The most interesting part of all this is in the second video when McCain strongly intimates that some guy who goes to "Georgetown cocktail parties" isn't a conservative. This is the curse of essentalism, and any fan of hip-hop is familiar with it in the form of the cliche of "Keeping It Real." You start by claiming liberals aren't patriotic. Then you counter every claim made against you by dressing yourself in the garb of POW. By the end your claiming people who've been down with you for decades are actually fraudulent. Only you could possibly represent, decency and honor. There is a dictatorial quality to the whole thing.
Fortunately we still live in America, and that act right there, appeals to no one who didn't already believe you. This is what losers do when they're getting creamed--they get pissed at the refs for doing their job. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the McCain know that they're going to lose, and are basically just letting it rip now. Look at dude. He's not doing a single thing in those clips to help himself. He's just angry. He's just out control Can people please stop asking for Barack Obama to "get angry" now? It doesn't look good when McCain does it. It won't look any better when the black guy does it either.
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Notice he does his lizard thing when he talks about his ad on the sex ed smear.
Why does he nod so much when the questions are being asked.
And he actually listed the PTA as experience???
Excuse me?
As if George Will wasn't disappointed enough in McCain/Palin.
I've been saying the same thing about Obama playing it cool for a while now as well. I understand the desire from some on my side to want our candidate to express some righteous anger, but Obama didn't get to where he was in this race by venting. The reality is that Obama can't lose his cool, can't seem to be mad, or the ridiculous among us will turn him into the image of a ranting madman. And if that doesn't work for an older white man like McCain, imagine how bad it would backfire for a younger black man like Obama.
I agree. I think McCain is just wearing down under the strain and his attitude is shifting to "To Hell with it."
I wonder if we're going to see any major blow ups or just a continued simmer along these lines?
Only you could possibly represent, decency and honor.
Good post but that is an odd use of commas.
I agree, but I hope Obama's skin is still tough from the battle with Hillary's more dubious "friends"...
... because as Ambinder is indicating as I type, the big final smear has begun:
Conservative Group Targets Obama With Ayers, Wright Associations
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/conservative_group_targets_oba.php
I hate to think what my mother's and sister's Inboxes is going to look like during these next five weeks...
This is the wrong group to get 'snippy' with; they aren't having it.
The cocktail party line was for those 'honest' conservatives who can't take it anymore. Trying to bitchslap them back in line.
Something tells me that he's not going to get the Des Moines Register's endorsement.
He's such an asshole.
"you're wrong," and "I'm right."
What's with him saying, he "fundamentally disagrees," all the time? As if that projects strength in his ignorance. He even said she was on the PTA as evidence of her experience.
For the last three elections I keep thinking, well if the conservatives win they will ruin the country and Dems will rule for a generation. And yet this is not how it works. They continue to ruin and there is no accountability or responsibility.
So now I get it. This man must not win.
You appear to have missed his delightful answer to an admittedly oddly posed question about his position regarding government-provided healthcare.
The seventh comment at the link "Well, I’ve never been to Spain ..." basically wins the thread.
Don't you love how the McCain campaign used to use the huge crowds and popularity of Obama to attack him as some sort of celebrity and claimed he was "out of touch".
Now that the shoe is on the other foot, the large crowds are signs of the the American people's approval, regardless of what the polls say.
As for people who have spent too much time in Washington; how about our Senator of 26 years, John McCain?
You didn't include the href warren. No linky. :(
The first clip T-NC links is scary: McCain is caught out in his lies and responds by just seething with hatred of his interviewer.
The second clip is just sad: McCain is delusional. My favorite is his citing the pipeline that will bring natural gas to the lower 48. Construction on the pipeline hasn't begun, Alaska is on the hook for the money even if nothing is ever built, and the pipeline is planned to terminate in Canada, not in the lower 48. Other than that, McCain's in complete command of the facts.
Maybe McCain is too senile to really understand what's going on.
Is he aware that he's even running for President.... lol!
I can't help being wryly amusing by McCain's dogged insistence, when queried about the veracity of some of his claims by the Des Moines Register interviewer, that he has never, ever departed from the truth in this campaign (the Straight Talk Express doesn't do detours!). Sure, taking words out of context may not be lying, but there's a whole world of difference between 'not lying' and 'telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth'. In fact, 'lying' with the truth is probably the worst form of lying since it is purposefully designed to deceive the hearer in a manner that an outright fib rarely will. It's sad that John McCain - that erstwhile standard bearer of honour! - has fallen so low.
What the heck was he saying about FDR never going on television at the end of clip 2? Did I misunderstand or is he even more delusional than first meets the eye?
