Gay bashing worked for Republicans in 2002 and 2004, and on this today’s Fox News Sunday, The Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes suggests that it’s a winning issue for John McCain in 2008:
“He needs to touch on, and - some of the social issues which energize the right. In particular, gays in the military for one. We know Barack Obama is for allowing gays in the military, and Bill Clinton tried to do and then backed off. This is not a popular issue. Gay marriage is another one. These are both issues that I think McCain’s gonna have to use. He can’t ignore the right. If he does, he’ll lose.”
I’ll agree with Fred, this kind of bigotry will win McCain a few points with the fringe haters that make up the shrinking base of the GOP, but the climate in 2008 is much different than in previous election years. I don’t see gay bashing as a strong issue this year as voters are much more focused on issues such as their empty gas tanks and bank accounts, as well as the overwhelming need to find a solution to get our troops out of Iraq and a strong desire to avoid war with Iran.
Neocon Bill Kristol made his usual appearance as part of the “Power Panel” on Fox News Sunday this morning and was surprisingly supportive of Hillary Clinton. In a rather tongue-in-cheek fashion, Bill decries the misogyny that he says plagued the Democratic primaries, and that Republicans are much more open to a strong woman:
“…I think Hillary Clinton was gracious. She’s put behind her the horrible sexism and misogyny the Democratic primary voters demonstrated, which I’m appalled by personally, never would have happened in the Republican Party. You know, we’re - Republicans are much more open to strong women, and that’s why John McCain’s going to put Sara Palin , the Governor of Alaska on the ticket.”
“Look the only people for Hillary Clinton are the Democratic establishment and white women… it would be crazy for the Democratic party to follow the establishment that’s led them to defeat year after year… White Women are a problem - but, you know… we all live with that…”
Yes, it sure was. Because we know there was zero sexism coming from the right during the primary season, right? There was nary a peep on FOXNews about Hillary losing male votes because her voice was shrill, or that her tears were just a political stunt, while male candidates of both parties getting choked up was just a sign of their passion, right? Save it, Bill. Even in jest, it just makes you look petty.
In a segment ending with the disclosure that “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace is brought to you by “The People of America’s Oil and Natural Gas Industry” and immediately followed by the American Petroleum Institute (API) front group’s misleading ad, the Fox News host seized on one of John McCain’s more recent flip-flops siding with President Bush’s recent call to rescind the ban on offshore oil drilling and asked over and over why McCain won’t cave all the way to big oil and also allow for oil exploration in the Alaskan Arctic Wildlife Refuge, ANWR.
In the process of spewing talking points on behalf of his show’s sponsor, Wallace brings Obama into the discussion by joining the growing list of conservative dittoheads in the media who have been repeating this same false claim made by McCain last Tues. about oil spills and Hurricane Katrina:
Wallace: Obama talks about environmental damage from drilling offshore but the fact is the moratorium was put into effect in 1981. There’s been a lot of technological advances since then. We had Hurricane Katrina go through the heart of the Gulf of Mexico and ravage these oil rigs and there were almost no oil spills, so what’s he talking about?”
The truth is that Hurricane Katrina caused oil spillage so significant it was clearly visible from space. It also wreaked environmental havoc near the scale of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. …
As Sen Reid correctly pointed out, this recent push by George Bush & John McBush represents “nothing more than a cynical campaign ploy that will do nothing to lower energy prices, and represents another big giveaway to oil companies already making billions in profits.” and the NYT went further to note that “the only real beneficiaries will be the oil companies that are trying to lock up every last acre of public land before their friends in power — Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney — exit the political stage.“
In fact, the oil industry has yet drilled in just 19 percent of the more than 40 million acres they already can that are not covered by the current ban — 40 million acres that represent 79 percent of America’s technically recoverable offshore oil reserves. Using generous estimates from the latest analysis from Bush’s own Department of Energy, allowing for unlimited drilling both offshore and in ANWR “would lower the price at the pump by less than 6 cents by 2025.”
How much do you reckon a gallon of gas will be in 2025, with or without the hypothetical $0.06 a gal. savings?
If there was a website for warmongering porn, Kristol would be the webmaster. He’s fantasizing about this a great deal I’m sure. He must spend hours upon hours with sweaty palms and tired fingers surfing the net for hot—new–nekkid—bomb Iran porn. Is it free, Bill?
Kristol. I think honestly, if the president felt John McCain were going to be the next president he would think it more appropriate to let the next president make that decision than do it on his way out. I do wonder with Sen. Obama, if president Bush thinks Sen, Obama win does he somehow think that, does he worry that Obama won’t follow through on the policy…
WALLACE: So, you’re suggesting that he might in fact, if Obama’s going to win the election, either before or after the election—launch a military strike?
