It's Time To Smack This Punk Down - But Gently

I see Lunch Box Joe has picked up on the "say it to his face" meme. If nothing else, I can't recall seeing a more obvious ploy. Obama is worried and he has reason to be, more on that below.

ST. JOSEPH, MO – Joe Biden echoed the campaign’s response to continued Republican efforts to highlight Obama’s past associations, adding a personal touch to the idea that McCain wasn’t willing to make the attacks in person.

“All of the things they said about Barack Obama in the TV, on the TV, at their rallies, and now on YouTube … John McCain could not bring himself to look Barack Obama in the eye and say the same things to him,” Biden said this morning. “In my neighborhood, when you’ve got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him.”

This is a dangerous ploy for Obama. They've been fearful of the angry black man thing all along. So why call out an old white guy now if he's so far ahead? Because he knows what's coming, how soft is his support and how quickly and easily this can be turned around.

As for the ploy, McCain simply needs to be prepared to deal with it in the last debate. Without anger, "Why yes, Senator Obama, given your long, curious history of associating with some troubling individuals, I believe that it's fair to ask you to address it. But it isn't me you have to convince, it's the American people, so talk to them." If McCain can pull it off without looking angry - he can win the point.

Were Obama gliding to victory he would not be using the "angry" card to try and undermine McCain's ability to be Commander In Chief. It makes no sense to make an aggressive move to take down someone you already know you are going to beat. It just isn't done. Obama would be making no waves right now were he confident of victory. That's unheard of in a political campaign. So, what's going on?

Think of it as a mounting narrative. Rezko, Ayers, Socialist Party membership - all played out over time to keep serious doubts about Obama in voter's minds. And unless there is even some new more troubling revelation, McCain already has his Ace in the Hole - Jeremiah Wright.

Bring Ol' Jerry I hates da white man Wright out on stage for the last two weeks of the campaign, while Obama's integrity and honesty have already been eroded, and it presents a problem he potentially can't solve. No one will believe he didn't hear that garbage for twenty-years, assuming they even believe that now. So, what does that do to the map?

The Red States will all but immediately come home to McCain and we'll be looking at a very typical Red State / Blue State election dynamic which isn't so bad for McCain. But it gets even better than that for McCain, which is why McCain is still playing so hard in Pennsylvania and in the Midwest. The states that rejected Obama for Hillary at the end of the Democrat Primary likely hold the key to this race.

If Wright shores up the Red States for McCain, turns Pennsylvania and who knows what else, this election is over. And Obama knows it. Otherwise he wouldn't be making any offensive moves this late in the game. I can't emphasis that enough. That just isn't done when you are comfortably ahead - keyword comfortably. And that's important because of the other tactic the Democrats are currently trying to play.

They want McCain supporters to think this thing is over, that their guy doesn't stand a chance. They do it every election when they are leading but are hitting it even harder this year. What's needed all around now is calm.

McCain simply has to stay poised and appear ready to lead. And Right-siders and anti-Obamaniacs need to remain cool and realize victory is not out of reach.

Comments

[Spartan112]

Two can play at that game...Obama could simply ask Gramps about his connections to domestic terrorist G. Gordon Liddy and Charles Keating or his time that he served on the board of the US Council for World Freedom along side a white supremicist and some of the Iran Contra characters. Or heck, what about his ties to former spokesman Richard Quinn?

[SpaceCat]

Ha ha ha. Good luck with your diabolical "plan," wingnuts! All of Obama's boogeymen were aired out months ago. Absent some new jaw-dropping revelation, no one cares! People are worried about their 401ks and staying in their homes. They don't have the luxury of voting on "character" issues. Everybody knows that when an election depends on actual issues, YOU LOSE.
And this made me LOL: "McCain simply has to stay poised and appear ready to lead." Hey, good luck with THAT!

[DC]

Well said, Dan. I couldn't disagree more with those who say to drop the associations issue. This is very much akin to the attacks on Kerry for his questionable activities in and around the Viet Nam War.