I understand the desire from some on my side to want our candidate to express some righteous anger, but Obama didn't get to where he was in this race by venting.
===
Yep. You don't convince fence-sitters by being angry. A good old rant is fun...for about two minutes. Then it gets tired and sad. Only die-hards want to hear that stuff day in and day out.
I remember a story about Jay Leno waaaaay back when he took over the Tonight Show. Leno was getting whacked for being, well, not as funny as he was as a stand-up comedian. And Leno owned up to it - yes, he was funnier doing stand-up. He said something like, "It's a different job. On the Tonight Show you're literally in people's bedrooms. You're the last thing they see before they go to sleep. Being abrasive works in stand-up, but it wears people out night after night."
I think there's something to that in politics. McCain's maverick schtick can be fun as a sideshow. But a steady diet of it? No thanks. I'm projecting, but I think McCain's circus act last week changed a few minds. Can you imagine four years of that frenetic nonsense? How exhausting.
What I see in McCain is a man who hasn't been challenged much in many years. And what challenges he's faced, have been faced in one-on-one situations where he can simply intimidate the other person into giving way. That doesn't fly here. The cameras are rolling, it can't be intimidated.
With regard to anger, it isn't about not having anger, it's where and how you let it show, and to what purpose. For example, the speech that Obama gave at the VA after being accused of putting politics ahead of what's good for the country. Remember when he said, "I love my country!" There was a lot of emotion in that sentence. There was some anger, which is the sense that someone has gone too far, and violated you.
It was entirely appropriate to be angry at someone who calls you a traitor. But he lets it go there. It has limits. It isn't about intimidating you into doing something.
Ha, this apparently is when keeping it real goes wrong. McCain is the damn Georgetown cocktail party type.
But this is further evidence of the ineptitude of the McCain campaign. Hell, the fact that he's talking to an Iowa newspaper in the first place shows that no one knows what they doing over in McCainland. I mean, I don't care if Bush won it last time, Iowa is not a swing state fool! Obama has something like a ten point lead last time I checked. McCain's never held a lead there. A possible newspaper endorsement ain't about to change that. There was no upside to this interview. Only the big downside of clips like this popping up on the internets.
Oh, and according to Sean from fivethirtyeight, the little lizard tongue thing that McCain does is probably a tell. He does it after he thinks he got away with something.
Oh yeah, and Ellen, the FDR thing was a reference to Joe Biden stating incorrectly that FDR gave a speech on TV in 1929 after the stock market crash.
Let's try this again:
McCain's delightful answer to an admittedly oddly posed question about his position regarding government-provided healthcare
P.S. This time I used the Preview function, so I see that my normal html doesn't work here; adding quotation marks around the URL in the href function made it work.
What I see in McCain is a man who hasn't been challenged much in many years.
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That's funny, I said exactly that this morning talking to a friend. I think he is surrounded by a bubble of people who are awed by his POW hero status, and he doesn't hear a lot of dissent...not for long, anyway.
FWIW I think a challenge for any leader throughout history is how to make sure you're not just being told what you want to hear. The good ones aren't afraid of being challenged, the bad ones make sure they never are.
Never believe your own press releases.
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What the heck was he saying about FDR never going on television at the end of clip 2? Did I misunderstand or is he even more delusional than first meets the eye?
===
That's a half-hearted attempt to nail Biden for one of his recent gaffes - Biden mentioned FDR going on TV during the Depression.
Can people please stop asking for Barack Obama to "get angry" now?
Amen. This seems to have a whole lot more to do with (albeit, some) liberals wanting to get some of their own back and a whole lot less to do with winning elections. They just wanted a chance to yell and scream at Republicans on a national stage.
Same with the Hillary dead-enders who came out of the woodwork the second McCain's convention bounce put him up over Obama for a whole 8 seconds and claim, again, that Obama had made the mother of all mistakes my not tapping her. What it was really about was another chance to trot out their never-ending quest to prove that It's All About Hillary for them.
a controlled, tactical expression of anger is a very useful tool. all good communicators use it.
clinton...reagan...truman...ted kennedy...malcolm x...mlk...muhammad ali...
it works, but it has to be done in a calculated fashion.
it cannot simply explode, haphazardly, out of nowhere.
obama WOULD benefit greatly, imho, if he were to use this tool.
at a time and place of his choosing.
what we see with mccain, in these videos and in other instances, is an example of a guy with a temper, on the verge of losing that temper.
that is a very, very different circumstance than expressing anger in a fashion that moves your agenda forward.
mccain is just losing it.
obama is, at this juncture, benefiting from his defensive style of politics. his opponent is screwing up royally, and obama is simply playing defense and letting it happen.
you see this same dynamic in sports all of the time, and that is why so many coaches choose to employ defensive strategies. often, an opponent does self-destruct, and a defensive posture allows one to capitalize and exploit those mistakes.
what we are going to see now is more of this historically brutal, dishonest campaign from mccain. and what is going to follow is going to make lee atwater look like michael dukakis.
what is that old bette davis line? better buckle up, cause it's going to be a bumpy ride!
we'll see how the american public reacts, and how well obama weathers it.
