Why Criticize McCain

[NattPang]

Because the press
won't.

And so there is no
fear of a pile on.

John McCain will not be
held accountable and treated
with the same standard that
the Media treats Barack Obama.

So if we don't criticize McCain
Loud and often,
he may just win.

We are creating a monster.
But he is not our own.

Journalists Predict Scrutiny of McCain . . . Some Day
By Peter Hart
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3566



The Press Corps’ Unshakeable Crush on McCain
Some straight talk about the media’s favorite ‘maverick’
By Peter Hart
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4

[Cha]

1. Criticize mccain on Democraticunderground

where we're are here to help elect our nominee?!! Surely you jest!

[NattPang]

2. I just read a thread titled similar

but about Obama.

The insinuation was that
in not criticizing our own (Obama)
we would be creating a monster.

I'm just saying that we are creating
a monster. He's just not our monster.

McCain is not being held accountable
by the press, unlike Obama.

So McCain has a very unfair advantage,
just like Bush did.

That's how monsters win.

[Cha]

6. Thanks again for being here and

trying to get some action against mccain. This can't last, though..it will turn and we'll win.

[nc4bo]

16. AMEN NattPang. K&R n/t

[NattPang]

3. The press lets McCain lie on Television,

But the press lies about Obama on Television.

So who's feet should we be holding to the fire?

[AZBlue]

4. Best post of the week!

Maybe the month!!

[NattPang]

5. Thanks!

we hold Obama's feet to the fire.
and then the press barbecues him,

meanwhile, McCain is just doing his thing
lying through his yellow teeth,
and no one seems to care.

Attack ads against Obama shown on Television
for free.

And then we will wonder what happened?

[Cha]

7. Yeah, it should be like our mantra around here..

"The press is letting mccain lie on tv and is lying about Obama"..

[AZBlue]

15. And don't forget this part:

"So who's feet should we be holding to the fire?"

The media, that's who!

[obamacon]

8. Some thoughts

I think this can be done. In fact it has been. I was a supporter of McCain in 2000 (when I was a solid Republican); I tried to get people to vote for him, I gave the campaign money. But frankly, we were up against a machine. That campaign- that Bush and Rove ran against McCain- was so enormously effective, it really ought to be studied by the Left. For sake of discussion, let's put aside aspects of the whisper campaign used against McCain- while effective, was not the whole story in my view. What really seemed to work (and they beat it like a drum) were these two aspects:

1. McCain's long record of voting NO on highly popular votes: this was a killer. They cherrypicked vote after vote, where McCain, perhaps well-intentioned in trying to limit spending and balance the budget, voted against farming interests, military families,...you name it and they micro-targeted these niches, with these No votes. He spent all campaign playing defense and trying to explain the votes. Ultimately, few stuck around to hear the explanation (again even if perhaps valid- that riders were tacked on that had nothing to do with the bill.

2. Ineffective/Temperamentally Unsuited: One thing to be a maverick, but 20+ years you might want to be known for more than one bill. The point was that his ineffectiveness resulted from his demeanor, which has raised highly critical remarks from people of his own party, raising serious suspicions about his ability to truly be effective.

Anyhow, interested in people's thoughts.

[NattPang]

9. But why does the press love John McCain so?

And why aren't Democrats
doing more about calling
the media out on this?

We seem to have no problem
organizing against Obama
when we don't like something he says.
20,000 member group at his website
are "protesting".

If we had 20,000 raising hell with
the media, maybe they'd start
paying attention.

That's what I don't understand.

Why is there so much energy
directed at destroying
ourselves?

[obamacon]

10. My Sense

I see it as the Left taking advantage of a limited window of opportunity (limited because the party must minimize the infighting after the convention) and warning Obama not to forget who brought him to the dance. Medea Benjamin on Oreilly put it well I thought when she said that Obama needs to be mindful that while he must appeal to independents, it will be his Leftist base that will ring doorbells. I think its a "speak now or forever hold your peace" moment for Obama and liberals to have this dialogue; since it would be verboten from convention to November.

As far as the press, I get the sense they do like McCain, but they also like Obama. The media is a channel, and the Right has been effective at highlighting a few issues (ie: Wes Clark's statements) and using it to peel off independents. I am not criticizing Clark's comments- but just pointing out that when spun a certain way, can be used to highlight McCain's advantage and exploit people's perception of the Left. At some point, Obama is going to have to make thematic arguments through the use of single events (or past voting) as his means. Has he done that? I suspect not yet, because unlike McCain, he is more an unknown quantity to mainstream Americans and therefore his first task is to define himself. I differ with some in that I think you have to appeal to centrists/Independents and I've marveled at Obama's ability to cast himself as centrist after the extended Dem primary. You gotta win before you can govern. Reports I've read suggest McCain insiders are frustrated because their attacks at Obama are not sticking- in part because of Obama's moderating his positions, and in part because he is a movement candidate (people see him embody their own hopes and dreams; which is not something that can be attacked; and his record is slight so that offers little fodder).

>And why aren't Democrats
doing more about calling
the media out on this?

Obama's been running TV ads that show him as all-American; I think the timing is wise and McCain has not responded to them. My guess is that Obama's surrogates will go negative at McCain only once they think people feel comfortable they know who Obama is. Mitt Romney is the cautionary tale here. In early primaries, Romney spent millions bashing the other candidates (Thompson, McCain, Huckabee) without first defining who he was and what he stood for. He put the cart before the horse, people didn't like it (the ads polled terribly), and it sounds like Obama is doing it in the right order. Just my two cents.

[NattPang]

11. Thanks.

Your two cents
were pretty good.

[tblue37]

12. obamacon, about your first point:

1. McCain's long record of voting NO on highly popular votes: this was a killer. They cherrypicked vote after vote, where McCain, perhaps well-intentioned in trying to limit spending and balance the budget, voted against farming interests, military families,...you name it and they micro-targeted these niches, with these No votes. He spent all campaign playing defense and trying to explain the votes. Ultimately, few stuck around to hear the explanation (again even if perhaps valid-that riders were tacked on that had nothing to do with the bill.

This is exactly what they did to Kerry, too, so that when he tried to explain that he had voted for a billl before voting against it, the public didn't wait around to hear that the reason he voted against it when the second version came up for a vote was that it was loaded down with "poison pills." Instead of bothering to hear his explanation, they just let the Republicans label him a "flip-flopper."

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

13. We need to be repeating this everyday! Over and over again, like the Repukes do!

They are now out there stating that Obama's own base doesn't support him anymore. And we cannot understand the game they are playing???!?!? Either we want to win this thing or we don't. It's as simple as that!

[NattPang]

17. Some of us are only as smart

as they want to be.

[Kaylee]

14. Kick....

[NatBurner]

18. basically

fuck his "record"

i've been getting more and more snippets of his back story, and honestly? i'm not impressed

it doesn't take much leadership to get captured and tortured and given a pass cuz your daddy was an admiral

i mean, yeah- he was tortured and blah blah blah, and thanks and all, but come the fuck on

AND

he's fucking nuts to boot

bush was just an idiot; mccain is an insane idiot

a shithouse rat crazy mean lil fucker that happens to think dropping bombs is funny

i expose his deranged ass every chance i get