9 posts tagged “attack”

Okay, when is this all going to stop.  This really ticks me off.  I just had my hopes up, Senator McCain had calmed down and was trying to stop all of this attack campaigning which not only was dividing the country in a terribly unhealthy way, but was not working.   I was just awaiting the big speech where he would make it clear to all of us that this sort of behavior was unacceptable and he would have anyone doing such things at his rallies shown out (and of course an explanation of the new magical plan to save the finances of the whole planet that we all have heard so much about).

Then I was taken aback by another assault on our reasoning and what is clearly a manipulation of the fears of the people of the Republican base.  I was flipping the channels and there is some man (who claims to be praying) praying at a rally and he says that there are Hindu and Muslims all over the world who are praying for Barack Obama to win and he goes on to say that an Obama win would be somehow perceived as the gods of the Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims (to add effect he didn’t use the word Muslims he used the word Allah) as superior and thus he is beseeching God to make sure that Senator McCain wins the presidency.  The exact request was for God to guard his “own reputation”.

Really??????  This is the campaign????  Where are the people in McCain’s camp whose job it is to stop things like this.

Here we go again…  This man, Reverend Arnold Conrad, just did several things in a minute or two of prayer (if that’s what you would call it).

• Offend Hindus (keep in mind our trouble with allies in the middle east currently and if this is a good public message to send as a country who tries to portray ourselves as above all of this)
• Offend Buddhists
• Offend Muslims (contrary to what is implied at all of the Republican rallies, there are many Muslims in this country and overseas that want nothing to do with terrorism or terrorists.  Some we want to be our allies and many of the Muslims here vote)
• Make dismissing the faiths of others a part of a presidential campaign.
• Offend the sensibilities of many Christians who find such a statement (the implication that he somehow knows that Senator Obama is not a Christian but a Muslim – a rumor started by a mentally unstable man who seems has been prohibited from filing lawsuits because of the amount of frivolous lawsuits he has filed) to be an attack on their beliefs.
• Offend anyone who is a Christian who is an Obama supporter.
• Offend and anger at least one person who is not a McCain supporter (nor an Obama supporter but getting closer) and who is Christian.
• Again been that one foolish person who put a stumbling block in the way of anyone that may have been close to believing in Christianity or may already have been a borderline Christian.

Where are the handlers or whoever?  Where the heck is Senator John McCain? 

Then, I see Senator McCain on television telling how mad he is about comments made by Rep. John Lewis (which I have discussed in two previous posts) and doing his best to show how over the top all of these attacks on his character were.

As you saw in my previous posts, I would totally agree with Senator McCain, if he would do something about what is going on in his own camp (take the beam out of his own eye before he complains about the splinter in the eye of his opposition.

When I hear this man pray I have to wonder if the members of the McCain camp are a trip to Guyana away from feeding us all poisoned Kool-Aid.

If this hits the media in force, we will have found another crazy Christian episode to embarrass all of us who are not on some crazy trip related to elections. 

The crazy part is the guy who a few years age was ranting (publically) about what a problem Christians are in politics, now has people praying for him against a man that is a professing Christian because of rumors and of course the unforgivable sin of supporting abortion.  Lord knows there will be nobody in heaven that ever voted for that assuming God is a Republican of the extreme Right. 

I have heard complaints about the media, about Senator Obama’s voting record, about uneducated voters, and I have my serious doubts (and some fears) about Senator Obama as president, but all of that cannot even come to mind with offensive stupidity like this.

The problem is, no matter who Senator McCain has in his campaign (even if other Republican candidates fired them for similar issues) he is responsible to hire, fire, and direct those that are a part of his campaign.  If something is crazy or wrong, it is his campaign (we will call it an administration for fun) and he is responsible to fix it or at least stop or even apologize for it.

How can the media not ignore Senator Obama’s flaws with insanity like this?  If someone is stealing candy at the grocery store and the security sees him or her.  Right when the security is closing in, an absolutely unrelated person nearby starts shooting people.  Who will the security pay attention to.

I have heard a couple of both Republican and Democratic pundits saying that Senator McCain should fire his current campaign staff in a hurry and try to reign this thing in.  I agree and he should finish what he started this weekend and not allow anyone tied to him to dishonor his party, our country, and our beliefs.

