WTF? Carville Says McCain Too Honorable To Know About Attack Ads

[AtomicKitten]

Carville Says McCain Too Honorable To Know About Attack Ads
By: Jane Hamsher Thursday September 11, 2008 9:55 am
edited for link: http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/09/11/carville-says-mccain-too-honorable-to-know-about-attack-ads/

So the McCain campaign runs attack ads against Barack Obama basically saying he wants to diddle your five year old, and what does "Democratic Consultant" James Carville say about it on CNN?

CARVILLE: "And John McCain, deep down inside my heart, you know, as you know, I've said before I admire McCain. I don't believe he knew about it. I hope somebody asked him. But I refuse to believe that John McCain agreed to airing this spot. I know he says I'm John McCain, I paid for it but they have that in the can and they do it. It I don't think he knew about it. I really don't."

You're kidding me, right? The Republicans have made this campaign about character, once again. They've smeared Obama with the ugliest, most disgusting, distorted ads we've seen since Willie Horton, and what does Carville do? He lets McCain off the hook.

I'm listening to this come out of my teevee in a state of disbelief -- he couldn't possibly have said what I thought he said, did he? So he says it again:

CARVILLE: "I can't sit here. They're run a completely false ad against Barack Obama and you say he's out there talking about this. I mean, my point is, I really don't think that senator McCain knows about this ad, and in my heart of hearts, I want to believe he's an absolutely furious about this and somebody's being called on the carpet because this ad is blatantly completely false."

This is beyond "off message." Does someone want to ask Carville what side he's playing on?

[babylonsister]

1. Just Ugh. James, zip that big lip of yours. nt

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

2. this is a backhanded way of sayin' McCain is out of it. I like it.

[Wickerman]

5. that is just what I heard, too. n/t

[Cronus Protagonist]

10. That's what I'm hearing - McCain's campaign team is running without his leadership or knowledge

He's out of touch.

[MissMarple]

20. Exactly my thought. Denigration by compliment. With a friend like that....n/t

[NatBurner]

22. agreed

[AtomicKitten]

23. possibly; I'm not convinced though

[DeschutesRiver]

37. I heard the same kind of background message with Chris Matthews yesterday

when he pounded the snot out of that republican consultant over the lipstick deal, asking over and over if the twit thought McCain believed the Palin was being called a pig. Same deal with (paraphrasing here) suggesting that McCain wasn't that kind of guy, didn't believe McCain would do that, said the McCain that has appeared on my shows and that I know previously isn't like this, etc.

At the time, I was wondering what kind of sucker punch this was, coming down the pike for McCain; now hearing Carville going down a similar path, I am thinking McCain is being setup somehow with this line of reasoning.

I am thankful that I chose to end my brief boycott of MSNBC - I had no idea that by eliminating Chris and Keith's election coverage, it would release them to shoot cannonballs out of their home courts. Watching what all of these newspeople are doing right now (thinking of Maddow too, and Carville) is making me wonder if they are being unleashed to take this straight to homeplate.

Something is up.

[BklynChick]

78. i agree

[Sugarcoated]

3. Can someone explain to me how Carville saying that helps?

Is there some inside strategy to it? I don't understand.

[scheming daemons]

8. Makes McCain look like he's out of the loop in his own campaign....

(i.e. what kind of administration would his be?)

[Sugarcoated]

26. It messed with my head when he said that, but I had a feeling there was a reason.

I just hope people are getting that. I don't know if I'm slow or what. My mind is in a tortured jumble right now.

[AtomicKitten]

44. This is typical Rove trash and burn tactics ....

They lie outrageously and by the time the MSM has gotten around to disproving their lies, they have moved onto the next barrage of bullshit and lies. It's not just you; these are crazy-making tactics.

[Sugarcoated]

63. Well, all that does is make turn my resolve to work for Obama

into iron. I'm going to go through my neighborhood like a fine-toothed comb armed with a whole lot more than Obama campaign print outs. I've got some money coming my way after my mom died last year . . . I'm tempted to give it all to Obama. My husband may physically try to stop me, LOL, but it's my money. It's a modest amount, just a couple thousand, but I'm very, very tempted. I'm sure my mom would approve. Those jackals can FUCK me

[AtomicKitten]

67. I'm going to work a swing state ... probably Colorado.

All hands on deck.

