{"id":15879,"date":"2008-06-15T10:30:53","date_gmt":"2008-06-15T14:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/15879.html"},"modified":"2008-06-15T10:30:53","modified_gmt":"2008-06-15T14:30:53","slug":"mccain-believes-its-tough-sometimes-to-be-proud-of-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/mccain-believes-its-tough-sometimes-to-be-proud-of-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"McCain believes ‘it’s tough’ sometimes to be ‘proud’ of the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

This Michelle Obama quote<\/a>, uttered back in February, is probably the Republicans’ single favorite development of the presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

“What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something \u2014 for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I’ve seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it’s made me proud.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The right pounced, insisting that this was proof that the Obamas are insufficiently patriotic. The Obama campaign quickly explained that she misspoke: “What she meant is that she’s really proud at this moment because for the first time in a long time, thousands of Americans who’ve never participated in politics before are coming out in record numbers to build a grass-roots movement for change.”<\/p>\n

But to no avail. Less than 24 hours after Obama made the comment, Cindy McCain pointedly told reporters that she’s “very proud of my country,” as if Michelle Obama isn’t. (Ms. McCain repeated the line at multiple campaign events, just to make sure the point was driven home.) The “first time in my adult lifetime” has been the focus of conservative TV ads and video clips ever since.<\/p>\n

With that in mind John McCain hosted an online Q&A yesterday and heard from a man who was educated at Princeton and Harvard, and who made more than $300,000 a year. “How can I be proud of my country?” he asked.<\/p>\n

The question was obviously intended to be a pointed joke, mocking Michelle Obama. Not only did McCain not pick up on the joke, he offered a surprisingly revealing answer.
\n
\nThere is, alas, no video, but here’s a clip with the audio:<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Jonathan Martin reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n

McCain either missed the joke or decided to ignore it and answer the question literally. I think it was the former because the individual asking the question had a thick accent that sounded to be either Indian or Pakistani, perhaps suggesting to McCain a recent immigrant grappling with America’s image abroad. <\/p>\n

“I’ll admit to you that it’s tough, it’s tough in some respects,” McCain said, seeming to lend credence to Michelle Obama’s observation.<\/p>\n

McCain said America needed to be “more humble, more inclusive.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The irony is, McCain’s answer was perfectly reasonable. But by giving an honest response to a sarcastic question, McCain inadvertently bolstered the Obama campaign.<\/p>\n

It’s “tough” to be proud of the United States? We’re too arrogant and overly exclusive? These aren’t radical, treasonous ideas. But if Obama had said the same thing, you better believe we’d not only hear about it, but the comments would quickly become the basis for an aggressive push-back campaign that would last from now until November. (“What do you mean it’s ‘tough’ to be proud of America? It’s easy<\/i> to be proud of the greatest country on earth. Why would someone who wants to lead the nation not believe that?”)<\/p>\n

Something to keep in mind the next time Republicans decide to go after Michelle Obama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Michelle Obama quote, uttered back in February, is probably the Republicans’ single favorite development of the presidential campaign. “What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something \u2014 for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}