Kristol: I don’t know. I think he would worry about it. On the other hand, you can’t, it’s hard to make foreign policy based on guesses about election results…
As usual he’s ridiculous. Obama will be strong on National security and the fact that these discredited conservative punkits still get to voice an opinion is frustrating all by itself. We should ask William the Bloody where that WarPorn chat room is… A bunch of warmongers have been speculating on Bush’s plans to attack Iran for quite sometime.
The claim that Obama’s potential election could force Bush’s hand also isn’t new. Earlier this month, far-right pseudo scholar Daniel Pipes told National Review Online that “President Bush will do something” if the Democratic nominee won. “Should it be Mr. McCain that wins, he’ll punt,” said Pipes.
Both Kristol and Pipes apparently agree with President Bush’s claim in March that McCain’s “not going to change” his foreign policy.
Maybe I’m reading too much between the lines, but I do not believe that the official GOP Propaganda Office …er, FOXNews feels at all confident about Republican presumptive nominee John McCain’s chances this November. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them be as upfront not only about his personal weaknesses, but also that the general sense is the country overall is not in good shape. I have to believe that there will be calls to Roger Ailes’ office coming from the White House over this surprisingly bleak assessment of the state of the country and upcoming election.
Chris Wallace starts the discussion by saying that the economy is in bad shape and McCain offers nothing to ameliorate voters’ fears. Brit Hume attempts to temper that like the good little GOP flunkie that he is by suggesting that the high gas prices could benefit McCain, but Juan Williams openly scoffs at him. Even hyper-partisan Bill Kristol suggests that McCain is going to have a tough time attracting voters unless he frames himself outside of economic issues.
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:
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?
Byron York attacked Scott McClellan on FNS Sunday by calling him a very naive man to think that Bush would be a unitier. Wasn’t that what he campaigned on? These is are the type of attacks that are coming from the BushCo. supporters. A common criticism of McClellan is that he was incompetent and if he felt this way about bush then why didn’t he leave sooner. Well, if Byron thought Scotty was so awful then why didn’t he tell the White House to dump from the very beginning? You see , it works both ways.
York: Yes it, yes it does. I mean he was not a terribly good spokesman. There was some really excruciating moments in the White House briefing room. You could look at the other people, I, another person I mentioned Alberto Gonzales was a guy who got in a job way over, over his head. But I think the thing that kind of distinguishes McClellan is he was amazingly naive and his belief that George W. Bush would kind of bring us all together which was why he comes to Washington. Uh, if you remember that conference where Bush is asked to name a mistake that he’s made. And he gives an awful performance. He can’t name a mistake and this is terrible. And, but Bush realizes, and he told McClellan, he said look if I name a mistake my enemies are just going to keep pushing for more and more and more. And McClellan doesn’t see if that way. He actually writes in the book “I believe that by embracing openness and forthrightness, he could have, it could have redeemed him. It could have transcended partisanship and brought together leaders of both parties to try to consensus his way forward on Iraq. (crosstalk) That is a naive point of view.
Bush: I didn’t try to take all the credit, I shared credit with the people, both Republicans and Democrats, who helped achieve these reforms. Second, I showed the people of Texas that I’m a uniter, not a divider. I refuse to play the politics of putting people into groups and pitting one group against another.
I believe all laws and public policy should support strong families. I believe in individual responsibility, that all individuals are responsible for their actions and decisions. A responsible leader sets a clear agenda and brings people together to achieve it.
Responsible leadership sets a tone of civility and bipartisanship that gets things done. I am a uniter, not a divider and, as the governor of Texas, that is how I have led. It is how I will lead in the White House.
Finally, together we can give this nation a fresh start after a season of cynicism. In that spirit, I make this pledge to you, the American people: Next January, when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear not only to uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God.
C&Ler “ched” caught this in the comments. Given FOXNews’ proclivity to using Barbie as the standard for their female anchors, maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that the pundits can’t help themselves from openly admiring the eye candy. As Nina Easton tries to make a cogent point, William “The Bloody” Kristol sneaks a peek. C’mon, Bill, respect her for her mind.
I think that even the most partisan pundits see the upcoming elections as a no-win for Republicans and are just trying to ameliorate the damage as much as possible. Even uber-partisan William Kristol can only urge the House Republicans to stop their whining and do whatever they can to put McCain in the White House.
Wallace: You’ve got an economy that’s in real trouble. You’ve got an Iraq War that people don’t like. Uh the right track, wrong track is now overwhelmingly… I guess now 80% people think wrong track. Can you fight that if people identify that with your party?
