Old McCain Aides Regret New McCain
| Fri Oct. 10, 2008 9:02 AM PDT
John McCain has had a coterie of advisers that has worked with him, off and on, for his entire political career. John Weaver and Mike Murphy are two such men. Despite the fact that they are not working for McCain's current presidential campaign, they are devoted McCainiacs. And both have become disheartened with the direction the McCain campaign has taken these past few weeks.
Weaver, a man the Washington Post once called McCain's Karl Rove, is quoted in the Politico:
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"People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, the differences with Sen. Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared to Sen. McCain," Weaver said. "And from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive."
"Sen. Obama is a classic liberal with an outdated economic agenda. We should take that agenda on in a robust manner. As a party we should not and must not stand by as the small amount of haters in our society question whether he is as American as the rest of us. Shame on them and shame on us if we allow this to take hold."
Murphy, who was a key player in McCain's 2000 campaign, has similar sentiments. Here he is writing in Time:
For the last nine weeks the McCain campaign has tried win [sic] by raising Obama's negatives. Ads have attacked, McCain and Palin has have attacked. This has failed. Over the top negative attacks and a campaign message that too often seems to be little more than sarcasm and suppressed anger has damaged McCain's priceless and hard earned "brand" as a different kind of Republican. McCain's best option now is to ditch the chainsaw and offer a scared and angry country what it badly wants; hope and leadership.
Both of these men fell in love with the McCain of 2000, who believed in the power of clean politics, government reform, and respect for the process and one's opponents. They don't see that McCain anymore. Keep in mind, though, that their only experience with McCain in a cauldron was the 2000 primary campaign. McCain didn't win. If he had, who knows how he would have behaved in October, especially if he found his dream of obtaining the White House slipping away.
Comments
Anyone who wants to know why more black people are not in the GOP ,just look at the McCain campaign these past two weeks. Hate ,fear and crazy white folks, whipped up to a fever pitch.Im sorry what sane person black ,white red yellow or green would want to be a part of this shameful party. God Help America.
I am completely amazed how McCain is ready to loose his hard earned credibility in senate so quickly. He is obviously misinformed. Even though this tactic is not turning the polls around he and Palin continue to persue it. It is dangerous to our civility, Senator Obama's safety and dignity of other races.
I liked McCain but I would never vote for McCain because he doesn't support the troops. As a wife of a retired military man he has done nothing to help veterans. Don't let him fool you. A lot of lower enlisted people will be voting for Obama. McCain/Palin have only brought a new KKK to the republican party. I don't think they are helping to unite this country. They are going to cause riots in the streets if they don't win. I fear for our country. I hope some republicans get a hold of McCain and tell him to stop these attacks. The blood that will be on the streets will be McCain/Palin's fault. I never would have though McCain would have lost his honor but he has.
We have been observing the true purpose of sarah palin in this race. You can bet she was picked a long time ago to come on as an *outsider* curry up some ohhs and ahhs, appear naive in front of the press, and then bust loose with her viper hatred right after the VP debate.
I do wonder what they promised the palins, because it must have been obvious even to two dim bulbs like them that there was no way they were going to win this election.
