GOP Strategists Call McCain Campaign "pathetic," "churlish"

By: Lowell
Published On: 7/28/2008 7:51:53 AM

Here's Republican (and former Richard Nixon speechwriter) Ben Stein on the John McLame campaign:

"Mr. McCain is running the absolute most pathetic campaign I have ever seen in my whole life," Stein said in his unmistakable monotone delivery. "His campaign is just heartbreakingly pathetic. He is a very impressive guy. He is a brave guy, but he is running the most lackluster campaign I have ever seen in my entire life. I would have thought Bob Dole's campaign would have set a record for poor campaigns, but this one is even worse. I mean it is shocking."

In other news, the Washington Post reports this morning:

One GOP strategist with close ties to McCain's campaign said the new line of attack reflected the operation's "schizophrenic" nature. He said that tendency was also on display last week, as McCain spoke at length about media coverage of Obama rather than sticking with his plan to focus on the economy.

"They couldn't help themselves," the strategist said, adding that the ad over the hospital visit is "churlish and unlike McCain, and hardly will resonate with the swing voters who are going to decide this election." The strategist continued: "They're doing it because the candidate, and the campaign, is not happy with where they are and they're lashing out."

The question is, will John McCain ever recapture the perceived integrity, independence and "straight talk" mojo he nearly rod to the White House in 2000?  Or, will he stay wrapped around the failed policies of the past 7 1/2 years, combined with a campaign that makes Bob Dole look like a combination of JFK and Ronald Reagan at the peak of their games?  We'll see, but right now my money's on "pathetic" and "churlish," with a healthy dose of "nasty" and "vicious" thrown in for good measure.

Comments



John Mccain of 2008 (pvogel - 7/28/2008 8:08:47 AM)
In 2000 nothing of the past 7 years had happened yet.
Mccain in 2008 has to defend the indefensable, and it is a very  hard job. well nigh impossible.
Therefore, the pathetic nature of his campaign will continue. 2008 is not a republican year.


Be wary (Teddy - 7/28/2008 9:14:50 AM)
and do not count our chickens before they hatch. If McCain is so pathetic, why is he still up there within striking distance in the polls? Yeah, I know, it's too early to count on any poll, but still... And, why isn't Obama higher in the polls, he is not yet hitting near fifty percent? What if all these "lean Obama" folks do not vote after all, or are denied a vote when they try thanks to voter purges, at least not in the states where we need their vote? Be frank: Implicit in every single one of McCain's nasty jabs is the undercurrent of racism, and I do believe that far too many of my fellow citizens will vote on that gut distaste for a black man as President (and thus simultaneously getting a black woman for First Lady)--- they just can't bring themselves to do it, no matter what they may tell a pollster. Sorry to have to say this, but I know my relatives (and they are not all in the South, either).


And watch how the media conglomerates pull out the stops... (FMArouet21 - 7/28/2008 11:34:40 AM)

to make their corporatist candidate look better.

The deceptively edited McCain interview with Katie Couric appeared to be videotaped with a soft focus lens to fuzz McCain's wrinkles and surgical scars. Watch for more of the same during the next 99 days.

Fox Noise has been showing stock campaign footage from 2000 to put on display a more energetic 64 year old McCain rather than the feeble, stiff, lurching near-zombie on today's campaign trail.

McCain can make what should normally be a campaign-ending mental blunder virtually every day, yet he continues to get free passes and winks from the Beltway commentariat.

And we are about to see a Rovian full court press of negative campaigning to appeal to the worst demons of voters' natures: racism, bigotry, hate-mongering, fear-mongering, and patriotism-questioning--drawing on the successes of the Willie Horton ad in 1980 and the Bush "Prowling Wolves" and "Swift Boat" ads from 2004. These kinds of unprincipled Orwellian manipulation techniques tend to be extremely effective with the low information voters who form the Rovian Republican base.

Until now Obama has coasted to a modest lead in the polls by taking a high road, above-the-fray approach. If he and his campaign are not prepared to hit back rapidly and hard against blatant racism, bigotry, and fear-mongering, as well as to highlight the increasingly obvious flaws in McCain's cognition and character, that modest lead in the polls will disappear quickly.



Oops. Willie Horton ad ran in 1988. n/t (FMArouet21 - 7/28/2008 1:35:11 PM)


Not Only That But ... (norman swingvoter - 7/28/2008 11:39:24 AM)
I guarantee you fox news and the swiftboaters are just warming up the engines.


It's a little sad, really (Silence Dogood - 7/28/2008 1:12:32 PM)
After being shot down and spending all that time in inhumane conditions in a POW camp, what finally reduces John McCain to whining is a few weeks of good press for his opponent in a political campaign.  Whither the fortitude?  Whither the quiet dignity?  I knew John McCain was going to flip flop on taxes, Iran, immigration, off-shore drilling and any other politically-expedient issue, and that was disappointing.  But it's heartbreaking to see John McCain finally flip-flop on John McCain.