If a presidential candidate can not be trusted to love and defend this nation, he or she is disqualified. Period. Stock market meltdown or not, this is foundational.

These issues are key to a lot of people. These issues are even more important when you are dealing with a relative unknown like Obama. It looks to me like Obama's crowd knows there are some giant skeletons in that closet.

Tony Rezko is talking ... ACORN is being investigated. I am going to fight until the end, to victory.

And then I will savor (for the first time in many years) watching CNN and all the rest of them. The blessed thought of this keeps me going.

[chris]

The fact is that McCain can't even say this stuff to Obama's face. The angry 'hero' can't even look at his opponent. What a sad, old coward.

[DC]

Chris,

Only a pathetic, anonymous keyboard commando like yourself would call McCain a coward.

[DC]

Sorry to gobble up bandwidth, Dan, as the libs seem to like to "talk" to you here, but ... the challenge for McCain to say it "to his face" pretty much guarantees we will hear about it in the next debate (which is beautiful).

Bring it on.

[Totally Heterosexual Conservative]

Spartan, don't you understand that McCain's very real associations with criminals and thugs are irrelvant because McCain is a white man? Sheesh.

[chris]

The old man is scared of Obama. Obama's smarter and quicker on his feet (literally too - but we won't go there). Gramps knows that he'll get smacked down hard if he tries it.

My fellow prisoners, Grandpa needs to hang it up!

[Totally Heterosexual Conservative]

In any event, McTraitor won't have the stones to say what he has to say to Obama's face because he knows that (a) no one but loony right-wingers give a shit; (b) Obama can again sack McCain back with his own very very real nasty associates; and (c) it's the economy, morons.

[chris]

But McLame gave a reacharound to Joe Lieberman. And, and there was that campaign finance reform. Bipartisan. Iraq. Win.

[galloway]

Oh...don't you worry. It's about to NOT be 'the economy' and very soon at that.

"It's the economy stupid" is quickly morphing into "It's the capitalistic democracy stupid". Just hide and watch.

[joeb]

No way Jose. That say it to his face stuff by Joey Hairplugs is just a cheap attempt to provoke McCain. It will not work Jose. The attacks on Obama however will continue and increase. As Harry Truman so beautifully said, "If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen".
And to quote ole Yogi Berra, "It ain't over till it's over".
See chris and spartan112 old geezers are full of good sayings.
In some cultures old age is respected and admired.
Well if Obama wins the good news is that Sarah Palin can go back to Alaska and not have to live in Washington,D.C.
The White House is like that hotel in the movie GRAND HOTEL where the doorman says "People come and go. Nothing ever changes".

[Jon Swift]

I completely agree. McCain should throw Br'er Rabbit into the briar patch. Let McCain be McCain!
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2008/10/let-mccain-be-mccain.html

[jaime]

"It makes no sense to make an aggressive move to take down someone you already know you are going to beat."

It's called, the Coup de Gras. And it isn't agressive, it's tactical.

[jaime]

Coup de Grace, excuse me.

[skeptical]

I think it's perfectly fair to raise as a question. It's perfectly reasonable to expect a political opponent to even hint at dark and sinister associations, whether or not there's anything behind them. That's democracy, and not even McCain-Feingold can abridge that political speech.

American voters are adults. We can take it.

I gather Hannity will have years of conspiracy theories to parade on his show, and his audience will think he's a patriot and a blessing from God. I'm certain if there were nothing to the charges, Obama wouldn't say a word about them, like Kerry refused to dignify the swiftboaters with a response until they had been booked on like their fifteenth cable show.

Proves it to me. Obama must have some dark secret to hide, probably connections with al Qaida or something. I'm guessing denials ARE the proof. I'm glad McCain has the will to stand up to his crypto-terrorist opponent and tell the American people the truth. That's certainly going to show America that he puts country first, even though he'll be blamed by the libs for "going negative." Fortunately he's doing it just in time before the American people make a terrible mistake. He's a true patriot.

