Sorry had to edit that previous comment for grammar
You think people yell "Kill him" at Obama rallies?
There are stupid people on all sides but this is about the specific content of the McCain accusations (that Obama is a terrorist) and the specific reaction (threats of violence against Obama) that McCain is provoking.
Even Kathleen Parker thinks they are being reckless,
"The McCain campaign knows that Obama isn't a Muslim or a terrorist, but they're willing to help a certain kind of voter think he is. Just the way certain South Carolinians in 2000 were allowed to think that McCain's adopted daughter from Bangladesh was his illegitimate black child.
But words can have more serious consequences than lost votes and we've already had a glimpse of the Palin effect.
The Post's Dana Milbank reported that media representatives in Clearwater were greeted with taunts, thunder sticks and profanity. One Palin supporter shouted an epithet at an African-American soundman and said, "Sit down, boy."
McCain may want to call off his pit bull before this war escalates. "
Let's face it the maverick John McCain of the 2000 primary is dead and he has been replaced by a man that is willing to do whatever he needs to do to become the president. He's flip-flopped on the George W Bush tax cuts and adopted the GOP orthodoxy which states that tax cuts are a universal cure to all at ails the economy. He's openly courted the agents of intolerance, cementing their support by selecting Palin over the candidates McCain actually wanted (Libermann, Ridge) to serve as VP.
Is embracing xenophobia that much of a leap?
And to be honest, taking John McCain completely out of the equation, should we really be that surprised by this development? The sad fact of the matter is that this is the price you pay for nominating a person of color to serve as your party's presidential nominee and standard bearer. If it wasn't the Islamic sounding name and the tenuous relationship with domestic terrorists it would be something else.
That being said embracing this sort of xenophobic and dare-I-say racist rhetoric is a sign of desperation on the part of a ticket whose polling numbers have been moving in the wrong direction and have shown little sign of rebounding. The silver-lining to this cloud is that this gambit runs the risk of alienating independents and even GOP leaners who find the strategy to be morally repugnant. I've talked to numerous GOP leaners (my parents included) and more than a few have expressed outrage and have even been swayed to support Obama as a result.
Quite frankly the xenophobes weren't voting Obama anyway so ultimately I think this plan will end up doing far more harm than good for the McCain campaign.
4 comments:
God, there are some stupid people out there. Of course this is from Ohio too. I'd be interested to see the same thing done at an Obama rally though.
Sorry had to edit that previous comment for grammar
You think people yell "Kill him" at Obama rallies?
There are stupid people on all sides but this is about the specific content of the McCain accusations (that Obama is a terrorist) and the specific reaction (threats of violence against Obama) that McCain is provoking.
Even Kathleen Parker thinks they are being reckless,
"The McCain campaign knows that Obama isn't a Muslim or a terrorist, but they're willing to help a certain kind of voter think he is. Just the way certain South Carolinians in 2000 were allowed to think that McCain's adopted daughter from Bangladesh was his illegitimate black child.
But words can have more serious consequences than lost votes and we've already had a glimpse of the Palin effect.
The Post's Dana Milbank reported that media representatives in Clearwater were greeted with taunts, thunder sticks and profanity. One Palin supporter shouted an epithet at an African-American soundman and said, "Sit down, boy."
McCain may want to call off his pit bull before this war escalates. "
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100702436.html?nav=hcmodule&sub=AR&sid=ST2008100801720&s_pos=
This is sad, though hardly surprising.
Let's face it the maverick John McCain of the 2000 primary is dead and he has been replaced by a man that is willing to do whatever he needs to do to become the president. He's flip-flopped on the George W Bush tax cuts and adopted the GOP orthodoxy which states that tax cuts are a universal cure to all at ails the economy. He's openly courted the agents of intolerance, cementing their support by selecting Palin over the candidates McCain actually wanted (Libermann, Ridge) to serve as VP.
Is embracing xenophobia that much of a leap?
And to be honest, taking John McCain completely out of the equation, should we really be that surprised by this development? The sad fact of the matter is that this is the price you pay for nominating a person of color to serve as your party's presidential nominee and standard bearer. If it wasn't the Islamic sounding name and the tenuous relationship with domestic terrorists it would be something else.
That being said embracing this sort of xenophobic and dare-I-say racist rhetoric is a sign of desperation on the part of a ticket whose polling numbers have been moving in the wrong direction and have shown little sign of rebounding. The silver-lining to this cloud is that this gambit runs the risk of alienating independents and even GOP leaners who find the strategy to be morally repugnant. I've talked to numerous GOP leaners (my parents included) and more than a few have expressed outrage and have even been swayed to support Obama as a result.
Quite frankly the xenophobes weren't voting Obama anyway so ultimately I think this plan will end up doing far more harm than good for the McCain campaign.
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