October 4, 2008

Has McCain Thrown in the Towel?

From "McCain Plans Fiercer Strategy Against Obama" in the Washington Post:

Two other top Republicans said the new ads are likely to hammer the senator from Illinois on his connections to convicted Chicago developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko and former radical William Ayres, whom the McCain campaign regularly calls a domestic terrorist because of his acts of violence against the U.S. government in the 1960s.

But not all that fierce:

The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. appears to be off limits after McCain condemned the North Carolina Republican Party in April for an ad that linked Obama to his former pastor, saying, "Unfortunately, all I can do is, in as visible a way as possible, disassociate myself from that kind of campaigning."

Wright is ten times as important a figure in Obama's life as Rezko, and 100 times as important as Ayers. But Wright is off limits because he's black. I figured that's what would happen back in February.

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

37 comments:

michael farris said...

My newest theory is that the republican establishment doesn't really want McCain to win.
I'm not sure if McCain is in on this and has decided to take one for the team or if he's really just ... clueless.
At any rate the campaign he's running now seems to be for a credible second rather than for the win.

Things are not going great for the country right now and are liable to get worse (maybe a lot worse) before they get better.

Given that, it makes some sense to want a democrat to take his turn in the barrel and take all the blame for the current mess.

The repub establishment is hoping (I think) that Obama won't make much headway in trying to clear up the mess they've made (pretty safe bet) and that people will hold it against him (50/50 I'd say) and they can find a more plausible team than Grandpa Simpson and Susie Teamspirit (hard to do worse). If the stars align right they can make him a one-termer and blame him all the way to 2016 (and beyond!).
I think they're already thinking in terms of 2012.

I'd say the coming week (early monday to wednesday) will tell the tale, if there's an October surprise it should surface then as the glow from Palin's better-than-a-disaster debate performance fades.
No October surprise (or attempt at one) means they're throwing in the towel.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I think he's thrown the race. Whoever will be president next term is in for a painfully rough ride, and McCain probably has enough experience to know that it probably isn't going to be the kind of pain that leads to glory and acclaim.

Anonymous said...

The media ban on criticizing blacks and Latinos will continue to have strange and unpredictable effects. On the one hand, should the President-Messiah choose to ignore crime in high-minority areas, no one will be able to criticize him for it.

But if Obama were to decide to do something about black- or Latino-perpetrated crime, the media would have to display a huge DOES NOT COMPUTE in every headline. It would be like strapping an open-faced peanut butter sandwich to the back of a cat and seeing whether the feet or the peanut butter hit the ground.

It will start snowing in the Sahara desert, people will stop saying that any non-obese woman is "anorexic", the British will start driving on the right, oil will become water soluble, and white people will start backing each other up in arguments with black people. SF writers call it "a tear in the space-time continuum".

Stopped Clock said...

You guys have all seen McCain's and Palin's preachers, right? McCain is best off the way he is, since everyone's already heard about Jeremiah Wright, but not everyone's aware that both McCain and Palin have similarly eccentric (to put it nicely) pastors/priests as well.

I know that lately I'm mostly posting "oh, it's not that bad" type of stuff, please don't think that I'm giving in and becoming a liberal, but I think that not *all* of McCain's failures are due to the left-wing media and the handicap of political correctness.

Whiskey said...

McCain is not throwing in the towel, he's just scared to death of being called Racist.

Unfortunately, Obama will grant immediate citizenship to every illegal immigrant from Mexico, and give billions to ACORN and La Raza. Permanently and immediately transforming the US into Mexico North.

Alliance: Blacks + Hispanics + Upper Class Whites against middle class whites.

Anonymous said...

You always had to wonder which was going to win out; McCain's driving ambition to be president, or his craven political correctness and love of media attaboys.

I guess we know now.

Anonymous said...

"Given that, it makes some sense to want a democrat to take his turn in the barrel and take all the blame for the current mess."

That's bad logic. By 2012, things will be probably looking up economically, and whoever is president will probably cruise to reelection.

- Fred

Anonymous said...

