More On The Anti-Obama Campaign That Didn’t Happen

Remember the one he did run <a href=”http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/241501.php”about Rashid Khalidi.
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The fact that OJ didn’t murder the next door neighbor, too, doesn’t mean he was a good guy all along.

oh, my kingdom for preview. The article is here (I think).

Old news Michael, at least in blogosphere terms. We’ve been seeing this for days, for instance:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/12/the-card-mccain.html

What Sully’s fill-in said:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/12/the-card-mcca-1.html
“I have no doubt that McCain would have released the Wright ad had he thought it would do any good.”

The Presidential election is over. McCain lost. He lost because he deserved to. He desrved to lose because he ran a slimy campaign devoid of substance. And that provides the true insight into his character, not the fact that he didn’t use absolutely every last glob of slime in the bucket, or that he gave an apologetic speech after he lost.

Ditto on the preview, Elvis. Sigh.

It’s fun look at how low the bar is for “honorable” behavior for a republican.
Talk about your soft bigotry.

This is one ad of McCain’s that media did get to run for free. Oh wait…You just did.

I wonder how long this will ‘haunt’ the McCain campaign…
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Oh, wait, that’s right: THE ELECTION IS OVER! Did anyone remember to tell Mr Scherer?

Imagine how sweet and cuddly the McCain campaign would have been if Obama agreed to those town halls!

http://crooksandliars.com/silentpatriot/rev-wright-ad-mccain-refused-run

“… If there’s one thing you have to respect McCain for, it would have to be his adherence to the promise of not bringing up Wright. Sure, independent groups ran a barrage of anti-Wright ads in the final days — and, indeed, McCain crossed a whole slew of lines throughout the campaign — but McCain promised to stay away from the issue and he did. The ad in question highlights the importance of character. How ironic is it, then, that the one issue on which McCain displayed true character was the one many Republicans think could have made him some real headway?

Exit question: What does it say about the Republican party when many of its adherents think McCain lost because he didn’t sling more mud like this? It’s almost as if they think McCain would have won despite any real ideas on how to lead the country if only he were able to remind more voters about a fiery pastor. Pathetic.“

The unrun commerical just leaked to ABC News. Give me a friggin break.

I’ve never called McCain a senile, cancerous old baboon. End of month I’ll probably be buried under Humanitarian of the Year awards.

It haunts me.

I see someone already noticed the irony. Every time McCain went particulartly nasty, his own poll numbers dropped. The negative campaigning was one of the major reasons he lost. So why do so many Repblicans still insist that he didn’t do enough? These are the same folks who are still insisting that all we need to do to jump-start the economy is provide more tax-cuts.
The inability to learn from reality astounds.

My johnson haunts me. But I will never run the ad.

I still maintain that McCain was not taking the high road by making Rev. Wright off limits. If he thought there would be any benefit to himself, he would have aired those ads in an instant. He peddled enough outright lies and encouraged low-level racism to think otherwise. I think it was because McCain and Palin had their own pastor issues. Had they ran the Wright ads, the Obama team would have countered with a You Tube clip of Sarah being cleansed of witches and the Palin’s involvement with AIP. When it comes to religious nuttiness and anti-American’s Sarah had Obama beat hands down. It would have done McCain no good to get into that paticular fight.

Today I refused to knock over an old woman to steal her purse, my deep sense of honor would not allow me to do so. Give me a f@cking medal.
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Ah for the halcyon days when Scherer wrote articles about Sarah Palin being haunted by her association w/ a separatist party, or about McCain being haunted by his association w/ the Rove machine or his involvement w/ the savings and loan industry. Scherer did write those articles didn’t he?

gunny, get some of those little blue pills and you will be haunted no more.
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jarais: “Imagine how sweet and cuddly the McCain campaign would have been if Obama agreed to those town halls!” I am haunted by the image of McCain restlessly roaming the stage looking for Mr. Puddles. “What’s goin on over here? How you folks doin? Has anybody seen my dog? Has anyone seen my little Mr. Puddles? Just a little guy, fits right in your hand. No? Mr. Puuuuddlllles, Mr. Puddles I have Snausages!”

A couple weeks back, I wrote about a McCain campaign ad, developed by Fred Davis, that would have tied Barack Obama to Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
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Oh yeah, the one that would have won him the election if it weren’t for those meddling kids.

It’s a bad ad.

I am haunted by the BBQ I never ate.

Michael Scherer is a credulous dolt. For the good of the nation, he must be fired.

Who gave MS the keys to the kingdom to be drooling all this drivel?

McCain wisely chose not to run this junk because it would have portrayed outright desperation – something the campaign ended up achieving a short time later.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

the key here would have been to use the Wright ad early (like right after the conventions)– when people were still asking “who is Barack Obama”? Ayres as a ‘stand alone’ issue didn’t work; but combining Ayres radicalism with Wright’s radicalism would have made a much more significant impression.

Of course, the Village decided that Wright and Ayres (and Obama’s entire past, including a real estate deal with a felon that was obviously corrupt) were off limits — as were any questions about his qualifications for the Oval Office.

