McCain Caught Off-Guard About Campaign's Lobbyist Problems
By Bill W. Tuesday Jun 03, 2008 2:59pm
Despite the fact that much of the news coverage for the past few weeks on McCain has revolved around his lobbyist-run campaign, especially Co-Chair "Foreclosure Phil" Gramm's lobbying ties to "the wrong side of the ongoing mortgage foreclosure crisis," Chris Wallace's "last question" about it caught McCain by surprise Tuesday night, and left him stammering, stuttering and fibbing:
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Wallace: Let me ask you one last question. David Axelrod said you talked in your speech today about changing the way Washington does business, but your campaign is run by two of the biggest lobbyists in Washington. How do you respond to that?
McCain (stuttering): "Uh, I di.., look, uh, the, the, those, they are not lobbyists, but th.. the fact is Americans care about my vision and plan of action for the future,"... blah blah bs, blah ... 'Obama is a liberal' blah...
Wallace didn't press any further (of course) on who this "they" is, but it was a lie in any case clearly worthy of a few Pinocchios. Does the McCain campaign really not have a practiced answer at the ready for this simple a question about its mounting lobbyist problems (if so, I'm nearly certain 'um, um, they are not lobbyists' isn't it) or did McCain just get so comfortable on the Republican News Network he blanked on the script?
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He sounded like porky pig for a second!
Wow! Caught him flatfooted! But he never lost that self assured little schmirk of his, better luck next time. I bet Chris Wallace's phones is one of the first ones Prez McC taps!
John McBush....
Just get it over with, call it what it is....the lobbyist express....
He has so many working for his campaign he doesn't have enough appointments for them all....
Now that the spotlight is off the 2 Democrats do you think McC will be getting this kind of close scrutiny? Let's hope so as he sure looked unseated!
Do you think he wants to have "debates" with Obama so that he can use his primary money for waging a campaign?
Obama, please schedule those "debates" ASAP! This election will be over well before November.
Left&Left @ 5:
No shit L&L...Obama will mop the floor with McBain!
It will be fun to watch!
McShrub won't even need close scrutiny to dig up all of his foibles. He opens his mouth and they come spilling out for us.
McCain thinks the voters are a group of idiots He hasn't come to grips with the "internets" say something in Hoboken and they find out about it in Lubbock. What's a lying asshole to do
the word "BULLSHIT" pops right into mind!
Maybe the talking point for debates with Obama is to detract attention away from Bob Barr?
Watch McCain when he is asked questions. He often leaves the subject and creates his own subject. When the public begins to see how often he does this and how he does not actually answer the question that was asked of him, they may see old gramps in a different light.
Awwwwww--someone should get Grampy a hot toddy.
Good to see faux living up to its typical "journalistic standards" and really pushing the issue after McGrampa stammered and dodged the question.
Oh, man, this'll be like shootin' fish in a barrel (figuratively, of course), unless the Dems bring in high-powered, over-paid "consultants" to screw things up.
Someone should study the rate at which he blinks his eyes when he speaks. I have a strong feeling that he blinks more frequently as he spews more bullshit.
I would have loved to hear the "chatter" going on in McC's earpiece! "Incoming incoming, duck duck!" Say, Not lobbyists, paid consultants, wait don't say they're paid, just smile and weave!!!"
Left&Left @ 5:
Not so sure after seeing the way the pundits spin McLame's speeches and responses (see previous thread). If the media sees Obama pulling ahead, they'll find a way to "level the playing field".
"Bring this country back to it's future greatness". WTF
gawd @ 15:
Maybe using Morse Code to speak in code to the "moral Majority" crowd!
Sorry, sir, but change doesn't embody: old, GOP, and pro-war. You aren't change, sir, you are the past. You even look like the past. thank you for your service, sir, which was last century, and in the past. but you should not be president. you aren't the same McCain as 2000 held for us. you are a shadow of that former person. who are you? oh right, a sad old egotistical regular politician. sad.
Huh? Wha? Huh?
Go McStutter , take a nap ( por vida )
i thought that "my friend" was a posthypnotic suggestion, turning members of the msm to drooling lapdogs . . . could it be that mccain's powers of mind control are wearing off or, hope-against-hope, wearing thin?
