Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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McCain Tells NC GOP to Take Down Ad
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
5:03 PM
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Regarding this ad, John McCain sent this letter to the NC GOP Chairman:
Dear Chairman Daves,
From the beginning of this election, I have been committed to running a respectful campaign based upon an honest debate about the great issues confronting America today. I expect all state parties to do so as well. The television advertisement you are planning to air degrades our civics and distracts us from the very real differences we have with the Democrats. In the strongest terms, I implore you to not run this advertisement.
This ad does not live up to the very high standards we should hold ourselves to in this campaign. We need to run a campaign that is worthy of the people we seek to serve. There is no doubt that we will draw sharp contrasts with the Democrats on fundamental issues critical to the future course of our country. But we need not engage in political tactics that only seek to divide the American people.
Once again, it is imperative that you withdraw this offensive advertisement.
John McCain
While some conservatives will, no doubt, think this is a sign of wimpiness, I see it as sagaciousness: McCain stays on the high road in the eyes of the hoi polloi, while the negative stuff still gets out to the media.
I am not suggesting that this is done pro forma with a wink and a nod -- I truly believe McCain considers this to be infra dig and wants them to stop running this. And in the case of a GOP organization, McCain may in fact be able to force them to stop running it. But when it comes to outside groups -- who are sure to run these types of ads -- McCain won't have much of a say in the matter ...
This is not the first time McCain has taken the high road when it comes to negative campaigning, and it certainly won't be the last time.
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Every time I convince myself to swallow hard and vote the Republican ticket, McCain either apologizes to a Democrat, states how capable a Democrat is for the precidency or pulls a stunt like this. I'm going to have great difficulty voting for him. |
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Sorry for misspelling of presidency above. |
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Sorry for misspelling presidency above. |
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Ahh, no. The ad simply claims that Obama is anti-capital punishment.
I fail to see as how that is McCain taking the high road.
In fact, quite the opposite. The implication, of course, is that McCain is pro-capital punishment. Given that McCain is trying to pick up independent and centrist voters that's probably not in his best interest. "Hi, I'm John McCain, I'm for blowing up Iran and killing as many criminal as possible."
This had nothing to do with "taking the high road" and everything to do with not alerting the liberals that, yes indeed, Obama is their anti-capitial punishment man tbecause McCain is like Bush and wants more capital punishment.
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It is called avoiding backlash Kenny Z. |
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Is it Barack Obama, or the one who's pushing his party to shelve the attack ads?
Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) has written a letter to the North Carolina Republican Party asking officials to stop running an ad targeting Democratic gubernatorial candidates that features Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his controversial pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
The ad, endorsed at the end by state Party Chairwoman Linda Daves, targets Democratic candidates Beth Perdue and Richard Moore for being "too extreme for North Carolina," but the most prominent person in the ad is Wright, who is seen and heard giving one of his more inflammatory sermons.
I'm not really sure that qualifies as one of Wright's 'more inflammatory' sermons. There are so many to choose from. That said, it's clear who's putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to civility in the campaign. Further, Democrats are undoubtedly going to complain when Wright and other controversies come up due to third party expenditures, but it's Senator Obama who reneged on a deal on public financing that would have committed McCain to push those third parties not to bring up such unpleasantness.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/04/whos_ru nning_a_different_kind.asp |
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Keep in mind, there are actually two ads running now: a Wright ad sponsored by the NC Republican party and a capital-punishment ad pointing out Obama's conduct in the Illinois state senate.
Let them roll. Obama's now whining that if McCain "really" wanted the first ad off, he'd get it off. Sorry, I'm fine with McCain's sending a letter and leaving it at that. He has a campaign to run. The minute Obama specifically details what he knew and when and then explains why he didn't get in Wright's grill about what he knew, then McCain might be morally obligated to do more.
So far, Obama hasn't even come close to explaining his relationship and his conduct with respect to Wright. Keep whining Obama supporters, you're the one backing a candidate whose viability dwindles by the day. |
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McCain lashes out at conservatives again! "Leave my liberal friends alone!" |
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...that Matt sees the strategy here, even if wingnuts like Phil want to use this as new fodder for crucifying McCain. The ad will still run, and McCain looks like he took the high road. Who is it now who is giving Americans a different type of politics? |
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Dems down ticket? Enquiring minds want to know. |
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