Via Larison, a shitty commercial being run by Obama:
As first reported by the Washington Post, Obama’s ad features a narrator saying: “They want us to forget the insults we’ve put up with…the intolerance…they made us feel marginalized in this country we love so much.”
The screen then shows these two quotes from Limbaugh:
“…stupid and unskilled Mexicans”
—Rush Limbaugh“You shut your mouth or you get out!”
—Rush LimbaughThe narrator then says, “John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One that says lies just to get our vote…and another, even worse, that continues the policies of George Bush that put special interests ahead of working families. John McCain…more of the same old Republican tricks.”
That appears to me to be a cheap shot against McCain, who, for whatever reasons, has remained relatively consistent (at least by McCain’s loose standards) on the issue of immigration. I think McCain and Bush both have been better on the issue of immigration than the base.
I understand the need Democrats feel to “fight back,” and I understand the need to counter the narrative of Obambi, but there honestly is enough stuff out there to punch these guys square in the gut with that you don’t need to do stuff like this. On the other hand, I am thrilled with the idea of marrying Limbaugh to the Republicans. Dig up his greatest hits and have at it all across the country, Democrats.
perception manager
You’re white, right?
The Moar You Know
/facepalm
LarryB
John,
In a way, I agree with you: JM is less-worse than most on immigration. On the other hand, his is a distinct minority within his party, which shows a serious nativist streak. I think it’s fair to tar him with his party’s platform.
NCProsecutor
Did you just say that John McCain has been CONSISTENT on immigration?!?
wingnuts to iraq
McCain said he wouldn’t even vote for his own bill… and he still benefits from Limbaugh and doesn’t really try to tell them folks to zip it.
What is that phrase about lying down with dogs?
capelza
“A cheap shot against McCain”. Hmmmm maybe.
If McCain stood up and denounced Limbaugh, then maybe. Would he, though?
And risk losing the dittoheads, millions of them, Rush assures us.
The GOP went to bed with that fucking asshole, now they are left with the soiled sheets. Gak! I almost made mysef sick with that visual.
DougJ
Not sure I object so much. McCain caved to Rush on everything else, he’ll cave here too.
Stuck in the Fun House
Well, I don’t think Mccain is a racist, so tying him to the likes of Limbaugh et al.. is probably a cheap shot. Relative consistency for Mccain on anything (except more bombs for Iraq) is a non sequitur in the xtreme, however. The only consistency he’s shown so far is that he will say just about anything to get elected President. That’s a perverse form of consistent, I suppose — and is always acceptable in the Funhouse.
The Moar You Know
That will never happen. Never. If Limbaugh gave the thumbs-down McCain would lose all fifty states. And they both know it.
Jon H
“That appears to me to be a cheap shot against McCain, who, for whatever reasons, has remained relatively consistent (at least by McCain’s loose standards) on the issue of immigration”
That may be true… but the GOP bench he’d be appointing from is made up of Monica Goodlings, not John-McCain-At-His_Mavrickyest.
Not My Fault
This is a HUGE error on Obama’s part.
Feeds right in to “all politicians are liars” thing.
This is like McCain picking Palin and forfeiting the experience argument. If this add gets attention then the integrity argument will be damaged.
McCain is imploding (I think he declared war on Spain this morning) Obama needs to rise above him, and show leadership and vision now, not wallow in the mud.
The Moar You Know
That will never happen. Never. If Limbaugh gave the thumbs-down McCain would lose all fifty states. And they both know it.
The Other Steve
Didn’t McCain vote against his own immigration bill?
I seem to recall he was looking at losing the nomination over the immigration issue, so he flip flopped. Has he now flopped back to where he was?
Tom65
Obama needs to play to win. Two-minute commercails about actual issues are nice, but they’re about 1:45 longer than your average voter can absorb.
Hit him hard, hit him low if you have to, but hit him.
Tom65
Obama needs to play to win. Two-minute commercials about actual issues are nice, but they’re about 1:45 longer than your average voter can absorb.
Hit him hard, hit him low if you have to, but hit him.
The Moar You Know
Fucking shitty blog software. Sorry, guys.
