Is McCain trying to lose?
I was following McCain's campaign activity while he was out here in the west last week. In California, he spoke several times about the need for more offshore oil drilling --- here in a state that abhors the idea of offshore drilling. Then he went on to Nevada where he talked about the need for more nuclear energy --- in a state that resents being the dumping ground for the entire country's nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain. Maybe next he can go talk up NAFTA in some of the rust belt swing states.
You've got to admire the fact that he isn't afraid to stick by his ideas in places where they aren't popular. I don't like a politician who shamelessly panders to whoever he is talking to. But this just seems silly. If you are going to open a whole new line in your campaign, do it somewhere where it's going to get a good reception. And if you are going to campaign in a place where one of your ideas is not popular, you don't have to back away from it, but you don't have to be the one to bring it up either.
What crazy old coot.
Is McCain trying to lose?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonrider
You've got to admire the fact that he isn't afraid to stick by his ideas in places where they aren't popular. I don't like a politician who shamelessly panders to whoever he is talking to.
Then HOW can you support Obama.....the man with a speach designed for the crowd he's talking to. Hell, neither the Palestinians or Jewish communities know where he stands on the middle east.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonrider
What crazy old coot.
LMAO...sure hope someone from the DNC states this on TV, that would be as bad as a racial comment about Obama.
Have a good one!:s4:
Is McCain trying to lose?
Ha ha! I said I don't like someone who shamelessly panders, not someone who changes what they talk about to appeal to the interests of the group they are addressing. One has to do with changing positions, the other has to do with focusing on what is of interest to your audience. I think it would have been smart for McCain to focus on something else in front of these audiences, instead of something they are almost guarateed to dislike --- he shouldn't change his position, but why bring it up? Maybe he is just testing his own resolve.
The "crazy old coot" thing was kind of a low blow on my part, but I actually don't think that judging a person by age is the same as judging them by their race. Race has nothing to do with competence, but age does. As people get older their health decilnes and so does their mental ability and ability to make good decisions. I would never say McCain is senile, but he is old.
I remember Reagan testifying over and over again at the Iran-Contra hearings, "I don't recall... I don't recall..." I thought he was just stonewalling, but turns out he probably had the early stages of Alzheimer's and he REALLY did not remember.
Age will be one of those politically correct things that the campaign can't bring up, but I can bring it up. That dude is oooooooooold...
Is McCain trying to lose?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonrider
Ha ha! I said I don't like someone who shamelessly panders, not someone who changes what they talk about to appeal to the interests of the group they are addressing. One has to do with changing positions, the other has to do with focusing on what is of interest to your audience.
Sounds like you found a politically correct term for flip-flop. Your either for something or your not. He's given conflicting speaches to both parties regarding Jerusalem. He's told the palestinians that they have a claim to half of this territory and he's told the Jewish community that Jerusalem should stay united....so what is it?
I suppose in California he could have played Obama's game but what the hell; isn't honesty something we should be looking at with this election?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dragonrider
The "crazy old coot" thing was kind of a low blow on my part, but I actually don't think that judging a person by age is the same as judging them by their race. Race has nothing to do with competence, but age does. As people get older their health decilnes and so does their mental ability and ability to make good decisions. I would never say McCain is senile, but he is old.
Well, I've seen McCains mother on t.v. and she seems to have it very much together.
As far as the discriminatory remark....try that in the hiring process for a place of business. "Your to old" will bring the same lawsuit as "Your black". Sure would be nice to see the DNC try this though...that big ol state of Florida with their retiree's wouldn't stand for that one at all!:thumbsup:
Have a good one!:s4:
Is McCain trying to lose?
It certainly is illegal to discriminate based on age in the hiring process in a place of business, and it should be. But an election is not the same thing. It's not acceptable for a campaign to make an issue of it, so I would not expect they will. But voters might still consider it. The one difference between hiring an old person and electing an old person is that you don't hire someone for a four-year term. If it turns out they can't do the job the way you thought they were going to, you aren't necessarily stuck with them. But if you elect someone who is 72 and doing fine, but they start to get a little fuzzy around their 74th birthday, you are kind of stuck. He just better pick a really good VP.
Is McCain trying to lose?
Likewise, if you elect someone that is possibly a racist your stuck with that person too. His "aquaintances" with people like the good Rev. Wright and the Trinity Church are VERY questionable.
Have a good one!:s4:
Is McCain trying to lose?
Yeah, we will be stuck with whoever we pick.
My point in bringing this issue up was not to call McCain an old coot (that was just a bonus!). My point was to question why he would choose to promote these ideas in places where they are not welcome --- offshore drilling in California and nuclear in Nevada.
In California at least, the visits by Obama and McCain were not considered to be serious campaign visits about getting votes, because the state is solidly Democratic. It was more about a testing ground for your ideas and a source of fundraising. Why float your new proposal in a place where the reaction is goin to be bad? Why try to raise money by pushing an unpopular idea? I'm not saying he should flip-flop or be dishonest --- I'm just questioning why he would choose to emphasis his differences, rather than focus on something that might be popular. He should not back off his beliefs, but maybe there is something else he might have more in common with California and Nevada that might have been a better subject matter for him.
And if he really did want to push these ideas in these states, he might have done better to acknowledge their unpopularity and represent it as "straight talk" about what needs to be done even if it is unpopular. I don't think he did that --- it just seemed out of touch with his audience.
Is McCain trying to lose?
The last statewide Field Poll on Californians' feelings toward oil drilling was taken in October 2005. Most said they would not favor loosening restrictions to stem the tide of rising gas prices.
Fifty-six percent of surveyed registered voters said they favored keeping the restrictions; 39 percent said they didn't.
But that poll was before gas hit $4.50 a gallon. That reality - and the fact that the issue has been dormant for so long - is what worries some environmentalists.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9632439
His views on this may not be so unpopular now as it was then...we'll see come November.:D Both my brother and sister-in-law have been big time dems in the Huntington Beach area now since 1980...both have stated that they are voting McCain.
Likewise here in the cheese state my parents, both in their 70's, have NEVER voted republican...both are now in the McCain camp. Seems that there is another trend that I really am SHOCKED about! These four were HARD CORE dem voters and are now voting for the GOP for president...of course they are voting dem for all the rest but hey, one step at a time I guess. LOL
Have a good one!:s4:
Is McCain trying to lose?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud
Likewise here in the cheese state my parents, both in their 70's, have NEVER voted republican...both are now in the McCain camp. Seems that there is another trend that I really am SHOCKED about! These four were HARD CORE dem voters and are now voting for the GOP for president...of course they are voting dem for all the rest but hey, one step at a time I guess. LOL
Have a good one!:s4:
My personal anecdote on this is actually the complete opposite. My Dad is a staunch Republican who never voted for a Democrat in his life, but he is not planning to vote Republican this year. His career was in marine biology and he is pissed livid at the Bush administration and his party in general about how they have ignored the threat from global waming. He has his political beliefs, but he undertands science, and he is furious. This offshore drilling thing sent him through the roof. There are a lot of other things that he holds against Bush personally, not against his party, but he can't get past the environmental lying and stonewalling, so he's switching over.
Is McCain trying to lose?
And this is the type of thing that'll bring your father back to the fold.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyHd7ITcw14[/YOUTUBE]
McCain isn't your typical republican on alot of issues...I just wish he was further away from the "party's platform" than what he is.:(
Have a good one!:s4: