October 6, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Comb over" good one! I like the way you think.
October 6, 2008 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Campaigns go sexual!! Laura O'Donnel on MSNBC just reported that Obama charges McCain with being "erotic" and McCain counters that Obama is "touchy". LOL
October 6, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's gotta be a context for Obama's remark, if he made it.
Context?
October 6, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sure it was a typo (erratic is more likely).
October 6, 2008 4:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
That makes more sense to me.
October 6, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pretty sure that should have been "erratic," but was mispronounced.
October 6, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
God I love watching The Repugs refuse to get it and refuse to catch the wave and stay back there in a stagnant cultural backwash while the vast majority of Americans are more than ready for this.
I think it's growing - I think that people are becoming more proud of their choice of Obama every day.
October 6, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain is going down this November like a crazy, mean-spirited version of Bob Dole.
I'll bet he'll retire not long after losing. (Bob Dole had the integrity to retire before losing the election.)
October 6, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe he'll do Cialis commercials.
October 6, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why is he STILL running a base-consolidating strategy? This isn't 2000 or 2004.
October 6, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is a very good point. This new "strategy" of name-calling and innuendo is only red meat to the Repub base. He's not going to grab any independents or right-leaning Dems with this nonsense. In that vein I say "keep up the good work McCain!".
October 6, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think once the election is over, I'm going to cafepress and design a new bumper sticker - cause the old ones will be obsolete (I can't believe it!) I think I'll just make a simple one that says:
Yes We Can
We Did.
October 6, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or ...
Yes We Did!
October 6, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow - I like the Obama numbers in NC but love Hagan's even better. A ressuring thing about the trend in the polls is that country is turning away from the GOP in general. And while Obama is helping, I'm glad that there is a fundamental anger towards the Republicans that is feeding the polls.
That means that folks are going to be skeptical about any claims made by the GOP. That greatly dillutes these attacks. We saw in the debates that any time McCain or Palin attacked Biden or Obama the meters went down.
I am more convinced now that if McCain goes after Obama hard tomorrow night it is going to damage McCain in the polls.
October 6, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
One reason some of the hardcore Repubs are flipping out is that Obama will very likely have a filibuster-proof Congress
October 6, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
> That and appointing new Justices and Federal Judges...
October 6, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
[[[[ Happy Feet ]]]]
A retooled DOJ - you have no idea!
Our federal court system has been one of the best in the world and Bush almost wrecked it.
'Thank god he didn't totally wreck it.
October 6, 2008 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain campaign has reached the death spiral phase:
1. Poll numbers drop
2. Campaign becomes increasingly desperate
3. Ratchet up attacks
Repeat cycle over and over until Nov 4.
October 6, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice sweater, grandpa. Can I borrow 5 bucks?
October 6, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Barack said today "we don't throw the first punch but we'll throw the last"... It will be interesting to see how the "character debate" falls....
October 6, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
What McShame's really trying to do here is give credence to the racist, looney-tune emails that Obama is the anti-Christ, a closet Muslim, a secret terrorist, you name it.
Of course, with that as your basis, who's to say McShame isn't a real-life Manchurian candidate, brainwashed by the North Vietnamese to run for president and then destroy America from within. If you look at the likely impact of his bellicose foreign policy, his clueless economic unpolicy, and his health care policy, one could actually make that argument. But far be it from me to make it (hey, disingenuousness is contagious).
October 6, 2008 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
First, Bu$h is more the Manchurian candidate than McCain.
Second, McCain may physically reside in the US, his mind is still being held captive in Hanoi.
October 6, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
For whatever reason, the way things are going here, I am getting very concerned now about some kind of psychotic break happening with mcCrazy. Perhaps along with psychotic rage.
And I'm thinking about the supporters here. What is going to happen to them if he literally loses it and becomes a raging maniac. How will they cope with that, with having sided with a lunatic?
Maybe I'm over-reacting. But it's not looking good here. Not at all. Not from this clinician's perspective.
October 6, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
And what about Obama's safety, Thera? Is he at risk from an unstable McCain?
October 6, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
No. I do not believe so. The secret service would step in. Thank god for that!
October 6, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why do you think they sided with him in the first place? These are the same people who still approve of Bush. Got to be crazy.
October 6, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just substitute Palin for Obama and McCain hits the nail squarely on the head!
October 6, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Except that Obama would never devote a speech to attacking someone's character.
The man has lost all semblance of a campaign. And this is nothing but a vendetta.
October 6, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
The PPP poll says Obama up +6 in N.C.
