Print Article
<<< Palin & McCain on the Campaign Trail
I guess it was inevitable that the GOP would start getting nasty, the McCain / Palin campaign in specific, once the momentum of the electoral college vote polls began heading in the direction of the Obama / Biden campaign. Even the political Republican "dirty tricks guru", Karl Rove stated over the weekend that; "If the vote were being held today, Obama would have 3 more electoral votes than the 270 needed to win the White House."
I will give the McCain / Plain campaign credit for at least being up front about how they intend to run their campaign from now until election day. Over the weekend, there was a statement from the McCain camp that stated that they wanted to stop discussing the financial crisis and to go after "Obama´s character".
According to the Washington Post, they stated that the McCain campaign spokesman was saying that they have instead decided to "Turn the page on the financial crisis by launching ´assaults´ against Barack Obama´s character".
Obama´s campaign has responded saying that; "The assaults are extremely negative and dishonest. Struggling families can't turn the page on this economy, and we can't afford another president who is this out of touch."
The latest accusations from Governor Palin´s stump speeches saying that Obama is "palling around with domestic terrorists", of course referring to the 60´s Vietnam war protester and radical "Weather Underground" member, Bill Ayers, are totally false. As expected, Palin´s statements were made without any substance of proof.
(The McCain campaign also did not respond to a reporter´s request for elaboration on Palin's use of the plural "terrorists.")
JUST THE FACTS:
In order to get a truthful "third party" view, I decided to get the facts as per the impartial web site "FactCheck.com". Here is the truth as determined by Fact Check:
"The extent of Obama's relationship with Ayers came up during the Democratic presidential primaries earlier this year, and Obama explained it by saying, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood … the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago — when I was 8 years old — and somehow that reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense."
Fact Check Final Verdict: "False". "There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are as well."
The following excerpt is from an Associated Press article by reporters Stephen Ohlemacher and Mike Baker:
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a Chicago Democrat and Obama supporter, warned against McCain's strategy on CNN's "Late Edition":
"If we are going to go down this road — you know, when Barack Obama was eight years old, somehow responsible for Bill Ayers," he said. "At age 58, John McCain was associating with the well known convicted felon, Charles Keating. If we really want to talk about who is associating with who, we will," Emanuel said. "The American people will only lose in that transaction."
A short time later, speaking to thousands of people in Asheville, N.C., Obama said; "McCain and his aides are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance. They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up. It's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time."
Noting the nation's serious economic problems, Obama said: "Yet, instead of addressing these crises, Senator McCain's campaign has announced that they plan to turn the page on the discussion about our economy and spend the final weeks of this campaign launching Swiftboat-style attacks on me."
However, looking back to just months into his Senate career, in the late 1980s, McCain made what he has called "the worst mistake of my life." He participated in meetings with banking regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, a close friend, campaign contributor and the Lincoln S&L financier who was later convicted [and served five years] for securities fraud.
In 1989, the Senate ethics committee investigated five senators' relationships with Charles Keating and the S&L Crisis. McCain was one of the five Senators. It finally cited McCain and faulted his "poor judgment." (Wasn´t it "poor judgment" that McCain accused Obama of not having, even after McCain´s statement two weeks ago of a "strong US economy" ?)
Obama has since unveiled a TV ad on the economy that says McCain was "erratic in a crisis." Some also see that as a reminder of McCain's age of 72.
The recent events seemed to point to rising rhetorical heat in the campaign's final month. McCain adviser Greg Strimple recently predicted "a very aggressive last 30 days" of the campaign. "We are looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis and getting back to discussing Mr. Obama's aggressively liberal record and how he will be too risky for Americans," he said in a conference call with reporters.
Author´s note:
Unfortunately, regarding future nasty, political rhetoric, as stated in an old "Carpenter´s" song title; "We´ve Only Just Begun".
You'd better get ready. The "bovine waste" is gong to be piled "high & deep" and it will smell to high heaven.
