McCain: I’ll “probably” hit Obama on Ayers tomorrow night
posted at 12:20 pm on October 14, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Politico’s trying to make it sound like McCain feels his masculinity’s been impugned and now he has no choice but to go after The One to defend his honor. Judge for yourself; the part about Ayers comes a little more than halfway through. To me, it sounds like he’s simply saying he expects the subject to come up now that it’s a topic of national discussion (sort of) and that, if it does, he’ll happily follow through. But he’s still repeating the line about Ayers being a “washed-up old terrorist,” which suggests that if he does attack, it won’t be in the context of a larger point about Obama’s radical associations but a narrow point about his truthfulness on this subject. If he’s not willing to paint a picture — Ayers, Wright, Rezko, ACORN, etc. — then all he’s arguing, really, is that Obama’s embarrassed about the fact that he used to work with Ayers and trying to downplay it now. Are a million votes going to flip because of that?
He does sound mighty chipper in the clip, though, as if he’s raring to go. Tomorrow’s debate might just be watchable. Exit question: If Bob Schieffer doesn’t bring up Ayers, will McCain force the issue?
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And I’ve done that. McCain is the best choice out of the two we are stuck with but that doesn’t mean my support has to be the full-throttled mindless bleating that is being demanded by wise_men (if ever an oxymoronic name) and other idiot partisans.
I have every right to support McCain and still be critical of him. That isn’t living in shades of gray, that is being realistic about what comes out of McCain’s strengths and weaknesses. McCain has flaws like every man and supporting him doesn’t mean I like his position on every single issue. Amnesty for example was almost a deal-breaker for me.
So why is it that you and wise_men and other partisans demand that my support has to be uncritical and unquestioning? We are supposed to question our leaders and our political candidates as well. If you really are an adult what is it you fear about critical commentary about McCain? Afraid the man can’t stand up to the hype you all have manufacutured in your zeal to gloss over the fact that he really doesn’t represent the rank-and-file Republican?
highhopes on October 14, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Exactly right. The media is covering the voter fraud, but not identifying the party (natch), but that’s good enough because the media has disseminated the pertinent information: Acorn is corrupt. All McCain has to do is tie Obama and the Dems to it to kick start the discussion. Same with Fannie and Freddie which is an easy segue:
http://www.freddiemac.com/news/archives/afford_housing/2005/20050428_phoenix.html
Dash on October 14, 2008 at 1:45 PM
I’ve answered that false claim of yours many times. And you keep ignoring the reply and substituting your own explanation. And then call me a troll. I just don’t get you. Its like you refuse to see logic.
wise_man on October 14, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Even for you that is an incredibly ignorant comment. You’ve really reached a new low you mindless prick. I’m through with wasting my time with your endless stream of partisan parnoia, intellectually dishonest commentary, and unimaginative insults. Vote for Obama or not. Think I’m an Obama supporter or not. My conscience is clear and I know exactly what kind of a troll you are.
highhopes on October 14, 2008 at 1:49 PM
I think it was ManylyRash that said that no matter who is elected, we will have to watch them 100% of the time. Win or lose, you will hear a different tune from me then as opposed to now. BUT then is then and now is now. To speak disparagingly of our candidate now is no different than astroturfing. No way around that statement.
CC
CapedConservative on October 14, 2008 at 1:50 PM
To accept the campaigning mistakes of our candidate, rather than letting him know what he’s doing wrong, is worse.
We have already held our tongues about McCain for a long, long time. People refrained from commenting too much when he launched into his “paths to citizenship” for illegals the minute he got a little lead in the polls. We kept quiet about the many things we vehemently disagree with him about. But the campaign is something else. And assuring people that BHO is no threat in the Oval Office is idiotic. BHO is a threat. He will certainly drive this country into the ground (ten trillion in debt with an anti-growth/pro-spending set of policies coming out of Washington – where do you think that goes in a few years?).
progressoverpeace on October 14, 2008 at 1:59 PM
Say what you will, but I haven’t been participating in doing the same things as the democrats who want McCain to lose have also been doing. I haven’t lied about McCain. I haven’t tried to plant the seeds of doubt and hammer on wedge issues with McCain and conservatives. As well as other examples. And you can’t make that claim.
wise_man on October 14, 2008 at 1:59 PM
You know the biggest difference between the Republicans and Democrats?
