Politico on McCain campaign breifing call: wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and followed by lots of wrong

[grantcart]

With polls up, and Obama gaining the puppy vote, the McCain campaign responds with WRONG

This campaign is getting fun again

When Politco calls you out for being "rife with simple . . misstatements" you know you are in epic fail

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13747.html


Sen. John McCain’s top campaign aides convened a conference call today to complain of being called “liars.” They pressed the media to scrutinize specific elements of Sen. Barack Obama’s record.

But the call was so rife with simple, often inexplicable misstatements of fact that it may have had the opposite effect : to deepen the perception, dangerous to McCain, that he and his aides have little regard for factual accuracy.

The errors in McCain strategist Steve Schmidt’s charges against Obama and Sen. Joe Biden were particularly notable because they seemed unnecessary. Schmidt repeatedly gilded the lily: He exaggerated the Biden family's already problematic ties to the credit card industry; Obama’s embarrassing relationship with a 1960s radical; and an Obama supporter’s over-the-top attack on Sarah Palin when — in each case — the truth would have been damaging enough.

“Any time the Obama campaign is criticized at any level, the critics are immediately derided as liars,” Schmidt told reporters.

But as he went on to list a series of stories he thought reporters should be writing about Obama and Biden, in almost every instance he got the details wrong .

Schmidt criticized the press for the relatively sparse coverage of the fact that one of Biden’s sons, Hunter, is a registered federal lobbyist.

“His son is a lobbyist for the credit card and banking industry,” Schmidt said.

But Hunter Biden’s lobbying clients don’t include any banks or credit card companies. He did work, as a vice president and then as a consultant, for MBNA, a Delaware-based bank and credit card giant to which Biden had close ties. But he does not appear to have lobbied for the firm.

“Steve Schmidt lied — or just got it flat wrong ," said Biden spokesman David Wade. "Hunter Biden has never — never — been a lobbyist for the credit card or banking industry."

Schmidt attacked Obama for his ties to William Ayers, who has spoken of his role in 1960s anti-war bombings committed by the Weather Underground.

Obama did hold a 1995 campaign event at Ayers’ house. It was not, however, a fundraiser, and Ayers did not contribute money to Obama’s first campaign, according to Illinois records.




More details and more McCain wrongs here

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13747.html

[grantcart]

1. ..

[JuniperLea]

2. It's like Whack-A-McCain Campaign Lie!

Well done! Every time a lie pops its ugly head up like that, the Obama camp needs to whack it down!

When all you have is lies, you have nothing. You hear that McCain? You have NOTHING!

I feel sorry every time I say something against that poor sacrificial candidate. Shame on the GOP for doing that to him, and to me!

[grantcart]

3. Well so far the McCain campaign has started a fight with the New York Times and Politco

[JuniperLea]

10. Not to mention Palin's calling out ALL media in her very first speech

But you see, when they poke the media with a sharp stick, then get bitten, they just turn around screaming "liberal media!"

All these things lead me further to believe McCain is a sacrificial candidate. Dumb and Dumber 2008!

[central scrutinizer]

15. never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel

Mark Twain

[JuniperLea]

16. Good one!

That's going on my list!

[grantcart]

20. or in Politico's case buys electrons by the _________?

[DevonRex]

4. What the hell is wrong with the McCain campaign anyway? These

are really stupid mistakes, especially since the facts are easily obtained.

[emulatorloo]

5. They've decided they don't care about the facts! EOM

[DevonRex]

7. Weird, since the REALLY low information voters are already gonna

vote for McCain, regardless of the facts. As it is, McCain is just going after the folks who are scared of their own shadows and run like frightened babies from any mention of Ayers. And heck, Obama's name is enough to have them running to the repukes anyway.

I'm at a loss to figure out just who McCain thinks he's gonna bring on board with this nonsense.

[damntexdem]

19. They just generally want to discredit any media criticism.

And they just can't help themselves from discrediting themselves in the process.

[anonymous171]

6. Gawd, they call out the media for calling them liars by lying some more.

[DevonRex]

8. It's truly a bizarre campaign. As If everything they say won't be

fact checked from now through November.

[nyhuskyfan]

9. The last quote is absurd

One McCain aide, Michael Goldfarb, said Politico was “quibbling with ridiculously small details when the basic things are completely right.”


They claimed that Wexler called Palin a Nazi sympathizer - he did not
They claimed that Hunter Biden was a lobbyist for the banks/credit card industry - he was not


Those are the basic things. They are not right.

[JuniperLea]

11. It's all about the "fundamentals" in McCain's world...

Of course, the definition changes to suit the lie.

[grantcart]

13. I don't think they really care anymore its all theatre

[phrigndumass]

12. These republicans, lol ...

First they lie to themselves, then they lie to each other, then they begin believing the lies and finally they lie to the press. It's about damn time the press sees through it all.

[randr]

14. They have been branded as liars

and it is sticking. Especially when you turn on the tube and see the Palin lies repeated in every ad mcsame puts out.
Someone needs to tell them that the voters are hip to Rovian tactics, have more than Faux views to get information from, and are ready to move on.
Then again, maybe no one should tell them. They wouldn't be able to digest the truth.

[Forkboy]

17. Sounds like Shmidt was just channeling Tellurian.

She never got any shit right either.

[Thrill]

18. FULL OUT PANIC MODE.........Internals not looking good for them

[grantcart]

26. theres a reason that they are losing their tempers

[Hamlette]

21. This is sweet. The media continues to call McCain a liar.

If this continues, it could sink in with Americans. It may well have impacted Gore in 2000 even though he didn't even lie! He got branded and it was over.

After the last couple of weeks, with the media calling McCain out on lie after lie, I fully expected the media to kiss and make up.

But, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Could it be that reporters have money in the stock market too? And they are looking at the return on their retirement accounts under Clinton and comparing it to the return under Bush?

It might be as simple as that.

And it is great news for us. I've got a few years before retirement, I'm fulling willing to see a couple thousand point drop in the market to get a dem in the WH.

[ShadowLiberal]

22. I loved that article, and their list of lies that Schmidt told

[cliffordu]

23. Well...it won't belong now before the McCain explosion happens...

[Shine]

24. We are witnessing the death throes of the McBush campaign.

The debates will put the nails in the coffin.

[Ichingcarpenter]

25. This is a meltdown by the campaign the only thing they have to offer

as solutions is their victimhood by the press and blaming themselves for
being republicans.