Punchy
FAIL
SGEW
This is a . . . risky thing that they’ve done.
The big unknown: What the hell is Rush gonna do?
We all know that the Rush fanatics are never going to vote for Obama. So there’s nothing to lose by pissing them off. But it makes a new media war about Rush vs. McCain.
I’m guessing that the Obama campaign thinks it’s a good bet that more Rush in the media (either attacking McCain or cozying up to him) = good for Obama.
chopper
it is a cheap shot, but mccain has hardly been consistent about his record on immigration.
in fact, this may just be obama trying to prod mccain.
David
Not too sure I can get worked up about this. McCain backed off his mavericky immigration stance when pressured by other Republicans (like Rush), so unless he was lying about suddenly seeing the light on immigration, this seems relatively accurate. Brutal yes…accurate close enough.
Don’t forget this ad is more or less a response to a completely bullshit ad from McCain, that says Obama was responsible for killing the immigration reform last year. Immigration reform that Obama supported, was killed by the GOP and McCain now says he wouldn’t vote for.
So sure, maybe Obama’s latest ad isn’t very nice, but not remotely close to the BS level of McCain’s ad.
Punchy
FAIL AGAIN
chopper
seriously, mccain is coming off as a flip-flopper on his sudden conversion to a pro-regulation guy.
having him defend a different immigration position than he previously held, which is at odds with his base, won’t help him much. he’ll piss off his base and be even more of a flip flopper.
this is obama waving his latino support in mccain’s face and hoping he says something stupid. it’s risky but it might work. if it doesn’t, the fact that most everyone is focused on wall street might offer some cover.
Stuck in the Fun House
Here we go again. Just so much concern out there in the interweb. Americans don’t care that much for integrity, they elected Clinton and Bush twice didn’t they. They want tough and smart, or smart and tough mainly, although they forgot the smart on GB, probably cause, you know, 9-11 changed everything and and made voters go extra stupid for awhile.
SGEW
Another thing: Obama’s staying on message, hammering in the meme of
McCain = Bush = Republican = Right Wing = Super Extra Bad
Rush is a nasty piece of shit, and is (let’s face it) one of the leading standard bearers for the right wing nutjobs. He is the right wing. And McCain has adopted virtually all of the crazy nutjob mentality and “policies.” So McCain equals Rush.
Obama’s just callin’ it like it is.
Jon H
“We all know that the Rush fanatics are never going to vote for Obama.”
I dunno, what if Obama ran an ad of him singing Red Barchetta?
capelza
You say that like it’s a bad thing!
thomas
in the 1850’s the republic party grew out of a mix of old wigs and nativists, with funding from what would become the robber barons.
history sometimes doesn’t repeat itself. sometimes it just continues to run the same song over and over again.
SGEW
I’m saying that the Obama campaign (apparently) thinks it’s a very good idea indeed.
I’m saying it’s a little risky. Rush is a tricky little bastard. And Cindy’s probably giving him a whole barrel of the good stuff right about now.
zoe from pittsburgh
Yeah, it doesn’t bother me either. I’ve actually tuned into Rush a lot over the past 6 months to see what he’s spinning– he is reliably repugnant, reality-challenged and hateful. The fact is that the GOP relies on him to gin up support among the crazy, white xenaphobic vote. Pushing McCain to either reject or embrace Rush Limbaugh is a win-win as far as I’m concerned, he’s pretty much screwed either way. Rush is totally in LOVE with Palin, by the way.
Also, why didn’t McCain’s lie-filled spanish-language ad get this much attention? Oh, wait, I forgot that IOKIYAR still applies– at least for the next 48 days.
Dreggas
Sorry John, McCain flipped on this to please the ditto-heads that think we’re being taken over by the brown invasion. Just like everything else he changed his position to gain favor with the Limbaughs of the world so tying him to Limbaugh with this isn’t a cheap shot.
If McCain is a Republican, running as the Republican nominee and pandering to the vilest of his base then he can own it, after all it’s the ownership society.
Jay B.
They want us to forget the insults we’ve put up with…the intolerance…they made us feel marginalized in this country we love so much.”