Left&Left @ 5:
Unfortunately, any "debates" will most likely be moderated by one of the many idiots who have moderated in the past (i.e. Tweety, Gibson, Russert, etc...) and the questions will focus on everything that doesn't matter... Maybe ONCE they can hire someone with intelligence to moderate like Olbermann (unlikely). I'd like to believe that even so, Obama will crush McCain decisively.
Someone should tell the old senile bastard that YES, lobbyist are running his campaign. Seems someone would've done it already.
John McCain: A Man Of Vision.
71/71 vision.
And I bet Wally got has ass tanned good and proper by Rupert for fucking up that phony staged crap with something approaching a real question.... Dude, it's McLame, you can't ask him a 'real' question boy. What? You trying to suddenly pass yourself off as a real journalist NOW??? Hello, Earth to Chris, ya work for Fixed news guy.... wassamattawityou anyway??? Don't you like your paycheck???
I would have personally loved to see that, with McLames hummina hummina sputtering response, but I really can't stomach watching the propaganda pablum that network tries to pass off as ligitimate news. Nevermind the ridiculous tagline about fair and balanced....like THAT was EVER in the mix....
I beginning to think it's really going to take some serious first string wag the dog type handlers to get this senile old fuck from here to november.... And I sincerely hope they fail miserably.. The sooner McLame crashes and burns on his own ego, temper and lack of credentials the sooner this nation will be better off.................JD
McSame's look of fright today was different from the serial killer smile in his terrible practiced speech last night.
like bush mcLIAR is offering 4 more yrs of
deceit, deception and secrecy, in his attempt
to continue bush/cheney fascist dictatorship
and corruption.
" I have a record of working with all Americans to bring this nation back to its future greatness and I believe we will. "
Huh? ". . . back to its future greatness"? WTF does that mean?
I get it. John McCain is really Christopher Lloyd in 'Back to the Future'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BytKSy8M4bk&feature=related
Okay let me be shallow as hell and ask this question. Why doesn't McCain whiten his teeth? He doesn't have to make them so white that they glow in the dark, but so they don't look so, well, unattractive.
Yes, likely to both questions.
And in response to the Bob Barr comment above, it would be too funny if Bob did run on an independant ticket and have Obama invite him to a debate with McSame.
"bring this nation back to its future greatness?" Locution lessons from Bush?
More mounting evidence of a poorly run campaign. Failing on the friendliest news network available...ouch.
I respect my elders but this is sad. I remember Ron Paul asking McCain an economic question in the debates......samething......beer in headlights deal
what? is this fux?
karl @ 35:
Or deer.
Ot
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk: So al-Qa'ida's defeated, eh? Go tell it to the marines
Last week the head of the CIA claimed it was winning the battle. Nonsense, argues Robert Fisk. The extremists in the Middle East are growing stronger
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/fisk/robert-fisk-so-alqaidas-defeated-eh-go-tell-it-to-the-marines-837843.html
And how much are we hearing about the Iraqi war from the MSM? What war?
"back to its future greatness"
Starring Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox.
I want to go back to my future greatness. How the hell would I get there and where would I be?
Fisk
"Six thousand dead in Afghanistan, tens of thousands dead in Iraq, a suicide bombing a day in Mesopotamia, the highest level of suicides ever in the US military – the Arab press wisely ran this story head to head with Hayden's boasts – and permanent US bases in Iraq after 31 December. And we've won?"
“The benefits are enormous, not just in iraq but in the region as well”--John McCain
i can't even get to the lobbyist aspect of this clip, as i can't get past by this insane assertion.
the "benefits" are enormous? which "benefits" are those dear senator?
the thousands of dead US troops?
the hundreds of thousands of dead iraqi civilians?
the trillion dollar + price tag?
the increase in terror recruitment?
the increase in terror attacks?
the rise of iranian influence?
the widespread anti-american sentiment?
the spying?
the torture?
the lies?
imccain can only function in talking points and soundbites--and STILL fuck those up
OMG... is bush looking better than mccain?
Th-th-th-that's all folks!
Samson- @ 42:
Scary, ain't it?
puppet for the military industrial complex......McCain has changed to the dark side.
