John McCain

Palin and McCain, a Week Later

Sarah Palin blames Bush and, more specifically, the problem shocker of a Republican debt presidency, while openly pondering her role in 2012: “Show me where the open door is and even if it’s cracked up a little bit, maybe I’ll just plow right on through that and maybe prematurely plow through it, but don’t let me miss an open door.” You can’t make this stuff up. Meanwhile, McCain plans his first post-election late-night appearance: I for one look forward to seeing him back on The Daily Show.

Mac is Back

It’s way too late – I’m writing this at 2:40 AM, for publication at 7:30 – so just a few simple notes. First, how about our main man? That was a hell of a speech, and exactly what America needs to hear now: “I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voice, I need your help, and I’ll be your president, too.” But I spend enough time here praising President-Elect Obama. Now, it’s time to praise his erstwhile opponent, Senator John McCain.

Last night saw a spectacular return of the real John McCain: the man who should have won the RNC nomination in 2000, did win it a few months ago, and then mysteriously disappeared from the campaign trail. Last night, McCain found himself again. In effusive language, McCain praised not only his former opponent, but the shared ideals of all American citizens. He forged common ground, and espoused a unity of purpose…
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…to a crowd that booed loudly whenever Obama’s name came up, and alternated between raucously cheering and booing Governor Sarah Palin. One supporter – while McCain described his noble intentions of working with the Obama administration – even screamed, “you deserve more!”

That’s right, Unnamed McCain Supporter. McCain does deserve more. He deserves more than people like you for a constituency, and he deserves a better party than the GOP can provide. That the presidential campaign so thoroughly coopted the essential characteristics that made McCain McCain only goes to show: when it comes to being a “maverick,” at least in the Republican Party, you can’t take it with you. If the Republican Party is to find its footing again, it would do well to focus in on the John McCain we saw last night, and not the Palin-ized McCain we saw for the past few months.

I look forward to learning to respect John McCain again. When he’s allowed to be himself, he is fundamentally a good man, and a great American.

A Little Levity: Journey to McCain’s Brain

It’s kinda like the old Disneyland ride Mission to Mars (I’m dating myself.), except it’s fun …

McCain’s Brain at the first debate

McCain’s Brain at the second debate (my personal favorite)

McCain’s Brain at the third debate

You’ll be humming the theme song long after the last polls have closed …

Pennsylvania Ground Game

Per DailyKos, Pennsylvania is currently blanketed in Obama volunteers, calling to preempt dishonest McCain robocalls targeting Hillary supporters.

As for me, by the time this post goes up I’ll be halfway to Pennsylvania with one of these placards (right) in my hand. Facing concerns of Republican lies about the forms of identification required, along with the traditional stunt of telling lower-income voters that there’s either a property or “no-parking-ticket” requirement for voting, we’ll be dispensing non-partisan advice about how to make sure your vote is counted to anyone who asks. While I’m not so sure about putting partisan indicators on the tags – after all, we’re there to help anyone vote – it’s a solid indicator of Democratic awareness of, and preemptive action against, the regular Republican scare tactics.

And it’s a far cry from McCain’s nonexistent ground game, funding for which, in one of the more disastrous spending decisions in modern politics, McCain just cut.

Fear & Lying in “Real” Virginia: Republican Flyers Misstate Obama’s Record

While John McCain continues his focus on Pennsylvania, Virginia is still squarely in the sights, too.

Per Jonathan Martin of Politico, the Virginia GOP targeted white churchgoers (a demographic that Obama is still losing, despite inroads among the “religious left”) with a new laminated piece of windshield litter ominously titled “Who Shares Your Values? YOU DECIDE.” Notwithstanding the fact that the GOP is, literally, “preaching to the choir,” the flier misstates either the candidates’ positions, the issues, or both, and offers a chance to revisit the candidates’ conception of key culture war issues.

Here’s the damage:

Judges: Characterizing Chief Justice Roberts, and Justice Alito, as individuals who “follow the Constitution” is a gross mischaracterization, and assumes an understanding of the Constitution that most Americans – and pre-2008 McCain – would actually disagree with. Despite typical conservative ramblings about the “activist judiciary,” the Supreme Court is (1) meant, to a certain extent, to be socially “activist” and; (2) has been significantly more “activist” during the tenure of Chief Justice Roberts, overruling not only “liberal” precedents but in fact striving to reinvent the federal bench as a firewall to protect, rather than scrutinize, executive overreaches.

Partial Birth Abortion: Obama is opposed to partial birth abortion, but thinks that the health of the mother should matter. That’s an important exception, one supported by nearly all doctors and scientists who objectively assess the issue.  Only the most radical elements of the anti-choice lobby oppose the existence of a “health” exception and, in any event, the issue is much more complex than this flier would lead one to believe. NPR describes it extensively here; if you’re curious, listen, and don’t reflexively vote in a “team of mavericks” that would, in fact, end all abortion ever. As opposed to the radical Sarah Palin, Obama’s position on abortion is quite moderate.

“Born Alive” Protection: all fact-checkers agree that Obama did not, in fact, “oppose” born-alive infant protection laws. Per federal law, “born alive” protection has already existed since 1975, and requires that doctors “exercise the same degree of professional skill, care and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as would be required of a physician.”

