NYT trying hype John "See I'm a Maverick Again" McCain.

[ProSense]

Senator John McCain is rewriting the part of presidential loser.

Unwilling to vanish into retirement like Bob Dole, or retreat into academia like Al Gore, or even quietly convalesce like John Kerry, Mr. McCain has quickly reclaimed a place on center stage in Washington, some days skewering President Obama and the Democratic Party, and on other days standing by their side.

“I’m the, as I said, loyal opposition,” Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, proclaimed this week. “And both words, I think, are operative.”

If anyone wondered which John McCain would return to the Senate — the coalition-building dealmaker or the gloves-off bruiser from the campaign trail — the answer is now clear: both.

link

John McCain needs to do two things:

[rwheeler31]

1. Dear John

We do not believe in you, can you try to keep up?

[Captain Hilts]

2. The press just loves him. Draft dodgers like Matthews are afraid to criticize him. nt

[rwheeler31]

4. Why do you say a person who served

in the peace core is a draft dodger?

[Captain Hilts]

6. Because he avoided serving in the military, like poor kids had to.

The Peace Corps is great, but it was also a dodge for folks in his age group.

And, I can't blame anyone for not wanting to serve. But he's a little rich kid that went to a rich kid's school then did a rich kid's service. He, Russert, Freidman, etc. give McCain a completely free ride.

People joined the Peace Corps. They were drafted into the military.

[karynnj]

10. But you notice they NEVER ever give John Kerry, who was more a war hero

in the classic sense - he saved lives and devised a successful way to survive an ambush that his boat ran into.

[Captain Hilts]

12. They have selective memories. You'd think all he did in uniform was testify before Congress. nt

[rwheeler31]

13. Is this the republican military? What are you saying?

[Captain Hilts]

14. Folks who didn't serve often feel guilty about it. Others not.

Thinking of how Matthews drooled over Bush in his flight suit, I think he has military envy.

[karynnj]

3. Kerry quietly convalesced?

That is revision. Kerry continued to fight and was reaching out to his email list to enlist their help within weeks of the election. The difference is the media built McCain up and created his myth in the first place - Kerry created his own status and won the nomination with no real media support.

[ProSense]

5. They forgot about the

January 2005 interview about the Hamas election and everything through today. LOL!

[karynnj]

9. It started very early - not only was there that interview,

In January 2004, Kerry went to the Middle East and Europe. He then was told by Rice and Bush that they were uninterested in his observations. At Rice's confirmation - I think in February 2005 that Kerry spoke of how Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany all volunteered to train Iraqis in their respective countries. Rice said that the training was going "well" and rejected the idea out of hand. Imagine where we would be now if Iraqis would have selected some of the best people they had and sent them for training. It might have made our presence more important in the short term, but imagine the impact when they ALL returned trained and with a mandate to police.

Kerry ended up grilling her for about 45 minutes after everyone else was done. Lugar atayed to chair the meeting and Voinivich stayed to watch. He had to ask 4 times if Pakistan's control was adequate. Before voting he pretty much said she lied - as he voted against her.

That January interview is even more impressive in retrospect. It was shortly after Iraq's purple thumb election and Rice was touting the Hamas election and Lebanon's election which brought some Hezbollah people into the government as a victories for democracy. The media was cheerleading seeing this as democracy on the move - just like Bush's inaugural address - that the NYT applauded. Kerry was 100% on target then in what he said and it is nearly the same thing he says about it now.

(As to McCain - maybe the NYT should notice that the deal makers were Collins, Snowe, and Specter - not McCain.)

[Mass]

11. And was one of the stronger opponents of Condoleeza Rice during the confirmation hearings,

I read this article earlier today and was stunned. They really want to preserve the character they have built, of McCain the maverick and the phoenix.

[Ikonoklast]

7. McCain is now, and always has been a grasping opportunist.

He will be a footnote in a history book one day.

[Cha]

8. The corporate media better stop

trying to resusitate mccain and think about how dead the chances of Recovery would be with him and palin mucking about in DC.

[islandmkl]

15. dear john:

who lost the Super Bowl in, say 1984?...or pick another year...

dude, i know it's hard...but it's really over...

it really is...