"...former radical William Ayres, whom the McCain campaign regularly calls a domestic terrorist because of his acts of violence against the U.S. government in the 1960s..."

I don't usually read the Washington Post; did they describe Paul Newman as, "an actor, regularly called a movie star because of his practice of performing the lead role in motion pictures..."

Anonymous said...

"But if Obama were to decide to do something about black- or Latino-perpetrated crime,"

HAHA, good one. This in a country where the elites are less upset about a black parolee raping a white woman than someone making an ad of it. Obama is a liberal elitist on racial issues as surly as he is anything.

Anonymous said...

"That's bad logic. By 2012, things will be probably looking up economically, and whoever is president will probably cruise to reelection.
"

With changing demographics, us race realists have reason to doubt that. We're headed towards the second world. Never did a people deserve it more.

Anonymous said...

I was hoping for a good cop/bad cop deal where Amnesty John plays the good cop while the bad cop 527s hammer Obama, but I'm probably too optimistic.
-Vanilla Thunder

Anonymous said...

My newest theory is that the republican establishment doesn't really want McCain to win.

Since the 527s seem not to be touching the Wright issue, I have to agree.

They want the approval of their masters (media - yes Steve, the media runs the world, not the politicians, wake up and smell the coffee already) more than they want to win.

Anonymous said...

I'm still assuming the real Rezko/Ayers/Wright commercials will start airing in the last two weeks. I stand by that prediction. You can't run an entire campaign on those toxic clowns, so why not save the good stuff for the end?

Is McCain above it? Maybe. Given his temper, though, I doubt it. He's an odd mix of anger and self-righteous pomposity. Then again, I guess that's not all that rare, it's just that he takes it to a new level.

Anonymous said...

Like someone else commented, the fix is in and either McCain in it or a patsy chosen for his stupidity.

#1 issue hurting McCain, the economy. Biggest causes, (a) the Democrats regulating (thru threat of suit) Banks to lower lending standards to increase NAM homeownership and (b) the SEC allowing much higher leverage for Wall St. to speculate over fundamentally crap assets like sub-prime mortgages.

No one metion by the McCain camp that the Dems pushed all this or even that Obama is the biggest tool of both the fannie/freddie mac as well as wall st special interests. WTF?

Anonymous said...

You really have to wonder how much McCain really wants to win, or knows how to. Every time he's presented with an opportunity, he blows it. He's refused to attack Obama where he's really vulnerable, he's grossly mishandled the most popular veep pick since Teddy Roosevelt, and is now pulling out of states that are still very much in play. I mean, Palin has her problems, but at least she acts like she really wants to win. She may be inexperienced, but she has what Sir Winston Churchill said was the first requisite of a successful general or politician, the "sincere desire to engage the enemy". Not so McCain. He actually makes Bob Dole look driven and focused. Personally, I'm appalled.

I have often thought, throughout his political career, that McCain has never really "gotten" the American political system, due to his military experience, and now I'm sure of it. He seems to think that getting elected to higher office is like promotion in the military, that if you get your ticket punched in all the right areas, you'll get it, and that campaigning is in bad taste, or jumping chain of command, or something; hence his support of "campaign finance reform". Promotion in the military mostly goes to those who don't get "dings" in their files, who don't make waves, and who echo what their superiors believe; a Patton, a LeMay, a "Chesty" Puller, or a Nimitz are always rarities, and the military was probably at its most conformist when McCain was in. Ideology aside, he was a bad choice. We're all going to pay for this down the line.

Anonymous said...

Wright off limits because he is black? Not in any major way. What you say has some merit but may now only be true in the routine give and take political sense. Biden for example could hammer Palin much harder but he has to be careful not to be seen as too harsh with a woman. Certain attacks are off-limits to him precisely because she is female. Obama had to likewise hold off on certain attacks against Hilary, for the same reason.

So white public figures of various stripes get various exemptions depending on who they are and the particular situation. And Wright took a beating during those early rounds in the Dem primary. Obama had to devote a whole speech to the problem. So I dont see any vast exemptions given to Wright. Did the liberal media press as hard as it could? NO, but did Wright and Obama get off scot free on the issue? Certainly not.