Wow...dude is so pissed...I mean..he was rocking back and forth...and Barack does not have get mad...the people are getting mad for him...that little 300 dollar check I got back in 2000 from push is about to cost me 10G...I pissed enough for Barack...Barack needs to stay cool...no need to bust out at the end of the debate...and say "Wu-Tang"
Interesting seeing those two clips together for comparison. You can tell he's actually redfaced in that second clip.
I don't think we're going to see Obama get angry, because I don't think he IS angry. I think he is focused and determined. When I want to see him angry is AFTER the inauguration when I would like for him throw the moneychangers out of the temple, as it were....
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say the McCain know that they're going to lose, and are basically just letting it rip now."
I've thought the same thing twice in the last four days.
I thought it when I read about dinner with Joe and Hadassah at Cafe MoZU, known for Café MoZU in Washington, offering "sophisticated pan-Asian at the opulent Mandarin Oriental Hotel," during Saturday night's negotiations.
I thought it today when I read his interview in the Washington Blade.
The Republican base will resent both, and they make most sense if the candidate no longer cares.
If I had to play a word association game with typical Dem and Republican blogs it would be this. Republicans: Unreality. Dems: Handwringing.
I'm a dem supporter but god we have some bed wetters, they are frightened of everything. The Republicans just coddle themselves with lies. Get real here. The vp debate is a side show that can do McCain very little good and could sink him. Palin has been defined in the public consciousness, I don't care how well she does and at best it will be mediocre, she's Tina Fey. If she has some more Couric eye blinkers it's all over. If you don't think this girl is going to be nervous you must be totally insensitive and nervous people who aren't too bright make mistakes. Biden, all the whining about gaffes, what do you think he's going to do, start hitting on her. He's going to essentially ignore her unless he sees an opening and then he's going to hit the ball into her court and she's going to flounder. This girl is a peabrain, even pea brains can fake it sometimes but not up against Joe Biden in front of 50 million people after seven days of cramming. Anyone remember Citizen Kane when the Italian singing coach is trying to teach Susan Alexander grand opera. Impossible. Impossible. Impossible. Chill out, at best it's a draw at worst (for McCain) it's over.
I have used the Jackie Robinson analogy a lot. Let me use one more analogy: Tiger Woods.
When Tiger wins a major tournament (Masters, US open, British open, PGA championship), he has never lost a lead. It is rare that he shoots a great score-- usually a round around par --in the final round. He plays his game-- but what happens is his opponents take chances, and they wind up shooting themselves in the foot by shooting really high scores.
Sounds like that is what's happening here. Imagine if McCain picked Romney.
Watch this CSPAN video. Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and democrats are definitely to be blame back in 2004 for stopping the regulation of Fannie and Freddie and the mainstream media do not even care to report. Obama is part of the problem and not solution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p1Wc2NFa3w
Explosive Video, Fannie Mae CEO calling Obama and the Dems the "Family" and "Conscience" of Fannie Mae
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn2ODtyIH0o
I can understand if Senator McCain is frustrated because the media is so biased.
I believe that him and Gov. Sarah will fight for the people and cleanup Congress.
McCain reminded me a bit of Bobby Knight in a post-game interview. All leaning close to the mike as if to lord over his interviewers. His comments dripping with sarcasm and contempt, thinly veiled in a layer of bad humor that only he finds funny. Just put a sweater vest on him.
McCain's team is getting bounced out of the tourney early, just like Bobby's used to. Watch out for flying chairs!
Ta-Nehisi,
This post of yours made it to the "Best of the Blogs" section on RealClearPolitics, so congratulations.
Regarding this comment of yours though,
"You start by claiming liberals aren't patriotic."
When has McCain ever said that? The last prominent politician I can think of who claimed her opponents weren't patriotic was a liberal -- Nancy Pelosi, last weekend.
