14 posts tagged “mccain”
There are few, if any, things one can do to undermine democracy that would be worse than denying citizens the right to vote. And yet this is precisely what the Republican Party is trying to do. They figure, if you can't win an election fairly, then steal it. This is something they cannot be allowed to get away with. All this shrieking and hand-wringing from Republicans about ACORN and illegal aliens committing voter fraud is ... well, trying to keep my PG rating, I'll say, balderdash.
As I've mentioned before, this is the very issue at the heart of the U.S. Attorney firing scandal, which has yet to be fully resolved. One of the USAs fired, David Iglesias of New Mexico, described it this way:
"I'm astounded that this issue is being trotted out again," Iglesias told TPMmuckraker. "Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it's a scare tactic."
The Obama campaign has responded to this latest round of voter fraud accusations:
"With this voter fraud [investigation], we're seeing an unholy alliance of law enforcement and the ugliest form of partisan politics," Bob Bauer, an elections lawyer with the Obama camp, said on a conference call with reporters just now. Bauer compared the decision to launch the investigation with the US attorneys scandal, in which several US attorneys were fired for their unwillingess to pursue politically charged cases, including voter fraud, with sufficient aggression to satisfy the Bush administration.
Bauer released a letter sent to Attorney General Michael Mukasey calling on him to have the issue taken on by Nora Dannehy, the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the US attorney firings.
The U.S. Supreme Court has also weighed in on the Republican efforts to suppress the vote in Ohio:
The Supreme Court on Friday overturned a lower court’s order requiring state officials in Ohio to supply information that would have made it easier to challenge prospective voters. The decision was a setback for Ohio Republicans, who had sued to force the Ohio secretary of state, a Democrat, to provide information about database mismatches to county officials.
The fact is that the whole voter fraud scare is nothing but smoke and mirrors. It makes no sense if you think about it logically, but of course the Republican Party operatives who promote this are counting on people not thinking about it at all, but simply reacting emotionally to it. Dahlia Lithwick has an excellent article in Slate on the issue, in which she says:
Large-scale, coordinated vote stealing doesn't happen. The incentives—unlike the incentives for registration fraud—just aren't there. In an interview this week with Salon, Lorraine Minnite of Barnard College, who has studied vote fraud systematically, noted that "between 2002 to 2005 only one person was found guilty of registration fraud. Twenty others were found guilty of voting while ineligible and five were guilty of voting more than once. That's 26 criminal voters." Twenty-six criminal voters despite the fact that U.S. attorneys, like David Iglesias in New Mexico, were fired for searching high and low for vote-fraud cases to prosecute and coming up empty. Twenty-six criminal voters despite the fact that five days before the 2006 election, then-interim U.S. Attorney Bradley Schlozman exuberantly (and futilely) indicted four ACORN workers, even when Justice Department policy barred such prosecutions in the days before elections. RNC General Counsel Sean Cairncross has said he is unaware of a single improper vote cast because of bad cards submitted in the course of a voter-registration effort. Republican campaign consultant Royal Masset says, "[I]n-person voter fraud is nonexistent. It doesn't happen, and ... makes no sense because who's going to take the risk of going to jail on something so blatant that maybe changes one vote?"
That doesn't stop the McCain-Palin campaign from trying to use ACORN as a boogeyman to whip up anger on the right. Plus, it goes hand in hand with their demonization of illegal aliens. Anonymous Liberal puts it in perspective:
Some suggest that this willing army of criminals might be recruited from the ranks of illegal aliens or unnaturalized citizens, people who are not eligible to vote. That's nonsense. Illegal aliens live in constant fear of being discovered and deported. Good luck getting an illegal alien to submit a registration form much less actually go to a polling station. And legal residents have very similar fears. Voter fraud is a deportable offense. These folks value their immigration status more than anything in the world and would never risk it in order to cast a vote.
And now the right-wing fringe is acting on the provocation from McCain and Palin by threatening and vandelizing ACORN offices. These kinds of tactics deserve to wind up on the trash heap of history. There's nothing honorable or American about it.