You don’t hear any Democrat with the exception of the pissed off Hillary supporters complaining about Obama. They accept him … warts and all.
Texas Gal on October 14, 2008 at 2:05 PM
And, further, it has been extremely frustrating to watch McCain give up on the things he was right on. He stopped his campaign and flew back to Washington to do his actual job. That was the right thing to do. He abandoned that. He said that Cox should be fired from the SEC. That was right. Not nearly the whole picture, but perfectly correct, anyway. McCain abandoned that one. He said that people should be held accountable. That is right. Then he never points out anyone who is really responsible – and the pickings are easy on that one. There are responsible people all over the place, on TV all the time. He left that line. And on and on.
progressoverpeace on October 14, 2008 at 2:08 PM
If I had your email address, I would forward to you what I have sent to the RNC and to the McCain campaign. That is the proper place to air those views AT THIS TIME. To do so in a more public forum only serves to work towards suppressing turnout (intended or not).
CC
CapedConservative on October 14, 2008 at 2:09 PM
Schieffer won’t bring it up any more than he’d bring up the Keating 5, as it isn’t his job to go on the attack against either candidate. So it’ll have to be McCain who brings it up.
starfleet_dude on October 14, 2008 at 2:16 PM
progressoverpeace on October 14, 2008 at 1:59 PM
Romeo13 on October 14, 2008 at 2:16 PM
Yes, I understand the reasoning. I don’t think the RNC reads the mail, or cares what anyone has to say. I’m sure you know when I developed that view. I also don’t think that the comments, here, affect turnout among the consevatives too much. Maybe I’m wrong.
progressoverpeace on October 14, 2008 at 2:18 PM
Sorry… quote screwup… the last was supposed to be addressed to Progress…. not in quotes itself.
Romeo13 on October 14, 2008 at 2:18 PM
I have a dKos ID. I find it “productive” to spend time there pumping Obama and how he is going to win in a landslide and how the “Rethuglicans” are going down all over. I do that in hopes that, moonbats being moonbats, will decide that staying home and smoking a bowl will be more fun than going out to vote since the outcome is a foregone conclusion.
CC
CapedConservative on October 14, 2008 at 2:21 PM
I figured, though the first quote isn’t mine. But you make an excellent point about the new issues. These are different times.
progressoverpeace on October 14, 2008 at 2:25 PM
LOL… trying to type while on a business call it not a good thing…
first quote was from an article on Foxnews… scary…
It was supposed to point out that McCain has supported this bail out… and we need to know his view on this latest development.
If he supports it? Wow… the Gov is taking equity in HEALTHY institutions… how is that NOT a move towards Socialism?
Romeo13 on October 14, 2008 at 2:29 PM
“Probably” hit Obama on Ayers?
I’ll “probably” vote Nov. 4.
Last Chance.
HornetSting on October 14, 2008 at 2:31 PM
Heh. But you have to be careful with those moonbats. They’re not really domesticated and their reactions tend to defy all reason.
progressoverpeace on October 14, 2008 at 2:32 PM
Moonbats are great served on toast with a pat of butter.
Watch out, though. They bite.
HornetSting on October 14, 2008 at 2:34 PM
Hence this 73 year old Democrat granny poll watcher beating up her counterpart Republican 75 year old grandpa poll watcher when he caught her changing a vote from McCain to Obama…
http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/30930849.html
CC – BHO: “My Muslim faith”
CapedConservative on October 14, 2008 at 2:36 PM
I didn’t say that. But I wish I had…
ManlyRash on October 14, 2008 at 2:37 PM
They re better grilled. Gotta marinate them in buttermilk beforhand to leach out the bitter cooties.
ManlyRash on October 14, 2008 at 2:38 PM
A couple of small points should Ayers be mentioned.
What all the stories and defenders gloss over by their “it was forty years ago and I was eight” routines is the fact that as Obama sat in Ayers living room in 1995 it was a short fourteen years prior that Ayers’s Weathermen friends pulled the infamous Brinks robbery of 1981 in which four, count them, four people were murdered. A simple google search of “Brinks robbery 1981″ will give you all the grim details.