I have just watched footage on several channels of the McCain campaign trail with both angry Republican voters and angry speeches about forcing the media to discuss the items that the McCain camp is talking about.  There was also angry discussion of how they are mystified at why Barack Obama is doing so well.  One very angry gentleman, rambling loudly about having our heads examined because of the mere existence of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. 

I am one of those undecided independent voters everyone keeps talking about.  I am a moderate social conservative and a moderate economic liberal (probably in the economic center) so I am a true independent that tends to lean ever so slightly Republican.  I quite honestly cannot remember the last Democratic presidential candidate I have voted for (but I have voted for several Democrats as well as Republicans in other areas).

The last month and a half have not drawn me to either major candidate, but the last month and a half has definitely been driving me away from one campaign (which translates to away from one candidate).

The McCain campaign includes officials that were let go from previous Republican campaigns because of the negative campaign tactics, so the tone of what is going on is not surprising.  Let me help this man and others with this question understand how at least a segment of those of us who call ourselves independents are thinking.

I have just watched and listened to the topic that has overpowered the drastic drop in the markets all over the world including ours.  That topic is……too much detail in a close-up picture of Sarah Palin.  I was struck by the audacity of the far right to interrupt reality with such stupidity.  One woman, in trying to defend this, spent several minutes arguing that any woman would be angered by this Newsweek cover because one can see her blackheads, pimples, and mustache.  How dare these people waste all of our time with such stupidity and at the same time say the media is favoring Barack Obama.  If this garbage is what the Far Right is going to do with media coverage, please find some way to ensure that they get no more.

For the past few days, there have been reports of angry McCain supporters at Sarah Palin rallies doing things like:

• Yelling out “Kill him!”
• Yelling out “Off with his head!”
• Yelling racial epithets at an African American camera man

The big problem is not simply the fact that these are the people that are supporting Senator McCain.  The biggest problem is that these, over the top, comments and activities were occurring and Governor Sarah Palin just took it all in stride as if these sorts of activities were okay as long as it is something negative about Senator Obama.

What would we do if we were all watching the television, President Bush is speaking, and a spectator screams out, you should kill the n*$$@*.  Would we not be astonished if he did not say something about the comments? 

The astonishing thing is that the extreme right wing does not realize that the response that diehard Republicans have at negative rhetoric from Senator McCain, Governor Palin, and Senator McCain’s wife will not have the same effect on those of us who everyone thinks are really going to make the difference (the independent voters). 

I just heard a clip of one guy begging Senator McCain to step up the attacks and revisit the Reverend Wright issue and step up attacks on the Bill Ayers issue.

Then there are the clips of Sarah Palin asking the far right to try to force the media to participate by discussing these same negative topics more and more.   

The McCain campaign is getting pummeled in the polls, and this nonsense has not even caught traction much less been successful yet and seems to be hurting more than helping.  All of us know he is loosing and we know it is the usual time for the trailing candidate to ratchet up the attacks.  But, these attacks if perceived to be over the top run the risk of making the attacker look like the desperate flailing of a drowning person.  It is an odd phenomenon how many of those who are drowning accidently try to drown the very ones who would save them while they are flailing to save themselves.  The flailing of the McCain camp may be an accidental attack on the very people who could save his chances.

Let spell it out for at least a segment of us undecided, independent voters.

We do not like it and will not vote for you under any circumstances if it continues much longer!

As McCain is finally finding a way to connect with the extreme of his party, he is distancing himself more and more from the voters most experts are going to make the difference.  That means these tactics are distancing him more and more from the presidency.

People like myself remember the public outbursts of Senator McCain in the past and if he is trying to distance himself from all of that, crowds of angry people yelling things like “kill him” about the other candidate is probably not the best way to do that.

Because I am often traveling on the days we vote I get absentee ballots.  I have mine sitting in front of me right now.  I have everything filled out except my choice for president.  I have been put off so much by the McCain camp over the past few weeks (particularly the past two) that I am giving him until next Wednesday to change all of this.  I think even though I have been so put off, personally angered, personally offended, disgusted, and embarrassed (the whole planet is watching us) I feel this is a fair cooling off period for me.  He has one week to stop shooting himself in the foot or at least one vote will have officially gone the other way. 