Defense of Marriage Act: contrary to the information on this little flier, the Defense of Marriage Act does not “protect marriage as a union between one man and one woman.” Rather, it gratuitously and unconstitutionally allowed states to refuse to recognize marriages perforemd by other states. The effect is that a gay couple traveling from California through, say, Nevada, become “unmarried” at the border and lose all rights that their marriage created, like hospital visitation. Even if you disagree with gay marriage on principle, the cruel effects on this law are overbroad and unnecessarily nasty. In supporting the Act, McCain has already broken his promise to “leave marriage to the states.”

Sex Education for Kindergarteners (?!): a few months ago, in what was roundly regarded as the most dishonest ad of the campaign season, John McCain misstated the purpose of the “sex education” bill that Barack Obama actually voted on. Obama merely voted to fund already-existing, age-appropriate sex education programs with parental opt-out provisions. Where “sex ed” programs existed for younger children, they only went as far as to teach kids to talk to an adult about abuse. This is not controversial, and the GOP should be ashamed of itself for parroting McCain’s most egregious lie yet.

America can no longer trust John McCain. If you see one of these fliers, please don’t believe his lies. Senator McCain -

You Might Feel a Pinch and Some Pressure: McCain’s Health Care Plan

November is open-enrollment month at my husband’s workplace. That its timing coincides with deer-hunting season in New York is quite appropriate, for nothing can make a family feel more like quarry than having to select an employer-sponsored health plan.

My husband’s employee contribution is increasing 10% in 2009. This is the second consecutive year we have seen a 10% increase, and I can assure you the cost increase is not matched by a similar adjustment in quality or quantity of benefits received.

So for fun, why not take a look at each candidate’s health-care proposals? The two plans essentially cost the same, but the results in terms of expanded coverage are dramatically different. Obama’s plan targets low-income and uninsured Americans and is anticipated, over 10 years, to insure 34 million people (18 million, alone, in 2009). The cumulative cost of Obama’s health-care plan through 2018: $1.6 trillion.

McCain’s plan has an anticipated 10-year cost of $1.3 trillion. It will provide coverage to 1 million Americans in 2009 and is anticipated to insure a maximum of 4.6 million people through 2013. Coverage will decline to 2 million by 2018 because the rapid rise in medical costs will far outpace adjustments in McCain’s health-care tax credits. (See Tax Policy Center’s analysis, p. 53.)

McCain’s plan gets better, and by “better” I mean suckier … after the jump

Continue reading »

McCain’s “Spiritual Guide”: Rod Parsley, Crusader

A while back, Jeremiah Wright said some things that, decontextualized, sound crazy and bad for Obama. McCain promised not to run on it; he lied. Well, how about this? McCain hailed as his “spiritual guide,” earlier this year, a man who said that America’s #1 goal in the world should be to destroy Islam. Not Islamic fundamentalism. Islam, period. Yesterday, Parsley endorsed McCain. The man is crazy. Why won’t Obama talk about him? Ah. Maybe he has class.

New GOP “Reverend Wright” Ad Was “Unauthorized”

Right. We all believe that. A new ad going up in Pennsylvania, entitled “Judgment,” asks viewers to infer something about Obama’s character from his relationship with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. You’ll recall that John McCain told his party that Wright was “off limits” for negative ads. You’ll also recall that McCain, prior to April of this year, told America that negative campaigning was off limits. What promises has McCain kept thus far? John – if it’s unauthorized, make your party pull it down. Otherwise, admit you lied. Good news: Wright was played out a while ago.

McCain’s Last Best Chance: Concede

Throughout this election, Senator McCain has made “liberal” use of publicity stunts to secure himself the media coverage he’s otherwise sorely lacked. Hell – even his own running mate won’t mention him. To make up for this deficit, he mastered the art of the one-day headline grab: from picking a rabble-rousing “hockey mom” over a competent public servant, to suspending his campaign, to comparing a Senator to Paris Hilton. Sure, the fallout on Day Two always came back to bite him, but with so little time left in the election, why not try it again? What better way to close out the season than with one last grandiose, empty play at political grandstanding?

But what’s left to do? McCain’s tried nearly every divisive culture-war narrative in the book, reached practically back to kindergarten to find every controversial hand Barack Obama has ever shook… and he’s already filled his VP slot. Short of promising to appoint Joe the Plumber to head the Fed, there’s not much else to do.

Except, concede. Or… pretend to.

Wait wait! See, there’s method to this madness. Bear with me. A skillfully delivered concession speech on Monday morning (“My friends, ever since I was a POW I’ve been working for Joe Sixpacks like Joe the Plumber, but today…”) would snag all the headlines Tuesday morning, making sure that voters see it before going to the polls, would begin the work of repairing his shattered bipartisan image, and it would vindicate him as the ultimate maverick. Most importantly, it couldn’t hurt his chances on Election Day any more than his other gimmicks already have, and it just might de-mobilize enough of the Democratic electorate, while snagging some pity votes, that he could still pull through and win this.

And, let’s face it – what does he have to lose? He’s made us laugh. More frequently, he’s made us cry. But an eleventh-hour concession could be just the shot in the arm the McCain campaign needs to struggle back to the top. And it’s just in line with the kinds of media circuses McCain seems to love lately.

Has McCain not played his part well? Then all clap: the piece is finished, and the actor leaves the stage. ((A line attributed to Augustus. Forgot where I read it.))

“Closing Arguments”: A Dramatic Comparison

A Wordle cloud assessing and weighting each candidates’ word choices, from their “closing arguments” (Obama top, McCain bottom). Ahem. What conclusions do draw from the, say, dominant themes of each candidate? I can think of one.

Thanks to Ian for the clouds, and the idea.