To me, there are two blindingly obvious facts about McCain which I have not seen printed elsewhere, at least not in a major news rag or from a democratic talking head: 1) McCain is not bright at all, and in fact may be quite unintelligent, and 2) McCain is a jerk.
Which has me wondering, why do Democrats when talking about McCain so frequently give an initial disclosure about what a "great guy" he is? Is he really a "great friend"?
And why don't they run ads detailing this ignorance of economics and inability to keep keep things straight (countries, middle-eastern ethnicities, and world leaders come to recent mind). I think most working class Americans would be happy to have a child (and a President) who can both understand everyday people AND comprehend game theory and the risk of a CDO. I get the sense democrats are wanting to hide that Obama, among other things, is exceptionally intelligent. Sad is the day that this is a liability.
That McCain once paid incredible price for his country we know, but that neither makes him competent, smart, or honorable in his dealings since. In fact, a quite long history, starting from the Keating scandal and culminating in this most disreputable campaign, suggests the negative.
So to me, such prefacing statements of friendliness by democrats before launching attacks on his policies are either disingenuous or reek of good-ol-boy back patting from overly-tenured Washington senators. Biden I'm looking at you. I am unclear what these statements accomplish. Don't want to be seen picking on the old geezer?
Finally, why can't these truths be stated with little drama. To me, it would be more impactful if Obama surrogates stated these lines not with dramatic flury- the way Fox News uses the word "liberal"- but with a matter-of-fact clarity that actually informs and transforms opinions. In this way I think P. Begala is better than most- pithy, but matter-of-fact. In my view, hope is best conveyed with rhetorical flourishes, but criticism is best stated with clarity and understated quietness and argument of fact. Fortunately, to make this case, there are many, many facts.
Note: first-time publisher, so forgive if I am off of form.