Campaign of lies disgraces McBush. Or, as BuzzFlash put it, 'McCain campaign experiencing backlash from fusillade of lies that it shot off' Some beautiful stuff here hammers the Swift Boat Express:
Harsh advertisements and negative attacks are a staple of presidential campaigns, but John McCain has drawn an avalanche of criticism this week from Democrats, independent groups and even some Republicans for regularly stretching the truth in attacking Senator Barack Obama’s record and positions.
Mr. McCain came into the race promoting himself as a truth teller and has long publicly deplored the kinds of negative tactics that helped sink his candidacy in the Republican primaries in 2000. But his strategy now reflects a calculation advisers made this summer — over the strenuous objections of some longtime hands who helped him build his “Straight Talk” image — to shift the campaign more toward disqualifying Mr. Obama in the eyes of voters.
Mr. McCain came into the race promoting himself as a truth teller and has long publicly deplored the kinds of negative tactics that helped sink his candidacy in the Republican primaries in 2000. But his strategy now reflects a calculation advisers made this summer — over the strenuous objections of some longtime hands who helped him build his “Straight Talk” image — to shift the campaign more toward disqualifying Mr. Obama in the eyes of voters.
-- the >NY Times.
It’s hard to imagine a more unlikely perch for John McCain to be shamed for his increasingly hard-edged and truth-stretching campaign than the middle seat on “The View.” [But] the two daytime talk show hosts are hardly alone.
McCain’s tactics are drawing the scorn of many in the media and organizations tasked with fact-checking the truthfulness of campaigns. In recent weeks, Team McCain has been described as dishonorable, disingenuous and downright cynical.
McCain’s tactics are drawing the scorn of many in the media and organizations tasked with fact-checking the truthfulness of campaigns. In recent weeks, Team McCain has been described as dishonorable, disingenuous and downright cynical.
But the MCM is complicit in this bullshit also:
The negative and often exaggerated or misleading claims being made about Obama and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden are just too irresistible for the cable news media that now drives the campaign conversation.
“They’re going to ride it as long as they can and as long as the mainstream media puts up every ridiculous charge,” John Weaver, a former top strategist to the nominee who left the campaign last year, said. “Unless there is a hurricane, they’re going to cover it.”
“They’re going to ride it as long as they can and as long as the mainstream media puts up every ridiculous charge,” John Weaver, a former top strategist to the nominee who left the campaign last year, said. “Unless there is a hurricane, they’re going to cover it.”
-- Politico.
McCain's straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak. It is leaving a permanent stain on his reputation for integrity, and it is a short-term strategy that eventually will backfire with the very types of independent-thinking voters that were so attracted to him.
McCain's faux chivalrous outrage over Obama's purported insult is beneath him. He has been a serious public servant willing to say unpopular truths when he thought it best for the country, but he's more than willing in this election to put his name on campaign lies. The leader who says he would rather lose an election than lose a war now risks losing his reputation in an attempt to win the White House.
McCain's faux chivalrous outrage over Obama's purported insult is beneath him. He has been a serious public servant willing to say unpopular truths when he thought it best for the country, but he's more than willing in this election to put his name on campaign lies. The leader who says he would rather lose an election than lose a war now risks losing his reputation in an attempt to win the White House.
-- a St. Petersburg Times editorial.
The New York Times, Factcheck.org and the Washington Post’s Fact Checker say the ad is a gross distortion. I agree -- in both senses of the word "gross."
-- Jake Tapper.
A blizzard of lies.
-- Paul Krugman.
Rather than do the McCain campaign's bidding by wasting space on Senator Honor's daily lies and bilge -- his constant attempts to divert attention from substantive issues -- I'm going to assume that others will spend more than enough time on the sewage that Steve Schmidt is shoveling and, from now on, try to stick to the issues.
-- Time magazine's former repuke towelboy Joe Klein.
"Palin lacks interest in foreign policy, telling the truth"
[W]e're going to call it what it is: a lie.
In a presidential campaign full of competing and often confusing claims, it left us with no doubt about one fact. We need a lot more interviews of Sarah Palin. Tough ones, too. And fast.
We still don't know enough about her, and what we have learned, we're not crazy about.
Palin's next interview, according to reports, will be with Fox News commentator Sean Hannity.
Please. {Oh, snap! -- Ed.}
And who will follow up on that Palin love-in? Rush Limbaugh? {Double-snap! -- Ed.}
America needs a real reporter, not some partisan shill, asking hard, fair questions and hammering away to get straight answers. Because as hard as Gibson tried, straight answers were in short supply during his interview of Palin.
[W]e're going to call it what it is: a lie.
In a presidential campaign full of competing and often confusing claims, it left us with no doubt about one fact. We need a lot more interviews of Sarah Palin. Tough ones, too. And fast.
We still don't know enough about her, and what we have learned, we're not crazy about.
Palin's next interview, according to reports, will be with Fox News commentator Sean Hannity.
Please. {Oh, snap! -- Ed.}
And who will follow up on that Palin love-in? Rush Limbaugh? {Double-snap! -- Ed.}
America needs a real reporter, not some partisan shill, asking hard, fair questions and hammering away to get straight answers. Because as hard as Gibson tried, straight answers were in short supply during his interview of Palin.
-- the Chicago Sun-Times.
Here’s the question voters should be asking themselves this week: Just how stupid does the McCain-Palin campaign think I am? The answer: Dumb enough to hoodwink with charges so contrived and cynical they make your teeth ache.
-- the Boston Globe.
Where have you gone, John McCain? You once said you'd rather lose an election than lose a war. Is it worth winning an election if it means forfeiting your soul on the altar of political expediency?
Where is the honor in reciting lies for something as transient as political advantage?
Where is the honor in reciting lies for something as transient as political advantage?
-- the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
McCain stoops to deception, distortion: Maybe you’ve seen it. The campaign ad claim[ing] that Barack Obama has been missing in action on education reforrm. Shamelessly misleading the public? These are old tricks we’ve been seeing in local elections for years. Distort. Twist. Deceive. Damage. And the winning candidate drags a load of public contempt into office. I had hoped for better from McCain…John McCain may win the presidency this way, but he will lose the respect he has acquired over the years.
-- the Kansas City Star
McCain has concluded that a fact-based case about Obama isn't enough to prevail in November. So he has chosen to smear his opponent with ridiculous claims that he thinks the American people are gullible enough to believe. He has charged repeatedly that his opponent is willing to lose a war to win an election. What's McCain willing to lose to become president? Nothing so consequential as a war. Just his soul.
-- the Chicago Trib.
[T]he truth be damned.
-- another from the Chicago Trib.
Even longtime rethuglican bootlicker Andrew Sullivan is steamed:
We cannot control these despicable liars in the McCain campaign. We can only tell the truth as fearlessly and as relentlessly and as continuously as we can until November 4. We must do our duty. And if the American people want to re-elect the machine that has helped destroy this country's national security, global reputation and economic health, then that is their choice. But I am not so depressed to think that they will. We must give them the truth. And that will feel like hell. And we must tell it like Truman told it: cheerfully, passionately and relentlessly.
Its gotten so bad even Fox News calls McCain a liar.
A new site is keeping track of all the lies.
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