McCain "has until now been loathe to employ" his New Tactic: Savage Obama's Character

[Amerigo Vespucci]

The Politico reports that, having tried unsuccessfully to paint Barack Obama as a liberal flip-flopper, John McCain is getting personal:

As Senator Barack Obama traveled overseas, the campaign against him appeared to take a decisive new turn with Senator John McCain zeroing in on his Democratic opponent's character.

In a year when polls show an easy victory for a generic Democratic candidate, McCain has until now been loathe to employ the tack many strategists see as essential and which anonymous e-mailers and commenters with no apparent links to his campaign have been practicing since last summer: hitting Obama not on his record or his platform, but on his values and person.

The Democrat's Achilles' heel in this model is an inchoate sense among some voters that the new arrival on the national stage with the unusual biography--and who's the first black nominee from either party--isn't American enough.

Whatever his motives, McCain's new hit on his foe's patriotism hints at two years of whispered, viral rumors and myths about Obama centered on his patriotism and American values, or, more to the point, his lack thereof. The emails --cataloged in snopes.com's lengthy Obama section and Obama's own "fight the smears" page --often have contradictory particulars, but the thrust is clear: Obama, various false emails claim, is not really a natural-born American citizen; is not really a Christian, and refuses to pledge allegiance to the American flag.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/28/mccains-new-tactic-savage_n_115297.html

[dkf]

1. John McCain has no honor.

John McCain no longer stands for anything. He has sold his soul for political gain.

[Supersedeas]

4. what honor that he had -- he is apparently willing to sacrifice it

[TwilightGardener]

2. But don't question HIS character! Don't question his desertion of his first wife

for a young millionaire trophy, don't question his involvement in Keating Five, don't question his ties to lobbyists, don't question the fact that he flip-flopped on every position he's ever held in order to realize his ambitions. Because he spent 5 years at the Hanoi Hilton, he is forever immune to questions about his honor and integrity. I am so looking forward to seeing this worthless shitstain lose in November, and I hope he loses his Senate seat too.

[zulchzulu]

3. McCain denounced his country 72 hours after being captured as a POW

Do you think he's a man of his word? He's not to be trusted. Period.