McCain's Superpower: Invisibility.
Won't someone, somewhere, please say something nice about John McCain? Someone? Anyone?
Out of his last 20 blog posts, conservative blogger Rick Moran at Rightwing Nuthouse, has used about a third to attack Barack Obama. A few to attack both Democrats. One to criticize McCain. And the number of pro-McCain posts? Zero.
Anyone who spends much time zipping around the blogosphere finds the same kind of thing at conservative and right-of-center blogs: all Obama, all the time. Any air time not filled by Obama is filled by Hillary.
And McCain? The GOP candidate? You remember, the war hero guy? Kind of short, like a lot of pilots? White hair? Can't raise his arms as a consequence of the torture he suffered? Remember?
Cue the crickets.
Roll that tumbleweed.
It's more than merely the fact that it's more fun to attack than defend. There's scarcely a word about McCain. It's a black hole out there. A void. A vacuum. A nullity.
You know why? The right wing hates McCain. Out of loyalty to their party they're trying hard not to talk much about how they hate McCain, but they hate him. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion they hate him much more than they hate Obama. So we get these ludicrous attacks on Obama. These desperate nothingburger broadsides.
We're watching the right try to convince itself that it hates Obama more than it hates McCain. They have to psych themselves up, elevate the hate, in order to steel themselves for the sickening task of voting for the despised John McCain. So we get this eerie McCain blackout. And the anti-Obama frenzy.
Won't work. You can't win an election by pretending your own candidate doesn't exist. You can't win by trying to convince yourself you hate the other guy more.
But keep trying, guys. I enjoy the smell of desperation. Mmmm. Like perfume.
Out of his last 20 blog posts, conservative blogger Rick Moran at Rightwing Nuthouse, has used about a third to attack Barack Obama. A few to attack both Democrats. One to criticize McCain. And the number of pro-McCain posts? Zero.
Anyone who spends much time zipping around the blogosphere finds the same kind of thing at conservative and right-of-center blogs: all Obama, all the time. Any air time not filled by Obama is filled by Hillary.
And McCain? The GOP candidate? You remember, the war hero guy? Kind of short, like a lot of pilots? White hair? Can't raise his arms as a consequence of the torture he suffered? Remember?
Cue the crickets.
Roll that tumbleweed.
It's more than merely the fact that it's more fun to attack than defend. There's scarcely a word about McCain. It's a black hole out there. A void. A vacuum. A nullity.
You know why? The right wing hates McCain. Out of loyalty to their party they're trying hard not to talk much about how they hate McCain, but they hate him. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion they hate him much more than they hate Obama. So we get these ludicrous attacks on Obama. These desperate nothingburger broadsides.
We're watching the right try to convince itself that it hates Obama more than it hates McCain. They have to psych themselves up, elevate the hate, in order to steel themselves for the sickening task of voting for the despised John McCain. So we get this eerie McCain blackout. And the anti-Obama frenzy.
Won't work. You can't win an election by pretending your own candidate doesn't exist. You can't win by trying to convince yourself you hate the other guy more.
But keep trying, guys. I enjoy the smell of desperation. Mmmm. Like perfume.
This entry was posted by Michael Reynolds, on
Sunday, March 09, 2008.
You can leave your response.
9:01 PM
I'm a pro-life conservative Republican. I like Johnny Mac. I have really enjoyed his daughter Meghan's blog, as is evidenced by my letter being printed in her reader mail #4 which predated your current post.
I'm a little tired of the uber-righties myself. They're stoking this flame. I think that if you read this lengthy article about McCain's 5 year stay in Hanoi, written in 1973 and long before he had political aspirations, you'd understand why that little fella is tougher than woodpecker beaks and isn't intimidated by the likes of Rush, Sean, Laura Ingraham, et al. I kinda' like it.
7:09 AM
I've read about McCain's history.
It is obviously possible to disagree with McCain on any number of issues. But how does one actually hate the man? 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton buys a whole, heaping helping of good will from me.
Thanks for the link to his daughter's blog. On top of everything else he's an adoptive father, a species I tend to like.
4:29 PM
I heard somewhere that the real reason he can't lift his arms above about 90 degrees is that a nerve was damaged in surgery to remove some of the malignant melanoma he'd suffered. Sources, anyone?
Not like it makes all that much difference. Either way, he's rebounded pretty well, it seems.
9:35 AM
You can't win an election by pretending your own candidate doesn't exist. LOL- very well said, as usual. The approach failed for the Dems in 84 (Mondale) and the GOP in 96 (Dole). But it may have worked for the GOP in 88. GOP regulars weren't crazy about Bush 41, but they coalesced around him due to their dislike of Dukakis, hardly a loathable chap. 41 remained relatively invisible in the campaign.
1:36 PM
I've not heard that, David. I've only heard that McCain's decreased range of motion is courtesy of some old acquaintances of his back in Hanoi.
Sounds like a foundational precursor to the "He's too old and sick to be President" meme we've been expecting for a while.
6:22 PM
michael reynolds:
I don`t know whether I am right with the data but I seem to remember that before Ike went in for the GOP nomination in 1952 the Old Guard were so determined to get a bloke called Taft nominated that the saying was "We would rather lose with Taft than win with somebody else". Well Ike won and did his bit saving the world (again) for two full terms. (And today nobody, except a few seriously odd chaps cd even tell you who Taft was)
Plus ça change ....
Is anything in that comparison of GOP mentality then and now from yr point of view ?
(Irrespective of the fact that Obama can walk on water and cure scrofules by touch like the kings of old, of course. I am just interested in the GOP at this point for anthropological reasons)