McCain aiding Clinton?

[NYCGirl]

And why? Interesting theory from Jonathan Chait of The New Republic.

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/02/14/mccain-aiding-clinton.aspx

So yesterday, John McCain attacked Barack Obama for lacking specifics. Also yesterday, McCain's economic advisor, Kevin "Dow 36,000" Hassett attacked Obama for allegedly pilfering Clinton's economic stimulus program. (The criticism, and Obama's denial of it, can be found here.)

I noted yesterday that it's odd McCain would be attacking Obama for lacking specifics, when McCain is far vaguer and more ill-informed than Obama. It's even odder that McCain's campaign is jumping into the question of which Democrat came out with which stimulus plan first. I expected MCain to go after Obama, I just thought it would be on grounds of being a liberal liberal liberal peacenik.

Could the answer be that... McCain's goal is not to hurt Obama in the general election but to hurt him in the primary? Every poll now shows Obama performing better than Clinton against McCain. On average, he does five and a half points better than her, which is a very significant margin.

So it's quite likely that the reason that McCain is amplifying Clinton's attacks on McCain, rather than make attacks that would fit his general election audience, is that they're targetted to the primary. If McCain attacks Obama for wanting to withdraw from Iraq, that helps Obama in the primary. If he attacks him for lacking domestic policy prposals, it helps Clinton. I suspect McCain is trying to pick his opponent here, the way Richard Nixon tried to sink Ed Muskie's primary campaign in 1972, but without the illegality. (I'm not suggesting there's anything immoral about the tactic -- if I were McCain I'd do the same thing.)

--Jonathan Chait

[FrenchieCat]

1. I'd do the same thing if I was in McCain's position........

attack the one that can beat me before he can run against me.

Makes sense from a McCain standpoint.

[PresidentObama]

2. Both Hillary and Obama can/would beat McCain.

Don't give me that crap.

[corkhead]

8. yup, just like your namesake beat * in '04

[Thrill]

17. I just don't believe it

I think McCain would beat her to be honest

[catgirl]

18. It makes total sense

Obama is beating him in the polls. Can you imagine
McCain in a debate with Obama?

[liberalnurse]

3. McCain wouldn't start CPR for a Clinton....

You know that...you just want to be a little Vamp. :+

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

4. It's A Stupid Theory.

Much like Obama has started going after him, he is now going after Obama. Why do people just like to create unnecessary pet theories out of thin air?

[Maddy McCall]

10. Because they have two threads left to post today....

and they don't want to let 'em go to waste.

:)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

13. LOL!

[JimGinPA]

5. McCain's Camp Realizes They Have No Chance Against Obama...

But they could beat Hillary easily.

[babylonsister]

6. I think McCain wants his vodka-drinking buddy as his opponent:

they do appear to be pals.


NYT: Senators Clinton, McCain held 'vodka-drinking contest' during congressional trip to Estonia two summers ago

Published: Friday July 28, 2006


On a congressional delegation trip to Estonia in August of 2004, Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and John McCain (R-AZ) held a "vodka-drinking contest," according to an article slated for Saturday's edition of The New York Times.

"Two summers ago, on a congressional trip to Estonia, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton astonished her traveling companions by suggesting the group do what one does in the Baltics: hold a vodka-drinking contest," reports Anne E. Kornblut for The Times.

"Delighted, the leader of the overseas delegation, Sen. John McCain, quickly agreed," Kornblut continues.

"The after-dinner game went so well — memories are a bit hazy on who drank how much — that Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, later told people how unexpectedly engaging he found Mrs. Clinton to be," Kornblut reports. "'One of the guys,' was the way he described Mrs. Clinton, a New York Democrat, to some Republican colleagues."

"What happens in Estonia stays in Estonia," a Clinton spokesman tells The Times.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/NYT_Senators_Clinton_McCain_held_vodkadrinking_0728.html

[SaveOurDemocracy]

12. A 2006 story about an event that was already 2 yrs old...

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Way to devalue your credibility and integrity.

[babylonsister]

15. Are you denying they were vodka-drinking buddies? I could care

less how old it is, it happened. Get over it.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

16. Get over it? Where have we heard THAT before?

The arrogance and tunnel-vision of Freakville is much on display in DU these days.

I'd like to suggest that YOU get over yourself. :hi:

[babylonsister]

19. You're right, don't get over it, confront the truth, as much as that might hurt. nt

[AtomicKitten]

7. They'll probably broker a deal between the two of them.

Clinton and McCain belong to the ubiquitous one-party system that has driven politics for the last few decades. Enough.

Time for the breath of fresh air: The Constitutional scholar, the civil rights attorney, the community organizer. Oh yeah. Thar's a new sheriff in town. Yipee kaya, mo-fos.

[TwilightGardener]

9. OMG, he looks sharp in that hat!!!

[SIMPLYB1980]

11. Is Obama a cowboy now?

I thought we were done with cowboys with Shrub.

[Araxen]

14. Somebody actually stayed awake..

long enough to hear him say all these attacks? Give that person a medal!

[incapsulated]

20. It couldn't *possibly* have to do with Obama suddenly looking like he could win

Jesus, you should take it as a compliment, instead you try to twist it into some non-existent plot.