I feel if he is this distant from reality as a candidate, he will be distant from reality as president.

P.S.  I understand the Reverend Wright thing and the Bill Ayers thing and although I am not happy about these things, I am really not all that interested in hearing about the same nonsense over and over again and again.  It just looks angry and “same old Washington” and actually angers me with all that is going on.

It is not my fault, the media’s fault, or Barack Obama’s fault that Senator McCain told the planet the economy is not his strength right before every economy worldwide collapsed.

Yup, I’m back.  The voice of the independent, Christian, voter of mixed race. 

What a year.  Never have there been two candidates for anything where the both less represent what I believe in as this presidential race.  They are however, both pretty adept at talking a pretty good game.

There is good news on the horizon (other than the fact that all of this is almost over).  This election may not be the total waste I had once thought it was inevitably going to be.

Over the past few weeks, the usual attack ads and ongoing verbal attacks from the person falling behind have be at or near an all time high.  Palin, McCain, the McCain campaign and so on are dangerously close to going nuclear in their assault on everything Obama.

At this point in the campaign season the American public begins its normal ranting and carrying on about how much they hate this kind of politics and wish the candidates would stick to the issues and other such complaints.  The funny thing is that this usually works in spite of all of the complaining.

This year much of how campaigns are run (particularly presidential campaigns) is evolving right before our eyes.  The most impacting change I am seeing (and I hope I continue to see) is the immediate expression of dislike of the attack technique in polls, discussions, and those funny little button things on CNN during the debates.

Whenever the attacking starts, the little CNN graph drops faster than a Mike Tyson opponent in the early part of his boxing career.  The stronger the attacks in “Tall Hall Meetings” and on the campaign trail, the larger the gap grows between the candidates.

The surprise for me is that in spite of this, the McCain campaign has decided to continue to run the campaign as if Senator McCain was running for president in the late sixties (sort of Nixonesque with a touch of George W.).  The hurrahs of the unwavering party faithful seem to be blinding the McCain camp to the fact that the “undecided” voters, are getting far more of that in the news than anything else from his camp.  The truth is, it is far ore interesting news, but at this point in history terrible campaigning. 

Have they forgotten that he is fighting the image of the elderly, grumpy guy who has outburst of anger and randomly votes for stuff that makes no sense?  Are they sure that twenty-four hours of news with clips of him, barely holding back the fact he cannot stand Senator Barack Obama, with barely harnessed intensity (bordering on anger) saying negative things about the man.  For many I have spoken to even many that are leaning his direction, he is starting to look a little scary.

I am not a campaign manager nor a rocket scientist, but I think Guy McIntyre (formerly with the San Francisco 49^ers) one said:  “If something is not working, you should do less of it.”   I would have to say I agree totally.

As one of those independent voters, I am nowhere near being convinced that Senator Obama is ready to be president.  But the way things are going, I would have to say that the poor judgment of the McCain campaign as directed by Senator John McCain is drifting towards being what I see as grossly negligent.  If the people he has selected to run his campaign are doing such a poor job of responding to the changing times and he has not changed the course in the face of impending disaster, what does that say about his potential presidency and those he will appoint to important positions? 

I personally, as an undecided, independent voter, am not likely to vote for Senator Obama, but I am getting more and more likely to vote against the entire McCain campaign.

I honestly hope he hears this message and changes the course of his campaign to something that is less akin to watching the Titanic right after it hit the iceberg.  I desperately would like to feel like one of these guys could do the job and the longer this goes on the less convinced I seem to become.  This current ploy of attacking Senator Obama, while it gets hoops and hollers from the “diehard” Republicans (like cheering for their favorite football team when they are loosing), the result of energizing the a Republican base will not have the same effect that it did for George W.  It is the quickest way to loose.

Recent comments by Charles R. Black Jr., a key advisor to Senator John McCain have sparked a firestorm that is being fanned by the Senator Barack Obama’s camp.  Mr. Black merely stated that a terrorist attack during the campaign would strengthen Senator McCain’s presidential bid.  The real question in this campaign is what idiot picks these advisors?

