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McCain campaign re-defines ‘lockstep’

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We talked earlier about the Obama campaign’s new TV ad

koupit-pilulky.com

, which notes, among other things, the fact that John McCain voted with George W. Bush 95% of the time last year. Soon after, the McCain campaign responded by — I kid you not — telling reporters, “In the Senate, Barack Obama has voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time.”

I generally find McCain campaign talking points more annoying than amusing, but this is hysterical.

Let’s consider some of the reasons this is an unusually dumb thing to say:

1. If the McCain campaign wants to make the presidential race about which candidate voted with Bush more, McCain might as well deliver his concession speech now.

2. “Nearly half” is not “in lockstep.” Many Bush administration pronouncements are not controversial, so every senator is going to vote with the White House line at least some of the time.

3. The McCain gang certainly knew this criticism was coming, and had plenty of time to prepare. This is the best they could come up with.

4. The McCain campaign argues that Obama is the Senate’s biggest liberal. The McCain campaign argues that Obama has “voted in lockstep” with Bush. Oddly enough, they’re making both arguments at the same time.

Go ahead, Tucker Bounds, tell us another one.

Comments

  • Turdblossom's doppleganger

    says:

    I heard McCain being interviewed on NPR this morning. He was trying to stay on message and insisted that he has not been campaigning negatively. NPR actually pushed him a little on his comments. He said that folks who didn’t find his Obama celebrity ads funny should “turn off their computers and get some air.”

    The only reason I can see for Obama not debating this guy every chance he gets is that he might come across as TOO SMART, and some people don’t like uppity…

  • Surly Duff

    says:

    No, I think “lockstep” seems to be an appropriate characterization of Obama’s voting record in comparison with Bush policies.

    Hold on one second…let me check on something…
    Looks up the definition of “lockstep” in the dictionary

    Oh crap.

  • smiley

    says:

    “In the Senate, Barack Obama has voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time.”

    That’s truly hilarious. He had to have a smile on his face when he said it. Otherwise, they’re dumber than we thought.

  • JS

    says:

    I think McCain has lost it really, he apparently says he is talking to the president of Georgia every day, now I have just read that McCain has announced he is sending his own delegation to Georgia – Lindsay Graham and Joe Lieberman, can they be serious? Is John McCain making the situation worse, he is acting crazy, he also scares me to death, he would certainly get us into more wars in a heartbeat. The russians have said today that we must chose to stand with them or Georgia, I think Bush and McCain do not know what the other one is doing, someone should tell McCain he is not the president.

  • Akinola

    says:

    He said that folks who didn’t find his Obama celebrity ads funny should “turn off their computers and get some air.”

    You dont turn off the computer John, it is NOT a TV set, u log out or log off.

    Oh well, he already said he doesnt know how to turn it on in the 1st place.

  • SadOldVet

    says:

    McWar has just finished a press conference about the Russian-Georgian War. In keeping with the Bush way, confrontation seems to be the only recourse being proposed.

    Will the corporate media ever acknowledge McBush’s ties to 1 side of this war?
    Will the ‘common knowledge’ become that the problem is all on the Russian side?
    Will the rethugs and their dumbocrat enablers restart the Cold War?

    I am sad for my country and its purported leaders.

  • Dennis-SGMM

    says:

    I think McCain has lost it really, he apparently says he is talking to the president of Georgia every day, now I have just read that McCain has announced he is sending his own delegation to Georgia – Lindsay Graham and Joe Lieberman, can they be serious?

    Sending a delegation to Georgia? Wasn’t McCain just accusing Obama of acting presidential? And who can forget the right’s shrieks of indignation about conducting diplomacy when Pelosi visited Syria?

  • kevo

    says:

    Jefferson’s “collective wisdom” is sure being tested by the McCain campaign. I hope the electorate won’t be hoodwinked again! -Kevo

  • McMary

    says:

    Does McCain already think he is president? His own delegation? Who is he-Napoleon in a baseball cap?

    Folks this isn’t funny-it’s serious! All McCain wants to do is get us into war, any war, anywhere.

    He needs to be stopped. Our nation and other nations of the world would be put in serious peril if this short-fused manic got control of all our weapons and soldiers to try and make up for the war he didn’t win. We can’t take the risk.

