So yesterday McCain spoke with disabled troops in Las Vegas, and as usual he spent most of his time attacking Obama. However, reading this article shows that people are sick of the baseless attacks already. Indeed, what struck me the most was this from the article:
Duke Hendershot, a double amputee retired Marine who served in Vietnam, supported McCain’s run for president in 2000 but is undecided this year.
"John just isn’t the same as he used to be. He’s not his own man," said Hendershot, who lives in San Antonio, Texas. "A lot of that has to do with how he’s wanted this job so bad for so long that he’s tied himself to President Bush."
He said McCain’s embrace of Bush, whom Hendershot called a "draft-dodging coward," is even more perplexing because of the rivalry between the two candidates during the 2000 campaign.
Hendershot also criticized McCain for taking swipes at Obama in his speech. "He should have been talking about veterans issues, not his opponent," he said.
Jump
And there you have it, even Vets aren't falling for the whole "vets love McCain because he was a vet" meme, and they are noticing how McCain has lined himself up with Bush for political gain in hopes of gaining the presidency. All this time that McC[ompl]ain is spending on attacking Obama could be used showing voters why he thinks he's the better candidate. We get upset with Obama for not responding forcefully to every single attack that McC[ompl]ain lobs at him, but it appears once again the Obama campaign has proven they are smarter than we are.
Other veterans, such as James Jewett and Jay Johnson of Texas, expressed misgivings about McCain using the occasion to attack his opponent so fiercely.
They were there to hear what McCain would do for them, NOT to hear him attack Obama. And I'm guessing that given McCain's track record, they probably aren't eve factual attacks. McCain is still attacking Obama's patriotism now claiming that he wants to lose Iraq:
McCain said Obama "can’t quite bring himself to admit his own failure in judgment. Instead, he commits the greater error of insisting that even in hindsight, he would oppose the surge. Even in retrospect, he would choose the path of retreat and failure for America over the path of success and victory.
"Behind all of these claims and positions by Senator Obama lies the ambition to be president," McCain said. "What’s missing is the judgment to be commander in chief."
McCain said Obama had tried to "legislate failure" in Iraq.
This is an attack that no one really believes, and it conveniently leaves out the fact that McC[ompl]ain was the one who supported the war from the beginning even knowing that the reasons we were going in the first place were not just. How's that for judgment?
And remember, McCain't's record on Veterans issues isn't that good.
Iraq and Afganistan Veterans of America has given John McCain a grade of D for his support of veterans. Meanwhile Obama gets a B+.
And let's not forget his lack of support for the GI Bill.
McCain is just an empty suit when it comes to veterans issues, and it looks like people are paying attention and recognizing that for themselves.
Vets For Obama
Obama's Website, Veteran's Affairs
UPDATE: Also, the Disabled vets of America give McCain a 20% rating (which is a LOW F) and Obama gets an 80% which is again a B. h/t Mother Mags
UPDATE #2: It was pointed out in the comments that McCain has said, fairly recently, that knowing what he knows now he would STILL vote to authorize the use of military force in Iraq. It's quite hypocritical, but not unexpected, for McC[ompl]ain to whine about Obama not saying the "surge worked" while he still refuses to admit that it was a grave mistake to invade Iraq in the first place:
In an interview with reporters on the back of his campaign bus, the "Straight Talk Express" Monday afternoon, McCain said that even in retrospect he would still have voted to authorize the war, as he did in 2002.
So how about this, when McCain admits he was wrong about invading Iraq, maybe Obama will give him a little more credit for the "surge."
UPDATE #3: This is off topic, but Issac Hayes died today :o( Yesterday it was Bernie, today it was Issac. For those who don't know, Issac Hayes was best known for the theme song from "Shaft" and the Chef from South Park. He was 65.
UPDATE #4: Obama is set to announce his VP soon, and the campaign is giving us the opportunity to know before anyone else. If you want a text or email when he announces his decision click here, or if you are afraid of links, go to my.barackoabama.com/vp.
UPDATE #5: This is from a comment by BlueSue :
Worth The Fighting For, p. 373, published September 2002:
I didn't decide to run for president to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be president because it had become my ambition to be president.
I think a lot of it is daddy issues - he has to surpass the Admiral. This is from an Evan Thomas article in Newsweek - a quote from a psych eval in McCain's medical record:
"He has been preoccupied with escaping the shadow of his father and establishing his own image and identity in the eyes of others," reads a psychiatric evaluation in McCain's medical files. "He feels his experiences and performance as a POW have finally permitted this to happen." Released after the 1973 Peace Accords, McCain returned to the United States a hero. "Felt fulfillment when his Dad was introduced at a dinner as 'Commander McCain's father.' He had arrived," noted the psychiatric report in 1974.
ANOTHER President trying to out do his father? That's the LAST thing we need.