In 2000, [tag]John McCain[/tag] was deeply offended when Bush’s ruthless attack dogs launched a vicious attack on him. Apparently hoping to have the same kind of success Bush did, McCain has decided to hire one of those attack dogs to lead his own campaign.
Later today, Sen. John McCain’s exploratory committee plans to announce veteran GOP campaign operative [tag]Terry Nelson[/tag] as his pick to be his national campaign manager, should the Senator choose to turn his exploring into a full-blown run for the White House. […]
Nelson served as national political director for Bush-Cheney ’04. He has served in senior roles in both the political and field/grassroots organizing arenas at the RNC and the NRCC.Nelson’s hire is clearly a huge get, but will not come without controversy. Nelson made political headlines in the 2006 cycle as the strategist tapped to head up the RNC’s independent expenditure which was responsible for that extremely controversial ad in Tennessee against Harold Ford, Jr. featuring a young blonde actress portraying a woman who met Ford at a Playboy party and who suggestively asks him to call her at the end of the ad. (It caused enough heartache for one of Nelson’s other clients, Working Families for Wal-Mart, that they sought and received his resignation after the episode.)
Yes, just a couple of months after Nelson created the most racially-tinged advertising of the 2006 cycle, McCain effectively said, “That’s the guy I want running my presidential campaign.”
As the DNC’s Stacie Paxton said, “With the hiring of Terry Nelson, It’s clear that McCain’s ‘straight talk’ on ethics reform has gone out the window. He’s willing to do or say anything to win.”
It’s also worth noting, as Greg Sargent did, that Nelson was also “mixed up in the money laundering scandal that brought down Tom DeLay.”
Nelson was the deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee in 2002 when the alleged crime occurred. His role was crucial, although he hasn’t been charged. He’s named right there in the indictment.
DeLay and his money men, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, are accused of trying to get around a Texas law against using corporate money to fund candidates. To do that, they wrote a check to the RNC and had the RNC bounce the money back to the Texas candidates they wanted to fund. According to the indictment, the scheme was laid out to Terry Nelson, and he made sure the RNC carried it out.
So what gives? Sen. McCain, Mr. Campaign Finance Reform, has just hired a man who (allegedly) played a key role in breaking a campaign finance law to advise him on how to spend his PAC’s money. Anything to win in ’08?
I think we know the answer to that one.
And as long as we’re on the subject, TP noted today that McCain has an interesting anniversary this week. Here’s what he said almost exactly a year ago today:
“I think the situation on the ground is going to improve. I do think that progress is being made in a lot of Iraq. Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course. If I thought we weren’t making progress, I’d be despondent.”
A month ago, McCain said, “I believe that a lot of Americans trust my judgment on issues such as [Iraq].” It’s difficult to imagine why.
As for the media….
Commenting on Sen. John McCain’s proposal to send more troops to Iraq, The New York Times’ Anne Kornblut claimed that “McCain is proving that he is nothing if not an independent-minded maverick on this.”
The single biggest hurdle in the 2008 presidential campaign will be overcoming the media’s love for John McCain. It’s that simple.