October 6, 2008 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
And Hagan's up 9? Wow, is this 2006? It's getting surreal again.
October 6, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
And everybody told me '06 didn't count.
BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!
October 6, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Libby was always in a tough spot. There's something about that seat that causes it to change hands every six years and it has not gone unnoticed hereabouts that she hasn't done a goddamn thing in Washington since she got there (or got back, I should say) other than be Bush's # 1 lap poodle.
October 6, 2008 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain said: "The American people know my record."
I know your record, Senator McCain. You are a career white collar crook and the bought-and-paid-for tool of the corporate lobbyists who run and staff your campaign.
And your point is ... ?
October 6, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Vhat we haf here is a classic case of ze projection.
love and kisses
Sigmund Freud
October 6, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rolling Stone has a not-so Flattering work up of mccain's life. After reading, i'm not sure the american people know who the real John McCain is...
Make Believe Maverick
October 6, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
not so flattering? That's an understatement.
The article made it clear to me that he's worse than Bush. At least Bush doesn't hate women - he actually likes us. McLame hates women along with everyone else.
He scares me worse than Bush and Cheney. He's crazier than both of them.
October 6, 2008 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who the heck is this guy that has been on your TV for the past 19 months, every day, all day? Who is this guy that has already written 2 bestselling books about himself, and given reams of thoughtful speeches outlining his plans for the future. Who is this guy that 18 million people already voted for in the primary? Who is this guy who, according to 3 out of 4 major polls, has the support of at least 50% of "likely voters"?
Yeah. Just who the heck is this guy?
He's the next President. That's who he is, you old fool.
October 6, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, yes. Sure. But we just don't know enough about him. All right-thinking conservatives are troubled, very troubled, by the things they don't know about Barack Obama. What they don't know about Palin? Not troubling at all. But Obama? Troubling, very, very troubling. Troubling, I say.
I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times.
October 6, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course right thinking conservatives are concerned about what they don't know about Obama Steve. They've been digging into his past for 18 months and haven't found anyting juicy enough to use against him. That's very troubling to them.
October 6, 2008 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
the new republican campaing handbook (soon to be discarded for its abject failure): down is up - whatever you believe, say the opposite; whatever is true about you, say it about your opponent; whatever is true about your opponent, say it about yourself.
remember the palin roll-out? 'sarah palin is a reformer with results!' the sarah palin roll out was all about her being ethical and anti-corruption and anti-earmark BECAUSE she is unethical, corrupt, and sitting on a mountain of pork.
the mccain campaign (and the republican party) believes we are in a post-truth world where IMAGE and appearance are all that matters. it worked for bush but mccain is finding out that the journalism of false-equivalence that rush limbaugh and karl rove helped shape has its limits.
October 6, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a link to a story about Palin's speech in Clearwater today. Check out the comments, at least 90 percent of them are anti-Palin.
No wonder Obama is leading in Florida.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2008/10/sarah-barracuda.html?cid=133617597#comment-133617597
October 6, 2008 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
This all just speaks to his base. I really doubt that Independents love this kind of campaigning. They're supposedly on the fence because of wanting more clarity on issues. McCain and Palin are just throwing raw meat to their already ravenous followers. It's completely off-putting and disingenious to the rest of America.
Obama needs to stay cool but be forceful in tomorrow's debate. He's shown some fire on the stump lately and I hope he brings it tomorrow.
Obama 53%
McCain 38%
by the end of the week.
October 6, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's pretty awesome (in a "pass the popcorn" sort of way) -- he's accusing Obama of pretty much every personality disorder he himself exhibits, and in doing so he's taken Rovian tactics almost as far as it's possible to go. Certainly he's taken them past their breaking point.
So pass the popcorn!
October 6, 2008 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Try as he might to "turn the page"...
The Dow dropped as much as 800 points today in reaction to the global spread of the credit crunch. Somehow, I don't think these negative attacks are going to stick much.
October 6, 2008 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Have you noticed the market is a thermometer that measures the mood of the people. The worst the markets are the more sour the people are. It all is a reflection of the campaign. Just last year at this time the DOW was over 14,000. Go figure.
Note this:
1) If Obama wins, the markets will rebound almost as fast as they dropped.
2) If McCain wins, expect the market to be around 6000 or lower by inauguration day.
October 6, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
First McCain said that the Keating scandal was "one of the worst mistakes" of his life. Now he says through his lawyers that keating was nothing more than "a political smear job". Try getting your head around that!
October 6, 2008 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Woo Hoo! Time to play "Fun with Associations"!
Flat-out character assassination time, America! Enjoy October, it's gonna SUCK ...
