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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2008 / The Real Comparison

The Real Comparison

by John Cole|  June 4, 20089:24 am| 82 Comments

This post is in: Election 2008

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This is the real comparison that matters:


John McCain yells “Get off my grass” for 20 minutes from the podium in a retirement community cafeteria.


Obama declares victory and outlines his vision for America.

If you have the time, watch them back to back. The McCain speech was even more painful the second time I watched it, and Ezra is right:

The content of McCain’s speech is basically what you’d expect, but the delivery is really peculiar. His voice is artificially high, he’s grinning more frequently then usual, his tone is jumping octaves to soften the end of his sentences. It’s a cuddly, almost delicate delivery, as if he were reading a storybook to really young children. It’s extremely disconcerting.

It is beyond disconcerting. It is painful. It is physically grating listening to him speak, and I can’t decide if that odd smile he seems to randomly flash reminds me more of Dick Cheney or Danny DeVito’s version of the Penguin. Either way, it is just unnerving.

The most important thing to take from this is that McCain is profoundly uncomfortable; awkward, if you will, on the attack. I read a report yesterday from Mark Halperin in which he stated things that Obama and Hillary both underestimate, and #5 for Obama was this snippet about the McCain campaign:

How much the McCain high command disdains him.

Which means that when you factor that his campaign is staffed with neocons who were waiting in the wings during the Bush year, attack dogs like the Weekly Standard’s Michael Goldfarb and those like him, you can expect McCain’s speeches to be peppered with things he doesn’t really want to say or isn’t sure how to deliver (hence the awkward smile and weird looks throughout his speech last night). That will be a recipe for success, and combined with the inevitable volcanic eruption and his McMavericky habit of complete 180’s on every issue he claims to care about (he was against torture before he refused to vote against it, he has done another about face on spying on Americans, he was against the Bush tax cuts before e was for them, etc.), all we are really needing for McCain to devolve into complete parody is for him to spit his dentures out mid-snarl.

Then, watch the uplifting and rousing speech by Obama. I know, I know, just words. But such important words:

The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve. But what you don’t deserve is another election that’s governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon—that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.

***

America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment—this was the time—when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

Compare that to McCain’s awkward and smirking “a leader you can believe in” pap. That is a comparison I am eager to make, and a comparison I think we need to make daily.

*** Update ***

Sadly, No! has some fun with McCain’s “I Have a Green Screen” speech.

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Reader Interactions

82Comments

  1. 1.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    June 4, 2008 at 9:36 am

    McCain’s to-do list:

    Look left, read one line.
    Look straight ahead, read one line.
    Look right, read one line.
    Blood-curdling smile.
    Repeat.

  2. 2.

    gypsy howell

    June 4, 2008 at 9:38 am

    More cottage cheese and lime jello!

  3. 3.

    Roonieroo

    June 4, 2008 at 9:39 am

    The McCain speech is actually creepier if you watch it without sound. Shudder.

  4. 4.

    SGEW

    June 4, 2008 at 9:40 am

    In case you missed it (and if you didn’t, I apologize for the reiteration), here’s the Economist blog’s reaction to the speeches. Key graphs:

    [T]here’s one surprise: The terrifying death rictus grin-and-snicker after every joke line. I don’t know whether Americans are ready to vote for Mr McCain, but I am prepared to pay him one million dollars not to release deadly Smilex gas over the New Year’s Eve crowd at midnight.

    At the risk of bolstering the reporters-mooning-at-Obama stereotype, if this evening’s speeches were a video game, a wrinkled wizard would be hollering “Finish Him!” to Barack Obama while a dizzied John McCain wobbled. And Hillary Clinton would be frenetically mashing the buttons on an unplugged controller.

    Anyone else notice that the new (anonymous) bloggers the Economist hired are full of teh funny of righteousness lately?

  5. 5.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    June 4, 2008 at 9:43 am

    Anyone else notice that the new (anonymous) bloggers the Economist hired are full of teh funny

    That stuff is gold. Gold!

  6. 6.

    Oracle

    June 4, 2008 at 9:47 am

    That Halperin article is a complete self-parody. It basically goes like this:

    Things Obama underestimates:
    1) How much Hillary’s people support her
    2) How much Hillary’s people hate him
    3) How much McCain’s people hate him
    4) How much more difficult the GE will be for him
    5) How badly the GOP wants to beat him

    Things Clinton underestimates:
    1) How much the media hates her
    2) How many women will consider her a martyr

  7. 7.

    El Cruzado

    June 4, 2008 at 9:49 am

    Did anyone miss the references in the economist blog? We are all nerds now…

  8. 8.

    passerby

    June 4, 2008 at 9:54 am

    I supported McCain in the 2000 election. I had hope in him until he rolled over like a dead whale for Bush and his “straight talk”, which was what caught my attention, was revealed to be just talk.

