Jun 17, 2008
Are Dems Alluding To McCain's Age In Code?
Politico: Some Republicans Say Obama Operatives Are Subtly Drawing Attention To It
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Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. talks on a cell phone as he takes his seat aboard his campaign charter before departing San Antonio, Texas, Tuesday, June 17, 2008. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
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Photo Essay John McCain Some call him a hero, some a maverick. Will Americans call him Mr. President?
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Timeline McCain's Quest Mileposts in the Arizona senator's race for the GOP nomination and the presidency.
In a campaign year marked by flare-ups surrounding comments that have offended one group or another, John McCain and Barack Obama have moved on to the next sensitive battleground: the question of McCain’s advanced age.
As some Republicans see it, Democrats are deliberately talking in code about the presumptive 71-year-old GOP nominee as part of an attempt to highlight his age.
“It is code; there is no question it is,” Ed Rollins, a Republican strategist who helped lead President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 reelection campaign, said when age surfaced as an issue. “They are trying to raise doubts.”
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough repeatedly argued on his show last week that the Obama campaign was portraying McCain as a “doddering, old, confused fool. He needs to go to Miami Beach and play checkers.”
To Democrats, however, Republicans are imagining slights and smears where there are none as part of an attempt to silence any discussion of McCain’s vigor.
“They are definitely trying to just put a lid on the kind of language we use,” said Democratic consultant Jonathan Prince.
Obama aides deny any strategy to highlight age, and Obama, 46, himself told reporters last month that age should not be a factor. Indeed, he used to compliment McCain’s “half-century of service” to the country as a Vietnam War veteran and a member of Congress, but after McCain campaign manager Rick Davis argued that it was a sly way to inject age into the debate, Obama dropped the reference in February.
But a Democratic strategist not involved in the campaign, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, said he sees footprints of a deliberate Obama campaign strategy.
“They have made allusions to McCain’s age and temperament because, with McCain, both his age and his volatile temper are legitimate issues. There is a line of appropriateness that they cannot cross. And I don’t think they have,” the strategist said.
Certainly there have been times when Democrats have tackled the issue head-on, as Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) has several times in recent months.
“The older you get, the more difficult it is to have the energy to confront these things,” Murtha, who turns 76 on Tuesday, said in an interview with ThinkProgress, a liberal blog. “I know myself. I have to pace myself. I’m the same age he is. He said I was senile a couple of years ago. Well, that’s beside the point, whether I’m senile. But I just believe that his age is going to be very difficult for him to become a good commander in chief, because the decisions are so difficult.”
The issue is no small matter for McCain. Polls in recent months found voters more likely to take into consideration his age than Obama’s race, which explains why the McCain campaign has turned into ersatz word police, calling foul on even the slightest hint of a reference to the Republican’s age.
McCain senior adviser Mark Salter rebuked Obama last month for saying that the Arizonan was “losing his bearings.” Obama, who was defending against charges that Hamas wanted him to win in November, protested that the phrase has nothing to do with age.
But when Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice and Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) each described McCain as “confused” last week, Republicans became convinced that Democrats intend to run a crypto-ageist strategy, using words that create a subtle impression in voters’ minds.
McCain himself did little to wave reporters off the narrative.
“I’m obviously disappointed in a comment like that,” McCain said when asked about Kerry’s statement that the Republican “confuses” facts about Iran, Al Qaeda, and Sunni and Shiite Muslis.
Kerry called the suggestion that his comments had something to do with age “unfair and even ridiculous.”
But the dynamic of Obama’s running against a candidate who’s a quarter of a century older is nonetheless creating an environment where some Democrats see the need to self-censor, proving that the McCain offensive is already working.
“I was going to say, ‘He lost his grip,’” said Democratic consultant Jonathan Prince, recalling a recent appearance on CNN’s “Situation Room.” “Those are normal words you use when you are involved in campaigns. You say, ‘They are nuts, they are off their rocker, they lost it.’ They have become very adept at grabbing every opportunity they can to turn it into a personal slur.”