It certainly is clear that the Obama camp is on the ropes on this one.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- Obama is worried and he has reason to be, more on that below. --"

Every time you say that, Obama gains 1000 voters in a red state. Also, an angel gets its wings. Just say'n.

[tas]

As for the ploy, McCain simply needs to be prepared to deal with it in the last debate. Without anger, "Why yes, Senator Obama, given your long, curious history of associating with some troubling individuals, I believe that it's fair to ask you to address it. But it isn't me you have to convince, it's the American people, so talk to them." If McCain can pull it off without looking angry - he can win the point.

Heh. And double heh. Perhaps McCain hasn't said it to Obama's face because he's too worried about his connections to Iran, neo-Nazis; and Palin's connections to secessionists and her anti-Semitic pastor, coming up. This is all before anyone mentions McCain and the Keating Five, too. I'm sure the Obama campaign would love to tell the country about McCain's Bahama vacations, flown in on the private jet of a man who cost the federal budget $2 billion.

So go ahead, bring it.

The Red States will all but immediately come home to McCain and we'll be looking at a very typical Red State / Blue State election dynamic which isn't so bad for McCain.

Are you kidding? Virgina, North Carolina, and Colorado are all leaning towards Obama -- a prospect nobody thought any Democrat had a chance of accomplishing in 2004. Indiana is a swing state now, too. And Obama has sizable leads in many of the traditional swing states: Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania.. Even slim leads in Florida and Ohio, to boot. And you're talking of a traditional red/blue state election? Time to open you eyes.

And what do you guys have.. A house meeting with Ayers long after the 70s? Socialist "connnections" which don't even tie Obama directly to any socialist organization? (Maybe I should look at all the looney toon fundie churches that have endorsed McCain and claim he's a member of all of them!) Rev. Wright? Pshaw. Not only is that story worn out but Obama already survived it.

You're starting to sound as crazy as these people.

And if not crazy, then you sound just plain desperate. Give it up. The Dow just plunged another few hundred points today, so nobody cares about your petty bullsh-t.

[No HTML in comments? Heh. How, how.. If anyone wants to links, I can be reached.]

[IslamoLlama]

"-- Coup de Grace, excuse me. --"

You know who uses the Cop day Gracy? The French.

[Lala]

Electoral Vote Prediction Oct 9, 2004

Kerry 280 Bush 248

http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2004/Pres/Maps/Oct09.html

[jaime]

"Electoral Vote Prediction Oct 9, 2004"

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.

Let's actually delve into these numbers. First of all if you look at the national polls on the page, most of them had the race a draw. There's not a single national poll with McCain in the lead. In fact IPSOS's Kerry +4 is the largest spread on the board which would be approximately Obama's SMALLEST lead in the national polls.

Second, and most importantly, if you look at the state polls, Obama is leading in NH, VA, CO, NM, and FL. Obama's also much closer in states like MT, GA, IN, MO, TX, and ND.

The page you've desperately linked to showed an even race between Kerry and Bush. The reality of today is, McCain's getting his ass kicked.

[jaime]

"I'm certain if there were nothing to the charges, Obama wouldn't say a word about them, like Kerry refused to dignify the swiftboaters with a response until they had been booked on like their fifteenth cable show."

So you're arguing that if Obama has nothing to hide, like Kerry had nothing to hide with the Swiftboaters, he should ignore the false charges, like Kerry did, and give his accusers free reign to spread their garbage, like Kerry did, and allow them to derail his campaign...like Kerry did.

Let's hope you're not a political consultant. Stupid people like you should be kept far, far, away from Presidential politics.

[North Dallas Thirty]

Don't worry about Spartan. He played this moral equivalence game over yonder; when I answered ( http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2008/10/are-you-connect.html#comment-134048125 ), he then started spinning, which I also countered ( http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2008/10/are-you-connect.html#comment-134095795 ).

Meanwhile, as far as cowardice, we should remember that Biden and Obama were insisting that Trig Palin was not Sarah Palin's son and that Todd Palin was having sex with his daughters -- all through their paid-troll proxies like DailyKos and Andrew Sullivan, of course.

