US 08 Presidential Campaign General Discussion Thread #8

[2861U2]

Originally Posted by BonoVoxSupastar

Anybody see McCain on The View? I watched pieces of it on youtube...

Why the hell would he agree to go on this show? He looked pathetic. Is he this desperate for the woman vote, or does he not understand women at all...

I think it's the women of the view who looked pathetic.

Whoopi: "So if you're elected president, am I going to become a slave?"

Yikes...

[anitram]

Those Republicans, classy to the core:

A conservative political forum on Saturday sold boxes of waffle mix depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype on its front and wearing Arab-like headdress on its top flap.

The product, Obama Waffles, was meant as political satire, said Mark Whitlock and Bob DeMoss, two writers from Franklin, Tenn., who created the mix and sold it for $10 a box from a booth at the Values Voter Summit sponsored by the lobbying arm of the Family Research Council.

Republican Party stalwarts Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were among speakers at the forum, which officials said drew 2,100 activists from 44 states.

While Obama Waffles takes aim at Obama's politics by poking fun at his public remarks and positions on issues, it also plays off the image of the classic pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype. Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly.

My Way News - Forum sells 'Obama Waffles' with racial stereotype

[Diemen]

sold it for $10 a box from a booth at the Values Voter Summit

Interesting set of values.

[Lila64]

Anyone catch Bill Maher last night?

[yolland]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

I think it's the women of the view who looked pathetic.

Whoopi: "So if you're elected president, am I going to become a slave?"

Yikes...

I think that was BVS' main point though--"Why the hell would he agree to go on this show."

Originally Posted by Diemen

It's so ridiculous. Prior to the Palin pick, McCain was picking on Obama for being a celebrity. Now that he has Palin, he's practically screaming "look! I've got a celebrity, too! Vote McCain!"

To give her credit where credit is due, though--this is one thing Palin clearly IS good at. Star appeal, understanding what her likely and potential voters want on an emotional level and projecting that to them. It's a very different sort of iconic pull than Obama has, and in either case that's a dumb reason to vote for someone, but she does have it.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

I think it's the women of the view who looked pathetic.

Whoopi: "So if you're elected president, am I going to become a slave?"

Yikes...

You're joking right? Out of all the comments you chose that one? She nailed him on that one.

Did you see his response? He realized he screwed up.

[Lila64]

Desperation?

[BVS]

Originally Posted by yolland

I think that was BVS' main point though--"Why the hell would he agree to go on this show."

Well it was part of my point. I think he probably thought it was going to be a soft TV spot where he could talk about Palin. I do agree parts of it were ridiculous, but there were also points where I think the women of The View really made good points and backed him in a corner that he wasn't expecting.

[maycocksean]

Originally Posted by yolland

To give her credit where credit is due, though--this is one thing Palin clearly IS good at. Star appeal, understanding what her likely and potential voters want on an emotional level and projecting that to them. It's a very different sort of iconic pull than Obama has, and in either case that's a dumb reason to vote for someone, but she does have it.

If the level of interest in her remains strong through the next two months, I think she could be the key to a McCain victory.

The thing that bothers me the most about McCain winning is the apparent basis for the victory--a victory won through shallow means.

[yolland]

The sleep-deprived new parent speaks!

Yeah, I think if the level of media interest in her remains strong is probably the key. (Which at least for the moment is a bonus side effect of rationing her availability to interviewers, keeping her from taking questions on the stump, etc.) For now, she still has the momentum of novelty on her side: she arrived as an unknown to both the public and the media (unlike Biden--no juiciness left to squeeze there), a bona fide shock pick, and able to project the star appeal in person that McCain can't, while meanwhile Obama's appeal no longer feels new after all those months of airplay. There's a downside to this of course, which is that she's therefore also tempting, fresh meat and so everything about her is being gone over with a micrometer--but, a good PR team will have some tricks up its sleeve to try to convert that scrutiny into a silver lining by charging that this reflects desperation, that she's being savaged by sinister "piranhas" (as McCain's campaign manager put it), etc.