    Back then, I knew, the worst thing going for him was his lack of oratory skills though he could rock a townhall type meeting, at a podium he really, really sucked…and still does.

    Obama will be the next president of the us.

    T

  9. 9.

    D.N. Nation

    June 4, 2008 at 9:55 am

    Has McCain always been this damned awkward? I never recall him being a blazin’ public speaker, but he did have some semblance of charm and wit in ’00. Right now his speech patterns (look left, right, strange grin) are just as painfully telegraphed (look left, right, strange grin) as the guy he claims not to be following (look left, right, strange grin). I don’t pretend that Obama’s song-and-dance isn’t choreographed to the core, but the words are powerful and the guy friggin sells it. McCain is both ripping off Obama (nuh-uh! I’m the real Change!) and parodying himself (my friends, my friends, my friends, my friends), then topping it off with a brutal delivery. Remember what they said about Ghouliani? That the more people listened to him, the less they wanted to vote for him? Yeah, that sounds about right.

    It’s funny in a wincing way to see the wingnut hacks attempt to fall in line behind this guy. It’s obvious they aren’t moved by his schtick, but damn if they aren’t trying to seem to pretend to be. Loved Instapundit’s line: Read better than it sounded! I swear! It was totes great! Rrrrrright.

  10. 10.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    June 4, 2008 at 9:56 am

    That Halperin article is a complete self-parody.

    I went over to look at it and see what details he offered in support. But there aren’t any, it’s just a list. Nice piece there, Halperin.

  11. 11.

    D.N. Nation

    June 4, 2008 at 9:57 am

    Also, “A Leader We Can Believe In”? From the same crew that’s spent the better part of the past half-year dissing Obama for being slogan-dominated? From the same crew who also believes in a leader no one believes in? Are these people even trying anymore?

  12. 12.

    JoyceH

    June 4, 2008 at 9:58 am

    As for the bizarre grin, every time I saw it, I couldn’t help thinking about the “Gentlemen” in the Buffy episode Hush. Do a Google images search on Buffy Hush Gentlemen and you’ll see what I mean. Brrrr!

  13. 13.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    June 4, 2008 at 9:59 am

    McCain’s campaign just released his new logo.

  14. 14.

    TheFountainHead

    June 4, 2008 at 10:00 am

    I’ve spoken to a number of Republicans this morning. I work amongst them. They are all hanging their head. They ALL watched all three speeches last night, and they can barely muster their disappointment into words.

  15. 15.

    SGEW

    June 4, 2008 at 10:00 am

    Read better than it sounded!

    This reminds me of the J.F.K./Nixon debates, wherein Kennedy “won” according to T.V. watchers and Nixon “won” among radio listeners.

    This election, however, Obama will win T.V. and Internet watchers, radio listeners, and newspaper readers while McCain will overwhelmingly win the read-the-transcript-alone-in-the-basement-while-listening-to-Wagner-operas demographic.

    I like those odds.

  16. 16.

    Davis X. Machina

    June 4, 2008 at 10:03 am

    Even when neither taken separately is a problem, a poor fit between the ethos of the speaker and the logos of the speech has been identified as a lethal combination since the days of Aristotle.

    McCain is being over-coached by someone.

  17. 17.

    J. Michael Neal

    June 4, 2008 at 10:05 am

    I tried to go see Obama last night. The doors to the Xcel Center opened at 7:00pm. I got there at 6:30, and the line to get in was 20 blocks long. That was just for one of the three entrances. I gave up and went home. Fortunately, the nice lady at the parking ramp seemed to have instructions not to charge people that obviously hadn’t gotten in.

  18. 18.

    Jon H

    June 4, 2008 at 10:06 am

    Someone needs to dub McCain’s speech onto lip-sync’ed video of Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets.

  19. 19.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    June 4, 2008 at 10:08 am

    Who knew enough credible neocons were leftover after the Bush debacle to advise another Republican candidate? Talk about rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

    Whoever thought it was a good idea for McCain to give that speech and be juxtaposed against Obama, last night, of all nights, I want to thank them personally. As a matter a fact I want to give him (or her) a big old wet kiss right on the lips. What’s the next great idea coming out of camp McCain? A one-on-one game of hoops between Obama and McCain?

  20. 20.

    Raenelle

    June 4, 2008 at 10:08 am

    There are some downsides to being a Democrat, for sure. But it sure feels good to be a Dem today.

  21. 21.

    wasabi gasp

    June 4, 2008 at 10:10 am

    McCain would do well to consider enlisting someone from SNL to pinch hit his speeches for him.

  22. 22.

