Did Charlie Black actually say…?
Okay, we all knew they thought it. But did anyone actually think anyone would be stupid enough to say it out loud?
On national security McCain wins. We saw how that might play out early in the campaign, when one good scare, one timely reminder of the chaos lurking in the world, probably saved McCain in New Hampshire, a state he had to win to save his candidacy – this according to McCain’s chief strategist, Charlie Black. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December was an “unfortunate event,” says Black. “But his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who’s ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.” As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. “Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,” says Black.
Big advantage? Sorta like… the bigger the terrorist attack, the bigger the political bounce for McCain?
But maybe the real questions are: Is Charlie Black’s statement even true? Do Republicans still hold the advantage when it comes to terrorism? Or have they lost ground on this issue as well?
Tags: 2008 Presidential, John McCain
Dear Dr. Liberal- If we are attacked by a terrorist under a republican administration tell me exactly how the right wing screed machine will turn that into a victory for the republican candidiate?
Blame Bill Clinton?
Chuck Black should know something about terrorist attacks; he’s been lobbying for plenty of its sponsors for a long time….
http://www.firethelobbyists.com/facts.html
Fear, Brian. GOP’s got a stranglehold on the application of fear to win elections.
They would blame it on the Dem congress and still have the balls to say that their party is the only one that can keep you safe.
I’m telling ya, the GOP will read anything that’s on that teleprompter!
Are you guys kidding? Of course a terrorist attack will help McCain. Look at what happened when OBL released a new video right before the 2004 election. I’m not saying it’s fair or it makes sense; I’m just saying that when people feel threatened, they want the tough guys in charge. Sorry, but that’s not the Dems…especially when their candidate laments over the high cost of arugula and thinks that just talking it out with terrorists will fix the problem.
You know that Rush Limpball and others of his ilk along with Charlie Black are secretly hoping for this to save their asses. Now the dem’s in the senate should see what the Repuks real mission is and VOTE AGAINST THE FISA SURVEILLANCE BILL as it is just another arrow in the Repuks quiver of FEAR
Arugula meaning food? And is that necessarily a bad thing?
Stick to doing open-mic night at the cabaret.
Arugula meaning lettuce that isn’t iceberg or romaine, and, yes, it’s a bad thing if the audience is outside of Manhattan. C’mon, don’t defend it. Comments like that are part of the reason Dems are labeled as elitists. It is what it is, like it or not. Until Dems are willing to accept that sometimes the masses feel like they’re being talked down to when they talk about things like freaking arugula (he couldn’t have talked about the high price of, say, MILK?!?!?), they will continue to have difficulty shaking the elitist label.
Tough guys? Puh-leez! Are these the same “get ‘im dead or alive” guys who still haven’t smoked OBL out of his cave?
And you know Obama hasn’t advocated talking to “terrorists”.
I bet you eat arugula, too! š
āget āim dead or aliveā guys who still havenāt smoked OBL out of his cave? ”
Is that a cave with the door open or a cave with the door shut?
My question is still valid, people will not be afraid if our Democratic leaders in Congress tell us that the republicans are using fear to govern and make that loud and clear to the people.
Why have they not done so and jumped all over this? I still think they need to grow balls as big as FDR to really get us out of this mess.
You know that and I know that, but we’re talking about the electorate and we all know that they don’t know what you know and I know; at least not judging from their voting patterns over the past couple of elections.
Yes, I eat arugula. At restaurants. I’ve never bought it and I wouldn’t know how much it costs. What about you?
Elitist? Fucking HA!
You absolutely do not know the meaning of the word!
Trying to apply that word to Obama is laughable.
We got problems as a country and your solution is to focus on semantics….you’re probably not elitist, but you’re certainly doing their bidding.
Don’t be a fool.
By fool, I mean we need to start talking to people like they’re adults, not in elementary name-calling and strained talking-points.
VC
like hube?
Ta-da!
Or anyone with the wherewithal to run for president must be an elitist then….
Brian, you are correct. The Dems need to grow some. But consider this… now that Charlie Black has tossed a terrorist attack into the political arena what chance will the Republicans have if – God forbid – we are attacked? The conspiracy theorists will go nuts. The rest of the country will be suspicious. Has Black just killed the “advantage”?
And, yes Dom, I do eat arugula. I also drink white wine. The real problem I have with the term ‘elitist’ is how republicans/conservatives seem to interchange it with the term ‘intellectual’.
Funny how every parent in America is raising the next Albert Einstein, but they don’t value intelligence in a Presidential candidate.
Brian – stoke the desire for war, or in everyman-speak, Payback. A pro-war candidate…you see the rest, I’m sure…
We have nothing to fear by fear itself! FDR.