This year seems to be plagued with crazy remarks from crazy advisors, supporters, friends, and family members that completely undermine the candidacy of the person they are trying to support.  Where are all of these people coming from and how can they be stopped. 

I do have to wonder, in light of what I have seen throughout this year if any of the serious candidates for president (Senator’s McCain, Obama, and Clinton) have shown themselves unable to fulfill the office of president simply because they have no ability to appoint the right people, discern which people are good or outright stupid advisors, and control the crazy people that are otherwise involved in their lives. 

If the campaigns of these three people are any indicator of what a presidency will look like, I certainly will pass. 

A huge part of a presidency finds it’s foundations in whom the president surrounds himself or herself with and appoints to major positions that have influence over the entire planet.  The people around the three serious candidates that we had been left with (now two) are amateurish (to put it politely). 

The mistakes and stupidity seen this year are not old Washington politics they are best classified as armature Washington stupidity.

Once again, I assert that clearly non e of the aforementioned candidates is ready to be president for the next four years and we need a better candidate from somewhere. 

Over the past few days the McCain camp has hit one of my pet peeves.

I remember when I was in high school that whenever two girls got into a physical confrontation someone would always scream “cat-fight” out loud.  There are many negative connotations in the statement “cat-fight” which over the past few days I cannot stop myself from having one person come to mind when I think of the term.  That person is Cindy McCain, the wife of presidential candidate Senator John McCain.

I am not a big fan of Senator Barack Obama’s wife Michelle Obama, but I am noting really voting for her so who cares.  Her little publicity stunt on the view yesterday didn’t help or hurt her in my view it was just stuff and possibly a wasted opportunity to help her husband’s cause.

As far as Cindy McCain I actually find her to just flat out not be likeable, but I have just ignored that fact because however I vote, I am not voting for her either.

The problem I have had is when Mrs. McCain started her public attacks of Mrs. Obama implying that she hates the country etc.  The question I have to ask myself is why am I watching the wives of presidential candidates fight.  In reality it is only Cindy McCain who is picking a fight as a political ploy for her husband. 

The only defense I have heard for this ridiculous display is that “Senator Obama’s People” (I suppose by that they must mean someone who they perceive not to support Senator McCain) attacked his wife first about the absence of her tax returns.

You may remember when Senator Obama was in a heated competition with Senator Hillary Clinton and was pressuring her to release her tax returns.  Both of the Democratic candidates released tax returns that included their spouses.  So rather than just stay out of that fight, Senator McCain’s “people” decided to release his tax returns and leave out his wife, Cindy McCain’s tax returns.  Now we are hearing that Senator McCain’s camp was so angered by the questions and challenges that this raised that they feel it okay to have his wife attack Michelle Obama. 

To be honest, I was not that interested in the tax return issue until I heard that Senator McCain’s wife did not include hers.  I heard the explanation and found it plausible, yet I still had doubts and questions.  In actuality I am still not sure to this day that there is nothing being hidden there.  In my opinion it would have been better not to release anything and say he was refusing to get into the childish games being played by the other party.  The releasing of his tax returns without hers was, in my opinion, a bad political move.

The idea that it raised comments and criticism is not to attack his wife; it is to attack a stupid move on the part of whoever in his camp thought they should do this.

That being said, the “She hit me first” defense not only is childish, but doesn’t hold water. 

Senator John McCain is trying to kill the image he has of having temper tantrums and childish outbursts and then his campaign allows his wife to do one of the most childish acts in the history of public elections.  I would have thought that after the escapades of former president, Bill Clinton and the negative influence he had on Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign, we would have seen the end of the spouse campaigning by attack.

As anyone who reads my posts regularly knows, I am not a huge fan of either of the candidates from the major parties, but attacking candidate’s families is one of my pet peeves.  Cindy McCain has managed to tip the scales a little toward the Democrats for me with this childishness.  The McCain camp has managed to tip the scales a bit more with their attempts to defend such childishness instead of just apologizing.  I am just befuddled by the fact that they try to imply that the Obama camp was out of line to (in their view) attack Cindy McCain and yet they are using that to defend the reason Cindy McCain attacks (yes I mean it to be plural) Michelle Obama. 