Indisputably true.
“…stupid and unskilled Mexicans”
—Rush Limbaugh
“You shut your mouth or you get out!”
—Rush Limbaugh
Rush doesn’t believe these things? Shit, he’s called me and my friends “traitors” so many times the word has lost all meaning.
The narrator then says, “John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One that says lies just to get our vote…
Devastatingly true. Check out Alan Wolfe’s piece in Salon today
and another, even worse, that continues the policies of George Bush that put special interests ahead of working families. John McCain…more of the same old Republican tricks.
Again, true.
Fuck ’em. Limbaugh should be tied in with them and drummed out of polite society. McCain has sucked up to these douchebags and, in fact, mostly agrees with them.
I don’t even see what’s remotely hubristic about this. This is the core of McCain’s party and their base of support. Hate the other guy. Lie through their teeth about what they really want. And then lie some more about how unfair they’re being treated.
Obama should keep presenting them with the mirror. They fucking hate that.
The Moar You Know
That might be the one thing that could keep me home on Election Day. Let’s not even go there.
It will forever pain me that Mr. Fat Lying Bloated Sack of Shit has the same name as my favorite band.
KXB
McCain may have consistent, but he is now largely silent on the subject of immigration. He has handed that over to the fence-building wing of the party. A candidate who wants us to “fight with him” – unless it pisses off his base.
SGEW
Great. Now I have “2112” stuck in my head.
Jody
Wow. It’s a cheap shot for pointing out something that the base-the one McCain is now pandering to-demands?
Really?
You don’t just elect a person. You elect the political machine he surrounds himself with, as well as the opinions and values of the people that get him into office. When viewed thru THAT lens, you realize this is not a cheap shot. It’s just shining light on the cockroaches.
Folks put up with electing people like George W. Stimpy because they forgive the sins they see in people. They just assume it isn’t as severe as they make it out to be, or they “aren’t really serious”.
Limbaugh disproves that. He has been spewing his sludge for decades. He IS the voice of the base. You of all people should know that John.
The best way to beat McCain is to show what an ugly, out-of-touch, nasty, shitty little person he is…as well as the base he is speaking for.
Not tying the Limbaugh puke-funnel around McCain’s neck would be a big mistake. This is a fine move by Obama.
LiberalTarian
I don’t think it is a cheap shot. Even if McCain wrote the nicer-than-other-republicans immigration bill, he still backpeddled. And frankly, Rush is going to make $50 million on his next contract doing a whole lot of bashing anybody the Republican party sets its sights on. I’m sick to the death of the feigned outrage of the GOP–they can suck it. Everything is fair game for Republicans, nothing is fair game for Democrats. Hey, you buy the dog, you clean up after him (either McCain or Limbaugh can be the dog or the poop, I don’t care).
J. Michael Neal
McCain is perfectly consistent on immigration: he talks in favor of it, and votes against it. Without fail. You people are making the mistake of thinking that actions somehow need to follow from words.
KSMIAMI
It just comes down to one thing: The current incantation of the Democratic party Looks like America as it exists today and the Republican party through playing to its base nature looks like a connecticut audience circa 1953. So the ad is harsh, but the majority of Hispanics has already chosen the party that advances their (varied) interests better, save for some old Cubans who really need to get over themselves like yesterday.
Zifnab
Yes, John, I’m in absolute agreement. Bush has been a saint on the immigration situation in America. The temporary worker permits that his administration devised in order to import cheap labor from abroad while denying the people entering the country any form of citizenship or legal rights was another masterful example of compassionate conservative.
It ranks right up there with the slave trade and Apartheid as one of those truly selfless and morally pristine ideas. Anyone who gives Bush less than full credit for pushing such a benevolent and generous system that would in no way be prone to massive abuses even beyond its intended scope due to oversight which we are all confident would be full present, doesn’t deserve to have that man as your President for 8 full years.
God Bless You George W. Bush and your tireless crusade to treat the newest generation of American visitors with the same respect and kindness that you have treated its current occupants.
*salutes*
ThymeZone
Good for Obama, and please give us more of the same. They are solidifying the Latino vote, which is critical in several states.
