But the McCain campaign is now preventing reporters from talking to ordinary Palin supporters attending rallies. The St. Petersburg Times reported:
When reporters tried to leave the designated press area and head toward the bleachers where the crowd was seated, an escort would dart out of nowhere and confront him or her and say, "Can I help you?'' and turn the person around.
When one reporter asked an escort, who would not give her name, why the press wasn't allowed to mingle, she said that in the past, negative things had been written. The campaign wanted to avoid that possibility Monday.
So maybe the McCain campaign isn’t just afraid of what Palin might say, maybe they’re afraid their feelings will be hurt—you know, by the truth. Not surprisingly, this is a page right out of the Bush-McCain-Rove campaign playbook, in which the media is tightly controlled.
So, this is yet another way in which Palin-McCain are just the same as Bush-Cheney.
8 comments:
Both McCain and Palin are pathetic. Of course the McCain camp doesn't want reporters talking to Sarah P. Her disapproval rating is now at 60% and the only "supporters" she has are the same wacked out wierdos, who STILL think George W. Bush is doing a great job.
It doesn't make any difference anymore, though. John McCain's performance in the debate (if we can call that Tom Brokow ego stroke a debate) proves that he will never be president. He came off as old and doddering, barely able to stand and walk. He would not survive his first term and no one, not even the Republicans, want that pig in lipstick in the Oval Office.
Obama is widening his lead in the polls and no one is ven talking to the younger voters, who only have cell phones. Obama will probably win in a landslide. So McCain should send Sarah packing back to Mooseland and stop wasting money.
Evidently the Obama campaign is getting money from the Chinese who favor him in the election. They are filtering the money through a Kenyan bank and then to Obama. I guess they think that Obama will open the doors further to their trade in the US. I don't know what the hell is going on but I got this from someone who works in Kenya but I hope he wins.
For years, I was a fan of John McCain. I had bought into the whole war hero mythology and sympathized with the terrible suffering he endured at the hands of the North Vietnamese. Largely for that reason, I forgave him for his transgressions in the Keating scandal, as well as his ongoing reputation for volatility. But, in the last two years my opinion of the man has nose-dived and, after watching his performance in last night's debate, I'm convinced that he wasn't just physically damaged by his wartime experience. There's obvious emotional trauma going on. Every time I heard him begin a statement with "my friend" I felt as though he was masking contempt for the audience and struggling to conceal his anger about Obama's rising popularity. McCain's body language was rigid, neurotic and mechanical, and his smiles were more like grimaces. When it came to looking at his opponent, his disdain was embarrassingly overt. For some reason, he seems to hate Barack Obama. He's been in politics too long to take any of this personally, so one has to wonder where all the rage is coming from. I must conclude that anger is a fundamental part of John McCain's temperament. Neither of these candidates has a crystal ball and can predict what will be required of them by the time they take the oath of office. We've all seen how radically things can change in just the last two weeks. Being too specific about solutions now would just be pandering to voters' needs for answers. What I looked for in the debate was intelligence, calmness and conciseness, which are all key leadership qualities. McCain didn't have any of them last night. He was angry, socially inept and, to be frank, he was a rude son of a bitch to the Obama's. This is not a man who is capable of "reaching across the aisle," despite his mantra in these debates.
Are you sure it's the Chinese and not the aliens that visit him nightly in his Mosque as he prays to Allah and reads the Koran. All the while plotting how to kill Americans! What an undeniable idiot you are.
The RNC's recent complaint about Obama's fund raising activities is a tactic worthy of Richard M. Nixon. There is no way to verify or even disprove accusations about donations from off-shore (or off-planet) entities within the next 3 months, much less 30 days. It's just thrown out there to create suspicion in the minds of the gullible. Shameful tactic. But what makes even more upsetting is that there are educated people who actually buy into it. No wonder good people don't want to enter politics.
Great discussion, everyone—thanks for your comments and the many good points made.
Anon 1: I agree, but if 2000 and 2004 taught us anything, it's that we should act as if Obama was 20 points behind in the polls and not rest until every Obama vote is cast. Anything less will give the other side the opportunity to steal another election.
Anon 2: I know the wingnuts are coming up with a lot of bizarre lies, but this one is even dumber and more transparently absurd than most of them. One of the few reforms that did come into being after 9/11 was tighter controls on the movement of international money, which means it's simply not possible for large sums of money to move around without being noticed.
Second, the Republican McCain is obviously more of a friend to China than the Democrat Obama. If they wanted to fund a candidate, it wouldn't be Obama, the guy who pledges to get the US off its oil addiction, thereby removing the need for loans from China. No, they'd back McCain who's ill-focused energy "plan" would keep the US in debt to China.
Third, why Kenya? If China wanted to do as you say, wouldn't they pick a country that wouldn't automatically call attention to their efforts? It's illegal for non-US citizens to donate to US campaigns, so they'd have to find US citizens willing to accept the money and pass it on to a campaign, and to have any impact that would take thousands of co-conspirators. Seriously, can anyone imagine that many people keeping quiet? So it looks to me like this myth is part of a racist plot to scare whites by linking Asians and black people, and smearing Obama with a lie at the same time.
Anon 3: Oddly enough, just the other day, I was thinking that if the McCain of 2000 was running and not this version, things may have been different. Actually, if the McCain of 2000 had been a bit braver he might have defeated Bush and the whole world might be different. But, that's another story. As it is, I think you're right and McCain's behaviour suggests that he couldn't "reach across the aisle" as he claims. He couldn't even reach across the stage and shake Obama's hand at the end of the debate!
Jim Feliccia: See my reply to Anon 2, above, and Anon 4, below. But the absurdities you use for comparison are spot on.
Anon 4: You're absolutely correct, and I think this is another example of Republican manipulation: The RNC makes a complaint, while admitting they have zero evidence of any foreign contributions. But they create doubt in people's mind, something their negative attack and smear campaign and ads are also intended to do.
But then the wingnuts and tinfoil hat brigade start spreading rumours like in Anon. 2 (above), and people think that's what the RNC was talking about, instantly giving credibility to both narratives—the RNC's focus-shifting and their allies' lies and smears.
I have to admit, the Republicans and McCain campaign have been brilliant at both negative politics and the use of sleazy tactics like this, making their earlier efforts for Bush look like they were promoting a grannies' bingo league. One almost has to admire their evil genious—almost...
It just goes to show you that McCain/Palin value 'freedom of speech' just as much as Bush did/does...
I know this will be a HUGE surprise to you, D, but I completely agree with you.
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