It's shallow, yeah, but campaign politics aren't known for profundity and neither are all these Someone-Just-Like-Me!!! voters (funny, isn't it, how all three male candidates are by all appearances devoted parents too, yet you don't hear millions of moms and dads out there gushing about how this means "he understands my issues" as a parent).

[phillyfan26]

I'm watching his appearance on The View now. I'm surprised that they're asking such pointed questions.

[Utoo]

Originally Posted by phillyfan26

I'm watching his appearance on The View now. I'm surprised that they're asking such pointed questions.

It's about time that people are.

[phillyfan26]

When they asked why he endorsed campaigns that "we know are lies," he says they're not lies.

Unfortunately, they don't push further.

[Utoo]

Folks, what do we think of McCain's argument as to why his campaign has gotten so slimy:

"Well, if Senator Obama had done as I asked and agreed to doing town hall meetings, the campaign wouldn't be like this."


?

Is that really an answer? Sure, McCain wouldn't be able to blatantly lie about Obama if he was right next to him, but is this really an acceptable cause of the slimy campaign that McCain's now running?

Plus, does Obama seriously have to do whatever McCain asks of him??

I realize he's trying to make Obama look like the bad guy---"Well, he didn't do the reasonable thing"---but it's sooooooo stupid.

[namkcuR]

Originally Posted by phillyfan26

When they asked why he endorsed campaigns that "we know are lies," he says they're not lies.

Unfortunately, they don't push further.

It makes me sick how he just sits and there calmly says 'they're not lies' when everyone knows they are. How does he sleep? The ambition to be president has swallowed him whole.

[namkcuR]

Originally Posted by Utoo

Folks, what do we think of McCain's argument as to why his campaign has gotten so slimy:

"Well, if Senator Obama had done as I asked and agreed to doing town hall meetings, the campaign wouldn't be like this."


?

Is that really an answer? Sure, McCain wouldn't be able to blatantly lie about Obama if he was right next to him, but is this really an acceptable cause of the slimy campaign that McCain's now running?

Plus, does Obama seriously have to do whatever McCain asks of him??

I realize he's trying to make Obama look like the bad guy---"Well, he didn't do the reasonable thing"---but it's sooooooo stupid.

It's revolting how he stands there talking with this sad tone of voice about the negative tone of the campaign as if he has nothing to do with it. Fucking disgusting.

[phillyfan26]

Honest to God, every question they are asking is making him squirm.

This is very surprising to me.

[phillyfan26]

The best way to summarize why I don't like John McCain ...

He's just ... wrong.

[anitram]

Originally Posted by Utoo

Folks, what do we think of McCain's argument as to why his campaign has gotten so slimy:

"Well, if Senator Obama had done as I asked and agreed to doing town hall meetings, the campaign wouldn't be like this."


?

Is that really an answer?

Paul Reiser wrote a great article about this.

Am I just losing my friggin' mind? Seriously. I keep looking around the room to see if I'm living in some suddenly altered state where everything we know is now called the opposite, and nobody notices. Or can stop it.

"I wish I didn't have to take your lunch money, but you should'nt of hadda brung it."

We're in the 3rd grade again. The skinny, smart kid who just moved in to the neighborhood is getting roughed-up by the asshole bully. The kid who hits you in the head with your hand and says, "Why're you hitting yourself? Why're you hitting yourself?"

"Um, actually I'm not. You're hitting me."

"You calling me a liar?"

"No, I'm just pointing out that..." SMACK!

"Why're you hitting yourself?"

And there seems to be no one to appeal to. There're no grown-ups around when you need 'em. No one to step in and say, "Alright, that's enough now. We don't do that here, fella." And in the absence of any authority, the asshole gets to keep doing it.

"Why're you hitting yourself? SMACK! Why're you hitting yourself?"

[diamond]

Originally Posted by maycocksean

If the level of interest in her remains strong through the next two months, I think she could be the key to a McCain victory.

.

she will be what hilary was suppose to have been.
she's a thorn in the side to the women's movement.
<>