Finally, the reason the Ayers story is relevant is simply this: Barack Obama gave Ayers hundreds of millions of dollars to present his racial philosophies and behavioral beliefs to students.

"Convinced that all whites were born tainted with the original sin of “skin privilege,” the fighting brigade of the New Left internalized racialist thinking as hatred of their own whiteness. “All white babies are pigs,” declared one Weatherman. On one occasion the feminist poet Robin Morgan was breast-feeding her son at the offices of the radical journal Rat. A Weatherwoman saw this and told her, “You have no right to have that pig male baby.” “How can you say that?” Morgan asked. “What should I do?” “Put it in the garbage,” the Weatherwoman answered.

Bernadine Dohrn [Ayers' wife], an acid-loving University of Chicago law student turned revolutionary, reflected the widespread New Left fascination with the serial-killing hippie Übermensch Charles Manson. “Dig It! First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them, they even shoved a fork into a victim’s stomach! Wild!” In appreciation, her Weather Underground cell made a three-fingered “fork” gesture its official salute."

(http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzdjNjI5ODEyYzhiN2UxYTMwMDAxZWM1MTQ3ZTg3NjU=)

We might also remember that Ayers has repeatedly stated that what he did was not wrong, that the people he and his group killed were guilty and deserved it (including numerous police officers), and that his only regret is that he didn't do more bombing.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

And again, Obama gave hundreds of millions of dollars to this man to spend on teaching said philosophies to public school students.

[North Dallas Thirty]

I hear the desperation in Jaime's voice. Perhaps Jaime doesn't want the world to know that Barack Obama, he who voted for sex education for kindergartners, was giving hundreds of millions of dollars to a man whose philosophies towards sex and family relationships were as follows:

"He also writes about the Weathermen's sexual experimentation as they tried to ''smash monogamy.'' The Weathermen were ''an army of lovers,'' he says, and describes having had different sexual partners, including his best male friend."

After all, this is what Barack Obama supports, endorses, and gives millions of dollars to have taught in public schools.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

[jaime]

"we should remember that Biden and Obama were insisting that Trig Palin was not Sarah Palin's son and that Todd Palin was having sex with his daughters -- all through their paid-troll proxies like DailyKos and Andrew Sullivan, of course."

So...Andrew Sullivan and Markos Moulitsas are paid operatives of the Obama campain, and were instructed, by Barack Obama and Joe Biden to spread these rumors?

North Dallas Thirty -- The intersection of dangerously crazy and dangerously stupid.

[BobinStamford]

Good evening, patriots!! It looks like there is a lot of anger here amongst the troop-supporters! Good news - the Dow only dropped 678 points. It's the COUNTRY FIRSTers who kept it under 700. Given how the electorate is seeking the elderly, wise counsel of a man who believes that the "fundamentals of the economy are STRONG" it should be time to celebrate.

I say put aside your patriotic anger and rejoice in the geriatric guru who is POISED and READY to LEAD. He may be angry, but you don't have to be!

Thank you all for your service. The surge WORKED because of YOU!!!

[North Dallas Thirty]

Of course. Obama's campaign manager, David Axelrod, has boasted about using astroturfing bloggers to spread rumors, and Obama himself has a diary over on DailyKos.

Obama is a coward. Since he wants to spread stories about Sarah Palin and Todd Palin, he can do it to their face, instead of through his proxies. McCain put his name on those advertisements. Obama hides like the sniveling little coward that he is, unable to speak publicly that which he pays trolls like Kos and Sullivan to spread.

[jaime]

"After all, this is what Barack Obama supports, endorses, and gives millions of dollars to have taught in public schools."

Really? That's actually what's being taught in Chicago Public Schools right now? Excerpts from William Ayer's pseudo memoir about his radicalism in the 60's and early 70's?