:hi:

[Sugarcoated]

69. Sorry if I got intense there Kitten

Absolutely. :hi:

[AtomicKitten]

79. Hey, you are fine. In fact, you are fabulous.

I LOVE your intensity.

Cheers. :toast:

[anigbrowl]

17. Suggests McCain isn't in control of his own campaign

Plays into the same line of thought about how Palin was forced on him rather than being his own choice. I think Carville knows what he's doing.

[demwing]

84. It attacks his management ability, and the "maverick" meme

He either doesn't know what is going on, or can't stop what is going on, or both!

[zbdent]

4. What part of "I'm John McCain, and I approve this message" doesn't Carville

understand?

[AtomicKitten]

34. Excellent point. Accountability!

[DevonRex]

48. Poor James. He's just so irrelevant now that he has to help the

republicans in order to get some air time. What a sleeze.

[gateley]

6. Is the ad still being aired, or has it been yanked? Thanks.

[Disturbed]

18. McClown is not in charge of his own campaign?

Is that true?

[gateley]

50. I can kind of see Carville's point -- you hire "people" to deal with different

aspects so you can concentrate in other areas. But I totally disagree with him thinking McCain is too principled to agree to these.

And I've felt for some time that McCain is not in charge of his own campaign -- he's taking orders and not making any decisions himself.

[AtomicKitten]

21. No, in fact it's being augmented by nasty push-polling.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/11/nasty-anti-obama-push-pol_n_125607.html

Excerpt:

I received an incredibly offensive, anti-Obama push-poll tonight from 'Opinion Access Corporation.' When I said that I was voting for Obama, they asked if I would be more or less likely to vote for Obama if I knew that he voted to let convicted child sex offenders out early, voted to allow convicted child sex offenders to live near schools, is for sex education in Kindergarten, voted for some offensive and incredibly graphic abortion procedure, and so on and so on for 5 minutes. This was a really offensive push-poll. They also brought up the statements of Rev. Wright and Michelle Obama."

* snip *

"They also asked me several agree/disagree statements before and after the statements... They asked me agree/disagree that Obama is too inexperienced to be President, agree/disagree that Obama is too risky of a choice for President, agree/disagree that Obama as President would pose a threat to our national security, and so on. They asked me this before they read the statements that I had notified you about and then again after reading me those statements "to see if my opinions had changed." Apparently, those types of suggestive questions are deemed 'push polls.'

[gateley]

57. I really hope we're involved in push polling, too. This campaign season -- and

the dire position our country is in right now -- have made me want to play dirty, too. And I hate them for that.

[AtomicKitten]

64. I am prepared to go Defcon 1 with "by any means necessary" without shame.

I agree, they drove us to it and we MUST not be afraid to embrace it if it comes down to mano y mano street-fighting. Pissed off progressives are preparing for battle.

[gateley]

73. Really, at this point I'm willing to fight dirty.

(Well, I say that, and I think I mean it, but I won't further lies like the "book list" which THEY would have no qualms about doing. Guess I'm not as cut throat as I thought.)

[Cha]

7. Yeah, right, carville...they treat mccain like a fuckin' mushroom..

keep him in the dark and feed him shit.

[jenmito]

9. I saw him say that yesterday. I couldn't BELIEVE it! He's making EXCUSES for him,

saying he thinks the campaign put the tag of McCain saying he approves that message without knowing what it said?! :wtf:

[AtomicKitten]

29. Some Clintonite talking heads have been great; others not so much.

Geraldine Ferraro and Joan Walsh ... :puke:

[jenmito]

53. True. There are a COUPLE good ones, like

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and ummm...who else?

[AtomicKitten]

58. Debbie gets a round of applause from me. She has been great.

Jennie Baukus (sp?) was AWESOME on Hardball yesterday. She and Tweety smacked down that McBush a-hole quite nicely yesterday.

[jenmito]

62. Oh yeah...

Jenny Backus was GREAT yesterday!

[atreides1]

11. This Proves It

McCain isn't the only one who's delusional, it seems to cross party lines too!

