just wow........whoa....
- Thread starter gardenweasel
- Start date
What We've Learned About McCain
By David S. Broder
Thursday, October 30, 2008; Page A23
As we near the end of another presidential campaign, it is useful to ask ourselves what we have learned about the candidates that we did not know before. When you reflect back on all the rallies, the speeches, the ads and the debates, what insights have you gained about their goals, their methods, their characters?
Today's subject is John McCain.
Call Him John the Careless
We knew a great deal about him from the past. We knew that he was a product of the military elite, the son and grandson of admirals, imbued with the patriotic impulses and the sense of duty to country that is his family tradition. We also knew that he had the capacity and willpower to endure and resist the terrible abuse he suffered in a North Vietnamese prison camp.
We suspected, and soon had confirmed, that he had limited interest in, and capacity for, the organization and management of large enterprises. His first effort at building a structure for the 2008 presidential race collapsed in near-bankruptcy, costing him the service of many longtime aides. From beginning to end, the campaign that followed has been plagued by internal feuds and McCain's inability to resolve them.
The shortcoming was intellectual as well as bureaucratic. Like Jimmy Carter, the only Naval Academy graduate to reach the Oval Office, McCain had an engineer's approach to policymaking. He had no large principles that he could apply to specific problems; each fresh question set off a search for a "practical" solution. He instinctively looked back to Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive era, with its high-mindedness and disdain for the politics of doling out favors to interest groups. But those instincts coexisted uneasily with his adherence to traditional, Reagan-era conservatism -- a muscular foreign policy, a penchant for tax-cutting and a fondness for business.
McCain was handed a terrible political environment by the outgoing Bush administration -- a legacy of war, debt and scandal that would have defeated any of the other aspirants for the nomination. But because McCain could not create a coherent philosophy or vision of his own, he allowed Obama and the Democrats to convince voters of a falsehood: that electing McCain would in effect reward Bush with a third term.
A similar ambivalence clouded his relationship with the Republican Party. Neither rebel nor defender of the party's doctrines, he won its nomination because of smart tactics and lucky circumstances in three primaries -- New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida -- without ever establishing himself as its legitimate spokesman.
His vice presidential choice, his best opportunity to put his stamp on the future, was made, typically, more on instinct than careful appraisal. McCain saw Sarah Palin as reinforcing his own reformist credentials. The convention embraced her, not as a reformer but as the embodiment of beliefs precious to the religious right. And the mass of voters questioned her credentials for national leadership. :shrug: :scared
The campaign has been costly in terms of McCain's reputation. He has been condemned for small-minded partisanship, not praised for his generous and important suggestion that the major-party candidates stump the country together, conducting weekly joint town hall meetings -- an innovation Obama turned down. :0corn
...............................................................
Still makes me laugh when McCain complains that Obama signed the campaign money thing.
That one really got to old John.
It allowed Obama to get a foothold with the voters using millions that McCain just didnt have and still dont.
I am glad this is going to be over Tuesday.
I am sick of thinking about it.
By David S. Broder
Thursday, October 30, 2008; Page A23
As we near the end of another presidential campaign, it is useful to ask ourselves what we have learned about the candidates that we did not know before. When you reflect back on all the rallies, the speeches, the ads and the debates, what insights have you gained about their goals, their methods, their characters?
Today's subject is John McCain.
Call Him John the Careless
We knew a great deal about him from the past. We knew that he was a product of the military elite, the son and grandson of admirals, imbued with the patriotic impulses and the sense of duty to country that is his family tradition. We also knew that he had the capacity and willpower to endure and resist the terrible abuse he suffered in a North Vietnamese prison camp.
We suspected, and soon had confirmed, that he had limited interest in, and capacity for, the organization and management of large enterprises. His first effort at building a structure for the 2008 presidential race collapsed in near-bankruptcy, costing him the service of many longtime aides. From beginning to end, the campaign that followed has been plagued by internal feuds and McCain's inability to resolve them.