    D.N. Nation

    June 4, 2008 at 10:10 am

    I’ve spoken to a number of Republicans this morning. I work amongst them. They are all hanging their head. They ALL watched all three speeches last night, and they can barely muster their disappointment into words.

    Exactly. Which makes ramblings from people like Glenn Reynolds, Don Surber and Taylor Marsh on things like THE CROWD WASN’T ***THAT*** BIG FOR OBAMA!!! or HA HA HE SORTA GOT THAT ONE LINE WRONG!!! seem ridiculous. Take a step back. Obama packed and wowed a hockey arena, Hillary asked for money in a high school gym, and McCain stood in front of a green screen and made everyone shudder. There’s no comparison.

  23. 23.

    Jon H

    June 4, 2008 at 10:11 am

    Ironic that the first black candidate will be running against a Civil War vet.

  24. 24.

    RandyH

    June 4, 2008 at 10:12 am

    Jed Report did a nice mash-up of McCain vs Obama’s speeches. And it’s only about 5 minutes so you won’t fall asleep during the McCain parts.

  25. 25.

    ThymeZone

    June 4, 2008 at 10:13 am

    Not even 24 hours into the real GE campaign, and already I can feel the pain and despair of the last 7.5 years washing away.

    Yes, watch the two speeches, marvel at how hideously bad McCain is … he looks like he has a prompter telling him to “smile” every so many seconds …. and how incredibly good at this Obama is.

    Also compare their respective AIPAC speeches this week, for material that is much more policy-laden, and see how that stacks up.

    This contest is already over. And the GOP knows it.

    And goddam, I am lovin it.

  26. 26.

    Roonieroo

    June 4, 2008 at 10:15 am

    You guys make me laugh:

    Obama packed and wowed a hockey arena, Hillary asked for money in a high school gym, and McCain stood in front of a green screen and made everyone shudder

    Ironic that the first black candidate will be running against a Civil War vet.

    Making my day better one comment at a time.

  27. 27.

    Chris Johnson

    June 4, 2008 at 10:15 am

    I feel bad for McCain now. If you have the faintest idea how faces work you can see what it is. It’s not that his mouth was broken by the vietnamese, he doesn’t WANT to smile. I think he wants to be angry, he’s disappointed in the size of the crowd, disappointed in the amount of attention given to the Dem primary, and I think he’s also very unhappy over the extent to which he’s being told what to say and how to act.

    I’d like to see him drop that crap, be his cranky old self, and say what he thinks. I still don’t want him to be President, but he deserves better than this triangulation bullshit, mouthing ‘change’ words when he desperately wants to say ‘Shut up and soldier! We’re not giving up on this war yet! We will prevail, fuckers!’

    They should let him do that. He’ll still lose, but he should be allowed to be sincere. Hell, the Dem primary is a referendum on sincere vs. triangulation and triangulation lost. They should learn from that.

    McCain ONLY wants to be talking about national security and not giving up the fight. When they make him talk about how he too wants change, he looks SAD and his chin pooches up when he tries to smile, like he’s fighting back tears. I say stop humiliating the poor bastard, I say he’s earned the right to have his own personality and opinions, but somebody is making him say stuff he hates and smile about it.

  28. 28.

    4tehlulz

    June 4, 2008 at 10:17 am

    I think this summarizes the Republican mindset right now.

  29. 29.

    Roonieroo

    June 4, 2008 at 10:20 am

    Chris J — I totally agree. That is the reason I feel like I’m watching Dole v2.0. They are forcing him to not be himself and it’s not a pleasant thing to watch.

    Trainwreck – hard to look away

  30. 30.

    Chris Johnson

    June 4, 2008 at 10:20 am

    Seriously. LET MCCAIN SOLDIER. It’s just fucking disgraceful that neocon handlers are stripping away THIS guy’s dignity.

    Dubya was and is an empty frat boy.

    This guy may not make a good President, but he WAS a fucking SOLDIER and still is, at heart. Doing this stuff to him, manipulating him and forcing him to say stuff he doesn’t believe, is obscene. If you didn’t want to run a goddamned tough cranky old soldier, why the fuck did you nominate one??

  31. 31.

    Jake

    June 4, 2008 at 10:22 am

    I’ve posted this elsewhere, but McCain really does have a bizarro speaking style. I feel like he’s sitting around a fire, telling stories to YMCA campers, trying to lull them to sleep, while still reminding them of the dangers of radical Islamic extremists.

    He’s really not much better in debates, frankly. He’s the old angry guy who scoffs at anything his opponents say, manufactures offense at seemingly benign comments, and makes sure he reminds everyone he was tortured in Nam.