Who may have been in the living room that day and who now works for Chavez in Venezuela? None other than the son of the convicted robbers, who Ayers raised, when the parents got life in prison.
If, as Obama claims, he did not know this info he was the only person in Chicago who did not. Ayers and his wife Dohrn, more vicious than Ayers, were one of Chicago’s famous families.
The other point being from
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/2293196/pinch-yourself.thtml
and this gem….
patrick neid on October 14, 2008 at 2:39 PM
Bears repeating AGAIN–Americas has had the knack of having the right person for the right time, in any given situation. Even a cursory look through our history will bear this out. The stumbles, ( Carter) merely point out the correct path we need to take. I see no reason for this election to defy that tradition.
I DO see that it’s become fashionable to decry our candidate on a regular basis, however. For you doom and gloomers I have this to say-if this indicates the depth of your support, then I question whether or not I’d want you either in my foxhole, or on my six. Not hugely concerned with anyone’s reaction, so flame away, if you so desire.
irongrampa on October 14, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Maybe McCain just doesnt have what it takes. He’ll “probably” bring this up?
I think he needs to not only touch on it, but be prepared with facts because you know Bamma is gonna have a response rehearsed.
johnnyU on October 14, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Amen, IG.
ManlyRash on October 14, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Buttermilk also tenderizes them. Grilled and smothered in a peach chutney. You can also marinate them in Scotch for a more lively dining experience.
HornetSting on October 14, 2008 at 2:46 PM
I agree but if you are conservative, McCain has done more damage to your six than those of us who are less than thrilled with him will ever do.
Valiant on October 14, 2008 at 2:48 PM
Yeah, I give McCain some leeway on this. I think that Paulson scared the living sh#t out of all of them, and I also believe that they should have been scared. I am not against the government taking such measures in dire emergencies, which I believe this was and still is (though no one has really told us the actual size of the losses, so that we can assess where we actually are), but I am exceedingly sensitive to who is sitting in the government at such times. I was very, very happy to hear McCain pushing the pro-growth ideas for the solution, forgetting the mortgage thing. That put me at ease over some of the actions taken, thus far.
My problem is that we were never given enough information to know if letting things collapse would have actually taken down the dollar (insolvency of the nation). The way Paulson was talking, he was pointing to a total destruction of our monetary system – “500 trades from Armageddon”.
The socialism that conservatives are willing to accept, as emergency acts, is scary enough that McCain ought to realize that this is a time when one cannot put a socialist in office. That would kill everything. And I mean ‘kill’ literally.
progressoverpeace on October 14, 2008 at 2:48 PM
Two points… there are two competing theories of history… which boil down to “does the great man make the times”, or “do the times make the man”… or, is it a combination of the two…
Now, what there is no historical arguement about is that Democracies always tend Socialistic in any Economic crises… its a question of how far they go due to that crises.
As to the “Foxhole” comment… sorry, but I am not in COMBAT with McCain… he’s a candidate for my vote who is making some very questionable (in my opinion) stances.
As I am not even a registered Republican, he does not automaticly get my support… he needs to earn it.
Romeo13 on October 14, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Rmeo13 on October14, 2008 at 3:oo PM
I tend to think it’s a combination of the two, but the man must have the capacity within him pursuant to the times.
Democracies, I agree- but this is a Republic, not sure the same applies.
I’d say , given the circumstances, that being all in with McCain, regardless of party registration, is a no brainer. He wasn’t my 1st choice-given his opponent, any misgivings I can set aside for later.
irongrampa on October 14, 2008 at 3:14 PM
Sorry gotta disagree that voicing criticism is the same thing as speaking disparagingly. Maybe it is because I’m more of an independent conservative than allied to the current version of the GOP (they lost me when they started spending like Democrats). I can back up my criticism with facts and reasons why I disagree with McCain’s position. Speaking disparagingly means spewing the usual round of character smears and/or saying he is running for GWB’s third term. Likewise I can point to areas where I agree with McCain on the issues but that doesn’t mean I’m an “Obama supporter” if I don’t spend all my time saying nice things about McCain- no matter how untrue or trivial.