Do yourself a favor...research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Annenberg_Challenge

[jaime]

"Of course. Obama's campaign manager, David Axelrod, has boasted about using astroturfing bloggers to spread rumors,"

Example here:

http://www.johnmccain.com/actioncenter/bloginteract/bloginteract.aspx

[North Dallas Thirty]

Good evening, patriots!! It looks like there is a lot of anger here amongst the troop-supporters! Good news - the Dow only dropped 678 points. It's the COUNTRY FIRSTers who kept it under 700. Given how the electorate is seeking the elderly, wise counsel of a man who believes that the "fundamentals of the economy are STRONG" it should be time to celebrate.

The fundamentals are very strong, Bob.

However, as McCain warned in 2005, it is extraordinarily dangerous for a government agency to engage in risky lending, as Fannie and Freddie did, especially given their size, because of the threat it reflects.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-s20060525-16&bill=s109-190#sMonofilemx003Ammx002Fmmx002Fmmx002Fmhomemx002Fmgovtrackmx002Fmdatamx002Fmusmx002Fm109mx002Fmcrmx002Fms20060525-16.xmlElementm0m0m0m

Of course, Obama opposed this reform, agreeing with Barney Frank that there was no danger and that Fannie and Freddie were not doing anything wrong. After all, Obama, having received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Fannie and Freddie, was well in their corner -- and rewarded Fannie CEO Franklin Raines and Freddie CEO Jim Johnson with advisory positions on his campaign. Besides, with subprime-mortgage banker Penny Pritzker on his team, Obama was very much in favor of them.

Obama and the Democrats mortgaged the entire country to purchase votes in the form of risky loans that they ordered banks to give people and that they ordered Fannie and Freddie to purchase and securitize, and now we're paying for it.

[skeptical]

Obama purchases 30 minutes of prime time TV on two networks. As if that's going to help. Riehl says he's squirming under the radar. This will kill him. I'm guessing he won't mention Ayers, Wright, or how to teach kindergartners to do it in that whole 30 minutes. What a fraud. I can tell he's running scared. Yes, slap this punk down.

[Worst President Ever]

Republicans run the country for the past eight years and it suddenly becomes the Democrats fault for all those conservative screwups.

Deregulate, deregulate, deregulate. Let the market work it's magic. Self-regulation. Those are ALL conservative themes and are what got us in the mess we have today.

[North Dallas Thirty]

Ah yes, and of course, the Obama supporter Jaime regurgitates a talking point, screaming as they always do that Axelrod never engaged in astroturfing and that anyone who says he does is racist and lying.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2008/db20080314_121054.htm

[Worst President Ever]

You guys are confusing your hopes with reality. Obama's on the verge of a landslide - he leads in almost all battleground states. McCain's margin of error to win is slim to none. He loses one or two battleground states and he's back to the Senate.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

[North Dallas Thirty]

Funny, WPE, in that very quote, John McCain is calling for MORE regulation of Fannie and Freddie, something which Barack Obama completely opposed -- probably because Obama was receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from them at the time, more than anyone else in the Senate save Chris Dodd.

And as for Bill Ayers's educational philosophies, jaime, why don't you inform yourself?

http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_3_ed_school.html

Now, I understand that for leftists like yourself, it's not as important that children learn math and science as it is that they learn leftist principles in school. That's why the Annenberg Challenge was a rather spectacular failure; it proved rather convincingly that people like Obama and Ayers who put leftist dogma ahead of everything else do nothing but waste money and deprive students of education.

[North Dallas Thirty]

Perhaps Worst President Ever can explain why he and his fellow Democrats were demanding that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitize risky loans:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

and why they insisted that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not doing anything wrong and that new, more-stringent regulations which Bush and McCain both supported should not be implemented.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

[Worst President Ever]

You mean this guy:

McCain: "I'm always for less regulation...I am fundamentally a deregulator."

And this:

"In the 1990s, he backed an unsuccessful effort to create a moratorium on all new government regulation. And in 1996, he was one of only five senators to oppose a comprehensive telecommunications act, saying it did not go far enough in deregulating the industry."