By Carrie Budoff Brown
Copyright 2008 POLITICO
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See all 326 CommentsPosted by obama8years at 02:19 PM
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LOOK IT UP WHERE?
TALK IS CHEAP.
POST THE CITATION SUPPORTING YOUR ASININE ACCUSATION
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Posted by makeitso928 at 02:27 PM : Jun 18, 2008
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Isn''t that the dumbest thing you ever heard. I think these are the guys that listen to late night radio about aliens and gray men trying to take over the world. They must see a boogey man behind every tree. Just makes me laugh.
The words of McCain fund-raiser, CLAYTON WILLIAMS, who raised $300,000.00 for McCain. McCain did not refuse the funds; said he was unaware of the comment. Said he did not Google the name because he is not familiar with PC''s or Macs and does not know how to Google. I guess that means his staff is stupid also.
IF YOULIKE THIS NEVER-ENDING WAR,
IF LIKE PAYING HIGH GAS PRICES,
IF LIKE THE TAX BREAKS FOR THE RICH,
IF YOU CAN''T WAIT TO INVADE IRAN,
IF YOU LIKE HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT,
IF YOU LOOK FORWARD TO THE END OF ROE V. WADE.
IF YOU LIKE THE UNFAIR TRADE POLICIES THAT SEND JOBS AND TECHNOLOGY OVERSEAS,
IF YOU LIKE A GOVERNMENT THAT PRACTICES TORTURE,
IF YOU LIKE A GOVERNMENT THAT SPIES ON ITS OWN CITIZEN,
IF YOU LIKE THE FACT THAT THE US IS ONE OF THE MOST REVILED NATIONS ON THE PLANET, THEN YOU''LL JUST LOVE McCAIN.
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Posted by obama8years
WATCH OUT, you have serious SYNTEX ERROR!!
It would take 8-10 years for oil from any offshore drilling to reach the marketplace. That time would be better spent working on real, viable alternatives to oil. No matter what, oil is a finite resource. Ignoring that fact invites disaster. The longer we wait, the worse it will be. See http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
String Obama;
String Answer;
if(Obama == RevWright.Text)
{
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Ever Wonder Why HAMAS supports Obama, well look no further, Wright and Obama both have been involved with the anti-Isreal group International Solidarity Movement. Just a little more Icing on the Obama Cake.
If Barack Obama didn%u2019t know about Abunimah%u2019s writings (and Abunimah says he did), the same as his claims of being unaware of Reverend Wright%u2019s remarks after 20 years, then Obama is not competent to be our President. Abunimah likes to lie and claim Al Awda has nothing to do with the ISM or Electronic Intifada, though plenty of evidence exists on the website the homepage at www.StoptheISM.com showing the contrary.
But Obama%u2019s association with the ISM through his church and lobbying in Chicago goes even deeper than just his past links to Al Awda and Ali Abunimah. His pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, are both equally involved with the ISM.
2. Which candidate because of his personal diversity may have a better capacity to better grasp of value of and instigate diplomacy?
3. Which candidate seems to have portrayed an almost lost American ethos of hope, inspiration, and old fashion gumption to strive energetically toward something better?
4. Which candidate because of his experience level may have a better capacity to be a role model 21st century progressive and dynamic enough try something new leader?
If it works, great; if not refer to numbers 1 to 3.
5. Which candidate arrived just in time on the US political scene to offer us a viable choice of refreshing or stale?
Cite whatever personal or professional analyst reason you want, but presidential candidate Obama must be doing something creditable to secure his name on the top 2008 US political ticket.
If the American people didn%u2019t put Obama where he is today at this point in his emerging public career by way of votes, full support, some support, no support, hope for change, hope for hope, no hope, enthusiasm, inquisitiveness, wishful thinking, apathy, or other lawful means, then how did it happen and who did it?
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