Disgusting new McLoser Attack Ad - *Update: Obama Team responds

[Kittycat]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/McCain_uses_Obamas_nixed_troop_visit_in_toughest_ad_yet.html

John McCain's campaign is seizing on Barack Obama's decision to cancel a planned visit to wounded American troops this week by airing his toughest ad yet, suggesting the Democrat's move came after the "Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras."

"John McCain is always there for our troops," says the narrator in "Troops."

--snip--

It is very similar, and actual repeats lines and images, from McCain's last ad. They've just changed it to reflect Obama's Iraq visit and to include the attacks on Obama for not seeing the wounded American troops in Germany on Thursday.

The new spot represents an important shift, though, as it moves away from attacking on only policy matters and starts to delve into character. In it, McCain's camp intimates that Obama was only interested in seeing American GIs if he could get media exposure out of the visit, noting that he had "made time to go to the gym."

Video at link, and posted in the DU Videos forum.

Completely disgusting.

Here's the response from the Obama Camp:

UPDATE: Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor responds, "John McCain is an honorable man who is running an increasingly dishonorable campaign. Senator McCain knows full well that Senator Obama strongly supports and honors our troops, which is what makes this attack so disingenuous. Senator Obama was honored to meet with our men and women in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan this week and has visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed numerous times. This politicization of our soldiers is exactly what Senator Obama sought to avoid, and it's not worthy of Senator McCain or the 'civil' campaign he claimed he would run."

[blogslut]

1. Look closer @ the video footage of Obama "exercizing"

That's him with the TROOPS in Afghanistan.

These people crack me up. :rofl:

EDIT ADD: Thanks for the Obama team rapid response addition. Good stuff.

[Kittycat]

2. Well, no one said he was smart at attacking. Look at the cheese aisle & weinerfest incidents...

[goodgd_yall]

33. Yeah, and they're really out of focus

so you can't tell.

[d_b]

3. fire with fire?

we can expect more of this type of trash from the mccain camp as the election nears.

[WinkyDink]

4. Yeah, well, "honorable " is as "honorable" does.

[Gabi Hayes]

34. EXACTLY....drop the faux gentility. it's pussy, and it's a losing strategy.

when has McCain EVER treated Obama with any respect at all

even some of the slimiest pug surrogates, when confronted by the likes of David Gergen, have admitted that the the losing the war to win an election charge was just about the lowest blow possible, almost unprecedented

it really is time to take the gloves off

if he doesn't, he could be toast, cause you KNOW the media are going to be in McCain's corner, all the way

christ, they even edit their interviews to change completely the thrust of what he said

they'll do whatever the boss says to do

how much money does Couric make?

eight million for Gibson....you think they're going to jeopardize their fat sinecures at the cost of telling the truth for once?

dream on

this could be it

[writes3000]

5. This will backfire on McCain. It's blatantly dishonest & disgusting. GI Bill, anyone? n/t

[Kittycat]

8. The sunday shows should be interesting to say the least.

Doesn't Obama have a full hour tomorrow on MTP? I think it's pre-recorded, but I wonder if this subject will come up (having to cancel).

[SKKY]

30. Ding! Ding! Ding!

[tekisui]

6. This politicization of our soldiers is exactly what Senator Obama sought to avoid

GOod line.

But, I think they can quit calling the old fucker honorable.

[VolcanoJen]

7. Nice response from the Obama camp, they saw that one coming.

Of course, what Dem presidential candidate wouldn't see the Swiftboat Train chuggin' along in their direction? It's really all they have.

Obama's camp was responding to McCain's attacks vis-a-vis Afghanistan and Iraq, but expect the GOP/wingnut blogger rapid response to be "HE FORGOT KUWAAAAAAAIT!" ;-)

[writes3000]

9. I wish they brought up McCain's position on the GI Bill.

Gee, John, what do you think the troops want more - a visit from you or better benefits?

[Hav]

10. .

Good answer, the only problem is that they don't respond with TV ads themselves to counter the smears and lies. I'm sure they have their reasons, though.

[Kittycat]

12. Probably waiting until after the convention.

No reason to waste funds now - those ads can't be drawing huge audiences.

[KittyWampus]

24. no, they're just going viral. This smear is ALREADY being spread far and wide.

