Way To Go, Mav: Keep Winning Over The Left

Obviously, McCain intends to run a genuinely centrist and high-minded campaign drawing primarily upon his natural allies, Independents, even if it means alienating the Far Right, right?

Only it seems someone forgot to tell the Left.

via Josh Marshall TPM:

Hopefully, everyone can now see the McCain strategy for running against Barack Obama. Yes, we have some general points on taxes, culture wars and McCain as war hero who can protect us in ways that flash-in-the-pan pretty boy Barack Obama can't.

But that's not the core. The core is to drill a handful of key adjectives into the public mind about Barack Obama: Muslim, anti-American,BLACK, terrorist, Arab. Maybe a little hustler and shifty thrown in, but we'll have to see. ....

... Don't insult your intelligence or mine by pretending that John McCain's plan for this race doesn't rely on hundreds of Cunninghams -- large and small -- across the country, and the RNC and all the GOP third party groups, to be peddling this stuff nonstop for the next eight months because it's the only way John McCain have a real shot at contesting this race.

Comments

[scarshapedstar]

Erm - not to put too fine a point on it, but the Nixon/Reagan "N*gger n*gger n*gger!" strategy is probably McCain's last, best hope for winning back the Far Right.

[Emma]

In thousands of instances that occur every political season, supporters use elections not just to try to win office, but to put their agenda out there and proselytize. For example, scarshapedstar isn't winning any converts to liberalism nor is he trying. His goal seems to be a. preach that racism is the greatest sin b. break conservative spirits.
Josh Marshall shares this view of racism and believes multiculturalism is a very good thing, so much so that anybody who disagrees with its tenets is evil. How do we know this? His sincere belief that McCain, despite all evidence to the contrary, is with knowledge, banking on attacks of Obama vis a vis his multiculturalism. While he may see most attacks on Obama as illegitimate, those kind would be particularly evil to Mr. Marshall.

So, yeah, the liberals may actually make McCain look good by not reciprocating "fairness"; McCain goes effete and throws conservatives under the bus and the liberals just*can't*see*it, instead running attacks that everyone who isn't Far Left will see are unfair and will make liberals look unhinged due to the fact that McCain has been so "gracious".

[scarshapedstar]

Call me crazy, but after being called a traitor for the past 3 elections, I'm a little less "kumbaya" and a little more "pour salt in your wounds". You'll be lucky if we don't put Gloria Steinem on the Supreme Court.

Elections have consequences!!1

[Darth Malice]

McCain seems to go out of his way to screw his base.I will vote for him,but no enthusism here.

[Terry Gain]

sss

What do you do to warrant being called a traitor?

I wouldn't be counting my chickens just yet.

Two days ago B.O said he would send the troops back into Iraq if they established bases (sic) in Iraq. Once this statement is analyzed, and the ignorance behind it is exposed, support for B.O. will decrease among thinking Americans. Now B.O. is demagoging on NAFTA while his campaign officials assure Canadians off the record that it's just campaign talk.

So far B.O. has had a free ride. The noxious odors wafting over B.O.'s candidacy will become apparent during the course of an 8 month General Election cmapaign.

[edward cropper]

Terry your point is well taken, the only fly in the oinment is your remark
"Once this statement is analyzed, and the ignorance behind it is exposed, support for B.O. will decrease among thinking Americans".
I for one (sadly) do not see too many THINKING Americans. Sheep yes, thinking Americans NO!

[Philip McDaniel]

"Call me crazy, but after being called a traitor for the past 3 elections..."
If the shoe fits -- and it certainly looks like it to me.

[Pug]

Two days ago B.O said he would send the troops back into Iraq if they established bases (sic) in Iraq. Once this statement is analyzed, and the ignorance behind it is exposed,

In same vein, Senator McCain has assured us "there will be more wars, my friends". Perhaps Mr. McCain should divulge who those wars will be against and when he intends for them to start.

This is a reasonable question to ask, no?

[BobInStamford]

Ok, patriots - one more time. If your esteemed stammering leader decided to invade, say, Syria (you know, because of the WMDs) there would be an, ready?, Al-Qaeda in SYRIA. Get it? In any case, your surge is working. Here's to 100 years in Iran!!!

[seekeronos]

Darth Malice wrote:

"--- McCain seems to go out of his way to screw his base.I will vote for him,but no enthusism here. ---"

Well said, DM. That's about where I am at as well, and frankly, it is quite disappointing.

You might like this cartoon I did on this occasion (inspired in large part by a FReeper post I came across the other day).