  32. 32.

    w vincentz

    June 4, 2008 at 10:25 am

    Johnnie McInsane lost his audience after the first three minutes. Mr. Levine’s hearing aid battery went dead, Mrs. Jones went into diabetic shock, and the rest of the retirement home residents were eager to get back to their shuffleboard tournament.
    Barack Obama kept his audience. His eloquence resonated. Everyone left the arena with hope, inspiration, and a desire to roll up their sleeves and contribute their efforts to bringing the change that is so desparately needed.

  33. 33.

    SGEW

    June 4, 2008 at 10:27 am

    LET MCCAIN SOLDIER

    No no no! Please, let him continue his Abe Simpson impression so we can completely sweep the Republican party into the ashbin of history!

    Doing this stuff to him, manipulating him and forcing him to say stuff he doesn’t believe, is obscene.

    He’s been doing it to himself. Giving uncomfortable, insincere speeches is peanuts compared to his complicity in the M.C.A. and the torture program. Now that was obscene.

  34. 34.

    Damned at Random

    June 4, 2008 at 10:28 am

    Keep smiling John. I’ll see you in my nightmares.

    The backdrop for the “I’m not Bush speech” is the typical Bush theme-of-the-day backdrop. I always thought it was designed to remind the audience of what the pres was talking about after the inevitable distraction of the mush-mouthed mispronounciations. I’n McCain’s case its more “look at that smile-shudder-what’s he talking about again? – oh yeah, A Leader We Can Believe In”

  35. 35.

    ThymeZone

    June 4, 2008 at 10:28 am

    All due respect, I am not concerned with the effect of all this on McCain. I have put up with this winy fuck for 25 years here in AZ, and the disaster he now faces is one entirely of his own making.

    Let him endure this horror, he has earned it.

  36. 36.

    KCinDC

    June 4, 2008 at 10:28 am

    I can’t decide if that odd smile he seems to randomly flash reminds me more of Dick Cheney or Danny DeVito’s version of the Penguin.

    You mean there’s a difference?

  37. 37.

    Chris Johnson

    June 4, 2008 at 10:30 am

    Bear in mind that I’m not saying he is automatically a HERO just by being a soldier, because he’s not- but dammit, his hunger to keep fighting our ill-fated wars, his cranky crochetyness, hell even his rather un-PC marriage history says SOLDIER to me.

    He’s the REAL DEAL even if I don’t want one of those for President.

    Except- now he’s kinda not, now he’s being made to go back on everything he believes in. And we know he will, it’s not like he was Rambo in fucking North Vietnam either. Dude’s human, it’s possible to crush him into submission with enough leverage. He’s still a soldier- Rambo is FICTION after all.

    But in tacking with the winds, McCain combines the worst elements of his personal truth with the worst elements of fiction- and he’s not even enjoying it, he’s hating it.

    This is America, let the fuckin’ guy soldier. He IS a soldier. Let him be one and stop making him sing fucking kumbaya.

  38. 38.

    Chris Johnson

    June 4, 2008 at 10:33 am

    Hey, I’m not even saying he should be in public office. If he’s been rolling over on things like torture, he should be thrown out, I’m not even insisting that he’s a HEROIC soldier or a good soldier.

    But it’s obscene to take away even that. He’ll still lose as a cranky, fallible soldier, but he’ll get to be himself. It looks like he’s denied even that, and I don’t think it’s fair.

  39. 39.

    ThymeZone

    June 4, 2008 at 10:36 am

    Oh, I will concede that in the context of his military service and POW experience, he is a hero.

    That said, he is a hero who is not fit for the job (of being a candidate) that he has undertaken. He wasn’t fit for it in 2000 either. Look who he lost to. And his opponent now is about 20 times better and won’t have to suggest a McCain Black Baby to beat him.

    McCain is where he is today because of hubris. He outlasted a sorry field using pure stubbornness.

    Okay, crankiness and stubbornness only take you so far. Namely, about this far. His run is over.

  40. 40.

    RandyH

    June 4, 2008 at 10:38 am

    The backdrop for the “I’m not Bush speech” is the typical Bush theme-of-the-day backdrop.

    Actually McLame’s backdrop had too many words. At least Bush’s propagandists knew that, to make the message stick, it should only be three or four words maximum.

  41. 41.

    ThymeZone

    June 4, 2008 at 10:39 am

    Hero ahem Keating.

    Hero ahem lobbyists.

    Hero ahem torture.

    Hero ahem no grasp of foreign affairs.

    Hero ahem can’t remember what he had for breakfast.

    Hero ahem can’t make a speech.

    Hero ahem thinks he is entitled to presidency.

    Yes, a hero. A hero who is going to lose in spectacular fashion.

    Too bad, so sad. He had a chance to reform his party, and instead he sucked up to the worst of it. Goodbye.

  42. 42.

