David Brooks makes excuses for McCain

August 19, 2008

Two weeks ago, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell and the Politico’s Roger Simon agreed that John McCain may be running an ugly, low-road campaign, but it’s his staff’s fault. “McCain really doesn’t like attacking…which is why I think he’s often uncomfortable with his own campaign ,” Simon insisted.

Last week, Newsweek’s Howard Fineman argued that McCain doesn’t really approve of his own campaign’s message attacking Barack Obama’s patriotism.

And today, the NYT’s David Brooks insists that McCain, deep down, isn’t a party hack, but “The System” is forcing him to become one.

McCain started out with the same sort of kibitzing campaign style that he used to woo the press back in 2000. It didn’t work. This time there were too many cameras around and too many 25-year-old reporters and producers seizing on every odd comment to set off little blog scandals.

McCain started out with the same sort of improvised campaign events he’d used his entire career

, in which he’d begin by riffing off of whatever stories were in the paper that day. It didn’t work. The campaign lacked focus. No message was consistent enough to penetrate through the national clutter.

McCain started his general-election campaign in poverty-stricken areas of the South and Midwest. He went through towns where most Republicans fear to tread and said things most wouldn’t say. It didn’t work. The poverty tour got very little coverage on the network news. McCain and his advisers realized the only way they could get TV attention was by talking about the subject that interested reporters most: Barack Obama.

I suppose, for Brooks, this constitutes criticism of McCain. The underlying message of the column is that McCain has become something of a phony.

That said, Brooks’ excuse-making is utter nonsense.

Kevin explained:

Bloggers are somehow responsible for McCain running juvenile ads comparing Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears? A bored press is responsible for McCain claiming that Obama puts personal interest ahead of country? The conservative establishment prevented McCain from calling out Jerome Corsi’s book for the vile trash that it is? The system forced McCain to hire one of Karl Rove’s disciples as his campaign manager?

Enough. Just enough. There are plenty of ways of getting attention

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, and McCain made his own choices. No one forced them on him, not the system, not bloggers, not the press. If McCain is running a campaign based on personal destruction, he’s doing it because that’s the choice he made.

Hilzoy, meanwhile, is cleverly willing to consider Brooks’ argument at face value.

[L]et’s pretend, just for the sake of argument, that they are right to say that the only way to win, this year, is by taking the low road. Would that mean that they have to take it? Of course not. That means you have a choice between honor and ambition; between running a decent campaign and a sordid one; between being a candidate the country can be proud of and being a candidate who contributes to the degradation and trivialization of political discourse.

You would have no choice only if you assumed that your own ambitions were more important than your honor.

And finally

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, Steve M. connects the dots, to explain why Brooks gets the big bucks.

[A]nyone can argue that John McCain is so pure and virtuous that he had to be forced into running a campaign consisting almost exclusively of vicious negative attacks …

… and anyone can argue that longtime media darling McCain is actually the victim of liberal media bias …

… but it takes a special talent — a David Brooks — to argue that pure, virtuous McCain was forced to run a negative campaign because of liberal media bias. That’s just brilliant. That’s advancing two memes at once!

David Brooks is just another overpaid republican operative and John McCain is a mean deceptive old codger who has lied his way into a presidential nomination

  • If John McCain thinks this is the kind of campaign he has to wage to win the White house, the question becomes…

    … what kind of Administration will he have to inflict on America once he’s in the White House.

    We’ve seen our civil liberties eroded by a President who slimed and cheated to become President. If John McCain is following the same path, won’t he take us further down the road to a police state and constant state of war?

    I’m sick of hearing that John McCain is “noblier” than his campaign. Is he running it, or is it running him?

  • Huh. I guess Brooks is punching himself in the face, demanding that it stop?

    No, Brooks, keep punching. You and the “liberal media” are forcing McCain to run a slimy campaign, so punch away, until the bloggers say “Simon says stop punching yourself”.

    Moron.

  • Makes me wonder if Brooks writes in his diary every night “today the liberal media made me write another shitty column”.