[Barack_America]

12. Wonder if James is still wearing his snazzy PUMAs? nt

[bunnies]

24. That is EXACTLY what I was going to say!

Right down to the snazzy! :rofl: :hi:

[Barack_America]

47. Lol. GMTA.

;)

[No Elephants]

31. Excellent, excellent point!

[No Elephants]

35. I think y'all giving Carville way too much credit. He's a traitor.

[rucky]

13. What zbdent said. n/t

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. Mathews said basically the same thing yesterday.

Trying to condemn the message while letting McCain off the hook.

[RichGirl]

15. So...

He doesn't know what's going on in his campaign, he doesn't understand the ecomomy, doesn't know when the surge started or the difference between Sunni and Shiite. And, to top it off he thinks Palin's foreign policy experience is based on living in a state that is next to Russia!

[scheming daemons]

19. Bingo!

James put McCain in a box.


He's either

A. Clueless about his own campaign

or

B. Despicable and a fraud


Make the McCain campaign answer which one is true.

[scheming daemons]

16. Hear me out... I think James has a good strategy here.....

McCain can either AGREE with Carville... and thereby verify that he is out of the loop in his own campaign and that things are being run by shady "insiders"... or....

McCain can admit that he knew about the ad... in which case, he's a fraud.



Carville just put him in a box... he's either a fraud or he's a pawn for someone else's agenda.

[Ichingcarpenter]

25. It questions his dementia, in a nice way

I think it is helpful too.

[Cha]

32. There is that but I think mccain

will just ignore the whole thing and let the whackjobs take over his campaign if it gets his dishonable a$$ in the white house.

[Raine]

82. That's what I thought too...

I'm suprised that so many people don't see the strategy of it. :shrug:

[Unsane]

27. IMO Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt are running the campaign without input from McCain

He's old and out of it.

[Mimosa]

28. I've always hated Carville: many Loozianians do

As my pal Vinny said, McLame has shown he's a man who can be bought. Remember Charles Keating? Some integrity there.

Sometimes I don't think Carville is on our side.

[Shine]

30. I truly think they are giving McSame the benefit of the doubt....

based on their own experience of the man.

They truly think him to be a man of Honor and Integrity and can't believe he'd agree to run those ads if HE REALLY KNEW what was going on.


Perhaps a good tactic for the Dems to take is to actively question McSame's integrity and call him out on how much he knows about what is being done in his name.

Has he truly sold out his honor to win the election, or, is he just so clueless and being run by his rightwing operatives, a la Rove?

:shrug:

[AtomicKitten]

39. I'm thinking if he says "My name is John McCain and I approve this message"

he is accountable, or should be held accountable. :shrug:

I do note the other day the campaign basically said McBush doesn't speak for the McBush campaign, so there's that. :crazy:

[Shine]

41. They've got his approval quote on tape and they just slap in on the ads

I seriously doubt he tracks every single one that goes out. He REALLY is clueless. :eyes:


But I agree with you, he SHOULD be held accountable for what's being done in his name.

[Mimosa]

88. That means McCain's losing it like a senile person

McCain seems to be starting to lose his mentality. People who stand to gain if he gets elected will cover up for him.

That's what happened in Reagan's second term.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

33. It Seems Like A Back Handed Insult, IMHO

It's like saying "I can't believe a person of your intelligence believes that."

[tallahasseedem]

36. Carville must have learned this

when they appeared on Wedding Crashers together. :eyes:

[SeaLyons]

38. Don't judge Carville too quick....

he's no dummy, and he definitely is on Obama's side.

[tularetom]

40. He may be too senile to know about them

But honorable is an adjective that ceased to apply to McCain years ago. He lost any trace of honor when he embraced the assholes who trashed his wife and daughter during the 2000 primaries.

As to carville he should just eat shit and die.

[tomg]

42. Sometimes I think that everything

that comes out of his mouth and out of Matalin's is just the two of them screwing around with each other and using politics as a way to do it. Rather than is it true, or does it aid the Democrats (and the two are not the same), he is thinking - "Hey, this will fuck with her head. Wonder what she'll say when I get home tonight." - and she is doing the same thing.