    Ninerdave

    June 4, 2008 at 10:40 am

    Doing this stuff to him, manipulating him and forcing him to say stuff he doesn’t believe, is obscene. If you didn’t want to run a goddamned tough cranky old soldier, why the fuck did you nominate one??

    Well except he has the power to stop this, it’s his campaign after all.

    I do hold out hope that he’s serious about a having real campaign on real issues. Not the McCain is old, Obama’s a muslim crap. Well I guess I hope that his campaign will allow him to do that. Given what I’ve seen so far, I doubt it.

  43. 43.

    SGEW

    June 4, 2008 at 10:41 am

    I don’t think it’s fair.

    Sure, I’ll give you that. But the media isn’t going to be “fair” to anyone (see, e.g., “madrassas,” “popular vote” tallies, certain Reverends, etc. etc.), so Sen. McCain has to take his lumps too, I suppose.

    Also, I just don’t mind having an unfair advantage over Sen. McCain. He sold out on Habeas Corpus and on torture (torture! can you believe that shit?!?), and deserves to be humiliated and shunned. If he’s shot down due to transcendently bad speeches, so be it. It’s like busting Al Capone for tax fraud: I’ll take it.

  44. 44.

    w vincentz

    June 4, 2008 at 10:50 am

    Now Johnnie McInsane is challenging Barack to ten “town hall” meetings. LOL!
    First one in NYC. More LOL!
    “Higher level of discourse.” ROFL!
    INSANE!
    Barack will get back to ya Johnnie, after ya sober up.

  45. 45.

    JGabriel

    June 4, 2008 at 10:53 am

    John Cole:

    It is physically grating listening to him speak … The most important thing to take from this is that McCain is profoundly uncomfortable; awkward, if you will, on the attack.

    I don’t find McCain physically grating, at least not yet, and not in the way that Reagan and Bush II were. But McCain does come across as grandfatherly in that speech. It seemed as if he was aiming for an audience of Nixon’s Orthogonians (i.e. Squares) – the datedness of those terms implying a misreading of today’s ‘Silent Majority’. I mean, with even RedState and Limbaugh bringing the snark, that audience for that kind of inept ‘squareness’ started dying off right around the Lawrence Welk went off the air.

    Plus, that weird ‘rictus-grin-and-snicker’ completely undercut whatever rhetorical power the speech was written to convey.

    Which leads me to another point – it was revealing that Obama’s speech was built around rhetorical themes of what he will do and what we can do together, whereas McCain’s speech was built around “That’s not change we can believe in”. In other words, McCain really had nothing to offer, and offered nothing, but attacks on Obama.

    The most important thing to take from this is that McCain is profoundly uncomfortable; awkward, if you will, on the attack.

    It’s weird because, really, McCain is not uncomfortable on the attack. Recall his jabs at Romney during the Republican debates, “I’m sure we can all agree that you’re the candidate of change. A-heh. A-heh-heh-heh.” Or, more benignly, the way he relishes going one-on-one with Stewart and Letterman.

    Davis X. Machina, is right in his comment that McCain was overcoached. Probably to appeal to an audience of ‘squares’ that isn’t really McCain’s natural constituency. McCain projected self-image was always that of the flashy hip flyboy, the maverick military brat, and never the conformist plodder.

    I suspect this was a consious (and by now, possibly regretted) choice on the part of his handlers – Obama’s got the hip vote locked up, we’d better go after the anti-hip.

    Anyway, add all of that to McCain’s less than stellar speech-giving gifts, and you end up with last night’s train wreck of a speech.

    [McCain’s] campaign is staffed with neocons who were waiting in the wings during the Bush years…

    Yikes. These are people who were too incompetent to get hired by George Bush. That’s frightening.

    .

  46. 46.

    crw

    June 4, 2008 at 10:55 am

    But it’s obscene to take away even that. He’ll still lose as a cranky, fallible soldier, but he’ll get to be himself. It looks like he’s denied even that, and I don’t think it’s fair.

    Give me a fucking break. McCain is an adult, not some lump of clay to be molded by his campaign staff. He’s perfectly capable of telling them to piss off if they come up with speeches he hates or give him bad advice. This disaster is of his own making – he’s the one who made the decision to pander to to the dead ender base and hope independents wouldn’t notice.

  47. 47.

    Dreggas

    June 4, 2008 at 10:55 am

    JoyceH Says:

    As for the bizarre grin, every time I saw it, I couldn’t help thinking about the “Gentlemen” in the Buffy episode Hush. Do a Google images search on Buffy Hush Gentlemen and you’ll see what I mean. Brrrr!

    You have a point, I remember that episode and that rictus grin reminds me of them.

  48. 48.

    jnfr

    June 4, 2008 at 10:57 am

    Chris Johnson, that’s a great analysis.

