Salon/Conason: Say it ain't so, John (McCain)

[kskiska]

Exploiting John McCain in a new TV commercial signals a new low for the Bush-Cheney campaign -- and, sadly, McCain himself.

For weeks or longer, the Bush-Cheney campaign planned to upstage John Kerry's announcement of his vice-presidential choice by waving the magical image of John McCain, whose crossover appeal had enticed many Democrats into imagining him on their ticket. They knew the Arizona senator would let them use him.

Their new TV commercial, called "First Choice," feeds off the rumor that McCain decided to back Bush-Cheney rather than accept Kerry's offer as vice president. It's a revealing production: Sen. McCain embraces George W. Bush and endorses the president with rhetorical flourishes -- but there is a strangely passive aspect to his presence in this ad. He stands onstage, never facing the camera and addressing voters directly. It is almost as if he isn't really participating, almost as if he knew that this role demeans him.

Characteristically, McCain tried to soften the ad's impact by insisting that he would never attack Kerry or his new running mate, John Edwards. Through a spokesman he went even further, issuing a statement that said he had never been offered the vice presidency by anyone, clearly contradicting the "First Choice" commercial.

(snip)

Watching her husband embrace the president in the new commercial must be distressing to Cindy McCain, whose former dependence on prescription drugs was highlighted in anonymous campaign leaflets the night before the South Carolina primary (before anyone knew that Rush Limbaugh would make addiction fashionable on the far right). According to Newsweek's inside account of the campaign, she began sobbing loudly while watching the returns that sank McCain's campaign. Trying to soothe her, her husband said, "Think of how the Bushes felt two weeks ago in New Hampshire," where Bush had unexpectedly lost the primary. Between sobs, she replied, "We never called his wife a weirdo."

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/07/08/mccain/index.html

[necso]

1. McCain is just another sellout.

From a longtime republican: "Fuck you, toady!".

[Tellurian]

2. Great Article, Joe

I think McCain will jump.. when the timing is right..

No one would begrudge him a step off the bow before the Titanic sinks..
at least the Demos won't. The Republicans, well- they all belong in the attic or the basement with crazy Uncle Festus anyway...who cares what they think!

[Mortos]

3. I respectfully disagree

I think McCain is towing the party line in as much as he has to. The fact that he, through a spokesperson, clearly contradicts the assertion in the Bush ad is evidence of his true feelings. McCain could and probably will come back to bite Bush in the ass. I predict a cabinet position for him in the Kerry administration.

His support of Bush is lukewarm at best. What can he do other than be a turncoat to his party like Zell Miller. He would lose on both sides.

[necso]

4. Oh, I don't know.

Put the interests of the country ahead of his own political interests perhaps. Many people have looked to McCain to stand against the neoconservative tide that has ruined the republican party -- and is ruining the nation. They are wasting their time. McCain, like the elder Bush, wants to be president so badly that he will throw away his very last scruple in his bid to do so.

The comparison with Zell Miller, moreover, is not apt -- Judas comes to mind as a better one.

Common courtesy and decency dictate that I welcome you to DU --- consider it done!

[louis c]

5. John McCain is a decent man

He forgave his captors in Viet-Nam, and worked with John Kerry to normalize relations with our former enemies.

Now, he has even forgiven Bush, Cheney, and Rove for the most disgusting, evil, and immoral political attack in modern times. Of course, that's the push-poll done in South Carolina 5 days before the Republican primary in 2000, in which the scum bags reached an all time low by calling South Carolina Republicans to tell them that Sen. McCain was the father of a black child.

For those of you who don't know the story, and the voters didn't, McCain and his wife adopted an orphaned girl from Bangladesh. So, you see, it wasn't really a lie. How he can forgive them is beyond me.

In that same primary, the same evil Mother F****ers questioned his "mental stability" as a result of his years of captivity as a POW. in a whisper campaign.

God Bless John McCain, and may those assholes in this administration lose in a landslide, and rot in hell for all eternity.