October 6, 2008 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama Derangement Syndrome officially claims its latest victim! Can science find a cure for this plague? ;)
October 6, 2008 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the Obama campaign is playing the Keating 5 Card now, it signifies to me that the McCain campaign is officially on life support, and the Obama camp is delivering the coup de grace as a mercy kill.
October 6, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Captain Queeq, we are seizing control of this ship, as you are no longer fit to lead.
October 6, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd say McCain's campaign has lost all sense of there being an America out there that isn't composed of far-right wingnuts and racists. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity might as well be running things. He himself seems consumed by anger and a sort of disgruntled confusion.
I expect tomorrow's debate to be an ugly display of thwarted rage and character assassination, with him ranting and talking over Obama, that will further erode his credibility.
Maybe he'll lose it with a member of the audience who questions him. That would be golden.
October 6, 2008 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's rhetoric is to be expected. But what was unsettling were the roars from the crowd. These were not cheers of excitement, rather there was anger in their voices. And McCain looked as if he enjoyed inciting that anger. The McCain crowd has begun to mirror the anger of their candidate. Scary.
October 6, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
They were angry to start with. That's what conservatism is.
October 6, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
WHO IS THE REAL JOHN McCAIN? The heroic game changer of 2000 or the complete and utter ASSHOLE he's become in 2008???
October 6, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
We've got this thing within reach now. Don't push in the clutch, people. Keep the pedal to the metal. A few more weeks and we'll be able to relax just a little before the really heavy lifting starts.
October 6, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
we all knew that McCain would have a very public temper explosion before the campaign is over... it's coming soon... will it be tomorrow night at the debate?
now that the polls are way against McCain, you know he's ready to pop...
October 6, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just went back and reread what he said, then watched that vid from the Des Moines Register interview - Josh has it back up.
Yeah - that speech was a tantrum, straight up. He's gonna blow - I'm pretty convinced at this point - they'll have to drug him up or something. He's having a very public breakdown.
October 6, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just won a bet I made in January 2008...that the market would tank below 10,000 before election day.
At the closing bell, the DOW was 9955. At least McCain is good for a case of Chimay Grande Réserve 9°. With the exchange rate so bad, it's gonna cost them close to $100 for 9 liter bottles.
Thanks John!
October 6, 2008 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Got my euro to dollar conversions backwards. It's 12 euro per bottle = 108 euro. That's about $145 or $16.25 per bottle.
October 6, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
And this was billed as a tough speech? It's pretty weak stuff. McCain seems to have punched himself out. It's only a matter of time before he goes down for the count.
October 6, 2008 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've just received a preview copy of Magoo's latest campaign commercial:
V.O.: (Background of flag waving bravely in the breeze)...I'm voting McCain because, as a Republican, there's one thing I've learned....(sound of crickets...owl hoots...lonesome train whistle in the distance...more crickets...)
V.O.: I'm John McCain and I didn't understand this message.
McPalin/Sarah Lee Fruitcake: When you absolutely, positively have to be fucked tomorrow...
October 6, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain describing Obama as "touchy" and "angry" made me think of Nixon lecturing the White House staff after he resigned about not being petty and never hating your opponents, with a complete lack of self-awareness.
October 6, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Beetle,
The person who owes you money may have to pay you in soup or apples before too long!
October 6, 2008 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a good one from TP:
Top McCain Aide: ‘If We Keep Talking About The Economic Crisis, We’re Going To Lose’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/10/06/mccain-economy-lost
John
October 6, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is especially rich in light of the McCain campaign's dedication to preventing the official questioning of Palin's record with regard to the firing of Alaska's the Public Safety Commissioner.
October 6, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why should we be surprised that McCain would call Obama "angry?" It's only fair. McCain and Palin borrowed "Change" and they gave Obama "anger" in return. The way things are trending, by the end of the week Palin will be calling Obama an "angry old white man who just doesn't get it."
October 6, 2008 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Traitor Joe: psst, John, try to stop flailing your arms....
The REAL John McCain: What?! Whaddaya want?! [twitch]
Traitor Joe: John, the mics on...
The REAL John McCain: 100 years ya little bastards! [blink] 100 years! Ya hear me!?! 100 years!!!!!! [twitch] [twitch]
Embarracuda: Oooh Johnnie, it's time for your nap, dontcha know! There there now Johnnie...