Copyright G.Ater 2008
I guess it was inevitable that the GOP would start getting nasty, the McCain / Palin campaign in specific, once the momentum of the electoral college vote polls began heading in the direction of the Obama / Biden campaign. Even the political Republican "dirty tricks guru", Karl Rove stated over the weekend that; "If the vote were being held today, Obama would have 3 more electoral votes than the 270 needed to win the White House."
I will give the McCain / Plain campaign credit for at least being up front about how they intend to run their campaign from now until election day. Over the weekend, there was a statement from the McCain camp that stated that they wanted to stop discussing the financial crisis and to go after "Obama´s character".
According to the Washington Post, they stated that the McCain campaign spokesman was saying that they have instead decided to "Turn the page on the financial crisis by launching ´assaults´ against Barack Obama´s character".
Obama´s campaign has responded saying that; "The assaults are extremely negative and dishonest. Struggling families can't turn the page on this economy, and we can't afford another president who is this out of touch."
The latest accusations from Governor Palin´s stump speeches saying that Obama is "palling around with domestic terrorists", of course referring to the 60´s Vietnam war protester and radical "Weather Underground" member, Bill Ayers, are totally false. As expected, Palin´s statements were made without any substance of proof.
(The McCain campaign also did not respond to a reporter´s request for elaboration on Palin's use of the plural "terrorists.")
JUST THE FACTS:
In order to get a truthful "third party" view, I decided to get the facts as per the impartial web site "FactCheck.com". Here is the truth as determined by Fact Check:
"The extent of Obama's relationship with Ayers came up during the Democratic presidential primaries earlier this year, and Obama explained it by saying, "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood … the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago — when I was 8 years old — and somehow that reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense."
Fact Check Final Verdict: "False". "There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are as well."
The following excerpt is from an Associated Press article by reporters Stephen Ohlemacher and Mike Baker:
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a Chicago Democrat and Obama supporter, warned against McCain's strategy on CNN's "Late Edition":
"If we are going to go down this road — you know, when Barack Obama was eight years old, somehow responsible for Bill Ayers," he said. "At age 58, John McCain was associating with the well known convicted felon, Charles Keating. If we really want to talk about who is associating with who, we will," Emanuel said. "The American people will only lose in that transaction."
A short time later, speaking to thousands of people in Asheville, N.C., Obama said; "McCain and his aides are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance. They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up. It's what you do when you're out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time."
Noting the nation's serious economic problems, Obama said: "Yet, instead of addressing these crises, Senator McCain's campaign has announced that they plan to turn the page on the discussion about our economy and spend the final weeks of this campaign launching Swiftboat-style attacks on me."
However, looking back to just months into his Senate career, in the late 1980s, McCain made what he has called "the worst mistake of my life." He participated in meetings with banking regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, a close friend, campaign contributor and the Lincoln S&L financier who was later convicted [and served five years] for securities fraud.
In 1989, the Senate ethics committee investigated five senators' relationships with Charles Keating and the S&L Crisis. McCain was one of the five Senators. It finally cited McCain and faulted his "poor judgment." (Wasn´t it "poor judgment" that McCain accused Obama of not having, even after McCain´s statement two weeks ago of a "strong US economy" ?)
Obama has since unveiled a TV ad on the economy that says McCain was "erratic in a crisis." Some also see that as a reminder of McCain's age of 72.
The recent events seemed to point to rising rhetorical heat in the campaign's final month. McCain adviser Greg Strimple recently predicted "a very aggressive last 30 days" of the campaign. "We are looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis and getting back to discussing Mr. Obama's aggressively liberal record and how he will be too risky for Americans," he said in a conference call with reporters.
Author´s note:
Unfortunately, regarding future nasty, political rhetoric, as stated in an old "Carpenter´s" song title; "We´ve Only Just Begun".
You'd better get ready. The "bovine waste" is gong to be piled "high & deep" and it will smell to high heaven.
Copyright G.Ater 2008
view author's RSS feed