And this:

"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation. Consumer-friendly insurance policies will be more available and affordable when there is greater competition among insurers on a level playing field."

[The Other Ed]

I think Obama was ready to ambush McCain on Tuesday, probably with some still as yet unexposed unsavory associate of McCains (and there are rumblings of mafia connections with the McCain liquor franchise in Arizona involving dead bodies) and he was disappointed. Calling him out (and I was more sure this was the case when Biden did it too) will make sure it comes out next week:

"Yes, Senator McCain, guilt by association can be troubling. What do you have to say about your family's personal fortune being built on extortion and murder?"

[Ira]

just a thought: if McCain wants to win this election, he must put aside his "reaching across the aisle" inclinations for a few weeks and start acting like the "America First" warrior he needs to be. Perhaps someone needs to sit down with McCain and remind him that two years of President Obama and a Democrat controlled Congress will most likely lead to untold longterm damage to America. (I volunteer the Awesome Alaskan for the job.)

[Jim Treacher]

"So...Andrew Sullivan and Markos Moulitsas are paid operatives of the Obama campain, and were instructed, by Barack Obama and Joe Biden to spread these rumors?"

Either you don't know who David Axelrod is, or you're terrified of Obama losing. Well, that's not fair, it could be both.

"You guys are confusing your hopes with reality. Obama's on the verge of a landslide - he leads in almost all battleground states. McCain's margin of error to win is slim to none. He loses one or two battleground states and he's back to the Senate."

If that's the case, you have nothing to worry about, do you?

[mary]

Wow, O'Reilly was spot on tonight. The best was the last segment where he put up Senator DEM who choked on the word ACORN in his introduction I guess of Biden while on the campaign trail.

Hmmm. How arrogant is he to have them put that word in and he didn't even get the metaphor right cause he could barely get the word ACORN out.

[Worst President Ever]

Nope, no worries at all. Looking forward to the Obama Victory Party next month.

"he must put aside his "reaching across the aisle" inclinations"

Hello - you've apparently not being paying attention. McCain's basially calling Obama a terrorist. The Candidate of Honor / Country FIrst is long gone.

[mary]

Been asking on my financial blogs why, despite the bailout, the market is tanking. There seems to be universal agreement that "the market doesn't want an Obama presidency". Now, this is just the opinion of the posters, but they sort of come right out with this in answer to that simple question.

[WileECoyote]

Watermelon One shall come crashing down.....

[BobinStamford]

Umm, Obama has been the favorite for months now. Keep listening to the yahoo message board crowd. You'll be sure to get rich.

[mary]

Wasn't the yahoo message board crowd. It was a message board only for financial professionals.

SNL political show is on tonight.

[jaime]

"Watermelon One"

It just KILLS you all that you can't call Obama a nigger, doesn't it.

[BobinStamford]

"Watermelon One"

Sad, impotent redneck anger. I love it! Good times coming up for you cretins!

[Dennis]

McCain should respond to the 'Why doesn't he say it to my face?' question by saying that Obama refused his requests for a series of Town Hall debates. I don't know if it's too late to get a couple in now, but McCain could say meet me for an unscheduled and he'd be glad to say anything he wanted to hear right to his face.

I don't get why Obama and his surrogates have offered up six or seven different versions of what he knew about Ayers and when he learned of his prior crimes when he's been well aware that this would eventually come up in the campaign. You'd think he and his men would have their stories all on the same page by this point. If he was telling the truth and he had nothing to hide there would only be one story anyway. Reminds me of the six different versions he had of Reverend Wright.

[mary]

Greta interviewed Bruner the Secretary of State of Ohio. There is a federal restraining order against her. Greta was very gracious since Bruer played the "lawyer card".

Anderson Cooper, CNN, doing an investigative report on ACORN investigations in Indiana and other states. Woman interviewed said almost 50% of the new registrants were bogus.

CNN is finding ACORN offices empty. Their lawyer says by attacking ACORN they are trying to suppress votes. Oh Geez, the evidence is overwhelming.