  • And of course they never talk about the real reason that McBush is playing these gutter politics: it’s all they have. Thus, the Rove playbook that McBush has bought into as his only hope to get his pig eyes installed as the next president. They certainly can not campaign on their issues because 80% of the country doesn’t want them. So Rove steps in, McBush makes his FAUSTIAN DEAL and away we go. Total slime politics. And of course the CORPORATE MEDIA does it’s thing by a co-ordinated effort to keep the focus on Obama and not McBush .. re-vomiting the filth that is now the McBush ‘campaign’ .. and thus all the idiotic trivia = bullshit that the Corporate Media is so good at. And, at the same time, creating their Corporate ‘narratives’ to ‘frame’ Obama to the American people: yet more distractions and side shows to do all that they can do to not have the American people focus on the actual issues. And, of course, the bent over, pants down, ass checks spread Corporate Media, ever squeaking ‘next’ , or ‘me, me’ , as McBush passes behind them, looking for yet more sprinkled donuts to be served to him, makes excuses for the fucking filth and slime that he ACTUALLY IS.

  • I can’t think of a good reason to vote for someone for president who has so little control of either himself or his staff.

  • I like how Brooksie calls Lieberman “post partisan” instead of “Moron Who Would Sell His Mother For Israel”.

    And of course he says (at the end of that pile of garbage) that Obama is just as guilty of running a shitty campaign, citing… nothing.

    Now that’s what I call journamalism.

  • Steve Benen’s biggest little blog scandal is the John McCain flip-flop list! Are you 25 Steve? I suppose if I blogged the “hogwash list” of McLame and his spokes-surrogates I could have a super blog as well. I just don’t have the same talents of Mr. Benen and others.

  • So many pundits are wrapped so tightly into their vested interests they fail to see the pusillanimous arguments they make to rationalize untenable positions.

    Just to let all pundits know, no matter what position they have secured on the political/partisan gamut, John McCain is a grown man, a bit long in the tooth, and he knows now that his campaign is what he has decided it to be. For Mr. Brooks, as adults the most important skills set we possess is our decision making. In fact, in a liberty-minded democracy such as ours demands the individual to make prudent decisions or risk losing out because of bad decisions.

    Mr. Brooks can say what he may, but the onus of McCain’s campaign tactics rests squarely at his own doorstep. McCain will be judged in the end by Americans who are tired of Iraq, insulted by President Bush’s administration, and fearful of McCain’s self-professed ignorance on economic issues. I know Mr.Brooks is hoping otherwise as he is a member of McCain’s “middle class.” -Kevo

  • I just don’t have the same talents of Mr. Benen and others. -William

    Well, you got one thing right.

  • I am sorry, I really do not see where you are coming from. A person on Barack’s side says that McCain is taking the low road means that he is taking the low road?
    McCain has been running very entertaining ads. The only way they become negative is if you think that a politicians character, a politicians position and a politicians associations are not important in deciding who to vote for.

    Basically your position boils down to flipping a coin. In your case the coin would have two Barack Obama heads on it and thus no McCain side to land on.

    Barack Obama himself is to blame for McCain being able to do the “Celebrity” ad. Barack Obama himself is to blame for McCain being able to do the “The One” ad.
    Barack Obama himself is to blame for McCain being able to put front and center Barack Obama’s me first attitude.
    Barack Obama has no room here to say that he was taking the high road when he frequently uses his own race as a shield from any possible criticism. “Did I mention he’s black?”, because “I don’t look like all those presidents on the dollar bills”.

    Barack Obama could stop all this with a couple simple steps.
    1) Actually say what he plans to do as president, and stick with those plans until November 4th at the least.
    2) Explain that he has changed his position when he changes his position. This as opposed to saying, critics who are telling you that I have changed my position are wrong and just did not listen to what I was saying.
    3) Show some freaking humility, and ask to be allowed to earn the privilage to become our next president instead of usurping all the benifits of being president before a single vote has been cast.

    The election is going to be what the media lets it be. The media decides what Americans get to see and hear and they do not get to see and hear. The only part of the electorate that is going to really know who either McCain or Barack are, are going to be people who have many hours of time as well as easy access to the internet. Unfortunately, the media has chosen it’s “The One” the Obamesiah is being forced down American’s throats by the Obamedia and Obama has not had the fortitude to prevent absolute power from causing him to absolutely self corrupt into a meglamaniacal nimrod.