  49. 49.

    montysano

    June 4, 2008 at 11:03 am

    Whoever thought it was a good idea for McCain to give that speech and be juxtaposed against Obama, last night, of all nights, I want to thank them personally. As a matter a fact I want to give him (or her) a big old wet kiss right on the lips.

    No doubt. I was so happy, I was guzzling Pinot Noir like the good elitist that I am.

    I saw the RNC chairman on teevee the other night, and the dude already looks whipped.

  50. 50.

    D.N. Nation

    June 4, 2008 at 11:04 am

    I suspect this was a consious (and by now, possibly regretted) choice on the part of his handlers – Obama’s got the hip vote locked up, we’d better go after the anti-hip.

    May they live in interesting times. The anti-hip people I know are thinking about sitting this election out.

  51. 51.

    w vincentz

    June 4, 2008 at 11:04 am

    “My friends, it’s long and hard and it’s tough”. Repeat.
    Repeat. Repeat.
    “My friends.”

  52. 52.

    Chris Johnson

    June 4, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Dammit, not a hero. I kept saying, NOT a hero, but he is a soldier, and I get “okay, okay, he’s a hero but”

    Being a soldier doesn’t MAKE you a hero, or a good President.

    Yeah yeah, torture/pandering/infidelity/etc. So he’s actually more of a regular Joe, he’s out of a Bill Mauldin cartoon then.

    I’m not SAYING he’s a hero who should be President.

    I’m just saying, he’s obviously a real soldier who’s totally fine with being aggressive and on the attack, and trying to force him to be Leo Buscaglia is just creepy and sad.

    I must have watched too many Obama speeches and gotten the idea that this is America and people have a right to run for office as themselves- that we don’t have an obligation to agree with McCain, but one thing he has is a right to have his own opinion on things.

    I’d rather Obama beat him as the cranky, aggressive war hawk he really is, than steamroller him while he tries pathetically to smile and act fluffy. It would be tougher, because honesty is charismatic, it would be a better representation of our real political situation, and it would have us talking about the real issues rather than who smiles prettier.

    Brushing the war hawk crowd under the carpet is not going to help. They’ve gotta be part of the discourse, even though their way has failed.

  53. 53.

    Dennis - SGMM

    June 4, 2008 at 11:09 am

    The only faint hope for Republicans would have been to run a candidate who frankly admitted what the party had done wrong and then gone on to outline what he would do to change that. McCain, despite embarrassingly sucking up to Bush, could have been that candidate but, he chose not to. As others have already commented, he is an adult and he’s an adult who is touting his superior experience. Had he learned anything from his experience he wouldn’t surround himself with the people who got it wrong since 2000.

  54. 54.

    Tsulagi

    June 4, 2008 at 11:10 am

    John McCain yells “Get off my grass” for 20 minutes from the podium in a retirement community cafeteria.

    Didn’t watch McCain last night; now see what I missed.

    That was just plain sad. Didn’t hear any yelling, but yeah, had all the excitement of one of the seniors in a retirement community cafeteria standing up calmly trying to sell to the other diners the benefits of his Metamucil formulation he could make for them. If that’s the best he’s got in front of his own crowd, he’s in deep shit.

    About all I heard in whatever that was is “I’m not Bush.” That and some pathetic attempt to still claim his manufactured mavericky mantle. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but not quite.

  55. 55.

    Chris Johnson

    June 4, 2008 at 11:14 am

    And, he’s an adult responsible for all his own decisions and shouldn’t be sympathized with?

    Give me a break. He’s not President yet. He is answering to his Commander-in-Chief, to whom he is still loyal, through the mechanism of the Republican party.

    I think it’s pathetic that he’s prepared to answer to a Dubya frat boy, that he will roll over on subjects as serious as torture at the behest of ‘superiors’ like Karl Rove, but nobody said he was a SMART soldier, he’s just loyal.

    This alone disqualifies him to be President- but it’s not wrong to feel the guy’s being sold out by his own people, and I do think it’s sad and wrong.

    He’s just one of the military pawns who’s been sold out by his nominal superiors. Maybe if this is explained, and if Bush makes more PR speeches in front of prop soldiers posed in front of painted moldy barracks for political gain, we can get John to vote for Barack Obama and help the lot of the common soldier.

    Oh wait…

  56. 56.

    D.N. Nation

    June 4, 2008 at 11:16 am

    I’m just saying, he’s obviously a real soldier who’s totally fine with being aggressive and on the attack, and trying to force him to be Leo Buscaglia is just creepy and sad.

    Then he should tell his handlers to sod off.

  57. 57.

    JGabriel

    June 4, 2008 at 11:19 am

    Dennis – SGMM:

    The only faint hope for Republicans would have been to run a candidate who frankly admitted what the party had done wrong and then gone on to outline what he would do to change that. McCain, despite embarrassingly sucking up to Bush, could have been that candidate but, he chose not to.