I can see A) that he could be off message
B) that, just as likely it is him setting cCain up by implying her is out to lunch -
decent but out of it
C) that he is thinking "Christ, Mary won't have any idea wtf I'm thinking. I guess I win
this time.'

[AtomicKitten]

54. Matlin publishing Corsi's POS book really sticks in my craw.

This demented symbiosis with the opposition has got to stop.

[tomg]

74. While my wife is a left-dem as am I,

and when I was single I never - at least to my knowledge - even dated a Republican, I do understand how most regular people ( non-fanatics unlike me)can be involved with and develop meaningful relationships and all with people from opposite parties. In the past before the Republicans became quite mad, I imagine it was common and many of my aunts and uncles used to laugh and say how they cancelled each other out.

For the life of me, though, I simply can't understand or imagine a relationship between two people to whom these issues are so vitally important when their world-views are so radically opposed. All I can imagine is that the beliefs underlying their politics is really no more than whether they are skins or shirts in a pick-up basketball game.

[AtomicKitten]

76. I have never dated Republicans or smokers.

It's a deal-breaker from the get-go for me.

[SurfingAtWork]

43. Thanks for the insight Jimmy. We all know you have no agenda.

[AtomicKitten]

65. Jeez, his body language us screaming!

[DefenseLawyer]

45. Carville wore pumas to the convention

That should tell you all you need to know.

[AtomicKitten]

51. He did with a sullen look on his face and slumped in his chair.

His body language message was pretty clear.

[Ichingcarpenter]

56. I loathe Carville.....

and his wife

[DevonRex]

46. Can he just shut the fuck up? How the hell can McCain run the country

if he doesn't even know about the ad? Is he so out of it that he doesn't know what's going on?

[Skwmom]

49. I heard this yesterday. And you know who controls Carville don't you?

[AtomicKitten]

61. Satan?

:hi:

[renie408]

52. He's a Southerner. I know EXACTLY what he means when says "in my heart"

This is actually a pretty sharp way of sticking the knife in McCain's back. This is sort of the same as saying, "That Sarah Palin is working hard to learn about foreign policy, bless her heart." "I want to believe he didn't know about this because I have always thought he is honorable. I want to think he is angry." Since McCain is obviously NOT angry, he looks like shit.

[AtomicKitten]

60. Molly Ivins employed the saying "bless his heart" with delicious dripping sarcasm.

Gawd, I miss her. :cry:

[pizoxuat]

71. There was a series of ads running in Dallas

all about how the phrase "bless his heart" really means "that dumbf**k."

[Skwmom]

83. I watched it on tv. That's NOT what it was.

[annabanana]

55. What? Is Mary threatening to kick him to the couch?

BOTH of these lizards should be run out of town.

[WinkyDink]

59. It's a 2-fer: The ad is abominable; and McCain is "an honorable man." LIKE BRUTUS. IRONIC.

[AZBlue]

66. Someone needs to send Carville on a long vacation until November 6th.

Somewhere remote, very remote.

[AtomicKitten]

68. I've got some yardwork for him to do.

My bougainvilleas have taken a turn for the worst. He needs to make himself useful or STFU.

:hi:

[AZBlue]

77. Do you need your gutters cleaned?

:hi:

[AtomicKitten]

80. Is that one of those double entendres?

:rofl:

[Supersedeas]

70. do you smell a saboteur with an eye on 2012?

[Vinca]

72. Well, if McCain can't control his campaign, how can he run a country?

To quote Ms. Mooseburger, "It's not rocket science."

[ContinentalOp]

75. What's so suprising about a republican saying that?

:shrug:

[TheKentuckian]

81. It doesn't matter one is just as unacceptable as the other

If he is unable to manage to control his campaign, the same campaign that stated on national TV that McCain did not speak for it, the same right wing nuts that made him roll over on his VP selection and take some featherweight loon.

OR

He is a liar without a shred of honor, that has betrayed everything he ever stood for.

In either event John McCain has just proven beyond any reasonable doubt that he is unfit and lacks the strength of character to be President of The United States of America.

TAKE THEM DOWN!

[ncteechur]

85. Do you spell honorable with one c***t or two?

[bridgit]

86. And now on our stage, a fine new comedian; the comedy styling of Shecky Carville!!

[Lord Helmet]

87. James Carville is an idiot