I’ve been critical of Obama too but in the HA audience, apparently, being critical of Democrats is perfectly acceptable but criticism McCain when he says something I disagree with is tantamount to attacking Christ himself. IMO, part of being an adult and responsible voter is to NOT STFU and say only nice things about a candidate if it simply isn’t true.
As Rush suggests, I hope the outcome is that conservatives are able to drag McCain across the finish line to save the nation from Obama then immediately set out to save the GOP from McCain. I’ve already posted that I have voted absentee for McCain because he is the better choice. Nevertheless, it isn’t “astroturfing” to point out that I don’t agree with McCain on amnesty because my reasons are doing so are sound and is opined legitimately, not to get Obama elected as some of the most ignorant trolls here keep bleating.
In closing, I’ll throw this thought back at you. You’ve admitted that no matter who wins in November you won’t be the same poster then as you are now. That after November 4th you’ll once again voice criticism. How is being somebody else now than you will be in a few weeks intellectually honest? It seems to me that you are doing precisely what Democrats and the MSM does when they ignore the obvious facts about Obama to focus in on the hype. Would you say Democrats are “astroturfing” and speaking disparagingly if they question Obama’s ties to Ayers or Wright? Or would you want them to voice that criticsm before the election? How is that situation different than when a conservative points out differences with McCain? Do you really think that everybody on both sides should ignore the facts and go around keep up appearances designed solely to avoid having to deal with the hard questions and inconvenient facts?
highhopes on October 14, 2008 at 3:25 PM
O/T
So I just want to know if we can have 2 thread’s for the debate because the live streaming kill’s my laptop like crazy.
tee866 on October 14, 2008 at 3:34 PM
Drinking game line for tomorrow’s debate: “my friends” is too obvious. How about “I respect Sen. Obama?”
james23 on October 14, 2008 at 3:36 PM
reach across the aisle ?
tee866 on October 14, 2008 at 3:39 PM
I’d have to say we quit being a Republic once the Constitution was changed to make the Senate into a popularity contest, instead of Senators being the direct representative of the State Governments. States no longer have ANY direct say over Federal policy. I think that changed us from a Republic, to a Representative Democracy.
Romeo13 on October 14, 2008 at 3:50 PM
I think the word for the drinking game should be “ACORN”.
HornetSting on October 14, 2008 at 4:03 PM
I concur. And may none of us be sober by the end!
Noocyte on October 14, 2008 at 4:33 PM
Hey McCain, Ayers might be a “washed up old terrorist,” but he’s unrehabilitated and running a Marxist American Madrassa.
Wake the hell up!
Maquis on October 14, 2008 at 4:33 PM
Interesting, I just heard a Radio spot here in Colorado… Obama’s campaign spouting their Ayers talking points…
Must be getting some traction somwhere or they would not bother to answer.
Romeo13 on October 14, 2008 at 5:04 PM
IF the Ayers subject comes up, I hope Sen. McCain addresses it like so;
It’s not about Ayers, it’s about Sen. Obama’s story about his relationship that has Changed at every turn.
It’s not about Ayers’ bombing of the Pentagon and US Capitol, it’s about Sen. Obama’s alliance with a self-described communist and their teamwork to turn Chicago’s youth into marxists.
It’s not about Ayers or Wright, it’s about Sen. Obama’s tendency to seek out radical leftist, marxist friends like he articulated in his book, ‘Dreams From My Father’.
I can only hope.
cryptojunkie on October 14, 2008 at 9:20 PM
Way to telegraph your punches, Senator McCain. Perhaps just posing the exact question/statement to him tonight, so that he can practice his Messianic Retort will make Obama know just how serious the gloves have come off. More and more I doubt whether the problem is the campaign, the candidate, or both…
CapitalistPig on October 14, 2008 at 10:43 PM
And Senator, while you are “at it”, try to fit in
some remarks re. abortion, judicial appointments, gun control, and illegal immigration.
diogenes on October 15, 2008 at 9:00 AM
AOL’s running a poll about this today. Should he bring it up? Currently 51-49 yes. Is this an issue you care about? 60/40 say no. Poll link:
http://news.aol.com/elections/debates/article/mccain-to-mention-ayers-in-debate/211203
EconomicNeocon on October 15, 2008 at 10:07 AM
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