"Snakes on a Campaign" :

http://seekeronos.blogsome.com/images/SnakesCampaign.jpg

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Pug wrote:

"---
In same vein, Senator McCain has assured us "there will be more wars, my friends". Perhaps Mr. McCain should divulge who those wars will be against and when he intends for them to start.

This is a reasonable question to ask, no?
---"

Absolutely a reasonable question.

Unfortunately, these other, following questions must also be asked:

- Will those new wars be constitutionally permissible (i.e. embarked upon after a declaration of war by the Congress) ?

- Will we be able to field armies to these new theatres (assuming of course that they will occur within the 100-year life cycle of our police actions in Iraq and A'stan, along with our troop commitments in Europe and Asia against a resurgent Russian menace and rising Chinese power) without invoking a draft?

- Will we be able to field the armies to new theatres without a secure source of petroleum?

- Will we be able to shoulder trillions of dollars of expenses to field those armies or will the cost bury us, our children, and grandchildren as the taxman cometh to our doors to collect, as he must?

Don't get me wrong.... I'm all for a strong *defense*, a well-regulated militia (NG and state defense militias in addition to privately armed citizens) and a standing army, navy and aerospace defense forces to protect our interests.

But a small part of me has to wonder if a large part of taxpayer dollars that went to dethroning Saddam and chasing OBL in A'stan might have been better used to secure our own oil and natural gas resources in ANWR as an adjunct to developing nuclear and renewable (i.e. huge swaths of desert that gets a ton of sun and gets really hot + hundreds of sq. mi. of solar convection turbine towers and solar concentrator arrays) energy...

Granted, one man's victory is another man's boondoggle; but a just balance must also exist between our interventionism and what our basic security needs are: it stands to reason that if we give less and less oil money to the Saudi Wahabbists (and we will by no choice of our own, as those fields pass their peak production within the next few years) that they will be less inclined to fund evil groups of people (jihadists) to toss airliners into our national landmarks, or buy/develop nasty bugs with which to infect us with.

And at the same time, be ready and willing (surprisingly, France has adopted this posture) to drop the Atomic Hammer of God on any state sponsoring terrorists who *do* those nasty things to us.

[Darth Malice]

Seek,this war against Islamic Terror will require a much bigger Army.I am voting McCain because we cannoit take 4 years off.That being said I despise McCain.We will be fighting on many fronts because America will have to fight on it's own.

[Marko]

Obama should be called what he is. A terrorist supporting, tyrant loving, socialist. He will grow government and shrink freedom. He will work to appease the enemy and remove your right to protect yourself. Everyone will be equal - just like in North Korea.

[joeb]

So John Lewis has withdrawn his endorsement of Hillary Clinton and given it now to Obama. If that doesn't show you that race politics is alive and well in American nothing will.

[IslamoLlama]

"--Call me crazy, but after being called a traitor for the past 3 elections, I'm a little less "kumbaya" and a little more "pour salt in your wounds". You'll be lucky if we don't put Gloria Steinem on the Supreme Court.--"

Sing it, preacher man.
After a decade of this garbage, when our country is dragged into the gutter of politics inhabited by such crooks as Cunningham, Stevens, and Foley while news model wankers wave American flags at every mistake the Bush Administration has made, I'm more than ready to write off the 28%ers as a lost cause.

If you still consider the President who brought torture, endless war, and total disregard for the Constitution as your great hero - the heir to Reagen, Eisenhower, and Lincoln - then you are past redemptions and all I can bring myself to do is mock you.

That you continue to lower the bar by demanding future GOP candidates cater to the right-wing xenophobic / Christo-phalic / war mongering / rich guy tax cutting base would be horrible if you weren't condemning yourselves to historic election year losses. Eventually you'll figure out what McCain and Rove have been trying to tell you - elections aren't won with 28% of the vote. And then you'll come crawling back to the reality based community. Until then, you guys will stew in your own juices, and I'll be here ready to point and laugh.

[Dan Riehl]

"still steaming over McCain"

No, Weasel, I guess one of us just has principles - and you don't. Why should mine have changed because the GOP nod is likely going to McCain? Nothing's changed as far as I can tell. And as my latest points out, even Will sees the same issues. Maybe you just aren't bright enough to figure it out? ; )

[elixelx]

Dan, I'm betting that your breath stinks from all the gall and wormwood you've been swallowing and regurgitating since Feb. 5th.

"Make sure your words are always soft and sweet, because someday you may have to eat them" (Talmud)

[Thomas Jackson]

Islamollama:

Only the love child of the Hildabeast and Janet Reno could utter such a profound and informed statement. We all stand in awe of your brillance, tolerance, and knowledge.

Now can you give me my burger and fries.

[LOL]

Dan, you don't have principles. Come on now.