“She hit me first,” only says that you are as childish as the person you are fighting with.  Then when it turns out that that person didn’t really hit you first, you are the only one that is proven to be childish!

Senator John McCain and his advisors finally picked a subject to attack Senator Barack Obama with that actually helps his campaign.  Until now the topics Senator McCain’s camp has been addressing seem to only be targeted at getting approval from those who are already his strongest supporters already.

Senator McCain went before small business owners and said flat out that Senator Obama is bad for business.  As Senator Obama is speaking of tax breaks for the general population and increasing taxes on businesses (the latest example is big oil) Senator McCain is speaking to the businesses saying:  “Hey!  This means more taxes for you and less profit!”

This serves to make all of the rhetoric about how to fix he economy look a lot different to American business owners. 

Another smart benefit that Senator McCain gets from this ploy, is that while Senator Obama has been a campaign contribution machine that has been getting millions of dollars from lots of small contribution s from lots of donors this starts massaging the large donors that are largely untapped by the Obama campaign.  This says, “I am the candidate that will give you return on your investment in me” to the business owners.

This appears to finally be the real start to Senator McCain’s serious campaigning as much of the rest of what has transpired from his camp over the past few months seemed to be just killing time until real campaigning started.

There is however, another side to this coin.  There is the risk of appearing to be the “Same Old Washington” candidate who steals from the poor to buy support from the rich.

Senator Obama responded to Senator McCain’s accusations by discussing things like three-hundred billion dollar tax breaks and loopholes for big corporations and the wealthiest Americans to start to show this as the nest wave of media we will be hearing. 

I have to admit, that while I agree that we need businesses to stay open or there is no economy, I do have to wonder if it is not rewarding businesses and the rich while hanging the general population out to dry in the hopes of saving the economy.  Maybe, something in between the rhetoric of the two camps is much more realistic.

As I have repeatedly stated that I am not a big fan of either of these candidates much in terms of becoming our commander and chief.  The thing is, if I am going to end up casting my vote for the lesser evil, for lack of a better choice, I would like to know that there was a good campaign that dealt with real issues.  Like the ref before a boxing match I want to see a good clean fight.  I do not just want one candidate to just pummel the other one in the media and at the ballot boxes.

This is finally a good and sensible start to Senator McCain’s campaign against Senator Obama although it is very risky and may backfire.  I think it is also good that actual issues for right now have come to the surface for discussion. 

I hope to hear more about different sides of the issues (including both candidates’ strange voting records that seem to contradict their campaign rhetoric) and less about the candidate’s friends and distant acquaintances. 

Maybe the real campaign has finally has begun at last.

What is going on in the presidential race?  Democratic Senator Barack Obama went at republican Senator John McCain with both guns blazing in discussing the economy and I began to think:  “Finally, we will get to the real issues.” 

Boy oh boy was I mistaken.  I was all ready for Senator McCain (who is now known for being weak on matters of the economy at the worst time ever for that to be the case) to get with his advisors and start devising strong solutions for our economic woes.  Then I pictured this huge back and forth campaigning where two different plans that would both make some sense would be brought before the American people and we would all be thinking; “Wow, what great candidates.”

This however, was not what happened.  Senator McCain went back to that absolutely stupid “Gas Tax Holiday” idiocy that helped us all understand economy was not his strength.  Then Senator Hillary Clinton supported it also and some of the cooties of being economically illiterate seemed to get on her and her campaign.

I thought; “That’s it?  All of those campaign strategists and speechwriters and whoever else in his political entourage and that is it?”

But, no it was not.  Then he went back to this town hall meeting idea.  I admit it is a pretty cool idea, but seriously, one candidate is just going to dictate how another candidate is going to campaign for the entire summer and this other candidate is expected to just agree and go along with this?  (Is this one of those places where people on the internet us the letters “LOL?”

I personally believe that both candidates that are left from the two major parties have these gaping holes in their qualifications for president (particularly saying lots of things that neither of their voting records support), but if this is the best Senator McCain can come up with against a person with a gift for speaking and a charisma that attracts so many, Senator McCain will be reduced to a straw man for Senator Obama to knock over.

