You have all heard about the McCain latest juvenile attack on Obama that compares the Illinois Senator to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears? Well, evidently, the Hilton family are big McCain supporters and they don't appreciate the ad. Heh.
Everywhere I turn, I read sharp critiques of McCain's campaign. It started out with the man saying he would run a dignified campaign that was respectful of Obama. Then he is saying that Obama would win a political campaign even if it meant losing a war. Then he bashes Obama for not visiting the wounded troops (even as he shows a clip of Obama playing basketball with the troops) and we learn today that McCain had a clip ready that was going to bash Obama for visiting the troops if he went.
No wonder lifelong Republican and Ike's grandaughter, Susan Eisenhower is not only endorsing Obama, but says today that McCain's campaign shows that the Republican Party is out of ideas.
5 comments:
I just have a hard time believing any candidate when they say they will run a "nice" or "clean" campaign, since this doesn't seem to ever happen. It would be nice if people did, but the reality is that these kinds of tactics probably work. I am sure that both candidates have a batter of social psychologists that research this stuff extensively.
Considering McCain's womanizing past, I don't think it is a very good idea for him to inject the character issue into this election.
Obama has run such a squeaky clean campaign, not to mention that he himself is squeaky clean, McCain is desperate to do anything to smear him. Thus far all I have seen is boogeymen and nothing substantial. What is even more sad is that Republicans are typically the ones who resort to these tactics; not Democrats. But the Republicans are God's party after all. Vengeance is mine, thus saith the Lord...
I wouldn't say that Obama has run a squeaky clean campaign. He tried to paint McCain as saying he was fine with a 100 year war in Iraq, but McCain actually said something that was different. I wouldn't say that Obama lied, but it was still a tactic that is not deserving of respect. That being said, I would still say Obama is running a cleaner campaign.
As for who typically runs nasty campaigns, I say the Democrats can get just as nasty. Look at Hillary in the primaries and Clinton in the 90's. Again, Obama can prove me wrong for this election, but I think it is just not true to say that Democrats don't typically resort to these tactics.
You're right. Perhaps I was telescoping a bit of optimism there. I guess what I was saying was that for the most part, Obama has done a much better job campaigning than McCain, or for that matter, any of the other candidates, Republican or Democrat through the course of this cycle.
The 100-year war thing has been somewhat misconstrued but I don't think mishandled by Obama entirely. I think McCain would be content with 100 years in Iraq. I think when he made that statement he was using hyperbole, meaning "I'm going to do 'whatever it takes'", not necessarily that we would occupy Iraq another hundred years. Though it sure feels like it.
And yeah--Hillary got pretty nasty before Obama became the (presumptive) nominee. But I don't think they have superseded Rove by a long shot.
You're right. Perhaps I was telescoping a bit of optimism there. I guess what I was saying was that for the most part, Obama has done a much better job campaigning than McCain, or for that matter, any of the other candidates, Republican or Democrat through the course of this cycle.
I would tend to agree. My Dad has a rule that he will ignore any poltical ads around 4 or 5 months before the election. I think this is a good idea as they tend to get more ridiculous as time goes on. I would hope that people would be able to make a decision on something besides an ad.
The 100-year war thing has been somewhat misconstrued but I don't think mishandled by Obama entirely. I think McCain would be content with 100 years in Iraq.
He may be content, but he was accused of saying he was ok with 100 years of war, when he actually said that we may have to have some kind of presence (like we do in Korea or Japan) there for a 100 years and he conditioned it on our troops not being part of ongoing conflict for that duration. I think Obama has a much better exit strategy than McCain, but I think he should push that and not try to twist what McCain said.
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