“Build bigger fences” is the GOP immigration equivalent of “drill here drill now.” Fuck the GOP, they have bought themselves this issue, now let them try to deal with the consequences.
Let McCain try to figure out how to run away from his own party, it’s not our job to do that for him. Fuck him, beat the crap out of him on this issue. Let the Republicans wear Rush Limbaugh around their stupid necks.
Christ Johm, what’s next … a reminder of the time Obama operatives were mean to Muslims at a rally last summer?
Do you really want to win this election or not? Cut the crap, and pour it on. We have legitimate clubs to beat the GOP, and a few weeks left to beat them. Let the beatings continue unabated. Fuck the Republicans very, very much in every possible fucking way.
Did I mention …. FUCK THEM?
The Moar You Know
I’m listening to “Something for Nothing” right now.
I honestly don’t get where John and some of our other more faint-hearted commenters are coming from on this, I really don’t. This isn’t even dirty campaigning (which I have argued, and will continue to insist repeatedly that Democrats need to rediscover the art of the low blow with a vengenance) this is just 100% the truth, plain and simple, about what Republicans have done, what they believe, what they want, and who McCain is getting his talking points from.
SHF
You know what; it’s all fair game. Didn’t McCain just put out an ad saying Obama wanted to teach kindergartners sex ed? People wanted Obama to get tough & he’s getting tough. There’s no whining in baseball or politics!
The Moar You Know
Zifnab = WIN
The truth hurts.
wvng
John, I’ll go against the thread’s grain and agree with you. Obama doesn’t have to go there. And shouldn’t.
Just Some Fuckhead
Fuck ’em. I have died on the rhetorical cross too many times to count for the sins of Ward Fucking Churchill, whoever the fuck that is. Republicans practice this guilt by association bullshit all the time and it’s time they got a taste of it.
Here’s the big difference: Ward Churchill and William Ayers and Others To Be Hung Around Our Necks At a Later Time are absolute nobodies. Rush Limbaugh, OTOH, is a foundational pillar of the modern Republican party. Hopefully, this will force Republicans to disassociate from or otherwise push their loud mouth crazies back in the fucking closet, or at least pay a price for ’em.
More of this please.
aimai
This is some kind of joke, right? John, uhhhh, what happened. Even a few hours ago you seemed to grasp that when John McCain runs for president he does so as part of, in fact the head of, the Republican party. These are the policies, folks, and McCain is just the figurehead for them. If he was powerless to pick his own vp candidate you don’t think he’s powerless, whatever he “wants” or doesn’t want in an existential sense, to pick his own immigration policy. There’s no doubt that rush limbaugh and his followers are the “real” republicans on the immigration issue. Where they demand he go, mccain will go. So, no, this isn’t a cheap shot. ITs just a reality that the press consistently refuses to recognize: parties have platforms, platforms have consequences. If McCain doesn’t like his own party’s platform he should have run on the democratic ticket. Oh, and fuck him.
aimai
Just Some Fuckhead
I had the same thought really had to fight the urge to accuse John of concern-trolling his own damn site.
Ed in NJ
Seems pretty shrewd to me.
McCain has two options: defend himself against the ad and lose the immigration hawks and Dittoheads or let it go and lose the Latino vote.
The bottom line is that McCain has changed his position on immigration to fit his audience. This hits him hard and forces him to clarify his stance, neither of which helps him electorally because, as the ad says, he’s two-faced and people will find out.
mrmobi
John, I don’t agree with you, see Zifnab and ThymeZone above.
Also POLITICS = SHITTY
People have been complainin’ lately about Obama not being tough enough. Looks like he knows what to do with these last few weeks, to me.
Lastly, any chance to show Limbaugh for the spineless piece of shit that he is is gratefully taken. If McCain happens to be in the line of fire, so much the better.
The Moar You Know
You’re not getting off that easily.
Why should Obama “not go there”? Are the quotes made up? Are Rush Limbaugh’s statements not representative of how the Republican party feels about Hispanics? Is the assertion that the Republican party has insulted Hispanics, demeaned them, been intolerant of them, marginalized them somehow untrue?