[xxqqqzme]

40. Yep, just as I predicted. I got the

Obama 'blowing off the troops' email this AM. I replied - 'You know I'm going to send you to snopes because all the Obama smear email you pass along is false. Why don't you go there FIRST and avoid spreading bigotry throughout the internet. There's enough hatred in the world without you adding to it.'

What a huge surprise - a replay of '04 election! Publicans certainly are cheap bastards!

[sellitman]

11. Obama's camp is firing on all cylinders!

Grandpa sounds more and more like a poor version of Bob Dole before Viagra.

[jazzjunkysue]

13. Let's hope the Obama team is staffed to handle these attacks 24/7, until Nov.

I hope he has a crackerjack TV commercial team ready to produce on air comebacks overnight. That's why he kept the money from private donors: The swiftboating is only just starting.

[bluestateguy]

14. More than a press release will be needed.

They need to cut an ad of their own.

The average West Virginia dumb-dumb does not read nor remember press releases.

[goodgd_yall]

29. Yep n/t

[anonymous171]

15. Obama needs to stop complementing him and start attacking him.

[TwilightGardener]

16. I'm all for dropping that "honorable" shit now--McCain is the opposite.

[goodgd_yall]

31. I agree

Better not to sink to McCain's level, but they can give up on the bending-over-backwards respect they've been giving this war-"hero"-milking-it-for-what-it's-worth slimeball.

[Gabi Hayes]

35. the only way to sink that low is to start lying ALL the TIME, just as they do.

the truth is all that needs to be told, but the M$M holds the key to that. they don't want it to get out

what happened with Swiftboat 1.0? media played it to death, and dems could NOT make their voices heard. that Kerry was a coward, or whatever, was implanted into the voters consciousness in the swing states that mattered.....that's EXACTLY what their tactics are now. the ad is only running in Colorado, Washington, and maybe a few other places, where they think it will work, BUT they KNOW the media will go CRAZY with this story, spreading the lie all over the world for FREE

dems better have a plan for this. it's so predictable, and they should have KNOWN it was going to happen

I bet they don't have one

hope I'm wrong......

[SmileyRose]

37. I actually disagree

Obama's best at keeping his cool, being polite, sticking to issues and letting the surrogates do the dirty work.

I remember one of the debates, Hillary was mercilessly pushing him, and he finally came out with something to the effect of "well while you were on the board of Walmart voting to take healthcare benefits away from children living below the poverty level, I was fighting for Chicago's poorest children" or something to that effect. And after he said it, you could just tell it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Obama is no wuss, and he'll wipe the floor with McCain. But he has to do it his own way. He got where he is by being himself, IMHO it's wrong to expect him to change tactics now.

[ErinBerin84]

17. this is really disgusting.

I hope the troops who he visited with see what a fucking asshole McCain is.

[catgirl]

18. John -my wife is a c***- McCain is not an honorable man

He's in the same league as Bushit

[depakid]

19. Isn't there a more credible source than politco for this?

[Kittycat]

22. Halperin's Blog - thepage

And if you just go to the link, you can track back the URL to McCain's YouTube channel.

[Gabi Hayes]

36. it's not a matter of credibility....this is all documented. the credibility of both those

places is nil, because they start inserting their slimy opinions in there, along with verifiable facts....hard to tell the difference, which is what they want

Politico is owned by a rabid wingnut, and Halperin is the father of The Note. see Boehlert article below. The Page is his version of The Note at his new stenchpad

think I'm nuts? read this:

Here's how dishonest Beltway journalism has become
by Eric Boehlert

Books about politics and the press don't come much more dishonest, or depressing, than the new tome hitting stores this week, The Way to Win (Random House). Written by corporate media bigwigs Mark Halperin, political director of ABC News and founder of its political newsletter The Note, and John F. Harris, national political editor of The Washington Post, the new digest -- it's their take on how to win the White House -- is already being toasted by celebrity journalists inside the Beltway, which in today's environment means the book politely re-enforces preferred conventional wisdom and graciously avoids asking tough questions about Republicans. The press corps also skates by in the eyes of Halperin and Harris, who continuously rewrite recent history in order to ensure that journalists shoulder little or no blame for D.C. pressroom disgraces such as Whitewater, the blatantly dishonest coverage heaped upon Al Gore's presidential campaign, and for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth hoax that ensnared Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential run.