With poll after poll in the last couple of weeks showing Obama-Biden with a widening lead over McCain-Palin, McCain's campaign has taken a particularly nasty turn. Unable to present a coherent message about the economic meltdown, jumping erratically from one tactic to another, both McCain and Palin have been trying to attack Obama with appeals to fear and hate that are truly disgraceful. The connection to former 60s Weatherman, William Ayers, that they are putting so much emphasis on is an irrelavent distraction. For some first hand, authoritative comment see this letter to the NY Times from William C. Ibershof, who was the lead prosecutor on the Weathermen case in the 70s:
I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.
Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.
Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago.
That this tenuous association is being used in campaign advertising is bad enough, but McCain and Palin are beating this issue like a drum at their campaign rallies, working their supporters into a frenzy, and making many people very concerned, such as Joe Klein:
Watch the tape of the guy screaming, "He's a terrorist!" McCain seems to shudder at that, he rolls his eyes... and I thought for a moment he'd admonish the man. But he didn't. And now he's selling the Ayres non-story full-time. Yes, yes, it's all he has. True enough: he no longer has his honor. But we are on the edge of some real serious craziness here and it would be nice if McCain did the right thing and told his more bloodthirsty supporters to go home and take a cold shower. But McCain hasn't done the right thing all year. His campaign is appalling, as the New York Times editorial board said today--and more, it is a national disgrace.
And this from Glenn Greenwald:
Just look at the videotapes of the angry, hateful hordes attending these rallies — screaming that Obama is a socialist; that he’s both a Muslim and a terrorist as proven by his “bloodline” and his name; that his supporters are “commie faggots”; that he’s guilty of treason; underscored by increasing racial invective and even punctuated in one case by a call from an audience member for someone to be killed. These aren’t just isolated individuals; these sentiments are common at these rallies and becoming increasingly virulent and enraged — at the rallies and otherwise:
Here's what makes this tactic truly reprehensible: McCain knows the accusations aren't true, any more than the allegation made in the 2000 campaign that he had fathered an illigitimate black baby. But he is allowing certain people, represented by the crowds at their recent campaign rallys, to believe they are true in hopes of gaining a political advantage. Disgraceful.
We've been warned: the presidential race between now and election day is going to be attack, Attack, ATTACK! Many Democrats have criticized Obama for not taking the fight more aggressively to John McCain. It may be a good sign that Barack, seems not to have let the advice of nervous supporters sway him from his overall strategy, because in retrospect, it seems that what he has done was the right thing at the time. Obama said the following in Asheville, North Carolina, today in reference to the McCain campaign's desire to turn the page from focusing on the dismal economy:
Think about that for a second. Turn the page on the economy? We’re facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and John McCain wants us to "turn the page?" Well, I know the policies he’s supported these past eight years and wants to continue are pretty hard to defend. I can understand why Senator McCain would want to "turn the page" and ignore this economy.
But I also know this:
You’re trying to pay your bills every week and stay above the water – you can’t ignore it.
You’re worrying about whether your job will be there a month from now – you can’t ignore it.
You’re worrying about whether you can pay your mortgage and stay in your house – you can’t turn the page.
[...]
Senator McCain and his operatives are gambling that he can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance ... It’s what you do when you’re out of touch, out of ideas, and running out of time.
Sarah Palin wasted no time going into attack mode (via DailyKos):
"Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country," Palin told a rally of about 10,000 gathered at a tennis stadium in Carson, a suburb of Los Angeles.
And the basis for Palin's attack? Besides desperation and falling poll numbers, I mean? A New York Times article about William Ayers and Obama that concluded the two men "do not appear to have been close." In other words, living in the same neighborhood and serving on the same charitable boards does not mean you're "palling around" with someone, nor does it mean you endorse their actions from 40 years ago.
And if Sarah Palin wants to talking about palling around with people who find America less than perfect, then it's time to talk about her association with the Alaska Independence Party (AIP), the secessionist group whose founder, Joe Vogler once said:
The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government...and I won't be buried under their damn flag...
I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions.
Palin's complete dealings with the group isn't entirely clear, and unfortunately we can't ask Mr. Vogler about it since he was murdered in a plastic explosives sale gone bad," but we do know this: Sarah Palin probably attended the AIP convention 1994, the McCain campaign admits she attended in 2000, and as governor, Palin taped a welcoming message to them in 2006.
Via CNN:
The Statement: Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin said Saturday, October 4, that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is "someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."
Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are.