Pluk, please explain the qualifications that Obama lacks. Thanks.

Ok, now I think pluk really is a troll.

“The negative campaigning was one of the major reasons he lost. So why do so many Repblicans still insist that he didn’t do enough? These are the same folks who are still insisting that all we need to do to jump-start the economy is provide more tax-cuts.
The inability to learn from reality astounds.”

Or to win the war, insert more troops. In other words, double-down, never blink or admit you’re wrong. Bushism at its finest.

But, I’m sure you’ll agree that this inability to learn from reality (Palin, Huckaf-ck the leading contenders going FWD) is a good thing for America. Either the wackjob rightists or the nearly exclusively white selfish money-grubbers win their civil war–either way in ’12 and beyond, that’s not a marriage that can work anymore. They hate each other and the veil is off–the country is tired of having that fu-ked & false union in their household every night.

And yes, Mikey, Johnny Mac overruled one ad, so now he can be excused for the gutter swill he imbibed and projected for months? Only our MSM and estab. political apparatus could rehabilitate the honorable Munich beer hall elder statesman.

Running the ad or not probably no difference. The Wright video was widely known and discussed. The right wing still carries it around like they are Gunga Din on a mission. I don’t know how many times texte has referred to it here. Obama handled it adroitly and it didn’t really matter then, or now, unless you are a right wing nut. Then it’s a big deal.

oh, my kingdom for preview.
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“Eben Robey went down to the Tremont Temple in Boston to hear Norman Thomas speak. When he come back he was out preachin’ socialism ‘cross the back fence to Enoch Turner.
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“You know, Enoch,” Eben was sayin’, “under socialism everybody shares everythin’”.
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“Is that so?”
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“Ayuup.”
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“You mean to tell me, Eben, that if you had 2 fahms and I had none, you’d give me one of ‘em?”
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“Ayup. Under socialism I’d give you one of ‘em.”
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“And if you had two hay rigs?
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“Under socialism, if I had two hay rigs and you had none, I’d give you one of ‘em.”
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“Well, Eben, suppose you had two hogs?”
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“Damn you, Enoch! You know I got two hogs.”

So why do so many Repblicans still insist that he didn’t do enough?
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Part of this is keeping this stuff in play, to delegitimize Obama.
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Part of it is playing to the Know Nothing base. It’s like chanting “Drill baby drill.”
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Part of this is making the McCain campaign go away.
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And the last part is that they have no grasp of reality.

Wright, Ayers, flag pins, his wife’s proud to be an American comment and his home deal were all brought up over and over last summer. The Republicans were beating a tired drum and are still shocked that the majority of American’s shrugged. Compared with their hero George Jr, no Obama “scandle” thus far even comes close.

You know what really turns my stomachs? Pundits, journalists, et al, falling all over themselves to fawn over the “integrity” of McCain for not using an ad that had nothing to do with either his or Obama’s qualifications for President. give the man a cookie.

Sorry, but for the life of me, McCain sold his soul to the devil once he self-righteously declared that Obama would sell out his country to win an election. Integrity indeed.

Joe Wurzelbacher lashed out at former GOP presidential nominee John McCain Tuesday, the man who made Wurzelbacher famous as “Joe the Plumber.” Wurzelbacher told conservative radio host Glenn Beck that he felt “dirty” after “being on the campaign trail and seeing some of the things that take place.”
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Recalling a conversation he had with McCain about the $700 billion financial industry bailout in September, Wurzelbacher said: “When I was on the bus with him, I asked him a lot of questions about the bailout because most Americans did not want that to happen.”
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“I asked him some pretty direct questions,” he continued. “Some of the answers you guys are gonna receive — they appalled me, absolutely. I was angry. In fact I wanted to get off the bus after I talked to him.”
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Asked why he didn’t leave McCain’s campaign if he was “appalled” by the candidate, Wurzelbacher said, “honestly, because the thought of Barack Obama as president scares me even more.” While Wurzelbacher was critical of McCain during the interview, he had nothing but praise for his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. “Sarah Palin is absolutely the real deal,” he said.
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The tools in the media actually thought that this guy was important and a swing vote. What maroons.

Tip: Mitt Romney just thought of something KILLER he could have said in one of the debates! Get on it!

The whole thing would have been useless and silly anyway. Wright and Obama are two separate persons with their own sets of beliefs and views. Anyone who’s seen Obama in action over the last months knows that he doesn’t hold such radical opinions as the “good reverend”.

The country was finally ripe for someone like President Obama. Period. The ad really is a nonissue. It didn’t say anything that McCain’s minions didn’t. Next…

@wvng#17: (laughing) Mr Puddles was truly my favorite TDS skit of the election season. What made it even more delicious afterwords was that all of the late nite shows riffed on the wandering McCain; but, TDS *nailed* it with Mr Puddles. And Snausages.
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@wvng#26: I agree. This p_luk does not sound like the one from days gone by.
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Paul (that one) – are you really back now that Ana has checked out?
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MS: The word you are looking for is “discomfited” (ask Carney). As in: Michael Scherer is discomfited by that fact that McCain didn’t throw every last t@rd at Obama during campaign 2008.

