2008 Presidental Election: Obama v McCain

The straight talk express rolls on...

"I am not for privatizing Social Security. I never have been. I never will be."

-John McCain, June 12, 2008

"As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it – along the lines of what President Bush proposed."

-John McCain [Wall Street Journal, 3/3/2008]

Full post & ridicule here.

Nice assist.

Although with mine I was going for the angle that he contradicted himself within a span of a mere 3 months.

win-win!

Foreign policy is probably the most imporant political issue to me, especially in a presidential race where the winner has to pick up George Bush's pieces, (or in McCain's case, continue to break things into smaller and smaller pieces).

This paragraph encapsulates why I so strongly support Obama (and by extension, his foreign policy advisors)

...on foreign policy, Obama doesn't have a bunch of leftie radicals. What he's got are people who didn't really get red-baited in the 70s and 80s, who don't think Democrats are weak on national security because they launch fewer wars, whose formative foreign policy experience was less the Soviet Union collapsing in front of Reagan and Bush and more America's prestige collapsing because of the neoconservatives and the second Bush.

Original post by Erza Klein here

Gen. Wesley Clark on eggcream's master of foreign policy, John McCain:

Clark hits McCain — and hits all the right notes
Posted June 13th, 2008 at 4:45 pm

Wesley Clark spoke with the Huffington Post this week, and was unrelenting in his criticism of John McCain. “I know he’s trying to get traction by seeking to play to what he thinks is his strong suit of national security,” Clark said. “The truth is that, in national security terms, he’s largely untested and untried. He’s never been responsible for policy formulation. He’s never had leadership in a crisis, or in anything larger than his own element on an aircraft carrier or [in managing] his own congressional staff. It’s not clear that this is going to be the strong suit that he thinks it is.”

Clark went on to dismiss McCain’s worldview on national security altogether. “McCain’s weakness is that he’s always been for the use of force, force and more force. In my experience, the only time to use force is as a last resort. … When he talks about throwing Russia out of the G8 and makes ditties about bombing Iran, he betrays a disrespect for the office of the presidency.”

This morning, Clark appeared on MSNBC, where he was challenged to defend his rather scathing assessment. I thought he did extremely well.



First, notice the incredulity from the on-air “journalists.” The notion that McCain lacks credibility on national security issues is completely foreign to them* because, well, he’s John McCain. Clark wore four stars on his shoulder, and doesn’t much care about the media’s preconceived notions.

Second, when the on-air media personalities noted that Obama, like McCain, has not been in a position to make leadership positions in a military context, Clark responded with the obvious point — Obama’s not the one making the claim.

Also, as my friend Alex Koppelman noted, Clark went after McCain’s inconsistencies. Clark referred to McCain’s “personal courage,” citing his years as a prisoner of war, but said, “On the other hand, he’s changed his position on torture … So what does John McCain really believe? Who is he? … Is he just a guy who wants to be president and he’ll say what’s necessary to get the job?”...

Original (and full) post here

*and eggcream

[quote=daver]

Those quotes sound like everything out of John McCain's mouth......except Clark realized when he (and Iraq) was wrong.

Other good Clark quotes:

Referring to the present Bush Administration, "I think we're at risk with our democracy. I think we're dealing with the most closed, imperialistic, nastiest administration in living memory. They even put Richard Nixon to shame."

"There are two big legacies we leave to our children: Constitutional government and the environmental itself."

"It is in the best interest of our country to promote stable communities and families. I believe that same-sex couples should not be denied rights to pensions, health insurance, family medical leave. bereavement leave, hospital visitation, survivor benefits and other basic legal protections that all families and chldren need."

"One of the principles that we operate on in this country is that leaders are held accountable. The simple truth is that we went into Iraq on the basis of some intuition, some fear, some exaggerated rhetoric and some very, very scanty evidence."

RIP the dishonest image of McCain as a "maverick", "independent" and "reformer"?

http://cliffschecter.firedoglake.com/2008/06/15/mccain-losing-maverick-brand-voters-most-likely-to-see-him-as-old/ wrote: McCain Losing “Maverick” Brand; Voters Most Likely To See Him As “Old”[/url]
By: Cliff Schecter Sunday June 15, 2008 3:21 pm

According to the Pew Research Center, when asked to describe their views of McCain in a word, the term "maverick" didn't even come up. Nor did "reformer" or "independent." Ruh-roh. It looks like the embrace of Bush, 100 years in Iraq and his newfound affection for Bushenomics have all done serious damage to McCain's perceived maverickness:

John McCain once had the most powerful brand in American politics.

He was often called the country's most popular politician and widely admired for his independent streak. It wasn't too many years ago that "maverick" was the cliche of choice in describing him.

But that term didn't even make the list this year when voters were asked by the Pew Research Center to sum up McCain in a single word. "Old" got the most mentions, followed by "honest," "experienced," "patriot," "conservative" and a dozen more. The words "independent," "change" or "reformer" weren't among them.

Voters have notoriously short memories, but it could be argued that McCain cheapened his own brand.

He embraced President Bush and attempted to become, like Bush, the choice of the Republican establishment. In the process, he helped obliterate recollections of his first run for president, when he became the first Republican in a long time with strong crossover appeal to independents and Democrats.

Losing his reputation for independence could prove particularly costly this year.

It turns out that there may be a cost for flip-flopping on tax cuts for the top 1% and wanting to "bomb bomb bomb Iran." Who would have thunk it?

And the cost could be a whole set of voters (independents) who will be very important in determining the outcomes in states such as Colorado, New Mexico and Montana, to name a few. Additionally, being tied to the GOP brand this year is as close as it gets to a political death sentence (ask GOP House candidates in Mississippi, Louisiana and Illinois about that).

John McCain may just have lost his greatest asset.

It's amazing how often Fox News makes these mistakes. And somehow, purely by chance, it always happens to Democrats, or Republicans they don't love.

Purely by chance.