And then there's the Al Franken approach to responding to personal attacks:
An almost unchallenged tenet of the McCain campaign is John McCain's unwavering support for American military personnel. McCain said in the first presidential debate:
"... I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I'll take care of them, and I have been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans, and I love them, and I'll take care of them, and they know that I'll take care of them."
Brandon Friedman at VetVoice takes exception:
This statement--made near the end of Friday's debate--immediately infuriated veterans across America and overseas. In fact, Senator John McCain has a very clear, long, and illustrious history of not supporting troops and veterans one bit.
Friedman has compiled an extensive list of McCain's record on issues related to active military, veterans' issues, and foreign policy that is really damning. It's much too long to summarize, you can see it here. According to Crooks and Liars:
Seriously, you’ll want to read and cite this list often. His support for veterans and troops is a big part of McCain’s pitch but in reality it’s simply mythology created out of whole cloth.
As you consider Sarah Palin's qualifications for Vice President, you should probably pay extra attention to her qualifications to be President, as in sooner rather than later. Several people have remarked on something unusual going on with John McCain's left eye lately. Here's a take from a commenter at AmericaBlog identified as an M.D.
I would like to say something about the facial tics and twitching before I approach your video today. His left eye seems to have a significant tic or twitch much of the time. It is on the same side as his surgery to remove a melanoma - as you can see by the scar. Senator McCain may also have had radiation to the area during his treatment. There are two critical facial nerves that go right through that area - Cranial Nerve V and Cranial Nerve VII. Either one of those could have been damaged by the surgery and or radiation - and cause what we see today.
[...]
I actually viewed the bumbling around the stage episode on TV while I was leaning over a patient today - and was somewhat concerned. In light of the fact that this occurred just seconds after the facial issues that you documented in the other video is very very disturbing. Let me put it like this. If I had seen a 70-75 year old man do that in front of me in the emergency room - that gentleman would be immediately admitted for what is known as a TIA. This is a mini-stroke that often comes before a big huge one. ... If it does turn out to be a TIA - the patient would need further evaluation to note if his carotid arteries are blocked.[...]
It is, however, impossible to make medical diagnosis via a video - unless you are Bill Frist or Tom Coburn. I would caution you to be careful about making any insinuations about his medical condition based on just that alone. However, I am concerned enough about what I saw of Senator McCain today that he should be seeing a doctor immediately.
McCain's health has been an issue of some concern, given his age. This kind of observation make's his choice of Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential candidate seem all the more reckless. Maybe he thinks that he can get away with some medical dishonesty along the lines of Josh Bartlett on "The West Wing." Other people have noted the way that life imitates art imitating life with regard to the similarity of the presidential campaigns of the character played by Jimmy Smits and Barack Obama. The key point to remember here: that was fiction, this is real life and death.
My strongest reaction to the first debate between Barack Obama and John McCain was, "McCain has not looked at Obama throughout the entire debate. What's up with that?" This is extremely odd behavior in a setting like this. Is it simply a case of McCain was cranky and Obama was cool? Here's Joan Walsh at Salon:
I wish I'd organized a drinking game around the number of times John McCain said, "Sen. Obama doesn't understand," or found some other way to sneer at Obama as naive and inexperienced. For the most part he refused to even look at Barack Obama over 90 minutes. What an ass.
Other writers noticed the strange body language on display by McCain. From James Fallows at Atlantic.com
Unless it happened when I glanced away, up until this moment, 77 minutes into the 90-minute debate, John McCain has not once looked at Obama -- while listening to him, while addressing him, while disagreeing with him, while finding moments of accord.
This is distinctly strange -- if anyone else notices. Obama is acting as if this is a conversation; McCain, as if he cannot acknowledge the other party in the discussion.
My impression was that McCain was afraid to look at Obama. That doesn't make any kind of logical sense, but that was the feeling I had. Which made this comment all the more interesting (via Josh Marshall):
And here's another note from TPM Reader TB. I guess I'm really not sure quite how to characterize it ...
I think people really are missing the point about McCain's failure to look at Obama. McCain was afraid of Obama. It was really clear--look at how much McCain blinked in the first half hour. I study monkey behavior--low ranking monkeys don't look at high ranking monkeys. In a physical, instinctive sense, Obama owned McCain tonight and I think the instant polling reflects that.
So McCain may have given away his status as a low-ranking monkey. I'd never even considered monkey rank.
