Comments on: If Obama's A Celebrity, What's McCain?

Politico: As McCamp Camp Tries To Brand Obama A "Celebrity Politician," It's Worth Considering McCain's Own Media Status

[liberalme]

McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain at least $112,00 in contributions. In the mid-1980s, McCain made at least nine trips on Keating''s airplanes, and three of those were to Keating''s luxurious retreat in the Bahamas. McCain''s wife and father-in-law also were the largest investors (at $350,000) in a Keating shopping center; the Phoenix New Times called it a "sweetheart deal."

[liberalme]

Now how about a similar review of McCain''''s 20+ years in office and his military service?

Obama''''s experience is laughable compared to McCain''''s,

Posted by erichsh at 10:35 AM : Aug

A bit of McCains "jokes" over the past several years:

Citizens for Life, a New Hampshire group, complained in ads that McCain once referred to the Leisure World senior citizens home as ''''Seizure World.''''

McCain, reveling in adoration at a June 1998 Republican fund-raiser and sure his joke would go no further, said: "Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father."

The nice thing about Alzheimer''s is you get to hide your own Easter eggs," John McCain said to reporters while sitting in his campaign bus.

What a funny guy!

[cheteunice]

With his extensive photo opts, it certainly appears that Obama considers himself a celebrity. He is always pandering to the press and the press to him..

[missingamerica]

"If Obama''s A Celebrity, What''s McCain?"

Well, duh - is that not obvious?

McCain is a puppet of the oil industry.

[erichsh]

Go ahead and mock a decorated war veteran, mswolfestock and the rest of your ilk. Unlike Kerry, not one credible voice has ever stepped up to dispute any aspect of McCain''s undeniably heroic military record. Keep coming up with your juvenile nicknames. While you''re at it, make fun of the injuries he suffered while being a POW for five years.

In the meantime, McCain has closed the gap with Obama in most nationwide polls. The reprehensible mockery that Obama supporters like yours engage are so repulsive that you''ll succeed in swinging more independent voters McCain''s way.

[credibility2]

Show time and theatrics are the pablum for those who are empty and offer neither qualifications or experience. All of which is meant to dazzle rather than instigate intellectual assessment, the thought process, scrutiny and questioning.

[imprisonkarl]

rafterman --

A vet who served with Johnny War "Hero" remembers events differently than you -- he says McCain DID disregard orders to unload some of his ordinance.

That vet further states that the resulting investigation was a total joke -- no way Navy brass was gonna hang an admiral''s son out to dry, and McSame even went bar-hopping in Saigon with reporters sent to cover the story (timearchives Oct. 2006).

Too bad the Rethuglicans chose another phoney patriot a la flyboy Bush & the Chanpagne Squadron.

BTW, anyone seen McSame''s little ho, Vicki Iseman, lately? Sure would like to hear her version of the affair she had with him.

[taotxzen]

The McCain Strategy Is Vintage Karl Rove, the Media Loves It

Paul AbramsSun Aug 3, 9:43 PM ET

There is a plausible argument that no one has so negatively impacted the lives of the American people and the world as has Karl Rove. Not only did he elect an incompetent, not only did he misuse the White House to further his goal of a permanent Republican majority, but he has destroyed the American political dialogue.

The mainstream media, interested only in ratings, has lapped it up. What simpler and inexpensive way to cover a contest whose outcome has profound stakes for the entire world than to treat the nonsense as important. Fox "News," interested only in electing Republicans, has presented it as, to quote Rove himself about the outing of Valerie Plame, "fair game."

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

The Obama Camp seems not to grasp fully what is going on. Responding in logical, measured terms that rationally pushes back on McCain''s ads, they are missing the emotional side of the attacks that is the determining factor in 98% of decisionmaking, and, thus, voting.

Using mockery McCain is trying to undermine, at the level of emotions, Obama''s charisma and the passions his candidacy stirs both in the US and around the world. Obama ought to begin by reminding people, "these are the same people, using the same tactics, that brought us George W Bush, and look what a disaster he is."

In the Democratic primaries Obama used one very successful strategy of calling out the tactic, thus bringing it to peoples'' consciousness, rather than leaving it buried in the emotional side of the brain. Hillary''s "the sky is going to open" attempted mockery did not take hold, and she did not pursue it, in part because much of the primary electorate would not have tolerated it.

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

But, the McCain people do not care about much of the Democratic primary electorate. They want to undermine Obama, so their guy does not appear to be as lame as he actually is. Early in his career Rove and his people promoted death in the form of cigarettes. Then it was Bush. Now, it''s McCain. They do not stop on their own, you have to stop them by making the price they pay too painful to continue.

Remember the Rove tactic: find your opponent''s strength, and attack it. The Rove protigis running the McCain campaign (doubtless with help from Karl Rove) have analyzed Obama''s major strength to be his ability to create a movement with passion. Not only can such passion become infectious, it also has the ability to change politics post-election by going over the heads of lobbyists and the DC-insiders to apply enormous people pressure on Members of Congress. The first Earth Day was a good example: 20 million people participated, 7 of the first ''dirty-dozen'' pro-polluters were then defeated, and then the new Congress passed, and Richard Nixon (!) signed, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Environmental Protection Act, just to name-drop a few.

(cont)