Another factor is that if McCain decides to make Jeremiah Wright a big issue, liberals will likewise start counterattacking by pointing to: (a) statements by the pastor McCain has been associated with (Mcgee or whoever.. someone fill in the details) and (b) controversial religious figures who have appeared in Sarah Palin's church, or whom she has been associated with. Furthermore Obama has moved to innoculate himself from Wright, just as MccAIN has innoculated himself againt his religious connections, calling into question any significant time and energy spent on attacking in that direction.

Are some liberal charges taken out of context? Certainly, but there is plenty of danger too for McCain, and potentially too much distraction in starting a bidding war on religious figures. Its a risky business with no clear outcomes.

McCain doesn't need the Wright issue anyhow. Its a matter of priorities. Some conservatives argue he needs to unleash Palin to go after Obama, and to start hitting the stump hard with those spontaneous style speeches where she is best, not kowtowing to Katie Couric and Gibson. That's what McCain should be concentrating on, not the increasingly marginal Jeremiah Wright. Part of Palin's attack could be the patriotism angle anyway, which hooks back to Wright.

Mccain hasnt thrown in the towel I dont think. Sure some points could be scored with a few Wright ads, but is $2,000,00 in precious ad money best spent on Jeremiah Wright, or on getting Palin out there to attack Obama where he is most vulnerable- like on taxes, etc.. Which gives the best bang for the buck? That's the question.

An attack on the Wright issue, some might argue, is best reserved as a last minute strike, before the media can gin up the indignation meter and before effective "my religious consultant is worse than yours" counterattacks can be made. A late "October surprise" along these lines is still quite possible.

Anonymous said...

imo, an overriding political objective for McCain is to educate voter's regarding the ACORN debacle, and Obama's connection (800K in contributions?!) to it.
Since the results of ACORN are being keenly felt in everyone's pocketbook, and justifiable fear and anger are just getting going, if McCain educates people about ACORN, and Obama's deep involvement in making that democratic fiscal shock troop effective, it will make Obama unelectable.
Most voter's have never even heard of the organization. Palin must get that into the headlines, before dragging Rev Wrights carcass out again.
As I keep saying, Obama's defeat lies in voter education, the topic: ACORN.

Anonymous said...

Yet another anonymous:

...odd religions are as American as apple pie due to America's primitive Protestant founding....As a Catholic, I find these strains and people rather quaint, but that is neither here nor there.

Let me simplify what you are saying:

I find the people who built America before I got here to be rather primitive, I wold never invite them to a cocktail party.

Anonymous said...

>>>>...it makes some sense to want a democrat to take his turn in the barrel and take all the blame for the current mess.

I cringe at all the leftist hacks that would accompany an Obama administration. We're still suffering from the Carter and Clinton appointees/hires that are out there clogging the system.

Robert said...

Kirsten Brydum is described as a “free spirited community activist” by friends. She was apparently shot in the head for being white, while campaigning for Negro presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama.

EXPECT THIS STORY TO BE 100% CENSORED, COVERED UP, AND BLACKED OUT BY THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA.

From the Council of Conservative Citizens:

A 25 year old white female Obama campaigner was riding her bicycle in a virtually all black neighborhood of New Orleans. She was on a “cross country trek” to support Obama. So brainwashed by multi-cultural propaganda that this “community activist” thought nothing about venturing around a black NOLA neighborhood after dark. She was SHOT IN THE HEAD, and her body was left lying on the sidewalk.

Apparently it didn’t matter that she had come all the way from San Fransisco to campaign for Obama. She was just another white victim to the local residents. Local residents left her body lie on the sidewalk and didn’t even notify police. Her body sat for hours until it was seen by a construction crew that was there to gut houses damaged by Katrina.

Take a minute to imagine what would happen if a black woman campaigning for Obama had been found shot in the head in a white neighborhood. THIS WOULD THE LARGEST NEWS STORY IN THE WORLD!

