WARNING: This is a Clinton-free post. The farce may continue but the show is over. Time to move on.
John McCain is on record saying that he wants a clean fight in the General Election. Is this just the voice of wisdom speaking? Is this Grand Pappy trying to stop the kids making too much noise? OR is there a more sinister reason.
Firstly, let’s get the BS out of the way. McCain will NOT carry out a clean fight. All this magnanimity is just an excuse to garner sympathy as he whimpers and blusters when any attacks begin. Really. For a hardened military man who survived 5 years as a prisoner of war, this cry-baby attitude is either a total fake, or a sign of senility. It’s just a blatant ploy to handicap Obama’s fight for the moral high-ground while the 527 groups do his nasty work behind the scenes.
Let’s look at some examples:
"I didn’t say we would be in Iraq for 100 years".
"We will be in for 100 or 1000 or even 10,000 years!". "It’s totally unfair for people to take things I’ve said and twist them to mean what I really meant, but didn’t want anyone to know".
Look ‘my friends’, we may have misunderstood him. What he was really trying to say was that after we ‘win’ the Iraq War (again) once we figure out who we’re fighting, it makes ‘perfect sense’ that an Arab country we have spent billions destroying so that Cheyney’s buddies could be paid billions more to rebuild it and keep the oil, will be begging to have a permanent residual American military presence, forever.
"I DID vote for Bush in 2000"
Love her or hate her, Arianna Huffington has already moved on from the nomination. As one of the first to publicly declare Obama as the Presumptive Nominee, she immediately began her "McCain Offensive" with the inflammatory suggestion that McCain didn’t vote for Bush. "Wait a minute, is that a good thing?" I hear you ask, "surely we want everyone to know he does support Bush".
Well, whether you think it was deliberate and clever or not, the outcome was that McDumb fell for it hook, line and sinker. Finding himself between the proverbial rock and a hard place, he couldn’t acknowledge that he didn’t vote for Bush and risk alienating the one person who has the ability to ‘fix’ the election for him. Despite confirmation by the New York Times and the Washington Post, he had to appear defiant saying he DID vote Bush.
If he did or didn’t vote Bush, it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t even matter that much if he lied about it.
But... Kicking off the Obama v McCain campaign by getting him on camera ranting about how much he supports Bush... PRICELESS!
Can’t wait for the whining when McCain Central denounces her comments on the Daily Show that "Iraq is McCain’s Viagra".
"He's lost his bearings"
In a recent interview, Obama was asked about McCain’s suggestion to the effect that he was endorsed by Hamas. Whether premeditated or a momentary flash of genius, Obama quickly responded by suggesting that McCain has "..lost his bearings".
The McCain camp fell over themselves to respond with a tirade about how Obama should not be attacking his age, or implying he was senile.
The best bit is that Obama didn’t say anything about his age, THEY DID!
We’re really only just beginning the GE contest, but so far this is like shooting ducks in a barrel! As the saying goes: "give him enough rope and he will hang himself". So far John McCain’s worst enemy is turning out to be John McCain.
So why is he soooooo sensitive to ANY comments about his age?
Is it because he doesn’t think it should be an issue? After all, you have to give him credit for being pretty active on the campaign front (bless him).
He must know that the American voters are willing to elect an elder president. Remember it’s not that long since Reagan was in the White House. He’s also not averse to playing the "Cheery Pensioner" act when it suites him, despite rumors that his real persona is more suited to a sailor’s brawl.
Why does John McCain of McCain/Feingold believe that the campaign finance rules he helped create do not apply to him? Does he mis-remember his last great financing hurrah as the largest donation recipient in the infamous Keating Five? Sure, he’s been around a long time; long enough to become the epitome of old-school Washington politics. Don’t be fooled by the white hair, this guy is no Santa Claus.
I wonder.....
He hasn’t released his medical records. When he does, and I’m under no illusion that they won’t be ‘sanitized’, what will they not be able to hide? The point is, if there is nothing there of import, why delay? Does Ron Paul, who’s even older, know something that makes it worth him staying in the race?
P.S.
Lest I be flamed for ‘picking on a vet’ who courageously fought for his country and deserves our respect. I agree, in some sense, he does. But remember, he is also asking for the right to determine your future. Don’t be blinded by adoration. Someone’s son or daughter will still be fighting a pointless war in Iraq in 3 years time if you vote for him.
P.P.S.
Kudos to kubla000 for a great McCain diary. It’s time to focus on the real contest.