PoliticsTV has a collection of two of the latest attack ads on McCain. Recommended viewing for all.
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The progressive world and The Democratic Party have had amazing progress in softening up one of the current prospective Republican 2008 Presidential nominees- Sen. John McCain from Arizona. The most recent salvo featured above from therealmccain.com is evidence of the growing sophistication of the progressive voice on the web, particularly in the growing field of video netroots activism.
The amazing video put together against John McCain can be found here.
Just recently, Moveon.org unloaded $230,000 worth of ads against John McCain's support for the Iraq escalation. These ads were centered in the two holy meccas for Republican Presidential candidates: Iowa and New Hampshire. Some may believe that Iraq will not be THE issue in 2008, and thus may deride Moveon's move as a waste of money. But Moveon is not the only organization betting on Iraq remaining front and center in time for the primary season and general Presidential election. Significantly on Iraq, but more broadly on a range of issues, we are seeing a progressive reality check for the the nation on the REAL John McCain, and not the faux independent aura that the media has unjustifiably given McCain.
In as early as November of last year the DNC began to tear down McCain's false image as an indpendent moderate, as DNC Communications Director Karen Finney put it:
"If the reports are correct, we welcome John McCain to the race. The question is, which McCain is running: the McCain who called right-wing extremists like Jerry Falwell an evil influence, or the McCain who spoke at Liberty University as he attempted to cater to the far right in advance of a presidential run? Or the McCain who opposed overturning Roe vs. Wade or the McCain who said he would support South Dakota’s ban? As an opportunist who supports the Bush Administration’s failed policy in Iraq and changed his mind on tax cuts, a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her health care, and campaign finance reform, it’s hard to tell which John McCain will enter the race."
The DNC seems to have been paying close attention to wherever McCain visits, most recently calling him out for speaking at an allegedly racist organization in Alabama known as the Grand Lodge of Alabama. Why the controversy over this organization? From Raw Story:
"The 'Grand Master' of the Grand Lodge of Alabama admits he knows of no African American members among the group's 30,000 plus membership," the release asserts, citing a Sep. 30, 2006 Associated Press article."
Odd for a political organization to have no African-Americans out of there 30,000 members in a state where African-Americans make up nearly 27% of the state. The Democratic National Committee slammed McCain about visiting the group in a press release that can be found here.
Democrats are hitting McCain with small blunders like his visit to the Grand Lodge, but are also hitting him where it hurts on Iraq.
John Edwards has re-framed Bush's extremely unpopular escalation as the "McCain Doctrine". Edwards made a strong move in not continuing to attack an already lame duck Bush, but rather to criticize one of the prospective seekers of the Republican presidential nomination in '08.
Gov. Bill Richardson in a speech at St. Anselm's College in New Hampshire stated that the "McCain Doctrine" supported by the Senator from Arizona "makes no sense."
Not wanting to be left out, Democratic candidate Tom Vilsack sent a letter to John McCain in which he stated that the planned Iraq escalation would "make a big mistake even bigger and send the wrong message to President Bush."
And let's not forget Hillary, who jumped into the fray, who got into the act by allowing her top advisor to state that McCain was "going out on a limb suggesting [sending more troops to Iraq] is the right thing to do right now."
Can this message hold? No matter who turns out to be the frontrunner on either side, Democrats must keep the conversation about Iraq, and focus scrutiny on Republicans. At the same time, they must continue to dog these Republican aspirants like the DNC showed in their press release recently and Moveon.org achieved in their ad buy.
Keep the guns trained on the enemy outside the Democratic family so as not to cause a bloodbath within the blue tent.
Author's Note: Although I am currently an intern for Politics TV, my writing does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Politics TV.