Please explain why Obama “shouldn’t go there”.
Tsulagi
That’s snark, right? Either that or you got one hell of a broad definition of “relatively consistent.” McCain, the guy who pushed hard for the immigration reform legislation co-sponsored with Kennedy arguing it was vital reform to better America. Country First. Yep, Straight Talker did not waver in duty to country, well, until The Base said they REALLY didn’t like it.
So, doing the Country = Base wingnut math, he voted against his own legislation saying what he now realized was really in the best interests of the country was fence building. Then to further show he knew what was in the best interests of the country (see math above), he also soon opposed the Dream Act he co-sponsored, which was similar to legislation he wrote and introduced in previous years. One piece of that legislation would have enabled illegal immigrants already living in this country under the age of 30 who joined the military to have residence. Guess that was now a bad thing. Even the Moonie Times summed it up like this…
At that same link talking about the string of McCain
flip-flopsheartfelt conversions in Multiple Choice Mitt fashion and his rationale…Seems the heiress-kept, non-elitist Straight Talker in his limo has not only been sipping his cappuccinos, he’s been drinking deep from that frenchy nuance cup too.
As far as Obama’s Dos Caras ad attributing the clear thinking Oxycontin Rush as saying “stupid and unskilled Mexicans,” to be fair here’s the full passage in which he said that for context…
Yeah, much better.
Brachiator
I’m torn. It may be a cheap shot, but since the Republican strategy is to lie all the time about everything, I’m not sure Obama has any clean options here. Reporters will bash him for becoming “just like McCain,” despite the fact that the GOP Smear machine regurgitates more filth than a leaking oil tanker, on the theory that whatever gets you the win is acceptable political campaigning.
And sadly, huge numbers of voters have clearly signaled that they don’t care about nuance and detail, but just want someone to cheer for, and someone to hiss at. How else can you explain stuff like the GOP supporter who said of Palin, “I don’t know what she stands for, but I love her!”
McCain has hardly been consistent on the immigration issue. He has all but disavowed his previous work in this area. This is one of the little-appreciated aspects of the GOP tactics. They attack all the time, and contradict themselves, appropriate their opponents positions and vocabulary, all with the aim of keeping the Democrats off balance and making them respond to the Republican message.
And so, you can’t really say that Obama has falsely attacked McCain since McCain has not laid out a current position on immigration. What McCain has done or said in the past doesn’t really matter.
This may be true, but this is sometimes a false argument that some Democrats use that has little to do with the actual Republican position, which is often worse than mere racism. The Wall Street wing of the GOP loves the idea of guest workers who can be used to drive down labor costs. The libertarian wing is almost pure open border, again without regard to the consequences to citizen or resident alien workers.
The Grand Panjandrum
Boo fucking hoo. That mean ol’ Barack Obama. Former POW McCain should not have voted against his own legislation. Fuck him. The Obama campaign is punching this flip flopper square in his tiny chiclet teeth.
AkaDad
I can’t believe you’re saying…these things just can’t be true.
The facts
Oddly enough, Cole doesn’t point out that the BHO took those quotes completely out of context. See my name’s link for the truth. Includes a list of those who’ve helped BHO spread his latest lies.
capelza
You know you’ve permanently ruined my visual image of McCain now. All I’ll see are the teeth.
zuzu's petals
Slightly OT, but FiveThirtyEight shows Obama at 284 … hallelujah!
Obama Pulls Ahead in Electoral College Projection
rafael
Something people here haven’t mentioned. Barack Obama is asked to distance himself from every person he ever sat at the same table with if they have weird ideas. There were actually calls from Republicans that he distance himself from some comments made by Ludacris. Because you know, all black America speaks through Obama or some stupid crap. He’s asked to denounce expressions made by people that have no relationship to him or to the Democratic Party.
On the other hand, we have Rush Limbaugh, a racist asshole who had the VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES as a guest, SEVERAL TIMES!! And members of Congress, an ex-President, Bush Sr calling in to the show, etc.
Why is it unfair to tie the expressions made by Rush to the party that supports him completely? It’s about time the Democratic Party did this, in my opinion.