Fear is all the republicans have to run on! It worked so swell for Bush/Cheney in 2006 when they stole that election! Anyone looked at the BlackBox Voting records from Ohio?
Today I got a letter from Torturin Tom in response to my letter requesting he sign on to the Articles of Impeachment. Torturin Tom sent back a very polite letter, saying no. So does it tell you how fearful McCastle is to vote FOR impeachment (to keep those moderate dems in his corner), and how the BlueDog (republican) Torturin Tom won’t support it!
And are Blacks comments any worse than the neocon Bill Kristol…his remarks on Bush striking Iran “if Obama wins”., shows their fear of the voters..these people have lost their minds.
Hey since when did the Repuks get the title of defenders of the country if you folks remember maybe you’ll have to ask your parents FDR had to carry the Repuks kicking and screaming into backing lend lease program and they only got on board against the Nazis after Peral Harbor
I think scaring people for political gain is something the Nazi’s were adept at. Americans traditionally hate that bullshit. And FDR basically told that crowd to go pack sand. Now my Mom is an old lady, but she screams that the most scared “chicken shit” in our state seems to be Carper….or McCastle and she is not sure who is more afraid. But she hates the sense of using fear as a political tool becuase we both know that that that was suggested by Karl Haushoffer and the German Geopoliticians. Only time since the revolution that those quakers took a position like that.
Now Jefferson who actually faced a huge terrorist threat to our nation, basically solved it in a few years with a policy that worked. I do not understand why we seem incapable of following Jefferson’s advice as a nation, Democrats are the PARTY OF JEFFERSON!!!! Please tell them to act like it and start calling the republicans to the floor for this kind of chicanary.
Chill, dudes. I’m just telling you what the electorate will buy. I’m not saying I agree with them, though I can see how Obama makes it easy for the RNC to paint him that way.
You guys just won’t accept reality. You assume the average Joe is as intellectual as you are. That’s just not the case. Have any of you ever worked in a telephone customer service center, by any chance? I have and I’ve had the opportunity to speak with people from all walks of life from every corner of the country and, trust me, they’re not as bright as you’re giving them credit for being. Jesus. It’s a reality. A sad reality, but a reality nonetheless. Keep denying it and you will be faced with the same fate election after election after election.
I do think there are plenty of ill-informed Americans too, and a decent amount are anti-learning-the-truth-about-anything, for whatever reason (most likely self-affirming).
It’s our responsibility to change that.
Go ahead, then, VC. Rent a Winnebago, load it up with some of your well-informed friends and take a road trip. Start in Dagsboro, work your way up to Smyrna, then move on to Cecil County and beyond. Hey, maybe you can catch a KKK parade in Rising Sun on your outreach tour! Good luck with that.
Dom, I want to take a moment and thank you for your concern for Obama.
However, I wish the republicans would make up their minds. Is Obama a scary, black militant or an arugula-eating elitist? He can’t be both. Seems conservatives are having a tough time defining him.
And the electorate – who you describe as “not as bright as we’re giving them credit for being” – is well aware of their jobs going over seas, the housing crisis, and the price of gas.
This isn’t rocket science.
P – I can’t tell if that was snark or not. Regardless, I think we all know that I’m not concerned for Obama. I’m just saying that – offensive as it may have sounded – there’s truth to what Charlie Black said.
In 2004, the electorate was well aware of their jobs going overseas, an unnecessary war that was probably at its peak in terms of troop losses, OBL still on the loose and a mounting deficit. It was also abundantly clear that GWB was, in fact, a complete dunderhead. They still got scared into voting for him. You’re right, it’s not rocket science. Unfortunately, even 3rd-grade science is difficult for most of the electorate to manage.
FTR, I think the RNC is going with Obama as the arugula eater and Michelle as the scary, black militant. Hence the makeover.
Dominique is right…if this election was being held in 2004 or 2002. And even in 2008, she is still right in a lot of respects.
But I think enough people are awakened to what has been going on, and the fear card is no longer working on them. Remember, the fear card was used in 2006 by the GOP to no avail. And I think it won’t work this year either.
There is nothing wrong with what Charlie Black said. He was just answering an analysis question asked by a reporter. Now you know why politicians like to avoid hypothetical questions. You are just subject to distortion.
He was not advocating an attack or saying they had a terrorist attack strategy. He was just saying what the polls say, Americans would be more comfortable with McCain in the event of an attack.
Well, there is something wrong is saying the death of thousands would be helpful.
Damn, a take on the world response?
I was hoping you understood, Dom, that I meant “doing things in your own way”.
In your mind, you want me to quit my job, spend my savings on a Winni, and pack up for Oklahoma.