I think people like Chris Wallace know they have to watch just how much of John McCain's dirty laundry they pull out for the public to see. McCain is so unprincipled and so unstable that he is libel to throw a temper tantrum right there on national television.
McCain says Obama has a straight-down-the-line liberal voting record, but that he (McCain) has been working with both sides.... which means Obama has been correct 100% of the time, and McCain only gets it right half the time. Keep up that campaign rhetoric, John!
gawd @ 15:
Most people blink more when they lie. They also tend to stutter more. Fidget. Have difficulty keeping eye contact.
They also tend to look to the left.
Notice that his eye blink rate at least tripled when he denied his donors where lobbyists. He then went way off subject and started saying 'Obama's a Liberal'. His eye rate when even higher when he said he was looking forward to debating Obama.
That poor old man is scarred out of his 'depends' lined pants. He probably dropped a deuce when he thought about the upcoming debate.
I have to tell you, I'm looking forward to that moment. I think that when they're done he's going to need a nurse take him back to his room and put him in bed.
I like how he just dismisses the question "they're not lobbyists", he's going to have to do better than that.
LOL out loud.
he's not a lobbyist he quit that job a month ago
Numinous @ 48:
You may be right, but you sound like BillO when he brought the "body language specialist" on his show!
andy @ 49:
hey . . . stop nitpicking about verb tenses . . . he meant that, one day, they will not be lobbysists!
Could someone (ideally, someone from Arizona) explain to me how it is that Senator McCain wins elections?
He's clearly a very weak, undisciplined campaigner - has he never faced a challenger before?
karl @ 51:
That really doesn't matter. He still wields influence, those are still his pals. I was raised by a lobbyist, and it's a fact of the job. Unless he quit screaming "YOU MFING AHOLES," he still holds sway over them and vice versa.
. . . or, when they were children, they were not lobbyists
He got his Depends in a bunch.
pissed off patricia @ 31:
Fixed.
You have to wonder if McCain has any sort of principles what so ever. From the top on down he is as corrupt as they come. He dumped his first wife for a richer and more politically connected second wife, was part of the Keating five, loves to shoot craps, politically goes on an issue wherever there is the least pressure, has an entire staff of lobbyist and is surrounded by people that are involved in scandel after scandel. McCain is so corrupt I'd bet he even sold his own mother out for five dollars.
I would have liked to see the smoke coming out of his ears after they turned off the camera. I'm sure he was pretty bitter abut that interview and I'm sure the interview strayed from the script they handed him.
BobD @ 52:
Just because I know something, you shouldn't compare me to Bill O'Racist.
Also, Bill sides with pedophiles, and murders. He also verbally attacks the sick, and seems to have a special hatred of children and brown people. I've never done any such thing.
miss kitty........i was trying some sarcasim i'm with you.
Captain Bitter Elitist Husein Kangaroo @ 57:
Fix-o-dented.
casper46 @ 62:
Are you even sure that he doesn't get his teeth out of a glass every morning?
karl @ 45:
I don't still don't get this "changed" stuff. He may have lost his reputation as a maverick by not pissing off the right as much as he used to, but he's always been a tool of the MIC.
That was priceless. It should be run as an Obama ad.
Blue Lensman @ 64:
Just count the number of hands raised in surrender, divide by two - supporters of the military industrial complex.
andy @ 49:
*waves hand* "These are not the lobbyists you're looking for."
When the nominees go head to head on the issues, McCain better be ready for a whirlwind, because there is no stopping the democrats now. Obama has the issues on his side. A failed war, a troubled economy, secrecy in government, heavy bipartisanship. This is the democrats year. Lobbyist problems will just add to the democratic landslide.
...worse than Dole.
citizen @ 66:
pandering tool at that........i'm just saying i don't believe belonged to the neocon club or wanted to.......now he has changed he wants to belong when he aligned himself closer to a libertarian/independent philosophy i could understand but this neocon club they are ruining this country.....my opinion...of course i could be mistaken
Ya know . . . at this point I don't care if theya re conservative . . . isn't it possible that the republicans could just nominate someone who isn't dumb as shit?
Uh bu dee uh bu dee uh buh dee uh thats all folks!
Lets paraphrase:Not lobbyists,Obama Communist.
andy @ 49:
the media has one rule. do not refute a repug.