Stuck in the Fun House
At this point in a presidential election, and triple so for this one, “This may be true” is irrelevant as teats on a Boar Hog, as my grandpappy and thousands of others used to say. I belong to the rabble rousing wing of wingnut haters and fully support the denigration of their candidates at every turn. The ONLY caveat would be a healthy warriness for blowback on any avenue of attack. Otherwise, it’s “anything goes”, which I stole from the GOP and won’t give back.
Martin
However, is that a fair characterization of Palin? What are her immigration views? I’d bet another $100 to Obama that she’s right down the Rush/Tancredo line on immigration. If it’s a fair characterization of the ticket, I’d say it’s fair game.
Lay off the teeth.
XYZ
It’s about time Obama used the wedge strategy against McCain. McCain has been characterized by some as a flip-flopper but that isnt really what he is.
He is two-faced – espousing a cause but signalling to the base that he won’t really do anything about that cause. So he repudiates his own immigration bill, says he’s in favor of cap-and-trade but says there’ll be no cap (huh), he’s in favor of campaign finance reform but finds loopholes that render it meaningless etc etc
Thats why McCain can’t run on policy. Because if he mentioned policy he would be running the wedge strategy against himself.
theturtlemoves
I hate it when I wear the various concert shirts I have and people ask me if it I enjoy his radio show… I just have to hum Closer to the Heart to myself and smile.
Fern
Actually, the more I think about this, the more I think this is rather a clever ad. No way can McCain respond to it without pissing people off – either minorities or the anti-immigrant right.
Navy Guy
I have to comment on this. Mcain is a racist pig! Look at his record on the MLK holiday on Arizona.. Rush is also a racist pig and the two of them deserve anything the Obama camp throws at them. Immigration for the GOP is just a way of playing the same game that goes back to Reagan, I say pound them to putty.
Thanks
Zifnab
I can understand where John is coming from. Trying to pin Obama for comments made by Ludacris isn’t bad politics because its dirty. The politics is bad because its irrelevant and inaccurate.
That said, demagoguery and scapegoating are central pillars of the modern GOP. Calling a high priest of demagoguery out on his foolish scapegoating and tying him to his preferred political candidate isn’t irrelevant when we get to see “Salute the Flag” amendments and virulently bigoted anti-Mexican, anti-Gay, and anti-Women legislation and SCOTUS decisions.
There’s a reason McCain is getting hammered by Obama in the Latino polls at something like 30 to 70. And half the party platform consists of “STFU! That’s why!” as a rationale for its campaign issues.
Obama would be a fool and sucker (like Gore or Kerry before him) were he to NOT hammer this sort of shit home. If it looks like Barry is kicking the GOP in the rear, perhaps its only because giant assholes make such easy targets.
Blue Raven
I agree completely. And no, John, it’s not a cheap shot. It’s all true, all correct, and McCain earned it with his flip-flopping.
mapaghimagsik
Others have said it, but I’ll add that I disagree JC, its a wedge issue for the Republican party, who wants Latino votes and treats them like garbage. If McCain was a real Maverick, he’d stand up to his party.
He’s not. He’s a pandering dotard, and deserves to be called out on such
He wants it both ways, and Obama is right to call him on it.
harlana pepper
Number One Reason to Take the Gloves Off
SGEW
John McCain racist? Nonsense! . . . Though there was that charming sentiment he expressed back in 2000:
Oh yeah.
Ted
I’m afraid I have to disagree with John as well. In an ideal America, voters would punish this kind of guilt by association attacks. Since we don’t have that ideal, and the GOP does this shit all the time, to great success, I don’t know what other way there is to win.
Bill Clinton didn’t win two terms by being above this kind of crap. He won them by distorting his opponents’ records and smearing in ways that would thaw Rove’s heart. It’s the only way Dems can win the White House against a party that has no compunction about doing crap like this as a key part of their strategy.
