« Old School | Main | On a Roll » McCain Angry!07 Mar 2008 04:22 pm Republican nominee John McCain gets really pissed off when asked questions about his flirtations with running as John Kerry's VP: Very strange for him to get so huffy. Everyone knows he was close to accepting the offer, everyone knows he was close to switching parties in 2001, and everyone knows that he spent a lot of time in between thinking about an independent bid for the White House. Heck, the essence of the guy's appeal is precisely that he's not much of a GOP loyalist. Comments (44)
Nothing like throwing a little tantrum to bring attention to a story you don't want being discussed. 
I think he's hoping that the base will forget this. His mistake is that what really matters is what the GOP noise machine decides to do. If they decide to rewrite history for him, he should do okay. But rationality and detachment is not really his strong suit so this like poking him in a sore spot.
He's an angry flip-flopper who'll say anything to get elected. "Stay the course" becomes "I called for Rumsfeld to resign"; "cutting taxes while at war is irresponsible" becomes "cutting taxes is magic"; "torture is bad" becomes "torture is a-OK for the CIA." It's the new conventional wisdom! Alert the media.
By 'everyone knows,' I presume you're saying 'virtually nobody knows?' I guarantee you that this is known to almost nobody.
McCain has a notoriously bad temper, and the more the media catches on, the more fun it will be to generate easy stories by pulling his chain.
It's time to stop pretending that McCain isn't a nasty prick. He's still the same guy who fucked around on his disable wife for years and who eventually dumped her so brutally that his own kids boycotted his second wedding. Yet another shining exemplar from the Family Values party.
"If a tree falls in the woods ..." It only counts if someone pays attention. Getting angry scares off the MSM, and the issue goes where all the other stuff McCain doesn't want to talk about goes. It worked for George Bush for 7 years. As nearly as I can tell, it's still working just fine for Cheney. Expect to see more of it.
I feel that the downfall of McCain may well be his famous temper. That will come into play in the general election against Obama. Obama, more than anything, is a calm reassuring figure. Could you imagine McCain losing his cool during a national debate. The election would end at that point.
I hate McCain as much as the next guy, but I don't see anything particularly damming in this clip. He doesn’t come off as very angry.
I have to agree with Blue Riot. If that counts as "flipping out" then that really just goes to show how fake of a personna politicians are expected to maintain. People get frustrated, big deal. That said, the stories I've heard about McCain certainly indicate that his temper goes far beyond this type of thing, so hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of a coming public temper tantrum of some sort.
I'm with Blue Riot. I'm getting the impression that alot of folks have never been exposed to some real good ol' fashioned pissed-off.
As an East Coaster now living in the Midwest, I have definately noticed that what counts as "pissed off" varies quite a big regionally. You could punch somebody in the face in Indiana and get less of a reaction that an overly long red light elicits in New York.
I'm getting the impression that alot of folks have never been exposed to some real good ol' fashioned pissed-off. Don't worry, they will.
maybe she should ask if he'll run with Hillary
Don't worry. McCain will just serve up another friendly, regular guy burger to Bumiller and she'll fall back in line.
St. John's weak spot is his inability to reatrain his temper. Where was it recently noted that, when McCain blows up at a House or Senate member, before that person gets back to their office they've received a telegram from McCain with an apology? And, if you think about it, that the sending of a telegram is something clearly thought out ... as if such episodes had happened on multiple occasions in the past, enough for a staffer to work out a 'preemptive apology' response strategy? I say we push him until he really cracks. During the nationally-televised debates would be nice.
The reporting on this hasn't been bad, actually. I like the dynamic. It won't matter, of course, if The Monster is the nominee, but if it's Obama, he should really be able to capitalize on this stuff, both because of the anger thing itself, and the easily documented dissembling on McCain's part.
"really pissed off?" this must be some of that sarcasm you tipped us to last week. at least, i hope so. i have been telling people for years that mccain is a hothead, but we do not make that point effectively, when we undermine it with a video clip that shows only that reporters are persistent and that mccain can match that persistence. if he's "really pissed off," then, to be fair, you need to say, she's annoying and repetitive, and, in my opinion, not asking a very good question.
Washington, DC and the press in general have a much different standard of "angry" than we do. Why, I don't know, but that's what it is.
McCain needs to get hammered on this stuff, because it'll really tick him off and it'll make Republicans even more irate at his nomination. Obama should do it in a faux-praising way, just like the kind words about his half century of service evoke the Bob Dole "way too old" feeling. Some lines like "I appreciate John McCain's willingness to compromise in the spirit of bipartisanship, even considering joining the Democratic party/ticket. But after eight years of George Bush Republicanism, that's just not enough." And the press needs to be goaded into keeping digging at this stuff.
And, if you think about it, that the sending of a telegram is something clearly thought out ... as if such episodes had happened on multiple occasions in the past, enough for a staffer to work out a 'preemptive apology' response strategy? This scandal is already brewing. Below, for example, is a telegram McCain sent to Sen. John Cornyn of Texas after an angry exchange in the Senate last year. As the result of a Freedom of Information Act request by the New York Times we now know that this telegram was drafted two days before McCain's allegedly spontaneous outburst: Dear Senator Cornyn, I feel terribly for having called you a lying sack of shit on the floor of the Senate this afternoon. That comment, and my subsequent suggestions involving sodomy, your wife and the Cornyn family dog, in no way reflect the high esteem in which I hold you as a colleague and as a friend. Sometimes things are said in the heat of the moment and, as you know, I do have a bit of a temper. Please accept my sincerest apology. Yours, John McCain
Clearly to pull this off right he needs to put on an unflattering pantsuit and hector her as he waves his hand in the air and yells, "So SHAME ON YOU, Elizabeth Bumiller. Shame on you!"