If there are any advisors to Senator McCain reading this, please gather some experts on the economy and draw up something substantial that will appeal to the public. Then spend some time educating Senator McCain on this plan.  Once that is done release him on the public with these fresh new ideas and a solution to a real problem in the here and now.  That will make him a solid candidate and definitely make the race more interesting.

I suppose Senator McCain may have such plans and be keeping them hidden is his grand plan to unleash this weapon of mass destruction on Senator Obama during these town hall meetings, but let’s face it, that is not going to happen.  An I am not sure if it were to happen that the results would be what Senator McCain expects.  I remember a debate between the Republicans that was televised on CNN that had an approval meter that was on the screen the whole time.  The relevant fact here is that almost every time Senator McCain spoke the meter shot down.  That went double when he got excited or agitated.

I think to win, Senator McCain better come up with more than the stuff he has put out there so far.

If Senator McCain does not retool his message, this will be one of those really boring elections where one candidate just sinks fast as soon as the votes start to be cast.  Today I was aghast at his lack of anything to say and found his whole message just plain boring.  

As I have listened to and read reports of what has been going in the trial for five of the men suspected of being responsible for the Sept 11 attacks held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.  I cannot help but think the media coverage is an accidental act of terrorism or at least a tool of the terrorists. 

I am more and more convinced that the thirst of our public for every detail of everything that happens in our world is creating an environment where our media empowers and even facilitates evil.

All of the reports centered around two things:

1. The peer pressure to conform to what the others are doing (particularly the perceived ringleader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the pressure of the group on Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi)
2. The vocalized desire of the defendants to die as martyrs at the hands of the American courts

For us this leads us to gasp at how crazy these people must be as we think:  “There it is, case closed.”  But, the other side of that same coin is that in the world of radical fundamentalist Islam, these same statements make these people the heroes they aspire to be.  Their public statements are like the speech of a great politician.  Strong, full of hope, and empowering.  This is what terrorists and radicals all over the world were hearing as told by the free press of the world.

Everyone who reads this blog knows that I of all people believe in the free press.  I am not sure however how I feel about empowering terrorists and extremists with what I am writing. 

At the least, when our politicians attempt to manipulate the media or to put a “spin” on something, there are media sources that attempt to call them on it at some point.  An example is the several analysts on this news show or that news show that believe differently who discuss and debate if this person is just manipulating the media etc. 

Maybe a discussion of the mindsets of someone detained this long with this much time before the trial to think.  Or a discussion of how this person knows that he is going to get the death penalty anyway and is just making a last attempt at being spiteful.  How about a discussion about the pressures from the group and the radical terrorist world to say such things or be considered a sellout. 

These kind of ongoing discussions come quickly and turn up everywhere when Americans particularly politicians are involved.  Why not with nonsense like this. 

If we tear apart every word our own politicians (and their pastor friends) say under a high powered microscope, we should do the same for those who are possibly evil and enemies of our country. 

For the record I think this was a carefully planned act of terrorism and old fashioned spite.  This Khalid Sheikh Mohammed knew exactly what he was doing and how many millions of people would end up hearing about it.  It is as if Al-Jazeera had done the reporting. 

The shock and awe that this person’s shocking statements instead of a defense caused in the news (which could also be called a small amount of terror) is an act of terrorism. 

I think it is okay to report these sorts of things, but only if they undergo the same rigorous examination, commentary, and debate that so many other stories are forced to undergo. 

How dare our media spend so much time tearing apart American politicians and public figures yet protect such people as terrorists by being the vehicle that the message of evil is carried on.

It is a fine line between reporting on someone and broadcasting the message of someone.

The war in Iraq will be won and the troops will be withdrawn by the end of my first term in office was the message or should I more properly say “campaign promise” of Senator John McCain this weekend.  A win and a withdrawal of our troops from Iran by the year 2013.  Was this a big stand for Senator McCain or another ploy to separate from the failed plans of the current regime.

As I heard this statement, the first thing that crossed my mind was an image of Senator McCain telling his staff that he was about to say this to the public and one of his staff asking him, “What if that doesn’t happen?”  In my little daydream Senator McCain responds with:  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, right now we’ll do anything to win.

The truth is, Senator McCain had to do something because he has been plagued by the comment he made a few months back where he stated that America will stay in Iraq for a hundred years if that’s what it takes.  You couple a comment like that hundred year comment and the fact that he is from the same unpopular party that the current president, who started the war in Iraq is from.  The current president, a certain President, George W. Bush, is extremely unpopular and growing more unpopular almost by the second.  If you are a Republican candidate at this moment, this is the one person you would least want to be associated with at this point in history.

This was just the tip of the iceberg; it gets worse for Senator McCain. Earlier this week, while visiting Israel, President Bush attacked anyone that thinks that negotiation with those who consider themselves our enemy and implied that such a person would be stupid.  The obvious implication here was that Senator Barack Obama’s foreign policy ideas were stupid.  This is an opinion and agree or disagree it is at least a valid opinion.

The problem is that the source of this passive aggressive attack was the very unpopular President Bush.  This creates several problems for Senator McCain. 

The first and probably biggest problem is that while Senator McCain is just getting out of the blocks in the media (compared to Senators Clinton and Obama who have been all we hear about) the man who will probably have the lowest popularity of any president in history is doing his campaign dirty work for him.  Once this became the view of the public as a whole, the months of work he has done in trying to distance himself from the president all but vanished in one fell swoop.

Then Senator McCain made an almost predictable error.  He went along with the attacks of the President and demanded that Senator Obama explain himself. Could John McCain and his entire camp be so stupid as to not see what was to come next. 

Senator Obama, pulled out his two favorite aces. 

The first card Senator Obama pulled was to write off the whole ruckus as old Washington politics.  It must be clear to the entire planet that the American people are tired and dissatisfied with the way our government works and would vote for Mickey Mouse and Goofy if they thought there would be a change.  Once a politician is marked as “Old Washington” in this election year that person has one foot and two arms in the political grave.

Besides, if you are going to say that applying pressure to a nation by not talking to them (not negotiating with them) will work, you have to site cases where that has worked.  That goes double when you are discussing countries like Iran where that strategy has not only failed, but seems to have made matters worse.  Every candidate this year has to keep in mind that the American people are hungry for “change” and if you say that something should stay the same, you had better have a real good reason for not changing.

The second card that Senator Obama pulled out was the “extension of the Bush presidency” card.  As unpopular as the current surveys state that President Bush is, being tied to him cannot be a good thing in a presidential race. 

I remember in something I was watching in the movies or on television, I think it was C.S.I. episode, where the criminal took a guy and tied him to a dead body because that would cause all of the rotting and decaying that was happening to the dead person to happen to the other person while he was still alive.  I know that is gross, but that is what it is like to be tied to the current presidency publicly.  That is the fact.  Fair or unfair, warranted or unwarranted, the American people as a whole are unhappy with the current presidency and anything that is tied to it. 

It was as if the entire party of Democrats was crouched in waiting for this moment.  The moment when President Bush and Senator John McCain would team up and attack Senator Barack Obama so that the ambush could take place on the Republican party as a whole.

Within a day, democrats came out of the woodwork to attack President Bush and Senator McCain and make them look like a team unified in being stupid.

I can hardly imagine why Senator McCain would not have steered clear of this whole mess.  The entire planet knows that his support among the more rightwing Republicans is shaky at best.  I am wondering why a person relying so heavily on voters who are nearer to the middle would do something that damage his support from that group as well.

If Senator McCain is to be a serious player in this election  he has to do one of two things. 

1. Keep up the gopher hole campaign strategy where he stays underground, once in a while poking his head out to give a short speech, while the democrats destroy each other.
2. Base his campaign on rhetoric that says he is different and in many ways distant from the current regime and that he represents the magic word:  “CHANGE!”

Just as the Democratic candidates looked to both have their fingers on the red button that would self-destruct their party, President Bush and Senator McCain gave them a reason to unify (even Senator Hillary Clinton attacked the President and Senator McCain on this one) and get some good press.  I am just seriously surprised at how both of the main parties are their own worst enemies this primary season. 

It is as if we are not voting for the best candidate we are simply going to vote for the last person standing after both parties implode and the smoke clears.  What a mess.