If David Brock can really put $40 million together to start "defining" John McCain, that would go a long way to raise my confidence about a Democratic victory in November. McCain's doing very well in the polls, but in my view it's an open question how much of that is simply a result of the fact that the majority of Americans have never heard McCain criticized from the left.
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Show Me The Attack Ads
11 Apr 2008 09:15 am
Comments (13)
That's the thing: As soon as the ads like that MoveOn ad go up, everyone's going to remember, "Oh yeah! That's why Bush is a scumbag. I completely forgot!"
All this primary does is insure that when the Democrats finally get to pile on McCain, he's going to lose, Wright or no Wright. I also think "cunt" "trollop" and "I hate gooks" should make it into an ad, just to balance the scales.
"My friends, there will be more wars!" Dead meat.
$40 million is a lot of money. I'm skeptical Brock either has it, can get it or will actually spend it all if it fell in his lap somehow. Except for the most rabid left leaning activists it's a sure bet those writing small checks are sending them to Obama or Hillary directly, not to Media Matters. And do the big guns want to cut checks for thousands to Brock or would they rather have their own vanity 527 stirring things up? I think overall Brock's post-Clinton phase is admirable but this recent bluster is sketchy.
Hillary at this point is indeed dragging down the party, because she is keeping the Democrats from going full bore against McCain. McCain is being allowed moreso to define himself, and the media is letting him get away with it.
This is the opportunity cost for Hillary's ego and vanity.
As for McCain, he is the candidate of saying one thing and doing another. He is the candidate trying to skirt by on just words and personality.
On personality he always tries to come across as this nice grandfatherly type, to soften the image of his far right policies.
Take the war issue; he always proclaims how he is against war and hates war and all that. But then is policy is very much for war.
The media should be doing a better job of pointing this out.
Obama is the candidate that actually has the policies and judgement to back up his words and personality. McCain is a say one thing, do another type of candidate.
Hillary at this point is indeed dragging down the party, because she is keeping the Democrats from going full bore against McCain. McCain is being allowed moreso to define himself, and the media is letting him get away with it.
Haven't you heard? According to Clinton, this race is effectively a tie. It's like Memphis State and Kansas heading into overtime. The fact that are criticizing Clinton and not Obama only shows that you are working under an invidious double standard.
I place little stock in these early polls. Most of this is about name recognition by low information voters. We saw this same nonsense in 06. Ane we know how that turned out. One, just one debate between McSame and either Dem will reveal what a pathetic character McSame is. Don't worry, be happy ;-)
Make it $40,000,050. This is an important effort, and I just threw my $50 into the pot.
You all had to hear Bill O'Reilly's opening remarks yesterday about the "Evil men" behind this ad campaign--the "evil George Soros", the "despicable David Brock" and the "something ridiculously over-the-top-I-cant-quite-remember Paul Begala" who all supposedly met in Soros apartment to hatch this monstrous campaign against America as we know it.
Thank God I was parked or I would have had to pull over until I stopped laughing.
You all had to hear Bill O'Reilly's opening remarks yesterday about the "Evil men" behind this ad campaign...
"It's a 'vast left-wing conspiracy', I tell ya'! Now hand me that falafel thingy." -- Bill O'Reilly
There's time to redefine McCain--he's already well-known and has his straight-talk brand, so it's not like this week is the first time voters encounter him.
As an independent (albeit a left-leaning one), the ongoing race just keeps reminding me why the country doesn't seem to trust the Dems to govern at the top. The party looks like it's dithering around, worried to actually hurt anyone's feelings by making a decision.
Even taking that the supers have good reason to be nervous, the imagery of each party's voters is taking a hit: R voters saying "Sigh. Okay. McCain. Yeesh. Let's move on." and D's saying "Nooooooo! It'll be my choice! If my candidate can't be the nominee, I'm leaving! I'm voting for McCain! No, wait, the pledged delegates will all change their votes! That's it! Also, a contested convention would be cool!" definitely underscores the idea that this is not the party of grown-ups.
Another unoriginal observation: the ongoing battle between 2 people with no large-scale policy differences just skywrites We Are The Party of Identity Politics.
The problem isn't that McCain can't be redefined later on; the problem will be redefining the Democrats.
It's not so much that McCain is defining himself; all politicians are doing that all the time. It's that he has no opposition. The media can't churn out 3 page articles in this news cycle... well, they can, but they won't get any traction. The only way you get heat on any candidate is to have an opponent accusing them of something.
People claim the media is biased when they don't go on a witch-hunt against the people that they oppose. More often than not, that's not the case. It's just that no one is whispering into the ears of these journalists. They're afraid of chasing down leads they get on the internet, and for good reason, after what happened to Dan Rather. They need to be prodded towards an angle.
So, until Hillary Clinton drops out, John McCain will get his "free ride".
Grandpa McCombover is a foul-mouthed, grumpy old man living off his former mistress's wealth. He shifts position depending on whom he's talking to, he loves war, and he's clueless about the economic struggles and worries of most Americans. He doesn't have a chance -- despite the desperate spinning by his media worshipers.
"Grandpa McCombover"? Any chance David Brock will be stupid enough to fund ads criticizing McCain for not dying before age 71? I guess that would go over well with those who liked the premise of Logan's Run, but I can't imagine it will play well with the AARP crowd.
Comments closed April 25, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Yes, McCain is getting an incredible free ride because the Democratic campaign is stuck at the starting gate, and probably will be for some time. By the time the Dems get going, it might be too late. McCain will have had a two or three month head start to establish and solidify a positive image in the public mind.
Posted by Dan Kervick | April 11, 2008 9:38 AM