Should we wait for McCain to turn green, expand in size, and go on a rampage?
He USED to be not much of a GOP loyalist, Matt. Now that he's determined to turn into a virtual clone of Bush, even the Clinton Demolition Company may not be able to win the election for him.
You goofballs are really grasping at straws. Didn't you learn your lesson already that brouhaha's with the mongrels at NYT are political winners for McCain? Especially when you have a ditz so obviously trying to bait him into a trap. Add to the fact, he is hardly pissed off, he's not even angry in the video. The "why are you angry" crack was a cowardly cop out of the line of questioning she was losing on. Score another point for McCain.
He's an angry flip-flopper who'll say anything to get elected. Lied thru his teeferz twice during the Florida GOP debate when confronted with his own on-the-record statements, once by an emailed question from a voter. Flat lied. I don't mean parsed, nor do I mean dodged, nor do I mean elucidated a clear distinction between literal statements and actual meanings --I mean "I never said that"/"And so you're wrong" l-i-e-d lied.
WHY THE FUCK CANT THEY ASK HIM ABOUT HAGEE INSTEAD OF THIS IRRELEVANT SHIT?
JBJB, Perceptions, baby, perceptions. It is being as reported as anger; the reality doesn't matter. How many people are going to watch the video? Mind you, I hate that dynamic, it generally works in favor of McCain in particular and the powerful & connected in general. But hey, I'm not going to get worked up about one of the few times it works to the greater good. Here's a question for all of you - if it does end up being The Monster versus The Madman, is it possible that this will be the presidential election with the worst candidates ever? I mean, there have been elections with worse people running, some of whom have even won, but has there ever been an election where both candidates were suchutter scum of the earth?
This is not angry. Lame.
I was just subjected to a little too much Faux News at the gym, and they were riding the McCain Anger story surprisingly hard, with chirons about whether his anger will hurt him in the general election. Party!!! Ohyeah, and John Gibson sneeringly advising blacks to join the GOP, which would never "steal a candidacy away" from a black man. What a puke that guy is--I'd like to see some Indiana kind of pissed in his face.
Wonder whether it has ad potential in the fall: "I'm John Kerry. In 2004 I asked John McCain to be my running mate, because I trusted he cared about how much damage Bush has done to our nation. The John McCain you see today wants to privatize Social Security and stay in Iraq for a hundred years. Nobody knows what John McCain stands for anymore.
this guy is the master. Bumiller is a credulous dunce. when Cheney shot that guy, she actually wrote in the article that he "peppered" him. having demolished her defenses, he can now basically tell her what to write word for word.
For those who think McCain's temper is not an issue, I remember back when he was running against Bush. Michael Reagan made a really big deal about McCain's temper on his radio show. He invited McCain on his show and got him so pissed that McCain hung up on him, or something. I don't remember the details, but McCain's temper was a big deal at the time. Yes, it matters. The question will be whether the reporters will deliberately ask him questions that set him off, or whether any talk shows he goes on will do that.
"McCain has a notoriously bad temper, and the more the media catches on, the more fun it will be to generate easy stories by pulling his chain. Posted by Anderson | March 7, 2008 4:41 PM" If we can trick Giuliani to go everywhere with him, it will be like a powderkeg and a match partying together. If he starts to really scream at a female reporter over stupid shit, he's going to look like a jackass.
"Heck, the essence of the guy's appeal is precisely that he's not much of a GOP loyalist." Appeal to you, maybe. Appeal to Jane and John Q, maybe. Former appeal to silly libs (I was one of them) back in 2000, maybe. Appeal to the psychotic wingnuts who make up a disproportionate amount of the GOP base, not so much.
This is not the angry McCain, that is different and will hurt him when and if it happens. Refusing to cow to the hammering on one point from a reporter is not necessarily a negative for a politician. Granted that Reagan's hard of hearing technique served him much better.
blah @ March 7, 2008 4:33 PM "Nothing like throwing a little tantrum to bring attention to a story you don't want being discussed." Exactly, if a working professional behave like that a the office, you're going to get a lot of stares. Clearly he doesn't have control over his emotions, that's why this is a story, as any chick, they have a higher emotion IQ than you do. A President that shuts down like that and with anger is not a good thing, period.
McCain (McBushie) not only came off angry, he had the presentation of a real geezer, with his repetitive speech, and circuitous argument. Someone's troublesome uncle at the holiday dinner table? And interesting timing--to the average Joe-- with all that anger, A focus on his problematic anger management should help Dems succeed.
Bad temper is definitely a problem for the President. Imagine him/her losing their temper and insulting the President of anohter country!!! We could be at war before McCain staff has sent out the apology telegram!
Bad temper is definitely a problem for the President. Imagine him/her losing their temper and insulting the President of anohter country!!! We could be at war before McCain staff has sent out the apology telegram!
Bad temper is definitely a problem for the President. Imagine him/her losing their temper and insulting the President of anohter country!!! We could be at war before McCain staff has sent out the apology telegram!
Hah. "Sorry Iran, but I just bombed the shit out of you."
Hah. "Sorry Iran, I just bombed the shit out of you."
Comments closed March 21, 2008. |
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Heads in the Sand
This cannot happen soon enough--the implanting in the public mind of the truth that John McCain is out-of-control angry. More of this, and more trouble in Iraq, and he will be unelectable.
Posted by elle loco | March 7, 2008 4:31 PM