The perils of Pinata Politics

[babylonsister]

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16352.html

The perils of Pinata Politics
Posted July 28th, 2008


Have you ever been to a child’s birthday party in which there’s a pinata? It’s a pretty straightforward exercise — the birthday boy/girl gets blindfolded, is handed a big stick, is spun around to cause minor disorientation, and is then encouraged to swing the stick wildly in every direction, in the hopes of hitting a target and getting a prize.

John McCain’s campaign has been operating under a similar framework for quite a while now. Under McCain’s version of Pinata Politics, the senator and his team swing wildly in every direction, hoping to hit Barack Obama. There’s no real consistency to the attacks, and there’s even less honesty and integrity backing up the attacks. But McCain appears to be blindfolded, allowing Karl Rove’s operation to spin him in circles.

snip//

Following up on a previous item, since McCain brought in Rove’s team to run the campaign operation, his brand of Pinata Politics have led him to take swings in all kinds of directions:

* McCain said Obama is responsible for high gas prices. (He’s not.)

* McCain said Obama blew off wounded troops to go to the gym. (He didn’t.)

* McCain said Obama wants to raise middle-class taxes. (He doesn’t.)

* McCain said Obama healthcare plan is socialized medicine. (It’s not.)

* McCain suggested Obama might be a “socialist.” (He’s not.)

* McCain said Obama was taking Maliki’s policy endorsement out of context. (He wasn’t.)

* McCain said Obama’s tax plan would hurt millions of small businesses. (It won’t.)

* McCain said Obama is deliberately ignoring the successes of U.S. troops in Iraq. (He’s not.)

* McCain said Obama actually might be treasonous. (He isn’t.)

And, of course, he’s attacked Obama’s integrity, honesty, character, and patriotism. Last week, the McCain campaign even hinted that Obama is weak on genocide.

“They’re doing it because the candidate, and the campaign, is not happy with where they are and they’re lashing out,” the Republican strategist said.

That may be true. And who knows, maybe voters will find all of this compelling.

But at this point, it seems like even Republicans are anxious to see McCain take the blindfold off — his tactics are making the rest of us dizzy, too.

[AtomicKitten]

1. Deja vu?

McCain’s Hillary Problem: He’s running her same campaign. And she lost.

http://nymag.com/news/politics/powergrid/48519/

[depakid]

2. Republicans most decidedly ARE NOT like Hillary

They're extremely skilled at this sort of politics- and they'll keep hurling shit until something sticks, and when it does, they'll run with it.

[AtomicKitten]

3. The difference is that the GOP is unfettered because they are

fighting against another party as opposed to intraparty.

But the shit-flinging technique is the same.

[bunnies]

4. They're looking for his soft spot.

Hitting him all over until they find it. But the conventional whacks arent working this time. Its just exposing McCain for the petty hypocrite he is.