McCain Camp: Yes, we would rather lose integrity than election.

[Teaser]

This seems like something the O team could use in their messaging:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13412.html

McCain seems to have made a choice that many politicians succumb to but that he had always promised to avoid — he appears ready to do whatever it takes to win, even it if soils his reputation.

“We recognize it’s not going to be 2000 again,” McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said, alluding to the media’s swooning coverage of McCain’s ill-fated crusade against then-Gov. George W. Bush and the GOP establishment. “But he lost then. We’re running a campaign to win. And we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it.”

Rogers, who hung tough with McCain through the dark days of the primary and has lived through every high and low of this turbulent and unpredictable race, argues that they tried to run a high-ground campaign and sought to keep the candidate in front of the media in the fashion he enjoys. His point: No one paid any attention.

“We ran a different kind of campaign and nobody cared about us. They didn’t cover John McCain. So now you’ve got to be forward-leaning in everything,” he said.

Rogers concedes that they were understandably overshadowed by the historic Democratic primary through June, but contends that even after the general election began they could get attention only when McCain committed a gaffe.

“When he’s sitting in back of a bus and getting questions about Viagra, I think we understand at that point you’ve got to make some tactical adjustments,” he said, recalling a particularly awkward gotcha-of-the-day moment on McCain’s bus in early July.

[ErinBerin84]

1. If he can't handle a question on Viagra (which was really a question about birth control), how can

he handle the White House? I remember David Gergen commenting on it and saying the worst thing, besides him even bumbling and not knowing his record, was that he was dismissive and did not treat it as a serious question. Gotcha my ass...does the public not have a right to know about his positions on birth control ? That reporter let him off the hook in the end anyways, and said "It's a tough subject" or something.

[Muttocracy]

4. interesting that Viagra is what the campaign staff remembers. nt

[ErinBerin84]

6. lol, yup.

it's also their way of marginalizing the question as a non-serious one. Like "oh my god, can you believe the nerve of that reporter? Asking an elderly man about VIAGRA?"

[stray cat]

2. They didn't start with integrity - McCain is not a good man

[Teaser]

3. true, but they come out and admit it here.

this is a usable admission.

[Muttocracy]

5. You're going to love this post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7054693


"...An Obama spokesperson just blasted out a statement comparing McCain's current campaign to the infamously despicable 2000 campaign run against him in South Carolina -- true fighting words -- and adding that McCain "would rather lose his integrity than lose an election."