Kristol: Well you can avoid further losses if John McCain does well at the top of the ticket. Look, the Democrats…the Republicans lost in 2006 House elections nationally by about 8 or 9 points, that’s… the current House balance in the House of Representatives reflects a Democratic about 8 point advantage. Uh right now in the polls it’s 12 to 14 points. They need to, it would be helpful to knock that back down to 8. The easiest way is to help John McCain defeat Barack Obama. That will naturally pull Republicans up. The other way to do it is to help Bush’s approval rating go up a little bit which I think is doable actually. I… Bush, I think actually has probably has better political sense than a lot of these House Republicans. The idea that they should distance themselves from the President now, Tom Davis was a loyal deputy of Tom DeLay. Tom Davis was all for earmarks. He was going right along with Bush and DeLay on everything and now he’s decided now that he’s leaving the Congress he’s going to be a hero with the mainstream media by writing a 20 page memo, “Distance yourself from Bush, change everything.” They can’t do anything left. They’re not going to pass any legislation. They’re not going to have an independent identity to House Republicans in the last four or five months. There’s McCain, and there’s Bush. Now if they think they want to be tough on spending, why don’t they support the President’s attempt to veto a bloated farm bill? The majority of House Republicans voted for it. Well, they’re their own worst enemy. In my view the House Republicans should be quiet. They should call the McCain campaign and get advice on how they can help McCain win. They’re not going to win back the House anyway but that’s fine. At least they could hold their numbers if McCain does well at the top of the ticket.
Good lord, my irony meter is redlining again. After openly admitting that he doesn’t understand economics as well as he might, who should Republican Presidential nominee John McCain turn to for advice than the unlamented former head of Hewlett Packard Carly Fiorina, who was forced out of HP for her mismanagement and disruptive style? There’s some serious Bush-level street cred. Someone who has failed in her most prominent business position? Hire her!
And FOXNews Sunday can’t help but note in their glossy yet remarkably detail-free profile that Fiorina is even possibly being considered for the VP spot. But…but…what about Condi?
We sure can use the help. There are many issues to talk to Howard Dean about since it was the first time he went on FOX in almost two years, but Chris was really interested in trying to protect John McCain from the DNC’s political ads and of course, Rev. Wright. It’s fine to raise the issues, but he used most of his time on those two subjects alone. Well, I can look forward now to the same due diligence from FOX News Sunday and Chris Wallace to make sure the RNC ads are vetted by him as well. And I agree with Nicole’s points too…
Wouldn’t it have been better if Dean when he decided to go ahead and appear on FOX had been tougher and said something to the effect of “the Republicans have done such a poor job of managing this country that their party is falling apart, and we wanted to go to the one network that we know caters to conservatives and try to get some truth on this network, so that the voters understand that conservative politics–such as FOX News advocates constantly–are not in their best interest. So I’ll give FOX a chance to show that ‘fair and balanced’ is more than a catchy phrase to fool their viewers.”?
Heck, Chris Wallace should fact check Freedom Watch’s ads while he’s at it. as Bluegal wrote: Speaking of which, Freedom’s Watch got their 3rd deceptive ad pulled from the air yesterday in MS-01. This is the second one pulled this week.
FOXNews Sunday host Chris Wallace is shocked (shocked, I tell you!) that the GOP tactic of tying local candidates to Rev. Wright via Barack Obama could possibly be considered race-baiting.
Dean: Chris, the Republicans…for the last 30 years, the Republican (play)book has been to race bait and to use hate and divisiveness.In 2006, the American people said no to that; I think they’re going to say no to that in 2008.It is true that the economy, the war and healthcare are more important to the American people.They are tired of the divisiveness of what the Republicans have done to them.And that’s why the Republicans are in trouble.Deep trouble.Another four years of George Bush is not what we need…
Wallace: Governor, are you suggesting that bringing up Jeremiah Wright is “race-baiting” and hate and divisive?
Dean:Yeah, I am suggesting that kind of stuff.I think when you start bringing up candidates that have nothing to do with the issues…uh when you start bringing up things that have nothing to do with the candidate, nothing to do with the issues, that’s race-baiting. And that’s exactly what it is.Just like Willie Horton was race-baiting so many years ago.I think we’re going to take…we’re going to turn the page on this stuff.I’ll tell you, there’s a lot of difference between the Republicans and the Democrats on issues, but the biggest issue of all is we don’t use this kind of stuff.We never have used this kind of stuff and we’re not going to start now.America is more important than the Republican party and that’s the lesson the voters are about to teach the Republicans.
Let’s see, once again as Bill Moyers points out, what Wright has said is no more outrageous than Hagee, et al., yet Wright’s words have been the subject of a non-stop media barrage and GOP smear ads. Hmm….what could be the difference between those conservative Christian leaders and Jeremiah Wright? You really can’t imagine why that could be
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