  • PJ

    says:

    War is peace.
    2+2=5
    Lockstep is walking the exact same way less than half the time.
    Propaganda is truth.

  • Franklin

    says:

    Someone will have to clue me in to what they were even trying to communicate here. Saying that someone agrees with someone else half the time gives me basically no information at all – it is halfway between “always agrees” and “always disagrees”.

    Regardless of whether you think Bush is god-like or a shitface, all we know from that idiotic statement is that Obama is not the same nor completely different. I think I’ve gone cross-eyed.

  • Steve

    says:

    John McCain voted with George W. Bush 95% of the time last year.

    So—John CcCain had the daring, audacious courage to vote against George W. Bush 5% of the time.

    Sure, Tucker—bring it on. I think Dems are on good ground for this fight.

    Very good ground.

  • SteveT

    says:

    “Nearly half” is not “in lockstep.”

    Remember which military branch “Ace” McCain served in. Getting his feet right 50 percent of the time when marching was probably considered good enough in the Navy!

  • TG Chicago

    says:

    John McCain is walking in lockstep with ADOLF HITLER!!!

    (over the issue regarding the wisdom of alternately inhaling and exhaling.)

    I still think Mukasey’s comment from yesterday is the dumbest thing said this week since it’s dangerously dumb, but this would get dumbest quote of the week most weeks.

  • jibeaux

    says:

    Logically, then, Bush is too liberal for McCain, and with that syllogism I think I have written Obama’s next campaign ad.

  • thorin-1

    says:

    The russians have said today that we must chose to stand with them or Georgia, I think Bush and McCain do not know what the other one is doing, someone should tell McCain he is not the president.

    What EXACTLY does McCain think we can do? He makes vague talk of an ‘internaltional peacekeeping’ force but he can’t seriously expect any nation to cough up troops to take on Russia. Can he? What leverage does he think we have? Thanks to Bush’s abysamal foreign policy we little to no leverage left with Russia. And Bush has been actively pushing Georgia to become more confrontaiton with Russia for years now (with the help of one McCain’s top Foreign Policy advisors who lobbied for Georgia).

    Does he want to send in US troops to actually ENGAGE Russia troops in battle? Russia still has a couple of thousand nukes.

    This man honestly scares the hell out me.

  • Racer X

    says:

    OMFG once again the only thing dumber than McCain is McCain’s people. Trying to argue that Obama is “in lockstep” with Bush???? Somebody do a stakeout on those morons and catch them at the corner scoring their crack.

    The McCain campaign argues that Obama is the Senate’s biggest liberal. The McCain campaign argues that Obama has “voted in lockstep” with Bush. Oddly enough, they’re making both arguments at the same time.

    Better yet, by McCain’s standards, is he “voting in lockstep” with “the Senate’s biggest liberal”?

    I think McCain’s new buddy Ralph Reed might need to reconsider their shacking up arrangement if that’s the case!

  • Fast Eddie

    says:

    And people ask why Obama doesn’t get down and fight at McCain/Schmidt’s level.

    Consider this ‘lockstep’ meme they’re trying.

    The recent tire pressure thing.

    Phil Gramm not speaking for McCain, McCain speaking for McCain. But McCain not speaking for the McCain campaign.

    Hell, any one of the 70 issues on Steve’s flip-flop list. Notice a pattern here?

    Give the McCain campaign enough time and they will invariably contradict themselves, lose the plot and shoot themselves in the foot.

    It might yield more short-term gain for Obama to hit back on the petty and pointless attacks but in the long-term it corrodes the essence of his campaign.

    McCain has hit an absolute ceiling of about 44%. And as it gets more desperate, Camp McCain gets more ludicrous. Full steam ahead. Steady as she sinks.

  • slappy magoo

    says:

    i don’t know why the harvard team bothers showing up…why they barely even won!
    -Johntgomery McBurns

  • Chad

    says:

    I like the response earlier about McCain being in lockstep with Adolf Hitler.