Late Monkey Science Update: In case anyone's wondering, I looked up TPM Reader TB's page at the University he teaches at. And no doubt about it, he appears to be a genuine monkey scientist, or to be more specific a researcher on social cognition and behavior in primates.
On substance, I didn't think McCain did any better. One particular charge McCain made struck me as simply bogus. Joe Klein says it better than I could:
As for McCain's remark about Obama not knowing the difference between a tactic and a strategy—McCain was wrong. The counterinsurgency methods introduced by David Petraeus in Iraq were a tactical change, a new means to achieve Bush's same strategic end of a stable, unified Iraq. If Bush had decided to partition the country, or to withdraw, that would have been a change in strategy.
After McCain's theatrics this week in trying to avoid the debate so he could save the country in the midst of its financial crisis, this performance revealed him as a grumpy, sarcastic, condescending jerk. Obama came off as even-handed, thoughtful and statesmanlike. The debate probably didn't change anyone's mind. In that regard, it's a win for Obama.
You may have heard that John McCain was scheduled to appear on David Letterman's late night show on CBS on Wednesday night. At the last minute, McCain called to cancel, saying he was hurrying back to Washington to deal with the financial crisis. It turned out that the crisis McCain had to deal with was Sarah Palin's interview taped that morning with Katie Couric. McCain scheduled an interview the same day with Couric, thereby bumping much of the Palin interview from the evening news cast (though it was still available on the Internet). Here' David Letterman talking about the situation on his show that night:
The economy is in a mess. Had you heard? After the initial totally over-the-top proposal from the White House ("Just give us $700 billion, no questions asked, and trust us.") it looked like leaders in Congress were working together in a bipartisan way to come up with an acceptable solution that would address the immediate crisis without handing over a blank check and shredding the Constitution. And then...John McCain rides in to the rescue! That's just what we needed. Or was it? via Mahablog:
This morning a number of news stories say that McCain was a near non-participant in yesterday’s White House
photo opmeeting. Adam Nagourney and Elisabeth Bumiller write for the New York Times,At the bipartisan White House meeting that Mr. McCain had called for a day earlier, he sat silently for more than 40 minutes, more observer than leader, and then offered only a vague sense of where he stood, said people in the meeting.
That was the “giving McCain the benefit of the doubt” version of the story. David Kurtz provides a little more detail...
This is the latest political stunt in a campaign that has devolved into directionless chaos.
According to Bloomberg News:
Obama called for the overhaul of the financial-regulatory system and tougher enforcement well before this past week's traumas.
Detached observers who watched him last week, especially in a Bloomberg Television interview, were taken by how conversant and comfortable he was on the subject, despite his thin record. Few detached observers came away with that impression watching the Arizona senator.
And what is the principled position of the House Republicans that McCain has rushed in to champion? From Politico.com:
According to one GOP lawmaker, some House Republicans are saying privately that they’d rather “let the markets crash” than sign on to a massive bailout.
“For the sake of the altar of the free market system, do you accept a Great Depression?” the member asked.
Right. Less government regulation and tax cuts for rich people. That's the answer.
We've seen this many times before. It's a favorite Rovian political tactic: loudly accuse your opponent of doing something underhanded and unethical, with no real evidence to support the claim. Then do exactly what you accused your opponent of doing. Pointing out that you are, in fact, doing this underhanded and unethical thing, then becomes a case of "they all do it." The latest example is the deal McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis had with mortgage giant Freddie Mac, before it was taken over by the Government. Anonymous Liberal sums it up succinctly:
For the last week or so, the McCain campaign has been aggressively trying to tie Barack Obama to the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and to suggest that Obama has somehow been improperly influenced by them.
[...]
And here's the kicker. If you look at donations from Fannie and Freddie's executives, board members, lobbyists, McCain received $169,000 in donations compared to Obama's $16,000.
But the New York Times tonight provides the ultimate coup de grace. It turns out John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, has literally been on the payroll of Freddie Mac from 2005 until last month, when the company was taken over by the government. And not only that, he didn't actually provide any services to the company other than access to John McCain...
You can pretty much bet, if you hear a Republican politician complaining loudly about something a Democrat is supposedly doing, from theft to abuse of power to sexual misconduct, the Republican is doing it. It just seems to work that way.