    No, McCain couldn’t have been that candidate, unless he went back in time and changed all his votes for the past 7 years.

    Every time McCain criticised a Bush policy in last night’s speech, I found myself thinking, “Hey, didn’t you vote for that?”

    .

  58. 58.

    ThymeZone

    June 4, 2008 at 11:25 am

    Dammit, not a hero. I kept saying, NOT a h

    Well that’s okay, we can disagree on the point. No problem.

    I think he is a hero, and I don’t happen to think that heroes need to meet any qualifications of likeability or competance. Heroes are heroes due to their deeds. He could be the world’s biggest dumbest asshole and still be a true hero worthy of our respect and admiration.

    That said, he is also an experienced politician and an adult responsible for his own situation. He is running on better experience and being better prepared …. but his actions don’t bespeak somebody better prepared.

    Obama’s, on the other hand, do. McCain has the resume, but Obama has the chops. This is a chops year. America is not going to vote for a resume that can’t complete a thought without repeating himself three times, and can’t inspire people with his ideas.

    The end. Party over. McCain sails off into the sunset.

    Adios, hasta la vista.

  59. 59.

    Michael Dietz

    June 4, 2008 at 11:33 am

    Chris Johnson: He’s not President yet. He is answering to his Commander-in-Chief, to whom he is still loyal, through the mechanism of the Republican party.

    Oh, come on. I’m supposed to believe it’s loyalty that motivates McCain to cleave to failed policy the way he’s doing?

    What you’re watching in that speech, and will be watching over the next few months, is the squirming of a man who’s begun to realize that the mansion he thought he was building himself has turned out to be a cage. He couldn’t win the Republican nomination–not to mention the Republican money machine, what remains of it–as a phony-baloney maverick, so he converted to Bushism. It was the only game in town, and now it’s 2008 and McCain looks up and, oops, the game changed. But the logic of his position hasn’t, and can’t; if he hopes for even the ghost of a chance in the general he has to hold to the commitments he’s made to the dead-enders (intellectual and financial). No doubt he badly wants to get all mavericky again, since that was the source of his glory moments back in 2000, but he’s already foreclosed that option on himself.

    In that sense he really reminds me of Hillary. She voted for the AUMF thinking it’d give her the national security card to play in the ’08 general; as late as that damn 3 A.M. ad she thought the card might just play in the primaries as well. But, again, the game had changed while her attention was elsewhere. So long, and good riddance.

  60. 60.

    Gerald Curl

    June 4, 2008 at 11:40 am

    Hate to be all lookist, but can McCain spend the rest of the campaign wearing turtlenecks? The only way it could be worse is if he picked Bingo Arms Sally as his running mate.

    His speaking style reminds me of the narrator in “Red, White and Blaine”.

  61. 61.

    wasabi gasp

    June 4, 2008 at 11:41 am

    Feeling bad, sad, or any compassion for McCain is misplaced. He’s running for President of the United States. The gurney of a hero isn’t enough to carry a nation.

  62. 62.

    Mart

    June 4, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    Sounds like Andy Rooney, looks like Botox.

  63. 63.

    Philadelphia Steve

    June 4, 2008 at 12:49 pm

    I spent the time to listen to McCain’s entire speech. It appears that “That is Change we cannot believe in” is going to be the RNC talking point of the week. Look for Foxnews, Rush Limbaugh and Chris Matthews to echo this line for days.

    I was struck by the number of times he highlighted his disagreemetns with George W. Bush. Apparently the “McCain as Bush III” is taking hold among the electorate. I’m not sure what that is going to do to Joe Lieberman, who is now more wedded to the White House than James Dobson. Pretty soon we’ll start John McCain claim that he voted for Al Gore in 2000.

    Of course, once elected, we can sill count on 3/4 of the “Loyal Bushies” keeping their jobs, with a few cases of Musical Chairs, in a McCain Presidency, and all of those secret Executive orders, wiretaps and torturing being renewed.

    But then, all the McCain’s will have to do is give a few more barbecues and the “Mainstream Media” will keep the Free Passes flowing for Saint John, at least into the third year of his second term, when they will switch into “How were we fooled, AGAIN?” mode.

  64. 64.

    jake

    June 4, 2008 at 1:00 pm

    The only faint hope for Republicans would have been to run a candidate who frankly admitted what the party had done wrong and then gone on to outline what he would do to change that.

    That’s like Lot looking for one good man to keep God from opening that can of Whomp Ass.

  65. 65.

    JGabriel

    June 4, 2008 at 1:21 pm

    Philadelphia Steve:

    Pretty soon we’ll start John McCain claim that he voted for Al Gore in 2000.