I wouldn’t know whether Carter campaigned more like Clinton or not, but from what I gather he may have been the last honest and decent presidential candidate in that regard. Ever since Reagan it’s a free-for-all smear-fest.
kth
McCain isn’t a nativist, but he caved to the nativists in his party. “Enforcement first” means, to anyone with more than 3 brain cells in his skull, means enforcement-only, and means the problem of 10 million people living in the shadows, used by unscrupulous industrial firms as a stick with which to beat working Americans, continues unabated. It is perfectly legitimate to remind Latinos of constituencies on whom McCain depends to get elected.
Ted
Oh yeah. He’d be very objective as president when dealing with issues relating to Vietnam and southeast Asia in general.
And also, plenty of those “gooks” were on his (our) side in that war. I guess he hates them as well.
Cassidy
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
There are no cheap shots. Either the blows land, or they don’t. The guy who wins is who lands the most shots.
Zifnab
Carter was a brief reprieve from Nixonian politics that can honestly be dated back to late Eisenhower and early Kennedy. The first Kennedy / Nixon contest was absolutely brutal. The Johnson / Goldwater fight was bare-knuckle. And the Carter / Ford match up almost gave Ford the win because Carter insisted on soft-peddling so heavily even when the entire nation was sick to death of Nixon’s Republicans. Reagen was just picking up a tradition of cut-throat politics that has been an American landmark for generations.
The only Presidents who don’t have to fight dirty are the ones who have so horribly thrashed their opponents that they don’t even have to try. The Reagen election in ’84 was relatively tame compared to ’80 because Mondale was such an incredibly shitty candidate that Reagen didn’t need to work very hard. Even Gore / Bush was relatively civil. I think Bush did a better job of smearing McCain than he did smearing his Democratic rival.
SGEW
Perhaps, but even then there are fradulent and dishonorable cheap shots (e.g., McCain’s sex-ed ad) and there are legitimate cheap shots (e.g., arguably the spanish language ad we are discussing).
The question is not whether this is a “cheap” shot or not, the question is whether it’s legitimate.
The Moar You Know
This quote screams mental stability. A guy like this would never fly off the handle and stab an Asian head of state to death at a formal dinner with his fork.
rekroc
What the fuck is this “Obambi” bullshit?
mannemalon
YOU PLAY. TO WIN. THE GAME.
Rush is one of the nastiest dudes on the planet, extremely ignorant and hateful, and herds the sheep for the GOP.
GREAT AD.
Ted
Oh, to be sure. I know Reagan didn’t start nasty campaigning. That Johnson “Daisy” ad is about the most disgusting type of ad I can think of, but completely and utterly effective. I just wish Dem 527’s would get to work with the nasty stuff like that more.
Apsaras
Political idiot savant Maureen Dowd came up with it as part of her “All Male Democrats are Faggots” narrative. See, the junior senator from Illinois is just too young, too fresh-faced to fight in the rough-and-tumble world of politics. Surely, he will be chewed up and cast by the wayside of the Clinton machine.
It’s still brought up by PUMA dead-enders and other species of troll. The thing is, you can’t go around calling the guy a political naif and the next day say that he is the dread avatar of the mythic Chicago Poltical Machine.
rekroc
Thanks for the explanation. I tend to ignore gossip columnists…!
rikyrah
1. they’ve been lying on Obama in 2 languages
2. McCain’s been trying to run away from his party’s stance on immigration, when it’s obvious that the GOP is hostile to Latinos.
3. Rush has been nothing but a racist dopehead towards Obama.
And, after all the ‘ Black man as brute’ commercials McCain has run….I have no problem with this one in the least. Bout time Obama fought back.
LaurenceB
If I recall correctly, McCain was asked in one of the debates if he would vote for his own Immigration bill, and he stated that he would not.
Is that “consistency” John?
cain
“As the sun goes down
On the western shore
It makes me feel uneasy
In the hot dry rasp of the devil winds
Who cares what a fool believes?”
cain
Shaolin
Sorry John, but McCain’s gotta eat this one. Lie down with dogs and all that.
Eff ’em.
rob!
I don’t think any clear-eyed Obama supporter thinks he–or his campaign–are 100% honest, all the time. who is? i’m not, and i’m not running for president and running a massive nationwide movement.
he’s a politician, and we’ve constructed a system that makes it impossible for any truly, 100% honest politician to to get elected to anything higher than dog catcher.
so, if Obama can pair McCain and Limbaugh up and peel off some votes that way, THEN HE SHOULD FUCKING DO IT.
