Cute:
The so-called Wounded Warriors Act, legislation intended to improve health care for veterans, has attracted nearly unanimous, bipartisan support in Congress. So why would the newly formed Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America begin running a television commercial urging the citizens of South Carolina to tell Congress to pass it?
The answer lies in the commercial’s glowing images of Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican banking on a South Carolina victory to jump-start his cash-poor Republican primary campaign. The group that paid for the advertisement operates independently of Mr. McCain’s campaign, but was set up and financed by his supporters seeking to help him as much as possible up to the limits of the law.
***Mr. McCain has crusaded for years against just this sort of unencumbered political spending and has publicly called upon the foundation to stop the advertisement, a request competitors say seems half-hearted and the group’s leader has ignored.
Personally, I think this group should be able to do whatever it wants (despite the fact that I think it is exceedingly tawdry that a group is using wounded vets to engage in what is pretty clearly candidate advocacy). But John McCain doesn’t, and, as the article notes, has worked long and hard to make it very difficult for you, me, and everyone else to pool our resources to engage in political advocacy for the candidates WE like. It is just another example of John McCain’s slide from “principled” outsider maverick to the the candidate who really will say anything to get elected. John McCain’s behavior on all things, from CFR to torture to, well, you name it, has been nothing short of disgraceful since 2000. I am actually shocked he is not the candidate of choice for Greater Wingnuttia.
At any rate, hopefully this will soon pass, and we can get back to the really important issues of the day, like hyperventilating about a candidate planting questions at campaign stops (and no I don’t like it, but Christ, I thought I was supposed to be the naive one here). It is almost like people forgot about the Bush Administration ACTUALLY buying the press. Which is worse?
*** Update ***
The campaign disavows it. Will it stop?
Zifnab
The Democrats.
This has been another edition of SATSQ.
Jake
I’m not, he dared to speak out against torture even though They Want 2 Kill Us. That will forever make him suspect in the “minds” of the beady eyed chicken little crowd.
Buying the press is so last Tuesday. Now they just impersonate the press.
Tsulagi
Yep.
You really gotta laugh at dweebs like this. No irony meter could handle this…
Outraged he is! Said from a doofus who likely got a tear in his eye and glowing warm fuzzies when Bush used to do his townhall meetings. Those things that were like late-night infomercials. Where a hard-edged question might have been “How tough is it to be a misunderstood genius?”
Yep, Republicans have set the bar for vapidity. How dare Hillary encroach on their turf.
Svensker
When Clinton does it, it’s bad. If Bush does it, it’s not bad. The fact that you can’t see that? Obvious BDS.
Zifnab
All said, its bad practice in general and I’m happy to see Clinton get called out for the foible. Because today its canned questions on how to handle Global Warming and tomorrow its canned questions on how great we’re doing in Iraq.
I honestly don’t see a big difference between planting Gay Goober Joe in the White House Press Room and planting Grinnell students with canned questions at a planned speech. If Clinton doesn’t want to answer legitimate questions from people in Iowa, she shouldn’t ask for them.
Personally, I’m shocked that Hillary couldn’t find a single person in the crowd of listeners, perhaps wearing a “Go Green” t-shirt or an “I HEART AL GORE” baseball cap, she could have pointed towards to field a Global Warming question. It’s not like the issue isn’t on anyone’s mind.
scarshapedstar
I was hoping this would turn out to be a Jeff Gannon joke.
Although, I suppose, technically they were only “buying” his other services. The softball questions were just lagniappe…
bago
Only docile vets allowed. kthxbai
Man the anchor tag is messed up.
srv
We should start a “Double Gitmo!” PAC.
Sinister eyebrow
I believe the joker who is putting out the ad glowingly referencing McCain is, in fact, his former campaign staffer.
croatoan
John McCain’s Bullshit Express.