This week has been pretty bad for Sen John McCain's presidential campaign and for the GOP.
McCain has made it amply clear that he has no clear grasp of economic issues. President George Bush came out of hiding to make a cameo appearance ostensibly to calm the jitters resulting from the avalanche of bad news emanating from the financial world. The rest of the Republicans, including McCain, are running from Bush's record of the past eight years and the only prescription in their medicine chest is "tax cuts."
During a McCain - Palin joint appearance (Sarah Palin is still not trusted to campaign by herself), Palin referred to a Palin-McCain administration. She also repeatedly refers to the big man on the top of the ticket as her "running mate." McCain needs to get a food taster if the duo is elected in November.
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, McCain's good friend (make that ex-friend) and fellow Vietnam vet chided his campaign for making "dishonest" and "nonsensical" claims.
In a radio interview in Miami, McCain rained on Spain - specifically on its prime minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, who had criticized the Bush administration's misguided adventure in Iraq. Also not clear was whether McCain thought Zapatero is the leader of a Latin American nation - some have speculated that he did not recognize the Spanish prime minister's name until reminded by the interviewer. It is worth noting that although Spain withdrew its troops from Iraq , it still has soldiers fighting in Afghanistan (some people seem to know where the real hub of terrorism is). Let us also not forget that other than the US, India and the UK, Spain is one of the few countries which was targeted for a large scale attack by terrorists aligned and sympathetic to Al Qaida.
As for the "diversity free" Republican Party, its political poo-bahs have suddenly become concerned about reaching out to minority communities. And they have found a spokesperson with a sterling record of sensitivity for the job - no monkey business here.
Request to Senator McCain and the GOP : Please carry on exactly as you are doing - with blinkers on your eyes, wax in your ears, mush in your brain and no rein on your ignorant tongues. That way, the other slightly less clueless party might win in November for a change.
(cartoon: Toles in Washington Post)
Update: Despite all the evidence of incompetence, hypocrisy and ignorance of the McCain-Palin ticket, why Obama may still lose. (via Leiter Reports)
I can't help but wonder if it's that Palin isn't trusted to campaign by herself, or if it's that McCain needs her there so there will be people at his events!
Posted by: joe | September 19, 2008 at 04:41 PM
I think it may be a bit of both. But that the McCainites are afraid to let Palin loose "unescorted" is clearly evident from the attitude of Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager.
Posted by: Ruchira | September 19, 2008 at 11:23 PM
Pretty soon, the McCainites will have to be afraid of deploying McCain himself. Another big boo-boo that went relatively unnoticed is highlighted here
But did anyone else notice this, from Wednesday's much-covered McCain-Palin Town Hall event in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Palin answered questions from people in the audience? McCain said this near the end of the clip below, as he's talking up Palin's foreign policy/national security credentials:
"I also know, if I might remind you, that she is commander of the Alaska National Guard. In fact, you may know that on Sept. 11 a large contingent of the Alaska Guard deployed to Iraq and her son happened to be one of them. So I think she understands our national security challenges..."
The ceremony Palin attended at Fort Wainwright last week didn't involve the Alaska National Guard. Palin's son is in the Army, and his unit - 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division - deployed to Iraq.
Posted by: Sujatha | September 20, 2008 at 08:09 AM
I don't understand why McCain thinks Palin understands America's national security challenges just because her son is in the military. It's as if her son's new proximity to danger means that a detailed set of propositions concerning national security magically finds its way into her consciousness. I thought you had to be tortured by the Vietnamese for that to happen.
Posted by: Phil | September 22, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Also Phil, don't forget that she can see Russia from her window. That has been touted as sufficient expertise in foreign policy matters (apart from the refueling stop in Ireland).
With McCain, "the deregulator" and Palin, "the security mom" in charge, our money and our physical safety will be in expert hands. As Obama likes to say, "I have a bridge in Alaska I would like to sell you."
Posted by: Ruchira | September 22, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Actually, McCain doesn't think that Palin's experience in either national security or foreign affairs is adequate- look at his shifty body language when he is asked in interviews or at podiums about the issue. He knows very well that he is spouting canned campaign soundbites and has trained himself well enough to deliver those lines without gagging, I suspect.
He might have liked to jettison Palin, but now can't, because he will straight lose the 29 percenters who are relishing the prospect of a possible Palin presidency to preside over the aftermath of the Rapture.
Posted by: Sujatha | September 22, 2008 at 02:18 PM
Speaking of seeing Russia from her house in Alaska, we've all seen that brilliant SNL skit, right?
Posted by: joe | September 22, 2008 at 09:40 PM
I can't see Russia from my house, but I've read several really long Russian novels. In the 1980s, I also spent a lot of time contemplating Paulina Porizkova, who was born a Soviet citizen. Can I be a heartbeat away from the presidency too?
Posted by: Andrew Rosenblum | September 23, 2008 at 04:25 PM
Today Palin made a whirlwind acquaintance of several foreign leaders and political heavy weights like Henry Kissinger at the UN via short meetings and photo-ops. Now we will hear that she has acquired foreign policy creds through handshakes, like the common cold.
Posted by: Ruchira | September 23, 2008 at 07:37 PM