Nice, but no.
I’ll be doing something, alright, but I ain’t gonna tell ya.
I am noticing that the Obama campaign has developed a bit of an M.O.
1) Overblow opponents’ comments
2) Refer to comment as horribly offensive and ‘the kind of politics that needs to change’
3) State that Obama will change that kind of politics (queue Obama-staring-pensively-with-arms-crossed photo)
4) Sit back while opponent apology takes entire news cycle and real issues are deflected for one more day
I gotta hand it to them, it’s a great formula. He looks like a hero as his opponent bumbles around looking like a tool. And the media and the electorate lap it up every single time. See, sometimes a stupid electorate works in your favor, too.
David,
What Charlie Black said was STUPID. Right or wrong, it was STUPID! His stupidity will end up hurting his candidate – how much/little is anyone’s guess. But I don’t think McCain will be patting Charlie on the back any time soon.
Rising Sun is in Oklahoma, right?
VC – What exactly can be done to change the fact that the electorate simply is not well-informed (and sometimes blissfully so)?
‘Rising Sun is in Oklahoma, right?’
You would think, right? Either that or in one of the Carolinas or GA – somewhere further south. Not quite sure how that happened. I mean, I know there’s racism everywhere, but the KKK north of Virginia? Seriously?
The ending of a news media that thinks Brittany Spears and the like are actually news. This goes for CNN, MSNBC and Fox.
Micro – Canvassing, conversations, and credible Media.
Macro – I hate to say…Civics.
I did my student teaching there.
Stars and Bars aplenty.
OK, then I think your Micro idea will require a Winnebago. š Keep dreaming about that credible media, btw.
Face it: Dominique’s on fire tonight! Go, homey! Crack that whip!
Not a Winnebago, just a lot of energized volunteers. Hmmm… I wonder where Obama will ever find them?
Credible media? You mean… blogs!
I should have said ‘access to credible media’.
Still a pipe dream, I know.
Heh… the Charlie Black story is on every network; looks like it has a chance to crack the wall of silence around McCain gaffes. After that, the deluge.
Anon, from your keyboard to the MSM’s ears.
Let’s see the truth. Reporters speculate all the time about this stuff, why is it wrong to answer the question?http://battlegroundstates08.blogspot.com/2008/06/msnbc-discredits-cnns-smear-that-mccain.html
Dom I don’t know why some of the folks here just don’t get it. All they have to do is look over things that occurred in the past everyone here knows that SADAM had nothing to do with 911 however there is a good portion of this country that believes that he flew the planes. Several folks that I know believe that Obama is a Muslim and no amount of reason will convince them otherwise. So unless we roll up our sleeves and decide that this is going to be a battle to get our guy elected and not be lulled into a false sense of hope by the polls. We just might avoid a disaster come November
Actually, I think a major attack on US soil would hurt McCain, because it would discredit the current administration’s position (which McCain supports) that we’re fighting the terrorists overseas so that we won’t have to fight them here. Obama can blame our military presence in Iraq for the deaths of American civilians the same way the left blamed our military presence in Saudi Arabia for the 9/11 attacks.
That only applies to an attack on US soil, however. Embassy bombings or a USS Cole type attack would only remind American voters that the terrorists are still a real threat.
Lets face it we know the repuks are wishing for this so they can blame it on IRAN
“same way the left blamed our military presence in Saudi Arabia for the 9/11 attacks”
G- I recall it was Chuck Hegel and Ron Paul who made that assessment before the invasion. This either shows profound foresight of what the left will say or what the truth is. I believe they were quoting the archnemisis for that statement.
We cna effectively handle terrorism without bothering our own citizens. It is not as difficult as you would think. G- I have a question, you and I both have a lot of international experience, why is it that India never changes their national constitution and drafts laws like ours or has so many airport screeners and ostensibly has the second largest muslim population on the planet?
BRIAN
If you are going to post here please have the courage to get your facts right it wasn’t the Left that said 911 was caused by us having our troops in Saudi Arabia it was none other than that 6′ 4” tall Arab OSBL who stated that was the reason he approved it. and I believe that RON PAUL mentioned it in several debates which drove Rudy up the wall.
Hi TT,
I did not mean to imply ALL of the left held that view. I wanted to make sure G-rex knows that the right brought up the issue first and were quoting OBL from intelligence documents. Some in the left did pick up on that. I am sure you understand that the left who did pick up on it were looking at it from a different point of view from the mainstream. Overall the left’s assessment is that we need enagagement but not military engagement with the world and that is not a bad position, in fact trade diplomacy, etc. have been the traditional American positions and the left has disagreed frequently with the policy of the Bush administration in handling the issue.