I too am angry at the news media's attitude. I am angry about hostile questions repeated as if not answered the first time to their satisfaction. I am angry that only one set of candidates is subjected to this kind of questioning. I am angry about the lipstick on a pig remark and other attemps to goad McCain into unleashing his reported temper. I am angry about unfair and false allegations about Sarah Palin's children. I am angry that Obama is never asked about Rezko, Ayers, his Arab money men, his foreign campaign contributors, his fake campaign contributors, his payoffs from Fannie Mae, his cocaine use, his birth certificate, his strongarm tactics against anyone publishing news items unfriendly to his campaign, such as most recently in Missouri, his busing of Illinois residents to vote in the Iowa caucuses, and any other questionable things for which his darlings in the news media will not hold him to account, but yes they will make sure that John McCain is brought under their Inquisition and every word that he utters will be scrutinized, parsed, second guessed, and searched for hidden lies or repressed neuroses, and that Sarah Palin must be burned at the stake outright. This is the most disgusting campaign I have seen in my sixty three years of life, and the chief object of my disgust is that group of sophists, cynics, hypocrits, and partisans who call themselves journalists.
Senator McCain handled these liberal elitist in a very kind way. If I were in his shoes I would have been much more forceful in letting them know just what kind of scum of the earth that I believed that they are. The so-called journalist in this election cycle had better hope that the black racist marxist socialist frsud obama is able to steal this election, because otherwise they are not going to be very popular with a McCain whitehouse or the electorate that puts McCain there. This cycle has been one of the worst in history for a media trying to influence a nation. Its time for the media to be unbiased and report the facts that the people have repeatedly requested: Ayers, Rezko, Wright, Annenburg, racist ideology, black power, black panther association, muslim associations, its past time to vet this fraud called obama. America is not stupid, and that fact will be shown come Nov.
Used2bdemocrat
I am angry about hostile questions repeated as if not answered the first time to their satisfaction. - Bigfoot
As a member of the press, I say with all due respect, you could not be more wrong. Up through the 1970s, when a reporter asked a politician a question, there were two responses: they answered the question, or they said "No comment." Since the 1980s, politicians have been perfecting the art of responding to questions by just saying whatever the hell they have on their minds, regardless of what was asked, and journalists are supposed to just meekly write it down and report it. Screw that. John McCain has spent the last month assaulting the members of the media as un-American pointy-headed elitists and lying to their faces, and they've finally had enough and are starting to insist he answer the questions they ask. I say good job. Maybe we reporters can now start to actually do our jobs again.
mccain looks even worse than he actually was because people now have Obama's calm, mature, zen-like qualities to contrast him with. And in these times, zen wins. McCain just does not get it. He does not get that constantly looking angry, referring to fighting, and making these self-righteous references to his suffering in POWcamp are not what people want in times of crisis, especailly because we're in this crisis partially as a result of seven years of warmongering and violence.("I spent a part of my life with very bad health insurance" geez, get off that schtick already! You sound like the guy at the party everybody tries to avoid).
I think Obama is suddenly doing so well in the polls because people have wanted a reason to vote for him without reservation. McCain has given it to them these last few weeks. I think the calm he projected during the debate sealed the deal.
It's just the subtext of his freaking campaign theme, Dave. The only point of constantly carrying on about how you put "country first" is to imply that your opponents do not. Also, how is his constantly repeated smear that Obama would rather lose a war than an election anything but a cheap claim that Obama isn't patriotic?
Obama's too highminded to make the obvious judo move on McCain, but I'm not: Right now the situation continiues to get worse in Afghanistan. The NATO commander there is begging for troops to turn things around, but they're not available because they're tied up in Iraq. John McCain still defends the decision to take our eye off the ball in Afghanistan and and tie up our troops in an uneccessary war in Iraq. Looks like John McCain would rather lose a war than admit to an error in judgement.
SeanH,
McCain has explicitly said Obama is patriotic. Ta-Nehisi wrote this,
"You start by claiming liberals aren't patriotic."
If he's going to make an accusation like that, he should back it up with an example, if he has one. Claiming "subtext" doesn't cut it -- especially since Ta-Nehisi seems sanguine about Pelosi's statements last weekend.
Regarding Afghanistan, neither candidate has presented a realistic strategy. The idea that the problems there stem from a lack of troops raises an obvious question: why have things deteriorated there as we and Nato have increased the number of troops on the ground dramatically over the last few years? The country was more stable years ago when we had fewer troops on the ground.
You're confused. No one asked for Obama to start waggling his jowls back and forth, all frothy at the mouth and purple in the face from the high-volume screeching. No sir.
We wanted him to go on the attack. Don't just play lame defense to every fake Republican strike about inexperience or hating America or freakin' Terrorist Fist Jabs or whatever lie they dream up. That's the Kerry move, and it's quite '90s. Obama has gone on the attack pretty well now and again.
Despite hippie paranoia that any aggressive statement makes a Dem look angry and scary as a rabid Grizzly, sitting on your ass in the lotus position askin' for a hug from across the aisle has gotten us jack. No one respects it.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to beat a co-worker comatose for his improper apostrophes.