David Corn: McCain Better Watch Out for a New Meme: He's Not With It

[babylonsister]

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/davidcorn/2008/07/mccain-better-watch-out-for-a.html

McCain Better Watch Out for a New Meme: He's Not With It

By David Corn | July 18, 2008 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)


It's not often that I recommend reading The Washington Times, the conservative newspaper owned by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon, but a report it published on Friday on John McCain was a scorcher. Here are some excerpts:

At times it appears Sen. John McCain's Straight Talk Express should stop and ask for directions.

From signature issues such as immigration and climate change to tax cuts, the presumed Republican presidential nominee sometimes just seems lost as to his own record and his stance on hot-button social issues.

After Mr. McCain said he opposed child adoptions to gay and lesbian couples, his campaign clarified that he wasn't making policy and would leave the issue to the states.

In the past week, the candidate was unable to say whether he thought health care plans that cover drugs to treat impotency also should cover contraceptives. Mr. McCain voted against such a proposal in 2005.

For a candidate who delights in telling audiences that it's time for "a little straight talk," he has given his opponents chances to question that reputation....

Ouch. The piece goes on:

Twice this year, Mr. McCain has said he doesn't support "mandatory" caps on greenhouse gas emissions, even though that is the crux of his proposal to address climate change....

On immigration, Mr. McCain misrepresented his own record on the most important vote of the past 40 years. He told the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials that he supported the 1986 amnesty. Mr. McCain voted against that bill, telling the Arizona Republic in his hometown that it was racist and would lead to employer discrimination.

So what's the explanation for McCain's constant (to be polite about it) swerving? The article quotes conservative activist and former Reagan administration official Donald Devine: "He's not a detail person. He's not a liar. I think he just can't believe that he would ever do anything wrong. He would think that would be some kind of moral failing, and he just figures there's got to be something that isn't right with what the other person said." How's that for an endorsement? McCain's no liar, he just can't believe he can make a mistake. And he doesn't have a head for details!

McCain better watch out. He's getting quite close to establishing--here comes that buzz word--a narrative. And it ain't a flattering one: it's the story of an older candidate who either (a) cannot remember what he has said or done or (b) misrepresents the facts for political expedience. Neither scenario is in sync with a tale of a straight-talking, independent-minded politician. And the last thing McCain can afford is to come across as discombobulated or confused--especially about his own positions and actions. When The Washington Times takes notice, that's one helluva warning. This is a meme just waiting for MSM attention.

[bunnies]

1. McCain is not only "not with it"...

but he cant even see "it" from his vantage point. I cant believe anyone would even consider letting this bumbling fool run this country.

[liberalla]

11. not only is McCain "not with it"... he's "out of it"

way out of it...
:kick:

[Inuca]

2. "he just can't believe that he would ever do anything wrong"

very encouraging.

[babylonsister]

4. "He's not a detail person"? How about a memory, shouldn't that count? nt

[L0oniX]

3. "not with it" is a huge understatement....

"I disagree with what the majority of the American people want." --John McCain

"I 'Don't See How It Matters' That I Don't Know The Price Of Gas." --John McCain

"Only the most deluded of us could doubt the necessity of this war."
--John McCain

"Thank God for our form of government. The media won't let there be any cover-up." --John McCain

"We must win in Iraq. If we withdraw, there will be chaos; there will be genocide; and they will follow us home." --John McCain

"I am fully prepared to be commander in chief... I don't need on-the-job training." --John McCain

"Remember the words of Chairman Mao: 'It's always darkest before it's totally black.'." --John McCain

"I will veto every single beer, um, bill with earmarks." --speaking at the National Small Business Summit, Washington, D.C., June 10, 2008

"We should be able to deliver bottled hot water to dehydrated babies." --Kenner, Louisiana, June 3, 2008

"I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." --John McCain

"I am a illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance I can get." -after being asked whether us uses a Mac or a PC

"It's not social issues I care about." --John McCain

"F**k you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room." --to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), during a testy exchange about immigration legislation

"No, I'm calling you a fucking jerk." --to fellow Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, when Grassley asked "Are you calling me stupid?"

"I said, 'The nice thing about Alzheimer's is you get to hide your own Easter eggs.'" --John Mc Cain

"Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father." --at a 1998 Republican fund raiser

"I will conduct a respectful debate. Now, it will be dispirited -- it will be spirited -- because there are stark differences. I am a proud conservative, liberal Republica-- conservative Republican...Hello? Easy there." --John Mc Cain

:evilgrin:

[blonndee]

5. Some of my students already got that "meme."

I'm teaching summer school and part of each day's assignment is for them to read at least one article I give them and then summarize it. Thursday's was an article about the potential effect of massive African-American voter turnout in southern states. One student said to another, "I really hope Obama doesn't win. I don't want him to win. I'm not a racist or anything but I don't think black people should be president." (I was eavesdropping and pretending not to hear what she said.) Another student turned around and asked her, "How is that not racist? Anyway, you want that OLD GUY to win?" Yet another student said, "Seriously, that old guy is retarded. He has Alzheimer's or something." Another: "Yeah, he's like, really dumb."

Despite the inelegant language, I found it really amusing that these highschoolers were interested enough in the election to know something, anything, about the candidates. Who would have thought they'd be ahead of the corporate media? :)

[senseandsensibility]

6. This meme may be just waiting for "MSM" attention

but it will keep waiting. I watched a lot of corporate media yesterday and they were falling all over themselves praising McSame as usual. There were many scandals and problems facing * in both 2000 and 2004 that were waiting for "MSM" attention, too. How did that work out?

[Frank Booth]

7. It's a sad day when the Washington Times has become a better news source than

the mainstream corporate media.

None of this will ever get picked up by the MSM. It's been an obvious and highly important issue for months, and they've just quashed it.

[Cha]

8. mccain thinks he can get away with just saying "straight talk"

and the mainstream media whores will cover for his lies, confusion, and bullshit.

[alterfurz]

9. Yawn McLame's channeling Grandpa Simpson:

"I used to be With IT. Then they changed what IT was. Now what I'm with isn't IT, and what's IT seems scary & weird. It'll happen to YOU!"

[jazzjunkysue]

10. The Gramps label was never about ageism.

It was always that he fits the stereotype senile nitwit.

There are two kinds of stupid: One kind, you have some awareness of your limitations. The other kind is called John McCain.

[seasat]

12. I think the word association should be "confused"

I've noticed some of Obama's campaign surrogates and other Democrats using it in conjunction with McCain. The traditional media wants a horse race and is going to build McCain up every chance they can get. However, they also love a good meltdown. If we can push the meme that McCain is "confused" or play up his temper, they may buy into as a story. That way they don't have to look like they were wrong in their initial fawning. They can just claim that McCain can't handle the rigors of a campaign.