@wvng#26: I stand corrected. The debate on the “Disappointed Liberal” post by Joe brought out an “is he or isn’t he” debate about p_luk, the consensus being that he’s real.
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Paul(that one): Sorry for doubting. However, you said you weren’t an Obama supporter. I seem to recall that you favored Hillary early on…
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So what gives? Do you think that HRC would be *less* centrist than Obama? I hind this hard to believe.

hind = find

kbang, I remember that discussion, and agreed till I read this:
“Of course, the Village decided that Wright and Ayres (and Obama’s entire past, including a real estate deal with a felon that was obviously corrupt) were off limits — as were any questions about his qualifications for the Oval Office.”
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That sounds much more like textee than the pluk I know.

wvng, You’re right, something smells funny. p_luk did not talk about the village and Obama in quite that way. And, he alternated village with “cocktail weenie circuit”, as I recall.
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Dang, the trolls is gettin’ clever on us. So much easier when they typed in ALL CAPS and signed each missive with “Oh, Well, Hillary Happens”. *sigh*

Woulda’ coulda’ shoulda’….
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Oh, what an honorable man! McCain is on his John McCain Reclamation Tour©, appearing on Letterman tonight and having this “Look-what-I-didn’t-do” story leaked to Brian Ross.
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How transparent. And pathetic.

Off topic. But on a previous topic.
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Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker on how identifying a good school teacher is as difficult as picking a successful NFL quarterback. In both cases, without seeing them in action, there’s no way to know. Too complicated.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/15/081215fa_fact_gladwell

“Paul(that one): Sorry for doubting. However, you said you weren’t an Obama supporter. I seem to recall that you favored Hillary early on…”
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Is that for me?

Liz “Sprinkles” Sidoti is totally on Mike’s wavelength about Obama being “haunted” by Blago. Funny that.
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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=6430116

trifecta – MS and Sidoti pushing the “Obama scandal” are making me think of Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) in Blazing Saddles-”I want it so BAD”

folks, if you go back to this spring, you will note that I’ve always been extremely skeptical of Obama. You will also see similar sentiments expressed over at correntewire under my name.

In terms of the Wright ad, I was pointing out that it could have been effective if used early on (august or september). Many of you may be suffering from memory hole disease, but McCain’s “rock star” ad had been extremely effective in beginning to define Obama. You also seem to have forgotten that Wright did do considerable damage to Obama, and it was Clinton’s decision not to exploit the Wright issue that made it go off the radar.

Wright could have been used not so much to cast Obama as a ‘radical’, but rather as a politician who lacked any convictions and will do/say anything to get elected — and it was that message that was key to a McCain victory. McCain needed people to be skeptical of Obama’s presentation to prevent them from buying into his promises.

McCain lost because he did want to run a positive, issue oriented campaign. Palin was chosen to shore up his base and reinforce his own message of change (“the Maverick”), but the combination of media Obamaphilia and misogyny turned the focus of the coverage to Palin (a woman who was as qualified to be VP as Obama was qualified to be President — what she lacked was practice in ‘Village-speak’, especially when it came to issues that were prominent in this election.)

(for an example of Obamaphilia, one need only look at Time’s top ten gaffes of the campaign. There is only one real Obama gaffe (the Obama seal, which he can pawn off on his staff), and the biggest gaffe of the campaign (“bitter/cling”) isn’t even listed, while relatively minor gaffes by Obama’s opponents that were overplayed by the media were included.)

I thought it was BHO not doing the weekly Townhalls that forced Senator McCain to abandon his (never run not even in the primary) positive issue oriented campaign.
Poor guy was such a paradox. Strong but too weak to resist. Honorable but only until it wasn’t easy.

P-NNTO: If I’d have meant You, I’d have said not-You!
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Sorry. I was being too clever by half. I’ll stick with PNNTO and p_luk to keep our Pauls straight.

It’s not you it’s me k. I dawned on me too late. I blame my cold!

p_luk, sorry if I misunderestimated you. I did not remember you as one who would say this: Palin (a woman who was as qualified to be VP as Obama was qualified to be President — what she lacked was practice in ‘Village-speak’, especially when it came to issues that were prominent in this election.)

Sorry. I was being too clever by half. I’ll stick with PNNTO and p_luk to keep our Pauls straight

don’t forget Dirks, the other “Paul who is not that one!”

Sorry. I was being too clever by half. I’ll stick with PNNTO and p_luk to keep our Pauls straight

don’t forget Dirks, the other “Paul who is not that one!”

“The ad never ran, because John McCain ruled Wright out of bounds.”

Clearly, when the ad was created, Wright was “in bounds” and not off-limits.
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Next up, let’s praise John McCain for firing the racists he knowingly hired!

pnnto – some typos are little gifts: I dawned on me too late. Goes for me too.

folks, if you go back to this spring, you will note that I’ve always been extremely skeptical of Obama.
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I thought the archives were wiped out or otherwise rendered inaccessible with the comment system change.