McCain plans fiercer strategy

[rebel with a cause]

GOP plans to focus on Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal ties
By Michael D. Shear
The Washington Post
updated 3:46 a.m. CT, Sat., Oct. 4, 2008

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said.

With just a month to go until Election Day, McCain's team has decided that its emphasis on the senator's biography as a war hero, experienced lawmaker and straight-talking maverick is insufficient to close a growing gap with Obama. The Arizonan's campaign is also eager to move the conversation away from the economy, an issue that strongly favors Obama and has helped him to a lead in many recent polls.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27018572/
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And as a follow up to this, the following article appears under the other on MSNBC web page.
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NYT: Crossed paths of Obama, ’60s bomber
Records suggest Dem has played down contact, but that two weren't close
By Scott Shane
The New York Times
updated 3:14 a.m. CT, Sat., Oct. 4, 2008

CHICAGO - At a tumultuous meeting of anti-Vietnam War militants at the Chicago Coliseum in 1969, Bill Ayers helped found the radical Weathermen, launching a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and United States Capitol.

Twenty-six years later, at a lunchtime meeting about school reform in a Chicago skyscraper, Barack Obama met Mr. Ayers, by then an education professor. Their paths have crossed sporadically since then, at a coffee Mr. Ayers hosted for Mr. Obama’s first run for office, on the schools project and a charitable board, and in casual encounters as Hyde Park neighbors.

Their relationship has become a touchstone for opponents of Mr. Obama, the Democratic senator, in his bid for the presidency. Video clips on YouTube, including a new advertisement that was broadcast on Friday, juxtapose Mr. Obama’s face with the young Mr. Ayers or grainy shots of the bombings.

In a televised interview last spring, Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, asked, “How can you countenance someone who was engaged in bombings that could have or did kill innocent people?”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27018244/

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Hold on to your hats, the next couple of weeks are going to be rough ones. Not only in the press, the trolls are running amuck around here also it seems. JMHO

[KharmaTrain]

1. This Was To Be Expected...

Also they're gonna try to fire up Reverend Wright again...ramp it up high. Ayers represents that Obama is a dirty f*ckin' hippie while Wright is the "scary black man". It's fear wrapped up in innuendo and lies and I expect them to come out fast and furious (especially out of hate radio). It wouldn't matter if Obama was leading or behind...this kitchen sink was always ready to throw...either to try to catch up (like they need to now) or to "bury" him.

The deal here is that while people may not say outright they won't vote for Obama due to his race, the Wright/Ayers strawman gives them plausible deniability. It's not that he's "black"...but it's because of his radical preacher or that Obama was throwing bombs when he was 8 years old.

[rebel with a cause]

2. Yeah but how are they going to explain away palin's preacher man.

or the people that mccain has been associated with. The problem is that the MSM will not cover them the way they will Obama. And the good old GOP continues to try to stop the proceedings against palin up in Alaska. They have had such good luck with containing the legal action against bush and his cronies they are going to continue the same with 'bush is a skirt with lipstick to boot'.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Cause The White Preachers = $$$$$$$

Reverend Wright's Congregation covers the South Side of Chicago...Hagee Ministries is a worldwide corporation...or Focus On The Family or Saddleback Church...it's a difference between the big wheels vs. the small ones. IMHO, the corporate media fears many of the evangelicals due to the noise and headaches they create. Also, many of these "ministries" buy a lot of TV and Radio time from these companies...a steady, guaranteed revenue stream in an age of shrinking advertising revenues. The tighter the times, the less they're gonna want to bite the hand that feeds them.

IMHO, I think Palin's fade has been tied to people finding out what a fundie whacko she is. The Youtube videos have gone viral as well as a lot of emails and news stories that not only question her relationship with the witch doctor, but also with Jews For Jesus and other "end of times" groups.

The other day I heard some talking head trying to justify why they can show Wright but that Palin's church videos "don't get much traction"...and that was because Wright said "God Damn America"...while the witch doctor didn't. There's another example of subtle bias at work in our media.

Cheers...

[Berry Cool]

3. That kind of person is just looking for an excuse and won't vote for him anyway.

Subconsciously, such advertising may provide such a person with an "out." But, as Bill Murray said in "Meatballs," "It just doesn't matter."

Those votes weren't going to be won anyway. The person in question will probably vote for a third party or not at all, but that vote won't be a huge game-changing percentage.

For most people truly on the fence, such stuff will look like the desperate last-minute tactics it is.

[KharmaTrain]

7. True...And A Ploy For The Fence Sitters

The polls are still showing a large number of undecided or "independent" voters...and most don't monitor the support for Bob Barr or the Constitution Party or Nader...surely they have to have several percentages in key states...plus another few percent who are thinking of staying home. This kinda reminds me of the push on this side in the final days of the '80 campaign...many who were pissed at Carter, but the fear of Raygun made many move toward him and away from John Anderson. Or some will say the same about Nader and Gore in 2000. We're seeing it in reverse. Gramps can't afford to lose those people...and I see this as a ploy to see if they can reel in a few of those votes.

Cheers...

[radfringe]

4. mccain has nothing to offer

but mud

his first and seemingly only solution to any problem is to attack.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtKGNvJ5u4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjQz7snohU4

[rebel with a cause]

9. But...But....he's got facts.

Yes, his facts are distorted to the point where they become lies, but he reasons(lies and says) that the facts still back him up. mccain/palin have nothing to offer or to say, that is why they throw mud and play the games they do during debates. In other words, I agree with you.

[Ghost in the Machine]

5. Ohhh... he's gonna be a 'souped up' maverick???

"In a televised interview last spring, Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, asked, “How can you countenance someone who was engaged in bombings that could have or did kill innocent people?”

Obama's simple amswer should have been: "I don't know, John.. why don't *you* tell *me*? How many innocent people did YOU kill with YOUR bombs before you crashed your plane again? Didn't you get shot down because you tried to circle around and go take a look at your handywork"?

Fuck these rightwing assholes... it's time to play dirty with them, too...

[MindMatter]

8. In other words, act like Palin in the debate. How's that working out, John?

Corollary: Biden already wrote the book on how to respond to assholes.

Like McCain being more of a dick is going to change anything. Most people would never notice the difference.

[rebel with a cause]

10. I don't know how negative ads work with some people.

We have an area race where the two guys have both gone very negative and I don't want to vote for either now. I will probably just vote for the Democrat because he is a Democrat. :shrug: