Who thinks McSame backpedaled today to avoid......

[senseandsensibility]

calling Obama a terrorist to his face next Wednesday? The calls for him to do so were growing louder. I heard them from Biden, and Barak as well as many pundits. He was being painted into a corner in which he could really have looked like a jerk on live TV. That kind of #@@$$%%% only flies with the nimwits at his rallies. A mainstream audience would recoil, and he knows it.

So now, he's all sweetness and light and the last few days never happened.:think:

[mscuedawg]

1. I DO

McCain is like a sly attorney....get the witness to say something you WANT the jury to hear

...but know that its going to get over-ruled by the judge... Damage is DONE...and he thinks that 3 days later, saying that Obama is a good Christian family man...not an Arab? C'mon...he's been in politics for 25+ years remember...he's NOT new to this...he's the Mav'WRECK...

this is so blatantly disgusting...

This is what I’m gonna hear from my right wing “friends”: so i put on fox news and apparently mccain was taking up for obama today...wow, isn't that what i just wished for!! yippee… :puke:

[thunder rising]

8. another way of saying the McCain statement is that Arabs are not included in the set of good and

decent men. Listen to it. This MF cannot get into THAT office.

[L0oniX]

44. FLASH ...ALERT: BUSH ALLOWED A TERRORIST IN OUR SENATE!

Recent reports from the special republican secret service says that a known terrorist, Obama has infiltrated our senate and is casing his vote along with many others to over throw the USA and turn it over to the terrorists.

Their line of reasoning is so far off the wall that they should be Baker Acted and thrown into a psychiatric hospital. What a huge bunch of moronic asscarrots!

[senseandsensibility]

14. Well ,look at it this way....

if he's making his BASE mad, and that's all he has left, then it's all good.

[Spritz57]

46. I think today is covering his backside from yesterday and. . .

let's not forget yesterday was the first recorded townhall meeting when McCain was asked a direct question. All the other hate-speech events were speeches with shouts from the crowd. McCain made a calculated decision to mildly appear civil but then went right back to his talking points. Unless the ads and e-mails stop, this is another Rovian misdirection. He just "parachuted" into civility, it didn't work too well last time with the House Republicans, I think he is just trying to misdirect the MSM.

[cliffordu]

2. I said this to my wife just an hour ago....Was she talking to you on the phone??

[senseandsensibility]

6. No, but I just said this to the hubby

He was very impressed with my intelligence, as I'm sure your wife was with yours. Edited because I misread your post. Guess I'm not so intelligent after all.

[NMDemDist2]

45. OMG!!! you two are MARRIED!?!?!????

who knew??

:rofl:

[Doityourself]

3. Not just that..but I think repubs are already scared..and they don't need anymore stains..I think

the boom came down from above...cut it out!

[KathieG]

4. I definitely think that is part of the reason, along with the fact that

the negative strategy hasn't been working, and he has been getting some pressure to put a stop to the negative tone at his rallies.

[Old Codger]

5. Could be

Might be a part of it as I do believe he is a coward, most bully's are when it gets down to the nitty gritty's. But I would be willing to make a small wager that he got his ass handed to him big time by the RNC for inciting to riot and was told on no uncertain terms that if anythng happened to Obama because of it he would be held to account one way or the other. If not legally then in the public eye.

[AzNick]

7. I think the secret service told him to CTC

Seriously, that's what I think happened.

[The Traveler]

13. Seriously, I suspect your right

The agent in charge was bound, at some point, to point out to McCain that his rally supporters were by their conduct making themselves potential hostiles to a man the secret service is also required to protect. From the Secret Service's viewpoint, this has to be a real, real problem.

[MissDeeds]

17. I agree completely

When the crowds started calling for violence, it crossed a line. I am fairly certain that the secret service guarding Obama intervened. Did you notice that when McCain tried to quell the crowds and told them that Obama was a true American, a family man, and no one to fear that his followers booed him? This whole thing has taken on a life of its own, and many are worried about the possible result of such rancor. :scared:

[Lil Missy]

19. I think so too. And I think the likes of Limpballs and O'Liely got a little talk from the SS too.

[Lisa0825]

27. I agree.

I think he was told that if the worst happened, his campaign would be under investigation, and he would have no chance of any positive legacy in the history books.

[Raschel]

9. I don't.

McCain is the type that thinks other people can't see thru his BS. Or maybe if he THINKS someone won't notice something, then they won't. You know like, if I'm hiding and I can't see you, then you can't see me?

Plus he thinks everyone is stupid. When really it's him.

[vaberella]

10. I don't think so. I think it's the backlash he's been receiving about his campaign.

His campaign in this direction has been having cries of "treason", "bomb Obama", "kill him", "terrorist" all towards Obama, a married citizen with two kids and also Democratic Presidential Candidate. When people were making cries for his death, he was noticing the path his campaigning was going down. He noticed he was rallying the freaks who could do something and when he saw the way the woman was talking and the man was talking about how they seemed to genuinely fear Obama---he knew crazies could do anything to protect themselves from a supposed threat.

He doesn't want that related or connected to his campaign. And especially if one of those crazies really does act on it, it would all be relayed to him. He has much of the shared fear we as Dems have. The other issue was also the continuous and contentious attacks from his fellow Republicans who do not like the path in which the campaign has gone; several well knwon people who were even close to him.

He was looking at a way to protect his own ass, but in effect showed how he could not control his supporters and it showed that he's incited his group of people to a point of no return as they turned on him as he tried vainly to "protect" Obama.

This has nothing to save his ass on Wednesday, he just wanted to save face currently.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. No, I think someone high up in the 'puke party made him do it.

He looked down at the floor, with eyes downcast avoiding the audience, and jaw clenched while trying to suck his cheeks in... like a little boy who was scolded and told to repeat "I will not incite the racists" a hundred times in front of his class.

If you saw him earlier in the week, although he started off hesitant, the more he did it, the more he seemed to enjoy going into the gutter and getting the cheers.

[BlueIdaho]

12. I think he's backpedaling because

His internal polling shows his negatives are skyrocketing and his positives are dropping faster than the stock market. Unfortunately it will take him several days of vouching for Obama at his rallies to stop the racial hatred that now fills his town halls. He will end up sounding like an Obama cheerleader and he will lose precious days of campaigning before he pulls out of this nose dive.

He fucked up - bigtime.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. You know what? Fuck McCain. As of this week, he's bypassed the Swiftboats as by far the worst

campaign tactic (meaning immoral and unethical) in my lifetime. If you told me two weeks ago that McCain would outdo that, and outdo it in spades, I'd have said you were high. His bullshit words will never undo that with me.

I'm glad he's backtracking but I'm not convinced he's done with it.. if he runs the same damn ads and has Palin saying the same shit, he's not done with it.

Even if he was done with rousing the rabble, he doesn't get any benefit of a doubt about motive again, EVER. I'm sure he has only retreated due to being taken to the woodshed by a bunch of Republican elders, or decided to based on his own miserable polling decline despite all this.

Thing is he shouldn't have needed any polling. Common sense and common decency should tell anyone that the average decent person doesn't want anything to do with a lynch mob. McCain and Palin are sorely lacking in either.

[eleny]

16. oooooh, you are such a smarty pants!

here i was thinking that the secret service sat his campaign down and gave them the word. but i have to confess that i think you've hit a nail on its head here.

it's going to be the elephant in the room come wednesday evening. the absence of the issue will be the talk of the talking heads. this debate might get even more viewers with palin garnering the "j'accuse" tonight.

[senseandsensibility]

21. I know it sounds petty

and I'm not saying that the excellent points made by others in this thread aren't valid (I've thought of them, too) , but I really think he doesn't want to confront Obama.

[eleny]

22. yes, i agree about his not wanting the confrontation

it could be a combination of things. but when biden threw down that challenge the other day, it made it imperative that mccain bring it up next week. and mccain has to know by now that obama is prepared for it. so i agree with you that mccain really didn't want to face obama's reasonable response and mccain winding up with egg on his face.

i still do think somebody sat mccain down and explained how the vitriol has gone too far. but there's truth in what you say, too. we all only hope that the tempo can be toned down at the campaign stops.
:pals:

[Abugface]

18. Not me.

I think he's just exhibiting the increasingly erratic behavior that we've seen for several months. He may pull a Lou Dobbs blow up tomorrow. The man is unstable - stop trying top attribute his behavior to rational thinking.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

20. He's allowing Mooselini and the Trollop to do his dirty work so that he can pretend that he's

above the fray!

[RichardRay]

23. Yuppers. That's a big you betcha on that one.

For whatever reasons good or bad, honorable or dishonorable, McCain doesn't want to have to go there next week. If this whole shit storm had gone on one more day without him at least trying he'd have to start training for a quick exit next Tuesday after Barack tore a strip off him and Michelle came over the railing with a set of nunchaku.

[Cleetus]

24. well reasoned

I completely agree

[Life Long Dem]

25. It's uncalled for... and McSame is pissing off a lot of people with his foul mouth

[Zech Marquis The 2nd]

26. too late for McSame

if he plays nice, the RWers will turn on HIM :nuke: If he keeps up the BS antics, the whole GOP goes down in flames, he's totally screwed either way..

and this was BEFORE the Troopergate report came out tonight :rofl:

[rainbow4321]

28. Yup..he will be all over "I defended you"...

Leaving out that he "defended" him at ONE event compared to the dozen events that he did NOT....

[senseandsensibility]

29. He's creepy

So I agree with you.

[ginnyinWI]

30. Every day his campaign gets more FUBAR.

The only thing that would surprise me now would be if he did something smart and effective. I'm very glad, though, that he denounce the "arab" label and also tried to diffuse some of the fear he and Palin have mongered. The question is, though--is it enough to do any good?

[Borgnine]

31. But will Palin continue with her rhetoric?

She's been the more vile of the two.

[Hansel]

32. He did it because Pawlenty told him to and no other reason.

After all, Pawlenty's got a phony nice guy image to uphold.

That crap just doesn't play well in Minnesota. Keep in mind that Norm Coleman won because of the guy who got up at Wellstone's wake and made a political speech. That was considered in poor taste and cost Mondale the election. Then Norm played it exactly right by playing Mr. Nice Respectful Guy.

[rufus dog]

33. Interesting take

It does fit the classic bully model. Get called out to meet on the playground after school and spend the entire day trying to make nice.

In the clip I say Sarah was in the background looking peeved, not sure if it was right after the McCain calm down comment or not, I wasn't paying close attention.

Either way it is a loss for McCain, in fact being nice is probably worse. Makes him out to be a big wimp, rather than throwing a punch and getting his ass kicked, in the latter it could be spun.

Still think Senate Repukes and the RNC jumped in to stop it, but you could be right.

[Swamp Rat]

34. Naw, he winked at them plenty of times.. nudge nudge, know what I mean, say no more.

[Chovexani]

42. You outdid yourself with that one Swampy

:applause:

LOVE the tiny Perrin in the corner, LOL! :rofl:

[senseandsensibility]

35. I've thought about this

and I still think it's true.

[Honeycombe8]

36. Maybe. But there's also a legal reason: incitement-to-violence-speech.

If someone is harmed after leaving a hate-filled speech rally, the speaker can be held responsible criminally for speech that is designed to incite others to violence.

Once someone in the crowd yelled "kill him!" and "off with his head," the campaign had to change the rhetoric. If harm came to Obama, McCain could be arrested, charged, and tried for hate speech. It is ILLEGAL.

[goodgd_yall]

51. I think you hit the nail on the head. n/t

[jazzjunkysue]

37. With Troopergate, they have to pull in the hate. Plus, I think Gramps really isn't that cruel.

Maybe I'm a fool, but, I really don't think Gramps realized how much fear and hate was waiting under the surface. He's so out of touch, he didnn't know the implications of his actions.

His advisors begged him to get ugly and he went along until he saw how frightening it got.

I really don't think he'll want to be responsible for reinvigorating lynch mobs.

[earth mom]

38. McCain is covering his ass in case anything happens to Obama.

That way McCain can't be held responsible. I would like to think it's a moment of guilt or shame, but who knows?

[senseandsensibility]

39. I don't think it's guilt or shame

I think it's fear.

[earth mom]

40. You are probably right. I bet McCain is regretting his choice of Palin too. nt

[L0oniX]

41. I wonder if he even thought about the fact that his base is obviously so wrong .

Any one with normal reasoning skills could see that the base is so wrongly informed that they think a US senator is a terrorist and an Arab. Maybe he should start teaching his moron followers that senators must go through some serious security clearance vetting before they can be privy to top secret military information. If the moron repukes think that Obama is a terrorist then they must also think that Bush is a total failure for allowing a terrorist to be in the senate. DOH!

[mtnester]

43. Nah, his new TV commercial

dispels this

It is a "look, over there while I attack you over here" tactic

nothing more..typical Republican hocus pocus

[gopbuster]

47. He opened up a can of worms he now does not want to have to eat n/t

[gratefultobelib]

48. Good point. I hadn't thought of that.

[senseandsensibility]

49. You're probably just not as cynical as I am

I never bought into the McSame maverick myth, not even in 2000. I would have prefetted him to chimp, but just barely. And of course now he is not only just as bad, he's surpassed chimp at this point.

[RetroLounge]

50. Fuck John McCain...

it's too damn late...

RL

[Leopolds Ghost]

52. I think he's ashamed of the hate these people have, but he is not the person running the ship.

And he has bent over backwards to the ultra-RW too many times to get where he is, you lie down with dogs...