McCain and Palin in the White House might truly leave the U.S. a smoldering pile of ruins, and i want to live to see past 2012.
Sen. Obama, FULL STEAM AHEAD.
Brachiator
I originally posted that I was torn over this issue. I retract that sentiment.
I heard on the way home that McCain was using Spanish language ads to claim that Obama had voted to kill an immigration reform when the facts clearly indicate that the Republicans were responsible for this. Larison has updated his post to reflect this.
And from Adwatch,
I am tired of McCain’s “Crouching Turtle, Lying Weasel” tactics in which he constantly lies not only about Obama’s record, but also about his own policies and votes, while insisting that he and Palin can refuse to talk to the press unless they are deferred to.
Especially when McCain also wants to continue to insist that his status as a former POW who did service for his country bathes him in a special glow of probity, and that his word can never be challenged.
Especially when it is clear that Palin is spectacularly uninformed about everything, and McCain is so confused that he doesn’t know the difference between Spain and Latin America.
No more. McCain and Palin can no longer be taken seriously.
They should be mocked early and often.
handy
You know what, it shouldn’t even having been a surprise by a country mile, but the way Palin jumped on the Biden comment about taxes AND the way the media totally soundbited to validate her attack just makes me respond all the more on this Obama ad: “Keep it up, hit them hard and hit them often.”
P.S. Candy Crawley is quite possibly the stupidest “journalist” on the TV, and that’s saying a lot in a very crowded field.
flyerhawk
Sorry John but I don’t agree with you. Not that this is going to make you any sleep. :)
McCain is trying to have it both ways on this issue. This is a BIG issue for his base. And his former position, one he very likely still believes in, is anathema to them. It is probably the 2nd biggest deal breaker to them, behind abortion.
McCain has made a choice that he will sacrifice this issue to try to win the White House. That comes with a cost. You no longer get to pretend you are a moderate Republican who doesn’t want to kick out all the brown people. That ended when you changed your tune on the issue.
I’m not one that cares that much for flip flopper accusations. Sometimes politicians change their positions and sometimes they do so for good reasons. McCain likely would not have received the Republican nomination had he not hardened on immigration.
This isn’t some voted that he was forced to play ball on. This is a repeated policy statement from him.
If you don’t want fleas, don’t sleep with the dogs. And Rush is the biggest mutt around.
D0n Camillo
Yeah I guess this was kinda mean of Obama. To make up for it, I hope he has the decency to invite McCain to his inauguration, because this is the kind off strategy that actually wins.
Pelikan
I hope Obama keeps it up, if for no other reason than that I have a $5 bet riding on whether or not Rush breaks down and calls him a “nigger” on the air or not.
Keep pushing that fucker!
Glocksman
The ad’s not a cheap shot given McCain’s flip flopping on the issue in order to win the nomination, but it is using Rush’s quotes totally out of context.
I’m sure with a little more digging, the Obama ad people could have come up with quotes from Limbaugh that would have both passed the factcheck.org test and tied McCain to Rush just as effectively.
Egilsson
I think it’s a fine ad, tough and on the edge, but passes the test set by republicans when they went on the nebulous six degrees of association angle (Ayers, Rezko, Pfleger, et. al).
McCain has sucked up to Limbaugh over and over, and he has repudiated his own immigration legislation.
Maybe he should have supported the congressional condemnation of Limbaugh to demonstrate his maverickness with regard to Limbaugh. He chose not to.
Beej
The ad works for me. And may I suggest another to pound McCain with for the next 40 days: Why do Republicans think they’re above the law? See Todd and Sarah Palin, the Bush White House, the Bush Department of Justice, the Vice President’s office, etc.
Captain USA
Poor widdle McCain.
I sure hope Obama didn’t hurt his precious feelings.
dave™©
That appears to me to be a cheap shot against McCain…
Isn’t that just too fucking bad?
This is why you NEVER get in bed with a “former” conservative, kids.