McLame was caught flat-footed because he was told behind closed doors that Fox Noise throws soft balls to the Right.
Scy @ 71:
they are still trying to give us the president from the next barstool. they did it twqice, with the help of the DLC, DIEBOLD and voter elimination. why stop?
If the Democrats can't beat this man, there will only be one reason. The nation, as a whole, has lost its collective mind.
I can't believe that he is challenging Obama to meet him for town hall meetings all over the United States. God, Obama will eat him for lunch.
John McCain can no longer think on his feet. I don't know enough about him to know if he ever could. Watch for the Republicans to go to lots of ads and hide John out as much as possible until after the election is over.
I bet Wallace assumed McCain had a good answer ready. Instead he stumbles and stutters for 4 seconds tells an obvious lie and then runs away
That ought to teach Fox News never to ask McCain anything resembling tough questions
Things confirmed by this video:
McCain is just another dumb hypocrite that can be easily manipulated by the "big stick" guys in Washington.
McCain is a terrible, terrible liar, and an even worse panderer.
McCain might actually have guilt and a conscience, when considering how bad of a liar he is.
I thought George Bush was the dumbest person I've ever heard try to give a debate on the national platform, and he one.... twice. He went MIA during Vietnam, Dick came up with 5 deferrments, because he was "busy with other things." Mainly, too busy lusting after wealth and power to be bothered with defending the country that makes pigs like him possible. All this, and they were able to convince a majority of the public that he was a better military commander....
^^I just thought I'd throw this out there to confirm to all of you that just because we think he's stupid, innept, corrupt, and lying his ass off, don't think uninformed people who only vote every 4 years wont go out in droves to vote for this moron.
McCain has early alzhiemers onset.
pissed off patricia @ 11:
Yes, I noticed this immediately with this clip and the one about marriage. He knows how to change the subject.
They're not lobbyists! Hah! Obama won't let him get away with it either in a townhall meeting and I bet he calls him out with a lot of humor and style too. sorry, i meant to say "with a lot of glitz".
McLame will wear a mic like that dunce Georgie Boy did in his debates with John Kerry. That way, his staffers can answer the questions for him.
Jake S. @ 78:
God, I wish you were wrong, but he will get lots of votes. Not as many as you think, though. The people who are the most enamored of the war and someone like Mr. McCain don't vote. And they are afraid....yes, the economy is so bad they just might not vote their prejudices, both racial and political, this time.
pissed off patricia @ 11:
Yeah, but Dubya did the same thing, and all the right wingers still thought he "won" the debates.
When this clip opened, I didn't realize McCain wasn't yet answering the zinger question. Wow, he really can't think on his feet at all! Even with an easy query, he was stumbling all over himself.
karl @ 61:
Oh.
:D :P :D
"uh lo ah look they are not lobbyist"
lol, he knows who Wallace is talking about without mentioning their names, and McCain clicks and defends "no they are not lobbyists"
lol
All that blinking and the sickly grin make gramps hard to watch.
miss_kitty @ 55:
As the late, great, Mr Rogers might have said: "Can you spell 'sarcasm'?"
Jake S. @ 79:
I agree about the Alzheimers onset, except for the "early" part. that is, unless he started showing symptoms 20 years ago. I don't believe he did.
Frybread @ 81:
Doesn't matter. He can't read his own speeches off a teleprompter without screwing them up. Do you really think his short-term memory will allow him to repeat what they whisper in his ear without totally blowing that, too?
Chris F. @ 1:
I keep waiting for him to blurt out, "That's all folks!"
McCain got beat by dumby for rethug nomination. He has to be a fucking moron.
My friends, he is nothing more than a lying pig!
God! He NEVER answers a fucking question straight! Never! If Americans are stupid enough not to see that plain as the nose on their face perhaps we deserve Bush 3!
I'm sorry, I typed that from a place of anger. REALLY, when is the media going to start doing their goddamned jobs and call him on this shit!!??
Maybe McCain knows something we don't: that the fix, provided by Cheney and his friends in the voting-machine industry, is already in.
He could flub from here to November and still take it. We've already had two cooked elections and goodness knows what Cheney's been up to the last four years if not digging a virtual screwdriver into the election works.
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