McCain Pledged To Run "Respectful Campaign Focused on Issues"

[babylonsister]

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/340811

McCain Pledged To Run "Respectful Campaign Focused on Issues"
posted by Ari Berman on 07/30/2008 @ 2:06pm


Mark Nickolas dug up a strategy memo from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis after McCain captured the GOP nomination in March.

It's a fascinating trip down memory lane.

"It is critical, as we prepare to face off with whomever the Democrats select as their nominee, that we all follow John's lead and run a respectful campaign focused on the issues and values that are important to the American people," Davis wrote. "Throughout the primary election we saw John McCain reject the type of politics that degrade our civics, and this will not change as he prepares to run head-to-head against the Democratic nominee."

Added Cindy McCain in May: "What you're going to see is a great debate. Which is what the American public deserves. None of this negative stuff, though. You won't see it come out of our side at all."

What happened to the honorable campaign McCain pledged to run? Particularly in recent weeks, McCain's campaign has been marked by cheap lies, deliberate fabrications and ominous attacks on Barack Obama.

McCain's false charge about why Obama canceled a visit to wounded troops in Germany was a low point for the former straight-talker. Wrote Joe Klein of Time Magazine, a previous McCain admirer:

This is the sort of thing you put on the air when:

1. You're desperate.

2. Your Middle East policy has been superseded by events and abandoned by your allies.

3. You apparently have nothing substantive to say about America's future role in the region and the world.

McCain's new ad linking Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears is laughably frivolous, and another indication of how the McCain campaign has turned into amateur hour.

As Jonathan Martin of The Politico noted, McCain himself is every bit the star f*cker, having appeared in 24, Wedding Crashers and WWF Raw.

Just when you think that Republican attacks can't get any stupider or sillier, they do.

UPDATE: Former McCain chief strategist John Weaver calls the new McCain ad "childish." Says Weaver: "There is legitimate mockery of a political campaign now, and it isn't at Obama's. For McCain's sake, this tomfoolery needs to stop." Weaver's comments are a big deal, and a reflection of the disenchantment toward McCain from some of his top supporters in 2000.

[ErinBerin84]

1. oh my god..

I totally forgot about McCain's little tv and movies turns. I remember being like "What the fuck?" when I finally saw that dumb movie Wedding Crashers. Along side james carville, no less.


what a little shit.

[BlueStater]

2. Didn't take him long to violate that promise, did it?

Is he EVER going to stop whining about Obama and actually talk about why he himself should be elected? Somehow I think not.

[babylonsister]

3. I've decided he can't keep on message, on anything. This is how

he'll be campaigning. I guess we should get used to it, but is this what Americans really want to hear? No hope, no vision, no solutions? :shrug: I haven't seen any, and when he says something, he usually winds up eating his words. This is safe for him.

[ErinBerin84]

4. I can't believe people think of him and say "he'll keep me safe".

His campaign is on crack!

[babylonsister]

6. So is the media; why are they condoning another * term in

supporting McCrabby? They have got to realize how bad it's been the past 8 years.

I know, corporate $, but it's disgusting. They are attempting to fool the public, and I'm sure it's working with some of them.

[Geek_Girl]

5. He's desperate

and I think Obama camp needs to hit back hard.