  • A Stoner: crawl back to FOX PROPAGANDA so that you can sustain your well formed delusions ……… your fucking repiglican robots are nothing but sniveling idiots that all say the same thing as pre-programed by your lunatic fringe

  • “No one was listening to the good John McCain”, seems to be the Brooks rational for switching to smear tactics. This variation on “the ends (good John McClain) justifies the means (bad John McCain campaign)” is the same approach” good compassionate Bush” followed. After eight years of “good Bush”, we should all know better (especially Brooks).

  • stormskies;
    What makes you think I watch Fox news. As I said, the only well informed people in the electorate will be people who use the internet to learn.

  • Even more importantly, doesn’t this admit that McCain is just a brand name for the GOP machine voters hate, as Bush was? McCain provides the POW, Bush the last name, but the machine is still in charge.

    Who wants to vote for a GOP stooge puppet this year? If the hated GOP is running his campaign, it will run a McCain Whitehouse.

  • John McCain can’t control his own campaign or win an honest contest on his own merits — but he’s more more qualified to lead the country than Barack Obama, who’s run the best campaign we’ve seen in decades. What am I missing? Oh, yeah, the kool-aid.

  • We’re witnessing the death of the John McCain Ideal among the MSM. Unlike, say, David Gergen or Joe Klein, Brooks seems to have skipped the Anger Stage and gone straight from Denial to Bargaining.

    I’m thinking Broder’s still in Denial. It’ll be a big deal when he writes his Anger column.

  • Well, you got one thing right.

    -doubtful

    That was a completely pro-CB statement, in case you didn’t clue in to the sarcasm. Oh well..

  • A Stoner, stormskies has a point, I was just going to ask, what station are you watching? Check out ABC any given night, they’re certainly not trying to force Obama down anybody’s throats. You seem to be a follower of the “liberal media” notion.

    Your three point list is really funny because it would be good advice for McCain:
    1) Actually say what he plans to do as president, and stick with those plans until November 4th at the least. And stop trying to redefine Obama. Stop talking constantly about Obama, give us some policy, tell us about your homes, tell us you weren’t proud of your country until you were deprived of her company, let’s hear about McCain, John!
    2) Explain that he has changed his position when he changes his position. This as opposed to saying, “I have never flip-flopped in my life.” -John McCain
    3) Show some freaking humility, and ask to be allowed to earn the privilage to become our next president instead of usurping all the benifits of being president before a single vote has been cast. “There was another president who said…” -John McCain

    Oh yeah, and David Brooks’ is utter nonsense.

  • Stoner…where have you been. Obama has done i,2,&3 of your list already does he have to do it again just for you. Go look at his site, it is filled with detail of what he plans to do as president. It is McCain who has no details approaching every issue with the same general tactic as this : ” I would just sit the Sunnis and Shiites down and say stop the bullshit”.

    McCain sys “This is a problem , elect me and I will fix it” but never how he will fix it. It’s always “America needs to” blah blah blah and then attack Obama. He lies about all his so called accomplishments, he distorts and makes obviously mistaken statements such as off shore drilliing will drive gas prices down now etc….then attacks Obama.

    Only a racist would get that Obama’s comment about not looking like all those guys on the dollar bill and five dollar bill referring to his being black…I immediately thought he was referring to age and looking authoritative….it was about “looks” not race.

    McCain is running ‘entertaining’ ads??. Maybe bomb bomb bomb and f**king C*nt was also funny to you but most think they are distasteful but out and out lying as tire inflation is Obama’s energy plan, or that he would increase the taxes of the middle class or that Obama was for defeat and cowardice in Iraq because he didn’t support the “splurge”. Rumsfeld said if you disagreed with Bush’s Iraq plan that you were Nazi appeasers and you find this divisive lying…entertaining??

