Is the "McSame" rhetoric really working for the Democrats?
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
October 9, 2008 6:16pm CST
The Democrats have continuously campaigned against "Dubya" since the day he won the Republican nomination over 8 years ago. Old habits die hard though, so they came up with a ploy so they could keep that campaign going.
For as long as I can remember, McCain has been praised by Democrats because he was willing to "reach across the aisle", but even more because he stood up to "Dubya" at times when the Democrats needed McCain to play interference.
Even as late as the Republican primary campaign season, Democrats praised McCain as "the only Republican (they) could ever support".
Funny how the only Republican they could ever support is now painted as "more of the same". That Republican hero of Democrats is now thrown under the bus, branded with the scarlet "W".
The DNC has to come up with whatever they can against McCain, I understand that. They are running against him, so it makes sense that they stripped him of the honors they lavished on him before.
But it is really working?
Obama as been packaged from the beginning as the alternative to "the failed policyies of the last 8 years". The DNC has made this the lynch pin of the campaign to win the White House.
It seems to be working, but not extremely well. Yes, Obama is winning in the polls, but by what, 7 points?
For us to believe the whole "McSame" line, we would have to imagine that Obama was actually running against "Dubya" himself. Prs. Bush has a dismal approval rating, so there are a lot of people who are planning to vote for McCain who wouldn't vote for Bush. In fact, a mere 7 point margin means that there are probably a lot of Democrats who just aren't getting the "McSame" line.
If McCain is the McSame then why is his apparent approval rating so much higher than "W"? Or is it just the fact that their approval rating of the McSame rhetoric is even lower than that of Prs. Bush?
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Just a note, but should it scare me if when I did a yahoo search on "prs. bush approval rating" the first 5 hits were my own? lol
4 people like this
4 responses
@ClarusVisum (2163)
• United States
10 Oct 08
Fact: McCain voted with Bush 95% of the time last year. That's not a maverick, that's a sidekick.
Fact: McCain has boasted that he agrees with Bush far more than he disagrees, and that he agrees with Bush on all of the "transcendent issues".
People say he is the same because HE admits exactly that. He was one of the first people pushing for invading Iraq, just one month after 9/11:
"PAULA ZAHN: And as you know, Senator, the U.S. and Great Britain notified the U.N. Security Council yesterday that they reserve the right to strike against other countries in this campaign. What countries are we looking at?
MCCAIN: Well, I think very obviously Iraq is the first country, but there are others — Syria, Iran, the Sudan, who have continued to harbor terrorist organizations and actually assist them." --October 9, 2001
"the second phase is Iraq" --John McCain, October 18, 2001
"Next up, Baghdad!" --John McCain, January, 2002
"Yes, Obama is winning in the polls, but by what, 7 points?"
He's got McCain short about 100 EVs presently. :)
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=10
http://pollster.com/polls/2008president/
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
Good luck getting that back while McCain refuses to talk about what's on everyone's mind: the economy. Do you really think people are turning on their TVs to hear about AYERS after they just learned that the stock market hit its lowest point in five years?
But please, let McCain continue. He's just helping Obama by turning off independents who don't get 'rallied' by the same red meat that's got conservatives screaming "terrorist!" and "kill him!" at rallies. It turns THEM off. So send him my thanks for that.
What percentage of the posts started by McCain supporters in this section in the past week were about McCain's economic policy on myLot? I'd bet that percentage is pretty close to McCain's percentage of winning this election. :)
1 person likes this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
10 Oct 08
"Fact: McCain voted with Bush 95% of the time last year. That's not a maverick, that's a sidekick."
No, that's an opinion, Joe Biden's opinion to be precise. Just because you preface it with "Fact" doesn't make it so. If McCain agrees with Bush on certain issues, that's his business. Here's one for you:
Fact: Obama votes with his party 97% of the time. That's not an agent of change, that's a crony.
Should I now put this in a blog and cite it to prove my points?
1 person likes this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
10 Oct 08
I'm not disputing McCain's voting record. I'm pointing out that in your supposed Fact statement you said that John McCain's not a maverick he's a sidekick. THAT was an opinion.
"Obama could have voted with his party 100% of the time, but the thing is, it isn't his party that's put this country in the toilet over the past eight years."
Actually it took his party less than two years to put this country in the toilet. In the last two years since democrats gained the majority in the house and senate gas prices rose from $2.20 to $4.20 before settling down to where they are now at roughly $3.60 per gallon. I could also point out that the economy wasn't a big problem before democrats got the majority in the house. In fact, my ICMARC account was skyrocketing from 2004 to 2006. The decline didn't start until 2007 AFTER democrats got the majority.
Spin THAT.
1 person likes this
@ClarusVisum (2163)
• United States
10 Oct 08
lol, only Joe Biden's opinion indeed:
"Q: Is it true John McCain voted with George Bush 95 percent of the time?
The Obama campaign keeps claiming McCain has voted with President Bush 95 percent of the time. Is this true? Is this significant?
A: Yes, it's true, according to Congressional Quarterly's assessment of McCain's voting record." -- http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/is_it_true_john_mccain_voted_with.html
What makes it a fact is that it's factual.
Obama could have voted with his party 100% of the time, but the thing is, it isn't his party that's put this country in the toilet over the past eight years. Last time we had a Democratic President, he left office with surpluses. Meanwhile, Bush leaves us with RECORD defecits. Spin that.
@newtondak (3946)
• United States
10 Oct 08
Anyone who does their research knows that the Obama rant that McCain is the same as Bush is completely false. There are, however, plenty of people who don't think on their own and only listen to what Obama tells them.
Granted, we want and need change in Washington - and that is what Obama claims he will bring, but is HIS change the same change that we want and need - probably not!
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
10 Oct 08
Obama is about change like Cap'n Crunch is about nutrition.
1 person likes this
@eaforeman6 (8979)
• United States
10 Oct 08
Mccain is strong in his own record, and many things George Bush has been blamed for was lack of cooperation from the democrats.Mccain's approval rating is high because his record and reputation are awesome.He also has the experience going for him.Hes earned the high vote count!
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
10 Oct 08
erm...I wasn't aware that we could ascertain that one of McCain's 'net nicknames was solely come up with by Dems?
_ Mostly, the earliest form of it that I've been aware of has been from bloggers/commentators that mostly don't get involved with politics besides discussion.
Political nicknames crop up alot. Us internet junkies mostly just amuse ourselves constantly...(Though I've only given a couple politicians nicknames, and I didn't really nickname McCain that I can remember. I'm not a dem either, so...bleh.)
Is it working if dems are using it? Um...I saw some polls that say a decent percentage of people believe McCain is gonna continue Bush's policies. Whether a portion of that percentage is also the portion that's GLAD that's the case, I haven't the faintest and there's no way to tell anyway.
But I don't think it's a bad "ploy" if it's being used as one, no.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
10 Oct 08
If all it has done is convince Obama supporters to vote Obama it has accomplished nothing.
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
12 Oct 08
Well, I'm sure you're not the only one who's annoyed people have taken inspiration from internet junkies, Para. You've my sympathies, but you know I don't think much of it myself.