    Man, you have no problem comparing Republicans with Hitler do you? Bush is Hitler, McCain is Hitler, Cheney is Hitler,…

    I think the Big-O is more like Hitler than any of the Repubs. Good Speaker, so was Hitler. Speaks a bunch of empty rhetoric, so did Hitler. Gathers large, frenzied, throngs of people, so did Hitler. Is for the murder of those that cannot defend themselves (abortion), so was Hitler (the Jews). Has a salute (the big-o raised over ones head with encircled hands), so did Hitler (the Nazi salute). Has an army of blind, fanatical followers, so did Hitler. I could go on, but I think the point has been made.

  • biggerbox

    says:

    I think it’s clear that the McCain campaign has realized that in the new media age, making sense is highly over-rated.

    Nowadays, it’s enough to be seen on TV saying things. What you say doesn’t actually matter. If you say enough things, especially shocking things, some will stick in the brains of the overloaded media consumers who will then vote based on their random absorption of stimulus, not encumbered by the thought process.

    And, what could be the best sort of shocking thing to stick? Something outrageous that makes no sense. On some primordial level, the brain reacts with shock at something clearly contrary to reality, which appends to the statement an extra jolt of stimulus, ensuring it a place in the morass that is the consciousness of the average media consumer.

    Rove’s true evil brilliance was to free the GOP from its traditional reliance on arguments that had some connection to reality, or even internal consistency. Nonsense, packaged appropriately and put forward with the power of the right-wing Echo Chamber, is the Modern Way to win.

  • Prup (aka Jim Benton)

    says:

    Chad: You used to be moderately intelligent, if wrong, but you are getting too much of the stupid. READ the parenthesis, guy, and then have the courtesy to blush and laugh at yourself.

    Fast Eddie: Exactly what I’ve been saying all these months after I saw how it worked against Hillary.

    To all of you: Isn’t there a listing somewhere in the McCain brochure that reads “strategy by Howard, Fine, and Howard”?

  • libra

    says:

    Remember which military branch “Ace” McCain served in. Getting his feet right 50 percent of the time when marching was probably considered good enough in the Navy! — SteveT, @15

    Thanks for reminding me where John Sidney did his service. Because, quite frankly, I couldn’t figure out how any soldier, who marched in step with his company only 40% of the time (that’s what the “almost half”translates to, when it’s actually numbers), could have survived more than a single afternoon, without the sergeant kicking his butt into pulp.

  • libra

    says:

    Chad: You used to be moderately intelligent, […] — Prup, @25

    Well, no; not really. You decided to give him the benefit of doubt and thought that treating him kindly would, somehow, appease him and make him become a sentient human being. But it had always been your unilateral decision, not reflected in reality.

  • Prup (aka Jim Benton)

    says:

    I might put what i was doing differently, but that really doesn’t matter. What does matter is
    “make him become a sentient human being.”

    That phrase comes too close to dehumanizing him and never, ever, ever, EVER dehumanize an opponent. They may be dumb — which is probably what you meant, stressing ‘sentient’ — or malevolent, or annoying, or truly evil, but they still remain human. Forgetting that leads to “The theory and Practice of Hell.”

  • Georgette Orwell

    says:

    “Oh well, he already said he doesnt know how to turn it on in the 1st place.”

    Akinola @ 5 do you mean boot it or boot up?

    ;-P

  • McCain Blog Outreach Coordinator

    says:

    I think you need to cut Chad some slack.

    He is not one of our brighter bloggers. But he is on a performance improvement program so he is Trying to spread the good news about John McCain!!! His results just have not been there.

    We are hoping for improvement, and I am cautiously withholding judgment. I would hate to revoke his campaign sponsored AOL account, but this is an option if we don’t see improvement with his behavoir and posts.

    Thanks for your continued patience and…… GO JOHN McCAIN!

  • Blaidd Drwg

    says:

    I live just outside of Atlanta, and let me tell you – we DO NOT want John McCain sending a delegation down here! And another thing, Georgia does NOT have a President, we have a Governor – – not too smart, but…

    Oh, the OTHER Georgia

    Never mind…

  • RAM

    says:

    Looks like we can add “lockstep” to things that aren’t what they used to be (with appologies to the Sun-Times Zay N. Smith).

