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WASHINGTON — Barack Obama is fond of using a four-letter word to describe John McCain: Bush.
Weary and wary of being linked so closely with the president, McCain says Obama is spreading a falsehood voters won't buy when he says McCain as president would deliver a third Bush term.
Oh, to be the president of the United States these days.
Time was, it wasn't so awful to be associated with the leader of the country.
But the political reality is that Bush's approval ratings are near record lows, which makes him an easy target. Or at least not a guy being sought out for bear hugs.
The White House likes to point out that Bush is not on the ticket. Yet he remains in the thick of it.
Consider McCain's speech as Obama clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday night.
Predictably, he spoke about his differences with Obama. Pre-emptively, he outlined a history of differences with Bush to undermine Obama's line of attack.
"You will hear from my opponent's campaign in every speech, every interview, every press release that I'm running for President Bush's third term," McCain said. "You will hear every policy of the president described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does Senator Obama believe it's so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it's very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false."
In other words, America, I'm not Bush.
Yes, McCain said, he shares views with the president, particularly on national security. But he proudly listed a pattern of splitting with the president on energy and climate change, on spiraling spending and budget gimmicks, and on the administration's "mismanagement" of the war in Iraq.
It so happens that this distancing came exactly one week after Bush was with McCain, in McCain's home state of Arizona, raising money for him at a big-dollar fundraiser. Bush raised an estimated $3 million in private that night. His public appearance with McCain was so short it was measured in seconds.
Obama had Bush on his mind too on the historic night he clinched the Democratic Party's nomination.
The Illinois senator lumped McCain with Bush on the economy and on current war policy in Iraq. And he called McCain's claims of independence dubious.
"There are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new," Obama said. "But 'change' is not one of them."
Obama repeated the theme on Thursday in Virginia, rapping McCain on health care policy by tying him to Bush. "We can either extend the Bush policies that we know don't work — or at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say enough is enough, " Obama said.
Bush administration officials expect such rhetoric from the Democrat in the race. Yet even when it comes from the Republican, the White House line is: No offense taken.
"Look, Senator McCain is different than President Bush. That's a fact. We understand that his campaign will reflect his policies and his vision for the future of the country," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. "I think it's worth remembering that President Bush's father didn't exactly emulate President Reagan. Vice President Gore did not copy President Clinton. Even Hillary Clinton demonstrated differences from President Clinton — and she's married to him."
© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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 | McCain Mounts Immediate Attack on Obama's Record - washingtonpost.com | The Washington Post | Wed Jun 4 | 0 |
| mccain-obama | The Washington Post | Wed Jun 4 | 0 |
 | Adwatch: McCain national security ad in key states | Associated Press | Fri Jun 6 | 1 |
| Trumped | firecult | Wed Jun 4 | 0 | |
| McCains 21.5 Million May | The New York Times | Thu Jun 5 | 3 |
- Public Discussion (7)
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{"commentId":1899729,"authorDomain":"bluecollarbytes"}
McCain has to answer Obama's flippant accusations. But there's a danger of him looking like Bob Dole-"stop lying about my record".
McCain the Man needs to emerge here at some point, because McCain the Politician isn't going to get it. Obama is slicker than Bill Clinton is his finest hours. McCain will never out-politic him.
McCain can talk off the cuff, something Obama stumbles over as his lawyer's mind sifts through the appropriate political legalese. Obama is a product, a package, a pop-culture phenom. McCain, alas, is simply a man who achieved, but a man nonetheless, with many of the typical faults of man glaring through. He'll only win by being true to who he is, while Obama can only meet the expectations of Media and Obamaphiles.
{"commentId":1899729,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"bluecollarbytes"}
- 1 vote
#1 - Thu Jun 5, 2008 9:33 AM EDT{"commentId":1914454,"authorDomain":"brandon-hobson"}
What exactly has McCain achieved, when he was eighth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, while Barack Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review?
{"commentId":1914454,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"brandon-hobson"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":2065450,"authorDomain":"joshleguern"}
^Typical elitist liberal schtick. Only the ubermensch can rise to the top, What you did as a 22 year old is just as relevant as what you have done since then. Who gives a flying rip about where they placed in college or what their GPA was? Do employers look more @ experience or education. For seasoned individuals, the experience they have is much more relevant than their college GPA or their SAT exam scores.
McCain has served his country since before Obama was even born. Before Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review (a huge accomplishment and not one to be scoffed at), McCain was being tortured in Vietnam, refusing to leave even when given the offer without his comrads.
In the senate McCain has accomplished alot. Much to the dismay of conservative Republicans, he was worked with both sides of the isle on important legislation like campaign finance reform, immigration reform, etc.
Excuse me, if I find McCain's placement in Naval academy irrelevant.
{"commentId":2065450,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"joshleguern"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1905138,"authorDomain":"Rixar13"}
Obama is spreading "Truth", if he acts like a Bush, votes like a Bush, talks like a Bush, guess what.....?
Does not support the troops like a Bush.......
{"commentId":1905138,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"Rixar13"}
- 1 vote
#2 - Thu Jun 5, 2008 8:21 PM EDT{"commentId":2025350,"authorDomain":"deaddovenumber9"}
"Brandon-311516
What exactly has McCain achieved, when he was eighth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, while Barack Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review?"
i was 7th from the bottom of my class
public school systems or any school system does not measure your intelligence
it just measures how much time you have to waste
all it is is remembering a lesson for a week
then taking the test
anybody can do that
the smartest kids are usually the kids who are failing...
in fact i can safely say the 8th smartest kid in the school is smarter than our valedictorian
i can myself probably debate you into a mental hospital
so dont go getting your socialist @!$%# out of line, just because your near the bottom does not make you ignorant
it just means you have better things to do with your life
if any of you care to debate i have links on my myspace and i have only lost 2 debates and that was a couple years ago
still mutilating liberals
anyways go check it out:
{"commentId":2025350,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"deaddovenumber9"}
#3 - Sun Jun 22, 2008 7:23 PM EDT{"commentId":2025354,"authorDomain":"deaddovenumber9"}
"Brandon-311516
What exactly has McCain achieved, when he was eighth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, while Barack Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review?"
i was 7th from the bottom of my class
public school systems or any school system does not measure your intelligence
it just measures how much time you have to waste
all it is is remembering a lesson for a week
then taking the test
anybody can do that
the smartest kids are usually the kids who are failing...
in fact i can safely say the 8th smartest kid in the school is smarter than our valedictorian
i can myself probably debate you into a mental hospital
so dont go getting your socialist @!$%# out of line, just because your near the bottom does not make you ignorant
it just means you have better things to do with your life
if any of you care to debate i have links on my myspace and i have only lost 2 debates and that was a couple years ago
still mutilating liberals
anyways go check it out:
{"commentId":2025354,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"deaddovenumber9"}
#4 - Sun Jun 22, 2008 7:24 PM EDT{"commentId":2025356,"authorDomain":"deaddovenumber9"}
"Brandon-311516
What exactly has McCain achieved, when he was eighth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, while Barack Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review?"
i was 7th from the bottom of my class
public school systems or any school system does not measure your intelligence
it just measures how much time you have to waste
all it is is remembering a lesson for a week
then taking the test
anybody can do that
the smartest kids are usually the kids who are failing...
in fact i can safely say the 8th smartest kid in the school is smarter than our valedictorian
i can myself probably debate you into a mental hospital
so dont go getting your socialist @!$%# out of line, just because your near the bottom does not make you ignorant
it just means you have better things to do with your life
if any of you care to debate i have links on my myspace and i have only lost 2 debates and that was a couple years ago
still mutilating liberals
anyways go check it out:
{"commentId":2025356,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"deaddovenumber9"}
#5 - Sun Jun 22, 2008 7:24 PM EDT{"commentId":2035626,"authorDomain":"spagettinoodles21"}
Bluecollar...you obliviously state your wild opinions saying, "Obama is a product, a package, a pop-culture phenom." Now wait, wasn't Kennedy...and when you say "He'll only win by being true to who he is" when speaking of McCain, who is he really? Listen to his speech on change and notice how democratic and untruthful to his party he sounds...personally i love his "off the cuff" phrases that he uses such as..."we will deliver water to dehydrated babies." Definitely rousing don't you think?
{"commentId":2035626,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"spagettinoodles21"}
#6 - Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:33 AM EDT{"commentId":2065502,"authorDomain":"joshleguern"}
Kennedy did not have the immense backing of an intensely liberal media, which I think is where Blue Collar is coming from.
If this campaign is based on speeches (and as Obama avoids McCain on debates, insists on long winded Lincoln-Douglas type debates, and McCain does nothing, it looks like Obams might get his wish.) Obama wins no question about it.
The real question is who is Barack Obama really? He calls for change, yet he has done of the same things as typical Washington politicans. He calls for bipartisanship and even postpartisanship, yet he has one of the most liberal voting records in the senate. He calls for a new politics, but uses the same smear tactics (twisting the 100 years remark, buying into the McBush crap) as everyone else. This "change" that Obama is calling for is one thing, a change in party. He wants to be the Democratic President of the United States of America. Which is fine, but he's painting himself as something that he is not.
{"commentId":2065502,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"joshleguern"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":2147804,"authorDomain":"BrandonBedford"}
Universal Suffrage may well be the downfall of our nation. Does it make me a cynic to believe that a good say, 30-60% of people who say they support a candidate do so blindly.
Barack Obama is a rock star. It's actually very sad. I go to school with people who wear his shirt or say "Oh well I'm very liberal and I support Obama. I really like his ideas on 'change'"
I ask those people what that even means. What sort of change does he offer. Most people say he wants to get out of Iraq but, that is about the extent of their knoweledge.
So I then ask well why didn't you support Hilary Clinton, Joe Biden, John Edwards, or even Ron Paul. All of them want to get out of Iraq.
Sometimes they'll just admit that they don't know or that they just simply like Obama better for no real reason at all. Other times they'll quote an Obama talking point they heard on MSNBC while looking for the TV remote.
"I'm tired of old politics"
"I don't want Bush's third term."
etc. etc. etc.
Depending on whether or not I feel that arguing is worth my time I will either point out why they are being terribly misguided and that just because Obama is "in" right now doesn't mean they have to be a stupid American and sign up for --- whatever it is he's offering.
Other times I just remember that, sadly, many many Americans are just plain ignorant, well no, not ignorant, stupid.
If after careful research and thought, you decide that Obama is your man, well that's your prerogative however, if you vote for someone with little to no knowledge of their actual platform (past the rhetoric of change), you are doing nothing but further destroying my faith in this system called Universal Suffrage.
Maybe everyone isn't qualified to vote. Maybe you should have to take a test before being allowed to vote. To make sure you are making an informed decision. But, no! How could that be fair? That would be un-American. Even complete idiots should have a say in running our nation. Even though it may not be what's best for our people.
Silly silly silly America.
{"commentId":2147804,"threadId":"279740","contentId":"1543129","authorDomain":"BrandonBedford"}
- 1 vote
#7 - Wed Jul 9, 2008 3:12 AM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"279740","isPrivate":false}
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