What are McCain's strengths- How can they be turned against him? (See, Kerry/Swiftboating)

[KittyWampus]

I would imagine the notion of him being a maverick or independent.

But do you reinforce that image so GOP'ers will feel he's not reliable?

Or do you attack it and make paint him as someone who turned to the dark side and kissed Junior's ass (IIRC,he was w/Junior during Katrina)?

[SKKY]

1. You have to play up the fact that he sold his soul to the Bushes...

...Anything disparaging his military career is trouble and would be in extremely poor taste. In short, you just don't mess with a POW about that. It will not play well.

[blm]

4. I agree. He's done enough to handcuff himself with Bush. Leave his military record to the

ASSHOLE wing of the human race. I think being part of that type of smear would be destructive to anyone who calls themselves a human being.

[fenriswolf]

2. his big thing is being a POW

I heard on a new thread that he sang like a canary to get preferential treatment, going so far as to make anonymous radio announcements as propaganda telling people how comfortable he was and how well he was being treated.

as you know a POW is only supposed to give name, rank, and security number, doing puff pieces for the enemy comes close to treason.

http://www.usvetdsp.com/smith_mc.htm

[Bicoastal]

3. You know what, we won't have to swiftboat McCain...

...last I heard, rabid conservatives were already doing that for us.

[KittyWampus]

5. ouch. okay, what about "Keating 5"? Too far away in past?

[Bicoastal]

6. Not at all.

[aquarius dawning]

8. I wouldn't try attacking his patriotism, his fidelity, or his service record. very bad idea.

The Kerry silver star thing was bad but everybody in America knows that John McCain is a war hero. It would look very bad for us to attack that and would turn a lot of people off/against us. Plus, neither of our candidates has the qualifications to question anybody's military service.

[fenriswolf]

9. but what makes him a war hero?

He was a POW no doubt, but that doesn't make McCain a war hero, it makes him someone who was captured by the enemy at the time. How he acted as a PoW is very pertinant as to where his loyalties lay.

Is he selfish enough to sell out his own country for his personal comfort? I think that says alot.

[aquarius dawning]

13. I don't care what you do or say. If you think that's the smart thing to do than go right ahead.

I think it's stupid but I'm caring less and less about the outcome of all of this each day anyways.

[Bucky]

14. He endured years of torture and abuse. Then he walked out.

I'd call that heroic.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

7. Can't think of any.

:freak:

[Viking12]

10. Bush/Rove tried to swiftboat him in 2000

It looked something liike this:

http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_mccain_lost_five_u.htm

[KittyWampus]

18. I had no idea. I DID know about the black baby -which Mother Teresa gave them-

[DrFunkenstein]

11. We Are Voting For a President, Not a Secretary of Defense (Especially One With a Bad Temper)

Then recycle images of him walking around Baghdad talking about how safe it is (when you have more than 100 men and four helicopters circling you).

[Bucky]

12. Then there's that black child he fathered in South Carolina

:hide:

[Disturbed]

15. John McCain Hypocrite

John McCain Hypocrite
by Doug Ireland

John McCain, the media's darling, has found a clever way around his own campaign finance reform law to take big corporate bucks in furtherance of his political ambitions while carrying water for the corporate mammoth providing the dough. But the national press is ignoring the story.


The Associated Press first ran the story of John McCain's odorous but lucrative Senatorial service to the communications giant Cablevision on the afternoon of March 7. But, while some local papers in McCain's home state (like the East Valley Tribune) have run the story, nothing has as yet made it into the print editions of the New York Times, the L.A. Times, the Washington Post, or any of the half-dozen other big city dailies I checked (although, if one searches the hundreds of AP stories available on the Post's website on its Politics page by clicking on "Latest Wire Reports," one can find it there--but how many readers would bother to do that?) One notable exception: the Kansas City Star.


Here's what the AP's investigation found:


McCain repeatedly intervened on behalf of a policy Cablevision favored -- one which "congressional and private studies conclude could make cable more expensive" -- while his chief political adviser, Rick Davis (who's masterminding McCain's probable '08 presidential rerun) solicited $200,000 in contributions from Cablevision to an institute that promotes McCain and pays Davis a $110,000 annual salary.


The Reform Institute was set up to promote McCain and his issues--especially campaign finance reform, embodied in the famous McCain-Feingold law. This Institute is "a tax-exempt group that touts McCain's views and has showcased him at events since his unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign," and it "often uses the senator's name in press releases and fund-raising letters and includes him at press conferences," the AP says. And, of course, it provides a cushy sinecure with no heavy lifting for McCain's main man, Davis, as he prepares the pontificating Senator's next presidential run. Cablevision's contributions account for a whopping 15% of the Institute's budget.


http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0309-35.htm

[Vinca]

16. You can't attack him on his patriotism and the POW thing is all he's

got going for him. Although, his vote approving of torture adds an interesting twist since he was "against it before he was for it." It's also interesting so many military people don't support him. The best way to go after him is to attach him to Shrub like a conjoined twin.

[Bongo Prophet]

17. The straight talk express must be morphed into the "double talk express"

The idea of him being the straight talking, honest maverick.
Go after the maverick, and point out his hypocrisy.

For the right:

His immigration, lobying reform, etc.
Flip flop, you know.


For the moderates:
emphasize that he would be the Bush/Cheney third term


These themes are already being used to some extent, and are easy to understand.