Democrats should attack McCain on his perceived "strength"...

[kentuck]

And that would be in the area of national security. That is the only major area that McCain leads Obama in the polls. Most people believe McCain would do a better job of protecting our country than Obama, much due to the fact that the media consistently pushes that idea.

However, in this area, the Democrats should take the advice of Karl Rove and attack your opponents perceived strengths, much like the Repubs attacked John Kerry's war record in 2004. We should learn from our mistakes.

Wesley Clark has been out in front in making the point that John McCain does not have the experience to be Commander in Chief. Simply being a former POW does not add up to "experience". It is about judgement and communication skills. John McCain is severely lacking in both areas. He was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the war in the first place but now wants credit for being one of the first to support the "surge", which has not yet worked - although violence has subsided.

And the reason violence has subsided is because Bush & Co decided to not only talk with the enemy but to negotiate with them also. That is what they did with the Sunnis in the Anbar Province. They talked with the enemy. At the same time, John McCain accuses Barack Obama of wanting to "negotiate with our enemies"? John McCain would like to have his cake and eat it too...

[FrenchieCat]

1. I certain agree with this approach!

Yes, I do.

[Mz Pip]

2. Wes Clark is doing that

He said that getting shot down and being a POW, although heroic, does not make one qualified in foreign policy.

I think there were about 800 POWs in Vietnam. Given John McCain's standards, they would all have extensive foreign policy experience.

It's a Rovian tactic that worked so well against Kerry. Attack on the perceived strength. It's a very very fine line to do with McCain because people find his POW story pretty compelling.

[eleny]

5. And Clark never breaks a sweat while pointing out the obvious facts about McCain

It was great to see him on FTN today.

[kentuck]

6. Wes Clark does a great job at framing this issue...

If the Repubs want to continue their personal attacks, I would suggest this might be a good tactic to use against McCain as self-defense.

[lligrd]

10. I Don't Even See How It Is Heroic

Sad yes, but not heroic. One might call him heroic if he'd resisted his torturers but didn't he give in? I don't blame him but that doesn't make him heroic.

[Mz Pip]

12. Honestly, I don't either

It's a horrible thing to have to go through. I suppose the one "heroic" thing he did was to refuse the release that was negotiated for him since it didn't include his fellow POWs.

But that still doesn't qualify as foreign policy experience.

People are wrongly imprisoned in this country for crimes they didn't commit. That doesn't amke them experts in domestic policy.

[pwb]

17. All POW, officers refused to go home.

In favor of the enlisted men being released first.

[MarjorieG]

18. Bingo. Being wrongly imprisoned here doesn't make policy experts. Occasionally good lawyers, maybe.

[DogPoundPup]

3. K&R

"And the reason violence has subsided" - - - - hundreds of miles of concrete barricades!

[oldtime dfl_er]

4. K & R

Go Wesley Clark!

[DemocracyInaction]

7. It's starting to form in my mind........

...that the only way to give the "national security" blather a big knock on it's ass IS Wes Clark (and I really didn't think that much about it until recently). No one else could, in essence, say "big fucking deal..you got shot down..did you ever lead an army like me, pal? Go play with your medals and leave the generals in charge of war and the statesmen (which you know crap about) in charge of avoiding war". Seriously, who the else could say this without getting chewed up alive??

[phillysuse]

9. YES WES

can!!!

[FrenchieCat]

11. Wes to McCain, "Did you ever win a war like I did?" and

"did you ever negotiate a Peace Treaty like I did, which is still holding after a decade?"



Didn't think so.

and see, I'm supporting Barack Obama because I trust his judgment.

[phillysuse]

8. We should remind the media that McCain lost 5 aircraft

and if his Dad was not an Admiral, anyone else would have been pulled from flying after the third crash at the least.

McCain III lost jet number one in 1958 when he plunged into Corpus Christi Bay while practicing landings. He was knocked unconscious by the impact coming to as the plane settled to the bottom.

McCain's second crash occurred while he was deployed in the Mediterranean. "Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula," Timberg wrote, "he took out some power lines which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral."

McCain's third crash three occurred when he was returning from flying a Navy trainer solo to Philadelphia for an Army-Navy football game.

Timberg reported that McCain radioed, "I've got a flameout" and went through standard relight procedures three times before ejecting at one thousand feet. McCain landed on a deserted beach moments before the plane slammed into a clump of trees.

McCain's fourth aircraft loss occurred July 29, 1967, soon after he was assigned to the USS Forrestal as an A-4 Skyhawk pilot. While seated in the cockpit of his aircraft waiting his turn for takeoff, an accidently fired rocket slammed into McCain's plane. He escaped from the burning aircraft, but the explosions that followed killed 134 sailors, destroyed at least 20 aircraft, and threatened to sink the ship.

McCain's fifth loss happened during his 23rd mission over North Vietnam on Oct. 26, 1967, when McCain's A-4 Skyhawk was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. McCain ejected from the plane breaking both arms and a leg in the process and subsequently parachuted into Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi.

Source http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/cin_mccain_lost_five_u.htm

[gateley]

13. Agree with the others -- Clark is doing an exemplary job at this.

And Biden is covering the area explaining how McCain's strategies are just WRONG.

[Median Democrat]

14. If We Go At Foreign Policy, Then VP Choice Should Be From This List

Here is a list of VP candidates discussed in a prior thread ranking VP candidates based on their FP experience:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6422000&mesg_id=6422000

[L0oniX]

15. What strenghts ...

"I ‘Don’t See How It Matters’ That I Don’t Know The Price Of Gas" --John McCain

"I disagree with what the majority of the American people want." --John McCain

[chriswallace112]

16. I don't know guys...

The thing about attacking strengths is understanding if they are true strengths in the first place or not. Kerry's war record was tarnished from the beginning when he came back and gave a speech on how the military was targeting civilians and raping and pillaging. To those "supposed" red-blooded "patriots," who think that a lapel pin makes you a true American, Kerry was soft. Plain and simple. Not a strength,

On the other hand, McCain actually is respected by many for his war record. It's ingrained in the public consciousness and it's going to be hard to change this popular belief. On top of that... the guy can't raise his arms because he endured five years of torture. We can't beat up on a cripple!

I think that we should go after something that he can't hide... his instability. Guy's off the wall according to people who know him. We want an angry McCain with his finger on the red button?!? Watch at their first debate when Obama runs circles around McBush and gets him angry on a nationalized program... he'll be cooked... let's do a rope-a-dope on McBush.. get him real real real mad!

[kentuck]

21. I disagree.

I think they should go after his "issues" - not personal attacks against him - even though he is not practicing the same restraint against Obama??

[mzmolly]

19. ABSOLUTELY!

:toast: And we need to remind voters which political party was primarily responsible for protecting murika on 911.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

20. Exactly!

Obama needs more comments like Wes Clark made this morning - being shot down and a POW doesn't qualifiy you to lead the military. Surragates need to be drilling this talking point into the media all week.

[kentuck]

22. kick

for a quick review. :-)