John McCain Campaign Takes a +3 Vorpal Blade to Dungeons & Dragons Players

[Pryderi]

Confronting questions about whether John McCain stole an inspiring POW story from the autobiography of a former Soviet prisoner, a campaign spokesman threw out this melee attack against a much-maligned geek pastime:

"It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement," said McCain aide Michael Goldfarb, in a posting to the campaign website. "But most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others."

Ouch. I'd take offense, but I have a saving-throw to make, and the dim light in this basement is making it hard to see the D20.

Naturally, gamers are not amused by the McCain campaign's quick resort to '80s-era cultural stereotypes -- once McCain masters the internet, we're confident he'll contemporize and start bashing video gamers instead. But it does raise the obvious question: If John McCain were a D&D character, what kind would he be?

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/john-mccain-cam.html

[Clovis Sangrail]

1. he'd be the quasi useful npc henchman that

gets abandoned in a forest somewhere because he's more of a pain in the ass than he's worth.

[eShirl]

2. funny, more than half the people in our high school D&D club were right-wing

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

3. A Doddering Wizard

who returns to the gaming table at the end of every week, suspiciously several levels higher than he previously was.

[MrModerate]

4. I'm insulted! Why does John McCain think . . .

That only Dungeons & Dragons players have the right to disparage from basements? I don't even have a basement, and I disparage all the time.

Especially phony-baloney John McCain and his lame stories that he's told so many times he can't remember where he stole them from.

Actually, what strikes me about this remark is 1) It makes no sense whatsoever (in what way are presumably asocial older adolescents associated with Obama?) and 2) How will this help with McCain's base, who will (like the rest of us) not have a frakkin' clue what his campaign is blithering on about and 3) Do they really think it's beneficial to reinforce McCain's "dang kids get off my lawn" reputation?

[Pryderi]

5. Goldfarb used to be a research associate for PNAC. n/t

[bemildred]

6. In other words, McCain has no real defense, so they resort to name calling. nt