Update: The San Fransisco Chronicle has posted a shameless and transparently disingenuous “tribute” to the murdered girl. Even though the New Orleans police have explicitly stated “robbery does not appear to be the motive,” the San Fransisco Chronicle used the headline “activist slain in New Orleans robbery.” Then it has the audacity to say she was “on vacation” in New Orleans! Who takes a vacation in a Hurricane ravaged all-black ghetto with possibly the highest murder rate in the Western Hemisphere?
http://incogman.wordpress.com/
Photo of dead idiot and friend at link.

Anonymous said...

"With changing demographics, us race realists have reason to doubt that. We're headed towards the second world. Never did a people deserve it more."

Demographic changes won't have that much impact over a 4 year span -- especially when we're seeing some illegals leave due to the housing bust. That may not be the race-realist view, but it is the realist view.

- Fred

Anonymous said...

I got to admit it's peculiar that I've heard several rumors about this for weeks now, and then, today, I read this bit of news.

Even though I know it's not true, I still wonder about the Clintons. They are the biggest losers if Obama wins. I can't believe they would fade away so quietly.

Stopped Clock said...

Thank you teacher.paris, thank you very much. Now I have something to tell my classmates who think I'm a racist for worrying that I might be welcome if I moved to the Bronx.

Anonymous said...

As far as the Republicans ceding this election because they think the next President will have a miserable time of it, on the contrary, the situation is now set up to make the next President look like a hero. Think of it this way: when a new CEO arrives at a company, he usually does his best to make the first set of quarterly numbers look as miserable as possible, just so that he can claim improvement under his watch. Right now the country is as low as it's been since the Great Depression: unemployment is rising, the GDP is falling, and the markets are panicking. On top of that we're mired in a very unpopular war in Iraq, and in another war in Afghanistan which is about to become as unpopular once we commit both troops there and it becomes apparent that our prospects are hopeless there as well. If the next President can end either, or preferably both wars with some minimalist face-saving, and merely get us out of recession by the end of his term, he'll look like a savior. (And if Obama manages to somehow kill bin Laden before withdrawing, he'll look like a genius as well.)

McCain doesn't look as if he wants to end either war any time soon, and Obama's basic views of economics seemed to be based on the Soviet/Zimbabwean model, so neither will succeed on both fronts. But Bush has set the bar so low that unless Obama displays his Mugabean instincts too nakedly, he's not necessarily a one termer.

Anonymous said...

From a foreign policy perspective Ayers is 100 times as important as Wright.

How can a President talk about attacking terrorists when one of his friends is one?

As to attacking raging anti-Americans, well there are too many of those around the world to deal with.

Stopped Clock said...

Don't equivocate between eccentric and evil. Mormonism, speaking in tongues, etc.: eccentric. Preaching the evil of whites and that this country deserves to be damned because Blacks don't do as well as Whites... The swing voters might not find Wright worse than the other two. There are millions and millions of whites who arent firmly pro-Obama but would be more put off by Hagee and Palin's guy than by Wright. A lot of them are probably atheists who hate Christian fundamentalists and black nationalists about equally.

Unknown said...

'Wright is ten times as important a figure in Obama's life'.....

Huh? Whaaa? From where has THIS info been gleaned...a crystal ball?

Is that like a 'cut rate' ball or does it come with a matching carrying case?

You might wanna check the warranty.

Anonymous said...

Simple math from a cynic:
Premise: Obama wins in 2008. Dems win many house and senate seats ( maybe even get to 61 in the senate )
Possibilities for 2012:
1) The world does not end, the economy improves, the wars do not spread too much nor contract too much. Obama runs for pres in 2012 unopposed in the dem party. Hillary is 65.
2) The economy does not improve, the wars do not imporve, China re-absorbes Formosa. Hillary runs against Obama. She is still 65.
1a) Obama wins, serves out his term
Hillary is 69 in 2012 2 years younger than McCain is today. The dems will have developed fresh new faces, post-boomer faces from their victorious crops in 08, and 10. Hillary runs and is yesterday's news. About as relevant as Carter is in 08.
2012 is the last time Hillary could run for pres and be relevant.
I think this explains why Bill is so reluctant to even mention Obama's name and why Hillary is nowhere to be seen in either the campaign or the "great firesale posturing" of last week.

