The McCain Campaign Thinks Granite Staters are Stoopid

I, for one, am seriously concerned about which direction this race will go. (0.00 / 0)

And it'll take work for us to win.  I'll be very upset if McCain wins, but I'll be shocked if he wins New Hampshire.  We won't win without a fight, but we'll fight, but I don't think the Republicans have what it takes to overcome everything going our way in this state--including of the enthusiasm gap, and of course, the competence of the state parties.

But let them tout New Hampshire as a given.  It'll be all the more political capital when President-Elect Obama takes it by 5 points.

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 12:41:40 PM CDT

If McCain wins (4.00 / 2)

I'm seriously going to have to re-evaluate my life and my priorities.

If after 8 years of the worst presidency in the history of the Republic, two wars and a collapsing economy, a guy promising four more years of virtually the same policies gets in with a truly radical and unqualified Vice President, I honestly don't know if I'll have the strength in me.

I write this without hyperbole.

Wonder if Sununu's fired now.

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by: Dean Barker @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 17:54:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

he's peaked too soon n/t (4.00 / 2)

This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.

   Dorothy Parker

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by: JonnyBBad @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 19:44:44 PM CDT

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"The audacity of hope." Just words? (0.00 / 0)

With the possible exception of his blood relatives, few people are more convinced than I am that Barack Obama losing this election is unacceptable.

But McCain might win; that is a realistic possibility. No, it isn't okay with me. But if you give up on this fight, you're turning your back not only on politics, but on our country, on our planet, on everyone and everything that lives here, for a century--maybe longer. There's no guarantee that our society will continue to progress forever, and most signs now point to the imminent possibility that without real leadership, things may really hit the fan. With McCain/Palin, we'd need activists like you more than ever.

But you're tired, you're overworked, and you have a job; you're a teacher!

You go ahead and give up, Dean. Give up and go home, because you have that option. I, for one, don't have the luxury of giving up on the future, and neither do your students. So come hell or high water, I know where I'll be on November 5th--even if McCain wins all fifty states.

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 22:51:23 PM CDT

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What I mean (0.00 / 0)

is that a McCain win would essentially say that America is incapable of choosing to renew itself despite such a wall of evidence of problems directly facing it.  That our electorate has become such that we lack the basic understanding to self-govern, that we are largely blinded by the manipulation of the oligarchs that gather at the top of every society, no matter the form of government.

It would mean that the future of those I love and care for would be immediately darkened, despite it's already dim prospects.  I would have to ask, "how can I best help them find happiness in such a future?" and "is what I am doing now most useful to that end, or is something else better?"

That would mean to me that I have to start looking at this situation through a bigger lens than through the daily rough and tumble of American political conflict.  I would need to step back, look at the expanse of civilizations come and gone, and determine for myself if we are on a path of slow decline that is largely irrevocable (or not).

Wonder if Sununu's fired now.

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by: Dean Barker @ Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 19:51:34 PM CDT

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You can't escape the effect of the American Presidency. (0.00 / 0)

You can only try to change who Presides.

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 20:24:04 PM CDT

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Made for TV (4.00 / 4)

McCain wasn't there to win NH votes as much as he was to get coverage on ABC; this was the first of the ten Chase to the Cup races, so the tv audience was big.

From where I was sitting, the crowd reaction was polite, but not enthusiastic.  There were a few scattered boos.  People were there for the race, not politics.  If McCain really had wanted to do voter contact, he wouldn't have been at Loudon.

I hear Carl Edwards, who is tied for first in the standings after today's race, was at the Concord Obama event Friday.  

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

Benjamin Franklin

I'm a strategist for the NH Coordinated Campaign

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by: Kathy Sullivan @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 19:20:45 PM CDT

The Feeling I got from the race. At Loudon and a bit of the political one. (0.00 / 0)

The way our fellow citizens gave a kind of polite at best reception to John McCain today I got too feelings.

1. John you realize things aren't going that well here in NH.

2. When your opponent gets larger applause and makes better use of his time telling people what he's going to do then you this weekend and even has the grace to bow out of his nation wide appearance in respect to those who have suffered at the hands directly of Ike.  To me it seemed rather rude don't ya think.

Ray, Kathy I hope you both read this.

 

"I'm not smart enough to run the economy."

- John McCain (r) Arizona
Interview with the Keene Sentinel, November 7, 2007

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by: TJMCNH1 @ Sun Sep 14, 2008 at 20:37:40 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

It would be my guess that McCain did not enjoy his (0.00 / 0)

last town hall in Rochester, NH, when he was baited by Barbara Hilton.  While he obviously preferred talking to her to answering the veteran's questions about health care, "hilton" obviously struck a nerve in his subconscious and he agreed to that disastrous ad comparing Obama to Paris Hilton.

The Hanoi Hilton continues to be a sensitive subject, in part because his cronies (Orson Swindle and "Bud" Day) have been carrying water for him ever since and keeping his distance from the Swifties is tricky.  Chris LaCivita is as close as the major media have got to connecting the dots, so far.

But the fact is that McCain is being assisted by Charlie Black, Roger Stone and Paul Manafort whose dirty trick careers go back to Richard Nixon.  Rove was their acolyte, not their inspiration.

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by: hannah @ Mon Sep 15, 2008 at 15:38:11 PM CDT