McCain was kneecapped yesterday by the New York Times...Wow female lobbyist and everything...The story has been in the works for a long time..Its going to unite the base against the NYT...the grey lady...those pinko leftists...even though the NYT supported him...but it might make him swing even farther to the right cozying up to the base which will hurt electability in the general..
Maybe this thing will bring back the whole Keating five scandal.. I mean Johnny boy was knee deep helping to influence to keep that scum bag Keating in funds...It will be just more of the same if McCain becomes President.. Come on up to the trough fellahs.. party is definetly not over...
Obama is so lucky.. Every Republican he goes against gets caught having an affair...
This McCain team is so good.. They should teach a course.. They handled this NYT thing as well as I have seen anyone get on top of it.. First off McCain himself said nothing until this morning.. When he was asked he said he should read it before he comments on it.. Like its no big deal.. and then he gets Cindy out there.. I haven’t seen her in a while.. A lot of work.. and even more medication than usual...I could hardly see her eyes...they had literally rolled back in her head while she was standing there...All I could see was white...like she was in some zombie movie...
The McCain boys hit the New York Times hard about their reporting. They are trying to make it out that it is the the reporters' fault.. and that it is yet another liberal smear campaign.. and of course those dodo brained right wing guys are going to jump all over that one.. .
Here is Ambinder in the Atlantic on how McCain is on top of this story: This is the best summation about how to deal with a bad press day:
he McCain campaign's rapid response to the Times story has been deft.
(1) Don't hide -- John and Cindy McCain answered any and every question from the press, in a single setting, less than 24 hours after the story broke. They appeared calm and collected; the symbolism of the two together was reassuring.
(1a) -- Don't let the candidate respond immediately. Last night, McCain was asked by a reporter for comment. He smiled and said he hadn't read it yet... that gives the impression that he wasn't worried about it enough to read it immediately.
(2) Find an enemy -- this one's easy: the New York Times -- the "liberal" New York Times, according to McCain adviser Charlie Black. Use phases like "Jason Blair" and "Judith Miller."
(3) Shame reporters -- imply that it's shameful for reporters to ask questions about the romantic angle... imply that they're engaging in gutter politics when they do so.
(4) High-powered surrogates -- they blanketed the morning shows for McCain, and they'll be everywhere else this afternoon.
(5) Detailed rebuttals -- not even to the whole article, mind you -- but any sort of word-expensive response like the 1200 word essay the campaign released last night -- is likely to foster the impression that the campaign has facts on its side, too.
McCain is really doing a job with the story.. Most of the coverage has been about the NYT...There have been tons of inside the process stories...and very few actual followups about what was revealed...That is such great defence...Most of the debate all day has been about the timing of the piece.. CNN has been running piece after piece... with the tag...Smear or ...? They keep changing the other word but smear stays..
Except Dean pushed back this afternoon.. The Democrats are learning to play this game and its nice to see.. I always felt like it was like watching a schoolyard bully the way the Republicans bitch slapped the Democrats around but now things are changing.. Both Dean and Karen Travers were on message and Dean had a great line...McCain he says is "missing an ethical compass"....I was worried that the Democrats might wimp out on this but it looks like they are finally getting it..
New poll today in Texas
A new ABC News / Washington Post poll out tonight puts Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a dead heat in Texas and Clinton clinging to a single-digit lead in Ohio.
The numbers are 48-47 Clinton in Texas, and 50-43 Clinton in Ohio. Between a quarter and a third of the vote is still undecided...
"In Texas, Clinton’s being kept competitive by support from Hispanics; she needs them to turn out in more-than-usual numbers, as they did in California, which she won Feb. 5. In Ohio she’s benefiting from a greater number of Democratic Party regulars than in Texas, fewer college-educated or higher-income voters, and support from union households. In both states, senior citizens are crucial to Clinton’s side; independents and younger voters, to Obama’s. And he’s taken a lead over Clinton on electability, a point he may try to drive home, along with his mantle of "change," in the days ahead."
This is big that he closed the gap that fast... Texas is different than California.. Hispanics are more upscale and are Third and fourth generation...This poll is ranked very high on Pollster as having respect from other pollsters...
Hillary is going to go after Obama tonight ...I can't see how she can help herself any other way.. She needs some kind of majour contrast to come out of this...a change in the narrative or she is in trouble...