The shortcoming was intellectual as well as bureaucratic. Like Jimmy Carter, the only Naval Academy graduate to reach the Oval Office, McCain had an engineer's approach to policymaking. He had no large principles that he could apply to specific problems; each fresh question set off a search for a "practical" solution. He instinctively looked back to Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive era, with its high-mindedness and disdain for the politics of doling out favors to interest groups. But those instincts coexisted uneasily with his adherence to traditional, Reagan-era conservatism -- a muscular foreign policy, a penchant for tax-cutting and a fondness for business.
McCain was handed a terrible political environment by the outgoing Bush administration -- a legacy of war, debt and scandal that would have defeated any of the other aspirants for the nomination. But because McCain could not create a coherent philosophy or vision of his own, he allowed Obama and the Democrats to convince voters of a falsehood: that electing McCain would in effect reward Bush with a third term.
A similar ambivalence clouded his relationship with the Republican Party. Neither rebel nor defender of the party's doctrines, he won its nomination because of smart tactics and lucky circumstances in three primaries -- New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida -- without ever establishing himself as its legitimate spokesman.
His vice presidential choice, his best opportunity to put his stamp on the future, was made, typically, more on instinct than careful appraisal. McCain saw Sarah Palin as reinforcing his own reformist credentials. The convention embraced her, not as a reformer but as the embodiment of beliefs precious to the religious right. And the mass of voters questioned her credentials for national leadership. :shrug: :scared
The campaign has been costly in terms of McCain's reputation. He has been condemned for small-minded partisanship, not praised for his generous and important suggestion that the major-party candidates stump the country together, conducting weekly joint town hall meetings -- an innovation Obama turned down. :0corn
...............................................................
Still makes me laugh when McCain complains that Obama signed the campaign money thing.
That one really got to old John.
It allowed Obama to get a foothold with the voters using millions that McCain just didnt have and still dont.
I am glad this is going to be over Tuesday.
I am sick of thinking about it.
His vice presidential choice, his best opportunity to put his stamp on the future, was made, typically, more on instinct than careful appraisal. McCain saw Sarah Palin as reinforcing his own reformist credentials. The convention embraced her, not as a reformer but as the embodiment of beliefs precious to the religious right. And the mass of voters questioned her credentials for national leadership.
The people that think she is ready to lead this country are the same ones whom are in the 23% that think W is doing a good job. Obviously, one has to wonder or at least question the sanity of these people.
The people that think she is ready to lead this country are the same ones whom are in the 23% that think W is doing a good job. Obviously, one has to wonder or at least question the sanity of these people.
christ! i had 8 windows open and working on stuff and the link shut :director: ALL MY WINDOWS DOWN!
:mj16: :mj16:
now remember before you guys go off on a tangent that i made no editorial comment...
i just thought it would be refreshing to put up a video of the counterpoint to "reverend wright".......
"god damn america"..."kkk america".... those comments didn`t get much of a rise out of progressives on the board...except to maybe defend rev wright....
but this guy?...oh my....
look at `em scurrying around...:grins:
just what i figured...
i just thought it would be refreshing to put up a video of the counterpoint to "reverend wright".......
"god damn america"..."kkk america".... those comments didn`t get much of a rise out of progressives on the board...except to maybe defend rev wright....
but this guy?...oh my....
look at `em scurrying around...:grins:
just what i figured...
............................................................
Thats funny and so true .
DTB, weaz, drfreeze still think W is doing a good job :142smilie :shrug:
fawking clueless :mj07:
Scott, clueless is an understatement.......in DTB's case we can at least excuse him since he has had a crush or infatuation with Bill Clinton for years, so all of W's screw ups are Clintons fault, but Weaz and Freeze cannot escape with this excuse.
- Jun 11, 2007
- 4,564
- 3
- 0
Are the people in the backround the only ones attending this session? I listened to about 2 mins of his yelling and didnt hear one clap from the people in the pews...to think he was so into and making such great points but noone would scream out praise the lord or even "shout" is disturbing.