Robert said...

Obama is Using Council on American-Islamic Relations's Lawyer to Defend Lawsuit

Here come another of those "Guilt by Associations" that Senator Barack Obama will try to weasel himself out of. As you may know, Philip Berg is suing Senator Obama in Civil Court. Berg wants Obama to Produce his real birth certificate to prove that he meets the citizenship requirements to be President. Rather than just product the birth certificate (is he trying to hide something?) Obama's legal team filed a motion to dismiss. One of the Lawyers filing the motion was Joe Sandler (sandler@sandlerreiff.com) of the Washington law firm Sandler, Reiff, and Young...

Joe Sandler? Sandler, Reiff, and Young?

Joe Sandler was the CAIR [Council on American-Islamic Relations]lawyer who sent a letter to the Young America's Foundation in August 2007, threatening them with legal action if they let me speak to their national student conference. (You can see the letter here.) I spoke anyway (YAF's Jason Mattera said, "CAIR can go to hell and take their seventy-two virgins with them"), and the threatened lawsuit did not materialize (at least as of this writing, over a year later).

But now here again Obama allies himself with someone who has but scant regard for the freedom of speech. Will he, as President, sacrifice that freedom in an attempt to build the bridges with the Islamic world that he has boasted of being able to build? Here is a full discussion of that possibility.

I hope that Barack Obama, when he becomes President, will become a staunch defender of the First Amendment against attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to limit it or destroy it altogether. But his hiring of Joseph Sandler is not at all reassuring.


News Source: jihad watch

Ron Guhname said...

From my blog:

"Actually do something to smack Obama and Reverend Wright: In condemning Republicans who run Jeremiah Wright ads, John McCain revealed his masochistic desire to lose this election. Why the topic would be off limits is absolutely beyond me.

"After many months of opposing McCain's candidacy, I'm going eat some humble pie and urge readers to donate to Freedom's Defense Fund, a 527 which has been airing ads on Rezko, Ayers, and, most importantly, Wright. (If you know of a better 527 or better ads, please post a comment). For a 44 dollar donation, they send you a free copy of Obama Nation by Jerome Corsi.

"What motivated my change was simple: reading USA Today, I was reminded that Justice John Paul Stevens will turn 89 in December, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 75. That has a way of bringing clarity to one's mind."

http://freedomsdefensefund.org/

Anonymous said...

A lot of them are probably atheists who hate Christian fundamentalists and black nationalists about equally.

I don't know any atheists who hate evangelicals and black nationalists "equally." They all despise the former and remain almost silent on the latter. Blacks aren't even a consideration to them.

What strikes me as the fundamental difference between an atheist and an agnostic is that a person ho calls himself "agnostic" simply doesn't believe in God or has little interest in matters theological. A person who calls himself an "atheist" is a person whose raison d’être is despising Christians. That's because a person referring to himself as an "agnostic" has in part chosen the term out of diplomatic considerations.

To what extent is McCain even connected to Hagee? Hagee's not his minister. McCain's not even a religious man. Tellingly, the only time he ever uses the word "God" is when he says that he 'won't deport millions of God's children,' which to me suggests it's just an attempt to fool Christians into believing amnesty is God's Own Commandment.

Truth said...

I keep reading here about Obama "hating whitey", then from the same people, I read about his friendships with Rezko, Pflager, and Ayers.

Do these three not qualify as "Whitey?"

In my opinion they would, unless they are James Watson blacks passing as white. They certainly appear to be white.

Does a black man running for president have to not only spend copious time with whites, but with a certain type of whites? Those of your choosing?

I think maybe Obama should compile a list of whites with whom he could potentially associate, then submit it to a committee comprised of isteve.blogspot.com posters. You could pour over the list and then get back to the Senator as to which ones are white enough for him to associate with.

He may be a little confused at this point.

Anonymous said...

but did Wright and Obama get off scot free on the issue? Certainly not

But remember that the issue was only brought up in March, because one reporter at one outlet -- Jake Tapper at ABC News -- decided to run the Wright story. This was AFTER Obama had basically locked up the nomination, but months BEFORE the general election. Perhaps the best time to run the story if you know it's going to come out eventually. Had the story run in December, game over, Hillary wins. Had the story come out only now, game over, McCain wins. So the timing was perfect.

