The McCain campaign will only get worse and worse and here's why ...

[Ian_rd]

There are many people already wondering if the Obama campaign's forceful response to this latest dirty turn by the McCain campaign will force McCain back into a more civil and substantive campaign. It won't. I saw this turn by McCain coming a week ago and it will only get worse.

McCain once prided himself on running a clean campaign. And in apparent respects, he did exactly that in 2000 against Bush. But while he retained his principles, he lost the election to the kind of smears and dirty tricks that he decried. And so, as much as anyone, John McCain is unable to avoid the following conclusions:

1. A principled campaign is one based on substantive issues.
2. As with most Republicans, John McCain cannot win if the campaign is about substantive issues.
3. Dirty tricks and smear campaigns produce favorable results when substance does not.

And so he had the following choices:

1. Sell his soul and possibly win.
2. Retain his soul and likely lose.

Likely, McCain knew all of the above in 2000, and yet he still ran a clean campaign and went out with his campaign principles intact. But 2008 is different than 2000 for McCain for central reason: He has made the choice to abandon his principles. If McCain dipped his toes into Rovian waters with his ad starring Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, then he became completely submerged with his ad accusing Obama of wanting to teach first-graders how to have sex. And so the question of integrity in his campaign has already been decided: Integrity has been jettisoned with McCain's ambition to win. His soul has been sold.

Therefore, in 2008, McCain has the following choices:

1. Sell his soul and possibly win.
2. Sell his soul and possibly lose.

It's a no-brainer. There is no longer anything ethically holding him back from the dirtiest campaign we've ever seen.

And so, it will only get worse. This latest tactic is an attempt to drag Obama down into a mud fight, hoping that he takes the bait into remaking the contest into a smear war. Such a contest would neutralize the issue-advantage Obama has, bring Obama's favorability ratings down to McCain's level, and bring the fight to GOP home turf where they thrive: character assassinations. Obama can't win that fight, and McCain knows it.

If the Obama campaign is smart - and by all indications they are - then they will continue to do exactly what they're doing: running ads lamenting the very negative nature of McCain's campaign, and highlighting the lies his ads contain. This serves to turn McCain's negative ads against McCain himself, letting him wallow around in the mud all alone, watching his favorability ratings drop further - essentially making McCain attack himself. Obama needs to attack, but in substantive ways - which they are doing with the Keating ads - tying the attacks to substantive issues.

[RoadRage]

1. Hillary had the exact same strategy.. and it didn't work for her either.

McCain knows he's lost this election.. and he knows that slinging mud at Obama doesn't work.. he only has to look at the primary's to see how mud doesn't stick to Obama. That's the advantage of being "new and inexperienced".. not a whole lot to get dirty.

Nope, the reason we're seeing all of the mud here, is because of ONE reason: John McCain's Temper.

He's Pissed.

He's pissed that he's now lost a 2nd election.. and he's pissed that he's been turned into the guy he dispises a lying piece of shit with no morals.

And, we all know how McCain replies when he's mad.. he stomps his feet and throws a temper tantrum.. which is exactly what he's doing right now. He can't control it.. it's an impulse, and every single thing he can throw at the wall right now, he will do.. because it makes him feel better.

Fine. He's still gonna lose, because Obama is the Ying to McCain's Yang.

Everytime McCain responds with temper and impulse Obama uses Political Ju-Jitsu on his ass, and calmly but forcefully uses his own weight against him to make him look like a fool.

McCain throws Ayers.. Obama calmly says "Keating". McCain throws an investigation into donors, Obama calmly replies with $1.1 million returned McCain donations. McCain throws "campaign suspension" and Obama just stands back and let's him fall flat on the mat without even trying to catch him on that poorly executed kick.

It's fun to watch a 9th degree blackbelt go up against a novice who things he's a ninja - but really is just a kid in a Halloween costume.

[Ian_rd]

2. I think McCain might be deliberately mimicking Hillary's campaign actually ...

... because it almost worked. This is McCain's version of Hillary's "kitchen sink." Obama deflected the barrage - but it was a pretty close call. I think McCain might be betting that the sink does better in a general election. But I'm confident that Obama has seen this coming and by all appearances, his campaign has his kitchen sink rapid response kit already packaged and ready to go.

[FloridaGrl]

4. It's the kitchen sink of course

but this time we have an economic crisis at hand. It's the reality of the day and it will not just go away. People are now watching to see who has the best strategy to help the country and these smears only shows that the McCain camp has no substantive plans for the ailing economy.

[RoadRage]

5. Yeah.. but this is the same "sink" he's trying to throw again..

and it's not new info. If people didn't buy the BS last spring.. they're not going to buy it now. And, he has nothing new... Obama is an open book (that he pretty much wrote himself).

[OHdem10]

3. Your theory is absolutely true. However, every election

Democrats have gone into the election having the edge in their favor.

Liberals have the best policies. Yet the GOP have won all but Clinton
and Carter elections since the 60s

My point is you cannot count on anything.