2008 USP(G)ET pt. II: counting the days to 2012 primary thread 1

jesus christ guys get a life

Palin's rally featured the more impressive entrance, with giant video screens showing the crowd the slowly turning campaign bus as it approached the cavernous inside venue. Finally, the fog machines hit high blast, the huge blue curtain parted, and the bus drove right inside the hall. As "Eye of the Tiger" blasted over the loudspeakers, Palin Nugent bounded on stage to a full-throated roar.

your words echo feebly in the great halls of the blogosphere xpost

lol 538 comment post (no idea if genuine or bullshit -- is McC in MN now?):

Watching McCain at a rally in Minnesota --- for the first time, he looks and speaks as if he is defeated. He is backing down from the rhetoric from the foaming crowd. It appears he may be trying to finish with dignity...he actually calmed the crowd down and reassured them that if Obama was elected, he would be a fine president!

"Oulu knives, anyone? Bear jerky?"

http://thepage.time.com/2008/10/10/stop-the-presses/

I think that's called a "white flag of surrender"

!

guys, he's not an arab, He is a decent family man.

a decent family man of the streets

Now imagine if McCain had been like this back in spring 2008...

Thank frickin god for that climbdown. Now here's hoping he sticks to it.

It's like McCain realizes he's sick of being a shopping mall Santa for freaks.

But then something weird happens: He acknowledges the "energy" people have been showing at rallies, and how glad he is that people are excited. But, he says, "I respect Sen. Obama and his accomplishments." People booed at the mention of his name. McCain, visibly angry, stopped them: "I want EVERYONE to be respectful, and lets make sure we are."

The very next questioner tried to push back on this request, noting that he needed to "tell the American the TRUTH about Barack Obama" -- a not very subtle way, I think, to ask John McCain to NOT tell the truth about Barack Obama. McCain told her there's a "difference between record and rhetoric, and I plan to talk about his record, respectfully... I don't mean that has to reduce your ferocity, I just mean it has to be respectful."

And then later, again, someone dangled a great big piece of low-hanging fruit in front of McCain: "I'm scared to bring up my child in a world where Barack Obama is president."

McCain replies, "Well, I don't want him to be president, either. I wouldn't be running if I did. But," and he pauses for emphasis, "you don't have to be scared to have him be President of the United States." A round of boos.

And he snaps back: "Well, obviously I think I'd be better. "

Of course, this is kind of the best of both world: Crazy base-world gets to bring up Ayers and whatever else, really, and he gets to say, "Be respectful." But I think he means it.

UPDATE: Indeed, he just snatched the microphone out the hands of a woman who began her question with, "I'm scared of Barack Obama... he's an Arab terrorist..."

"No, no ma'am," he interrupted. "He's a decent family man with whom I happen to have some disagreements."

!!!

McCain doesn't want to be alone when he's back to being Senator in 2009, basically. Smart move.

good for McCain!

my guess is he's probably been listening to some advice from the more pragmatic members of his party.

alos, i think somewhere here posted some quote from a friend of mccain's who said he was "depressed" about going negative?

Can't wait for NRO's reaction.

The reaction played even worse for McCain on TV. McCain looked like the Christian surrounded by lions.

my guess is he's probably been listening to some advice from the more pragmatic members of his party.

Mm. Actually I've more than half wondered if some Secret Service folks approached him and the higher-ups in his campaign, sat them down and said, "This is what we've had to deal with in the past week."

also, guaranteed the guy feels like he's losing control of his own campaign now to the extreme right and the palin fans.

Not sure if this is irrational, but I'm incredibly relieved right now seeing this. It's just an open door, but at least it's something.

Tuesday's debate will be all the more interesting.

I'm incredibly relieved right now seeing this.

You're not alone.

fuck him, he deserves whatever mental anguish he's feeling right now.

also x-post but yeah dude is gonna be verrrrrry lonely in the capital come 2009.

Well, dude WAS going to be excommunicated had he let this campaign run the hate course, but at least some people will talk to him next year.

Palin's SNL appearance will be even more interesting than the debate!

mccain losing control of his own crowds, palin spending the winter days of the campaign on SNL....pretty hilarious and sad imo

The best part about all of this?

Limbaugh. Hannity.

These are the people who will be soon holding the screaming flaming ball of right-wing freaks who think McCain "pussed out"

to be fair they were always holding that flaming ball, lovingly cradling it even

mcain tried the all out attack angle for a little while and it backfired - that is all

"i know my opponent is worried about his campaign, but i'm woried about..."

so sly

fr33p is going INSANE about this

is this election really so cut and dried now?

I've been following this election more closely than any other. I'm kind of astonished by, the longer this goes on, how NORMAL Obama seems. They can't pin the elite thing on him cos he just seems so down to earth. He is the liberal "guy you want to have a beer with".

btw did you see how mccain sort of subtly, uh, pinned the blame on palin for inciting the crowds?

he sort of, you could say, "threw her under the bus" a little

xp - Limbaugh and Hannity act all dress-shirt-and-tie though, and I don't necessarily agree that they could deal with a "Kill Him!" type crowd. I mean Hannity couldn't even hold himself against two Ron Paul fans! (Remember that incident?)

But yeah, Palin's presence is extremely awkward right now. Now there's someone who I have zero remorse for, Shakey Mo style.

Hannity couldn't even hold himself against two Ron Paul fans! (Remember that incident?)

no...? Limbaugh handles the public on a daily basis, Hannity may as well be a cardboard cut-out tho, he does not actually deal with people.

and you know I do feel empathy for people on occasion.

I was cryptic with my point. Yes, Limbaugh deals with the public daily, sure, but now he's the defacto go-to guy for the "Kill Him!" crowd... many poisons have hatched out amongst Republican supporters, and I'm not so sure Limbaugh wants inherit this much of that crowd, if that makes sense. It will jeopardize his career and hence his influence.

Hannity was tackled outside by two Ron Paul fans in the snow earlier this year on camera.

Hannity is just a more ESPN looking Tucker Carlson, basically. His cut-out ness is more obvious than ever. His embracing Palin is going to hurt him eventually.

mccain is a smart guy and i'm sure he's bummed that the type of people he'd actually like on a personal level are heading in droves to obamaworld; it's like some high-school popularity contest where he's trying to make up for his lack in numbers by assembling on his side all the big-toothed morons that he doesn't even like. and trying to pretend he doesn't care that hottie mcsmarts is on the other guy's side because, look here, i've got the exchange student who crapped himself once and also the kid who's allergic to his desk.

palin is indefensible. people claiming that she's in over her head & being manipulated & etc are falling into the same sexist trope that she sometimes rationally claims is being leveraged against her. i don't think any one would have the same amount of sympathy for a weak male candidate.

xp - And O'Reilly wins big time for interviewing Obama. You can hate O'Reilly and Murdoch, but they knew what they were doing.

You can analyze or politicize motives all day, but it's just plain decent of McCain to draw back from crazy-hateful rhetoric coming from his crowds. I respect that, and in his case I believe it's fundamentally genuine, especially after his experience in 2000. (I think a lot of his relationship with negative attacks in this campaign makes more sense given his experience in 2000 -- i.e., he strikes me as someone who doesn't care for them but came away from that primary with the lesson that maybe that's just what it takes to win.)

I also think any smart person whose soul hasn't completely evaporated would find it really painful and frustrating to be losing a race and trying to make sensible arguments and have supporters coming at you with nutso statements that in no way help your cause -- not least because you'd start to get the feeling that even your own supporters aren't really listening to the substance of what you're saying, and have been lured there by other whistles entirely

a good old fashioned nabisco OTM xpost