  • libra

    says:

    That phrase comes too close to dehumanizing him and never, ever, ever, EVER dehumanize an opponent. — Prup, @28

    Sorry, can’t help it; to me, Chad is just a bad smell, not an opponent.

  • Shalimar

    says:

    He said that folks who didn’t find his Obama celebrity ads funny

    I saw that. Funny? He’s wasting millions in campaign contributions trying to be funny? What exactly is he running for, comedian-in-chief?

  • Steve

    says:

    “The theory and Practice of Hell.” —Prup

    In a library, this is called “weeding.”

    On a cattle range, it is known as “culling the herd.”

    To an ornithologist, it is referred to as “Pandemic Bird Flu.”

    Russians think of it as “Georgians,” while Georgians think of it as “Russians.”

    And to Libra, it is “cause to break out the air freshener.”

    To McBOC—couldn’t you guys find a better tax shelter than Chad? Are you really that desperately desperate-beyond-all-semblance-of-sane-desperation? Haven’t you learned that once your chattels depreciate to such a point of decrepitness, they become landfill fodder?

  • Daniel

    says:

    Mccain benefitted from the assasination of Benazeer Bhutto, which propelled him upwards in the polls during the primaries…
    so why wouldn’t he benefit from the scare of the Russians taking over the world, and the Taliban taking over Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.. which could all be used against the US!!?? Oh, ohh, noo, no… fear.. I can’t stand it… I’m scared….

    Give me a break.. I don’t even care about the US anymore. It’s not worth defending. Nationalism and patriotism are down the tubes. Why would I want to defend this country with my life, much less raise a child in it? It’s full of pedophile stalkers and murderous convicts. Yah – real proud of my country.
    I am defending the CCCP and their rightful place in the world.

  • Daniel

    says:

    Bush is gay for saying he saw Putin’s soul..

    There will be no more praising the fall of the Berlin Wall… there will be no more praising the fall of the Soviet Union… choose your enemies, and choose them wisely.

  • Bruno

    says:

    Steve…. IS this called a flip-flop-flip?

    I mean… Graham waas speaking for the McCain camp on economics…. That is until he calls Americans whiners…. So he’s no longer speaking for the McCain camp and is removed from his duties….

    Now Graham is being sent to Georgia as McCain’s delegation, which means that Graham is, once again, speaking for McCain, but on military issues, or would that be foreign relations, I doubt it will be on their economy…

    Oh well, as soon as Graham sticks his foot in his mouth, he’ll end up under McCain’s “Straight Talk Express”

  • Prup (aka Jim Benton)

    says:

    Bruno:
    Graham = Lindsay Graham, Senator from South Carolina, still an active member of the McCain team

    Gramm = Phil Gramm, ex-Senator from Texas, architect of Reaganomics and whatever passes for economics in McCain’s ‘befuddled brain,’ kicked off, ostensibly, for the ‘whiner’ remark.

  • Redshift

    says:

    Shalimar:
    I saw that. Funny? He’s wasting millions in campaign contributions trying to be funny? What exactly is he running for, comedian-in-chief?

    I think Tim Kaine had exactly the right take on this on Face the Nation:

    “I mean, it was funny, but wearing a clown suit and juggling would be funny, too, but it doesn’t connect with the concerns Americans have about gas prices, about the war, about the economy.”

    (Which makes me think someone really needs to photoshop a graphic of McCain wearing a clown suit and juggling…)

  • libra

    says:

    And to Libra, it is “cause to break out the air freshener.” — Steve, @36

    Me, I’d rather open all the windows, maybe switch on the fan to aid the circulation. Am not greatly enamoured of air fresheners; they remind me of an old, old (Russian) joke about a girl who didn’t wash too often. One day, she buys herself a bottle of “Pine Dream” perfume, applies it liberally and asks her date: “How do I smell?” Being as literal-minded as I am, the boy replies: “like a pile of shit in a forest”.

    Cover-up is never as good as a clean sweep.

  • Howard

    says:

    Jack Cafferty is a biased hack … instead of being an objective journalist, he’s consistently chosen to be in the tank for Obama. When McCain wins in November, Cafferty and the rest of the media cronies who have tried to cram Obama down our throats, will all be irrelevant.