    McCain would rather start a war than lose an election. I’ll bet that’s entertaining too. McCain said Iraq was just the first, Iran and Syria were next. He’s busy being his lobbyists pet senator on a leash trying to instigate a cold war with Russia again. McCain has come to believe that to win the election he must demonize Obama but truth makes McCain the true demon here. An air of reason and rationality blows into the political atmosphere but only those without their head up their ass can appreciate it. Truth doesn’t care if your conservative or Liberal it stands because it has it’s own legs and McCain doesn’t have a leg to stand on. He’s always been a hot headed manipulating spoiled brat phony willing to say or do anything for money and power and would do anything to be president. He’s self destructive and has gotten a sympathetic pass long enough. ( he counts on it as a way of avoiding scrutiny). He says what he knows you want to hear (coached by Regent U) but is only concerned with his own interests. He would bring the very destruction America has set out to avoid because he has a self destructive temperament and he’s nopt very bright to begin with.

  • The Brooks alibi is that McBush is unable to rise up to meet Obama with an actual campaign of policy differences and ideas? He is not able to make himself look like anything other than his stump speech of one liners and vague generalities?

    And the antidote is to become a pawn in someone else’s game?

    Yeah! I sure want another pawn – with a really bad temper, turning the keys to the kingdom over to who knows who.

  • Chad said: “Oh that’s rich. So who makes excuses for Obama?”

    When has the Obama campaign done ANYTHING to John McCain that was as despicable as the Paris Hilton ad?

    Oh, of course, you don’t need any reality, you make up your own.

  • “No message was consistent enough to penetrate through the national clutter.” WTF? Iraq is not a sufficiently serious issue that folks can overcome their attention deficit? The economy isn’t? What’s wrong with talking about the big problems confronting America today, and how the candidate proposes to solve them? Riffing off of whatever stories were in the paper that day? Give me a break. What’s that supposed to do; make you think McCain’s a local, who lives just down the street? I suppose that’s possible, given how many homes he owns.

    Brooks is frustrating. Yes, he’s a conservative, but he’s far from stupid (except for that one little blind spot). When he occasionally writes on a topic of general interest rather than acting as apologist for the latest Republican wingnut, he can be interesting and engaging. I know he’s better than this; this sounds like Anne Applebaum, the screeching conservative harridan from WaPo.

    I can’t imagine there’s anything about John McCain to quicken the interest of a relatively bright guy like Brooks. It’s a shame that he, like many other hardcore conservatives, will back the conservative in the race – no matter how awful – rather than actually exercising his right to choose. Pretty big brain, for a lemming.

  • “I’m John McCain, and I very reluctantly approve this message. Deep down I know I really shouldn’t be coerced into run a negative campaign, but I have to, because it’s the damn liberal media’s fault.”

  • From Jack Cafferty:

    The McCain people aren’t going to be happy about this. Cafferty eviscerates McCain. Talks about McCain’s military record, his adultery, and more. McCain is going to blow a gasket – I’d love to see what private threats the campaign is making to CNN right about now…

    It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. “It means I’m saved and forgiven.” Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries…..

    One after another, McCain’s answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has — virtually none.

    Where are John McCain’s writings exploring the vexing moral issues of our time? Where are his position papers setting forth his careful consideration of foreign policy, the welfare state, education, America’s moral responsibility in the world, etc., etc., etc.?

    John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.

    He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the “Straight Talk Express” for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he’s reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner — short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly.

    I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and see into his soul.

    George Bush’s record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.

    He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens’ faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.

    I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.

    Labels: jack cafferty, john mccain

  • A Stoner, spoken like a stoner. Only addicts (to power, dope, etc.) would claim that someone else made them do it. Brooks: the people’s apathy and the MSM made me do it. A Stoner: Obama made McCain do it… riiiiiiiiiiggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhttttttttt.

  • The press and the blogs had better quit their holier than thou atttitude theyv’e given to McCain and vet him for what he really is. McCain really reminds me of Liberman, someone that crawls around in the background,to take advantage of any and all opportunities as they arise. The whole time hiding behind the myth that they are supporting the best interests of the American people. These people need to be daylighted, and the truth brought out for the Nation to see. Sunlight is the best medicene, and can be done without going negative.

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