You go back and look at who ran with it first. It's often very instructive to see how a "left critical" story breaks out. It's usually one renegade reporter at one organization who pushes it, and then the others have no choice but to follow.

Most likely Tapper is one of those who still had some connections to the Clinton camp. Who knows what his reasons are for running it when he ran it. Tapper seems to be an Ashkenazi name, so that may have had something to do with it -- some fraction of them are/were quite suspicious of Obama (do site:forward.com "obama jewish problem" on google).

Anyway, mark my words, if Rezko turns state's evidence against Obama, it will only come out AFTER the election, AFTER it could have done any good. And it will be covered for a few hours and buried on page A19. The Republicans who bring it up will be portrayed as "crazy conspiracy theorists" just like the ones who warned of Bill Clinton's foibles when he got elected.

(PS: the Lewinsky scandal also only came out because Drudge forced the issue -- Isikoff had a scoop, which was deep sixed by Newsweek till Drudge brought it up.)

Anonymous said...

I keep reading here about Obama "hating whitey", then from the same people, I read about his friendships with Rezko, Pflager, and Ayers.

Do these three not qualify as "Whitey?"



Rezko isn't "whitey."

The other two hate whites as much Wright. (And Rezko probably doesn't care for them being able to milk them.)

Pretty simple.

Anonymous said...

"Evil minorities caused this"?

No, it was deluded, cowardly or otherwise highly defective whites who were pandering to minorities who caused this. The brilliant, but literally toothless, Barney Frank comes to mind. So does W, the alcoholic POTUS with such a strangely intense affection for Mexico.

Someone on another thread posted this pertinent reflection on the zeitgeist:
Kirsten Brydum is described as a “free spirited community activist” by friends. She was apparently shot in the head for being white, while campaigning for Negro presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama.

EXPECT THIS STORY TO BE 100% CENSORED, COVERED UP, AND BLACKED OUT BY THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA.

From the Council of Conservative Citizens:

A 25 year old white female Obama campaigner was riding her bicycle in a virtually all black neighborhood of New Orleans. She was on a “cross country trek” to support Obama. So brainwashed by multi-cultural propaganda that this “community activist” thought nothing about venturing around a black NOLA neighborhood after dark. She was SHOT IN THE HEAD, and her body was left lying on the sidewalk.

Apparently it didn’t matter that she had come all the way from San Fransisco to campaign for Obama. She was just another white victim to the local residents. Local residents left her body lie on the sidewalk and didn’t even notify police. Her body sat for hours until it was seen by a construction crew that was there to gut houses damaged by Katrina.

Take a minute to imagine what would happen if a black woman campaigning for Obama had been found shot in the head in a white neighborhood. THIS WOULD THE LARGEST NEWS STORY IN THE WORLD!

Update: The San Fransisco Chronicle has posted a shameless and transparently disingenuous “tribute” to the murdered girl. Even though the New Orleans police have explicitly stated “robbery does not appear to be the motive,” the San Fransisco Chronicle used the headline “activist slain in New Orleans robbery.” Then it has the audacity to say she was “on vacation” in New Orleans! Who takes a vacation in a Hurricane ravaged all-black ghetto with possibly the highest murder rate in the Western Hemisphere?
http://incogman.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

"A man who hates whitey does not have white friends. Period."

Exactly, and a white who hated blacks (and enslaved them) would never EVER, in a MILLION YEARS, reward the Uncle Toms among them in ANY way.

Truth said...

"Take a minute to imagine what would happen if a black woman campaigning for Obama had been found shot in the head in a white neighborhood. THIS WOULD THE LARGEST NEWS STORY IN THE WORLD!"

No, I think it would have be slightly eclipsed by the ongoing collapse of the worldwide economy.

Now, it another black celebrity had killed his white wife though then it WOULD THE LARGEST NEWS STORY IN THE WORLD!"

It already was.