The REAL John McCain: I hate the gooks! [twitch] I'll kill all you bastards! 100 years! What!? Who said that?!? [blink blink]
Embarracuda: John is such a Maverick, dontcha know! Jobs! It's all about jobs and cutting taxes. Putin? You Betcha! [wink] I said thanks but no thanks Charlie, because we can't blink Charlie! John doesn't blink! I don't blink! WE CAN'T BLINK!!! [wink] The American people appreciate that by golly, because cutting taxes and Drill Baby Drill! [wink]
The REAL John McCain: I looked in my eyes and saw three letters: P.O.W. [twitch] [smile]
Embarracuda: Did you know John was a P.O.W.? You Betcha! John said thanks but no thanks because it's all about jobs and cutting taxes! Oh and we're gonna...Huh? [pauses. repositions earpiece] Dontcha know! By golly, you betcha! We're gonna cut taxes and not blink Charlie! The terrorists want us to blink Charlie, and we won't! John was a P.O.W. dontcha know!
October 6, 2008 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Atreides:
Thanks for using the nickname for Joe Lieberman I coined a year ago. It's highly gratifying to see this name become common. A reporter at the New York Times, Mark Leibovich, used it in a story in August. I shop at "Trader Joe's" in California and thought the name fit Lieberman perfectly.
(sorry if this is a repost)
October 6, 2008 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
no, thank YOU for coining the phrase which describes him so well. It's a pleasure to use it!
October 6, 2008 9:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
The_Buddha_Pest - lol, was just gonna ask how much longer before McCrazy calls out Obama on his obvious PTSD symptoms from all those years in POW captivity
October 6, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
You TPM guys do realize that you're burying the much more substantive Obama attack re: Keating and McCain by publicizing McCain's tantrums?
October 6, 2008 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's running the Hillary Clinton Campaign. Hillary's final challenge was highlighting "white working class" problem after all (Palin is going after the women with her "There is a special place in hell for women who don't support one another). This was after running initially as experience, then trying to run as the change candidate...
This is very thinly veiled race card - let's see if the MSM calls him on it.
October 6, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
AP has already done so with Palin:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93KD6Q00&show_article=1
and think WaPo did the same yesterday
October 6, 2008 5:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Stock Market dropped BELOW 10,000 today. People are HURTING right now. People want SOLUTIONS. People do not give a DAMN about Ayers, Wright, Rezko right now. Obama is offering solutions and he has great temperament. McCain looks angry going into a rant over Obama without given any solutions.
The voters will say hey I will take a chance on the relatively inexperienced black guy who is calm in a crisis and is offering solutions for the middle class rather than the raving lunatic old guy who is just spouting hate.
October 6, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
To Scientific: Most people who visit this site probably already know about Keating and other McCain lies and scandals. But I do wish they kept the link to the Keating Five site at the top of the page.
It is almost sad watching McCain. It's like watching an old guy who just doesn't have any clue anymore, which is exactly what it is I guess. The economy is cratering and it is by any measure the most important issue on voters' minds and he is still campaigning like its 2000 - when everything was peachy. Doesn't he realize it isn't working? Obama is operating above the fray, attacking McCain only on the issues, yet McCain is still playing the Karl Rove game when all its proving to do is annoy people. Its amazing really. I don't doubt that the strategy will attract some independents, but those "independents" would probably not vote for Obama anyway. Those are the typical uneducated racist type people who don't think about the issues but instead respond to sensationalism. There aren't enough of those in the undecided column to change the game, he needs to get people who are on the fence and trying to figure out which candidate is going to be better for their wallets, their healthcare, their job security, etc. When McCain chooses to engage in baseless character attacks, all it tells people is that he has no plan except to continue Bush policies.
October 6, 2008 5:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, so tomorrow, McCain becomes unhinged, lurches across the stage and attempts to deck Obama. First, would secret service stop him? Second, would it be correct for Obama to lay his old ass out? Would he come across as an angry black man then?
I say this because McCain seems to be veering dangerously close to Mike Tyson-bite-off-the-ear territory.
October 6, 2008 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
The secret service members would fight each other. Those protecting Obama would stop the assault by grabbing McCain, causing McCain's secret service protection to try and stop the Obama agents and we'd have a secret service brawl.
October 6, 2008 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain will get his ass kicked like Don Zimmer did against Pedro Martinez.
October 6, 2008 5:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain no longer supports a path to legalization for Pedro Martinez. Put that on you Confederate flagpole and smoke it.
October 6, 2008 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kudos to Josh for referencing the DSM IV on this one. McCain is clinical and someone needs to intervene,,,,, he's in la la land, way beyond anything in a Monty Python skit.