    If only that hadn’t been the last time McCain voted against Bush.

    .

  66. 66.

    dj spellchecka

    June 4, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    just a news item: mccain running unopposed in the south dakota primary only got 70% of the vote.

  67. 67.

    Jess

    June 4, 2008 at 2:02 pm

    Have y’all noticed that McCain’s suit is ridiculously built up to give him broad, manly shoulders? That’s a part of what makes him look so weird and misshapen.

  68. 68.

    AkaDad

    June 4, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    I found it more enjoyable to skip McCain’s speech and just read these comments.

  69. 69.

    cleek

    June 4, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    TPM has some fun with the speeches, too. ouch.

  70. 70.

    Sam

    June 4, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    Time to start the list of McCainisms:

    “We must rise the occasion”

    “Some of these changes have distrust the American people”

  71. 71.

    Anastasius

    June 4, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    Let’s not make the mistake again and assume that the ability to not speak like a robot programmed by monkeys is a qualifier to become President.
    Obama’s victory can still be jawed from the snatch of victory when the voters vote him to defeat.

  72. 72.

    Michael Hart

    June 4, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    Thanks John Cole for validating all my weird perceptions about that turd-bomb bomb, bomb McCain squeezed out last night in “New Or-le-ans.” Even his frakkin’ blinking was unnerving. The teleprompter is NOT his little Frenn; more than twenty word-fumbles, the best of which I site as McBushisms here: http://tinyurl.com/572j3x

  73. 73.

    Dan-in-PA

    June 4, 2008 at 8:50 pm

    “The only faint hope for Republicans would have been to run a candidate who frankly admitted what the party had done wrong and then gone on to outline what he would do to change that.”

    That would have been Ron Paul.

    But he was marginalized and insulted and smeered by folks on both sides.

  74. 74.

    Stuart Eugene Thiel

    June 4, 2008 at 9:07 pm

    Maybe we should get together a “Swift ex-POWs for Truth.” We could have people come forward and tell how cowardly and craven McCain REALLY was in the prison camp, how he deliberately crashed his plane so he could be captured and eventually run for President, and how his injuries weren’t really that bad and that when he came back to the US he spent all those months kicking back on the taxpayer’s dime.

    Hey, fair’s fair.

  75. 75.

    cc

    June 4, 2008 at 9:45 pm

    I actually think most of the comments are going too easy on McCain. He says some disgraceful things in here such as: the government’s failure during Katrina is proof that “government”–in general–doesn’t work. He might as well say, I told you so! And the local crowd cheers, somehow.

  76. 76.

    Jon H

    June 4, 2008 at 10:18 pm

    Chris Johnson wrote: “Give me a break. He’s not President yet. He is answering to his Commander-in-Chief, to whom he is still loyal, through the mechanism of the Republican party.”

    Unless McCain’s still in the military, he doesn’t have a Commander-in-Chief.

  77. 77.

    David L Nilsson

    June 5, 2008 at 6:01 am

    Great image of contemporary warfare/welfare America: a senile spambot crawling to a passel of rich Zionists, who are privately thanking G-d the AIPAC spy trial got delayed yet again.

  78. 78.

    numfar

    June 5, 2008 at 6:48 am

    As for the bizarre grin, every time I saw it, I couldn’t help thinking about the “Gentlemen” in the Buffy episode Hush. Do a Google images search on Buffy Hush Gentlemen and you’ll see what I mean. Brrrr!

    I know what you mean!

  79. 79.

    Westmiller

    June 5, 2008 at 2:06 pm

    My wife calls McCain “The Chipmunk” … both to slight his joweled appearance and a speaking tone reminiscent of “Alvin and The Chipmunks.”
    He’s just on the wrong frequency, in so many ways.

  80. 80.

    Jonnan

    June 6, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    You have to remember, the look left, right, and grin is the outward signs of an inner turmoil, starting five years ago when George Bush said “Hah – Dick said if I put that pod on your back, you’d do anything I said. Don’t fight it John – Colin Powell’s even lets him enjoy himself when he’s not at the U.N.”

    Last night some power demon was going “The host still resists master, his will is still strong, and I can only control so many. Not the pain stick master, not my fault that the McClellan was not brought under us – we needed to make Hillary fight on and destroy the party . . . So many minds fighting master, please no more pain stick Master Cheney . . .”

  81. 81.

    James Nightshade

    June 7, 2008 at 7:07 am

    McCain was always an awkward speaker. Like it or not, George W. Bush defeated McCain and (sort-of) defeated Gore because Bush was, at that time, considered to be the smooth and likeable candidate. He was short on specifics and long on the bipartisan rhetoric, despite his later history.

    This year, it’s much the same. Hillary and McCain just don’t do as well on TV. Obama wins it.

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