I say The Way to Win is dishonest because Halperin and Harris are obviously smart professionals who understand how politics and the press now (unfortunately) work in this country. Indeed, the two are celebrated as among Beltway journalism's best and brightest and are paid handsomely for reaching the pinnacle of their profession. Unfortunately, political journalism isn't what it used to be, and unfortunately, the duo opts to conform to the artificial guidelines that dictate public debate inside the Beltway today.

That's precisely why CBS' Bob Schieffer has already flacked the book on Face the Nation, why Charlie Rose has invited the two for an intimate chat, and why the Way To Win D.C. book party was awash with boldface guests, as elites from the press and politics flocked to toast the latest re-writing of the conventional wisdom. It's because Halperin and Harris tell a reassuring story that Beltway players, particularly in the press, love to hear. And for anybody who still thinks there's an ounce of friction between the true media elites and the Beltway's mostly Republican ruling class, read The Way to Win and think again. The Beltway really has become a tension-free world where journalists and politicos bond effortlessly.

Among the most important of Halperin and Harris's take-away tips -- their so-called "Trade Secret" -- is for candidates seeking the White House in 2008 to basically not act like Democrats. Specifically, Halperin and Harris stress that recent campaigns by Gore and Kerry failed because they lost control of their public image via the press, in sharp contrast to Bush's campaigns, which, thanks to the hard work of Karl Rove, were able to control their public image. What Halperin and Harris absolutely refuse to acknowledge is the willing role the press played in those key Democratic setbacks and the media's shrieking double standard that's been on display for the last decade.

For instance, Halperin and Harris's simplistic analysis of the Swift Boat fiasco, as it is for every Democratic public relations loss detailed in the book, is that the Kerry camp should have just convinced the press to stop writing damaging stories. Halperin and Harris's purposefully naïve construct is that Kerry and his aides had the power to fix negative press coverage -- just like Gore and Clinton did before him -- but for some bewildering reason they failed to do it. Apparently, all Democrats had to do was ask nicely and Beltway reporters would have stopped reporting made-up stuff about Whitewater, stopped reporting false claims about Gore inventing the Internet, etc., and stopped reporting fabrications about how Kerry's war service was riddled with mysteries.

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200610030008

politico is just as bad, if not worse, because they have 'journalists' on TV all the time...every single day, spewing out republican talking points, while giving the appearance of being unbiased

[Kittycat]

39. I understand that, but you're asking for a credible source to view a McCain Ad

You don't need to read someone's commentary or opinion. Just click on the link, view the ad, and form your own opinion. Source credibility really has nothing to do with it. Heck, you can go to McCain's site and view it, if you don't want to go through Halperin, Politico, Huffpo, YouTube or any other site out there with links to it. I just don't understand why it matters if the link is on Drudge or the most liberal leaning blog out there - it doesn't change the ad that McCain's camp made and circulated.

[Cha]

20. "honorable man who is running

an increasingly dishonorable campaign" and is in danger of ending up with all his honor left in the cheeze and whine aisle.

[Lisa0825]

21. It's insane how obsessed they are with Obama's middle name.

They do no favors for their candidate by expressing such blatant hostility, racism, and ignorance.

edited to add: I meant to refer to the YouTube McCain ad link. Everyone there calls him Hussein, and revels in it.

[WinkyDink]

27. As if "Son of Cain" is any better!

[goodgd_yall]

32. heh-heh

Yes, I've mentioned a few times the connection to the biblical "Cain." Fits quite well.

[kevinmc]

23. Time to run an ad with McCain's Voting Record on the VET/GI BILLS ....

which McCain voted NO on.

[jcla]

38. That was the first thing I thought of also!

Good for you. McShame says he supports the troops... until they come home and need help getting on with their lives! Then he votes not on bills he previously supported or bills that would give the medical care and schooling they need! I guess water boarding isn't the only torture he believes in.

[Edgewater_Joe]

25. Unfortunately, CNN & MSNBC Have Bought McSameAsBush's Lie

They're running the smear exactly as McSameAsBush wants them to, calling it "sharp" and saying that Obama calling it a lie is "Obama's reply."

So much for thinking that the past week was making the McSameAsBush Ass-Likkers in the media wake up.

[Carrieyazel]

26. McCain's an "honorable" man, according to the Obama campaign.

They're responses are getting worse each time. They're afraid to really take it to McCain.

[goodgd_yall]

28. Good response

But will it get the play this ad will? Unfortunately, no.