Wonder what would happen if someone in the audience would say, "Take your meds, Senator"
To TheraP,,,,, on the assumption that he is not now on some antipsychotic, how would it affect his debate performance if someone gave him something to get through it without a meltdown? Could the audience tell,,,, I presume Barack is sophisticated enough to pick up on that should it be the case.
October 6, 2008 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
one has to fight fire with fire... these fk'ers need to be given back the same - "who is the real mccain?" with all the relevant bs mccain is known for... and to top it all off, point out this is what a party does when they have run out of a healthy leg to stand on - no political platform other then smear...
October 6, 2008 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
WOW! Is there one sane or true statement in that speech? The old coot has gone 'round the bend.
October 6, 2008 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Barack was trying to duck and dodge questions, why would he have sat down with the likes of Chris Wallace and Bill O'Reilly?
October 6, 2008 5:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope that Obama has crafted a couple of lines for the debate that sound innocuous enough but are designed to get under McCain's skin and encourage a temper tantrum.
October 6, 2008 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
He should just be overly nice to McCain. Call him "Senator" rather than "John." Say what a pleasure it is to see him. Always make it about the issues (i.e. his anti-regulation bent) and (ala Biden) harp on what an otherwise stand-up guy McCain is. If Obama does not give McCain any legitimate reason to attack him personally (as McCain desperately wants to do), McTemper will blow a gasket.
October 6, 2008 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Atreides:
Thanks for using the nickname for Joe Lieberman I coined a year ago. It's highly gratifying to see this name become common. A reporter at the New York Times, Mark Leibovich, used it in a story in August. I shop at "Trader Joe's" in California and thought the name fit Lieberman perfectly.
October 6, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
John McCain should know that it could be worse.
He will not go down as the worst President in history and he has restored honor and dignity to the long suffereing Quayle family.
October 6, 2008 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
You heard it here first: After Obama assumes office of the Presidency, John McCain will be so disillusioned from his failed run for the office; from his destruction of his reputation; and from the low regard he will now be viewed by the MSM, and his colleagues in the Senate, he will resign from office and become an executive with a major defense contractor. His wife will return to her drug habit, which she actually never really left from and Sarah Palin will return to Alaska, only to be defeated in a re-election and never heard from again.
October 6, 2008 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin will run for President in 2012 with Tim Lahaye as her running mate.
October 6, 2008 6:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's comments -- including those to the editorial board at the Des Moines Register last week -- are positively Nixonian. The crazed weasels that have been gnawing at the inside of his skull are getting close the breakout point.
October 6, 2008 5:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Upstart Obama first...then ve vill destroy POLAND!"
October 6, 2008 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
NY Times - September 30, 1999. Yes, 1999!!!!
FANNIE MAE EASES CREDIT TO AID MORTGAGE LENDING
By STEVEN A. HOLMES
Published in the New York Times on September 30, 1999.
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In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.
The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.
''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''
Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.
In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.
''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''
Under Fannie Mae's pilot program, consumers who qualify can secure a mortgage with an interest rate one percentage point above that of a conventional, 30-year fixed rate mortgage of less than $240,000 -- a rate that currently averages about 7.76 per cent. If the borrower makes his or her monthly payments on time for two years, the one percentage point premium is dropped.
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, does not lend money directly to consumers. Instead, it purchases loans that banks make on what is called the secondary market. By expanding the type of loans that it will buy, Fannie Mae is hoping to spur banks to make more loans to people with less-than-stellar credit ratings.
Fannie Mae officials stress that the new mortgages will be extended to all potential borrowers who can qualify for a mortgage. But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites.
Home ownership has, in fact, exploded among minorities during the economic boom of the 1990's. The number of mortgages extended to Hispanic applicants jumped by 87.2 per cent from 1993 to 1998, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. During that same period the number of African Americans who got mortgages to buy a home increased by 71.9 per cent and the number of Asian Americans by 46.3 per cent.
In contrast, the number of non-Hispanic whites who received loans for homes increased by 31.2 per cent.
Despite these gains, home ownership rates for minorities continue to lag behind non-Hispanic whites, in part because blacks and Hispanics in particular tend to have on average worse credit ratings.
In July, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed that by the year 2001, 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low and moderate-income borrowers. Last year, 44 percent of the loans Fannie Mae purchased were from these groups.
The change in policy also comes at the same time that HUD is investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the automated underwriting systems used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine the credit-worthiness of credit applicants.
October 6, 2008 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
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Obama-Biden are the wiser and stronger team to solve the crucial challenges we have in this nation and abroad !
Amen.
October 6, 2008 10:31 PM | Reply | Permalink