ATIT Reheated (from 2008): John McCain tells ATIT "OK. I drilled Vicki Iseman. So what?"

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Ed.


In an interview today with All This Is That's national affairs editor, Pablo Fanques, Senator John McCain at first mocked the New York Times recent revelations about a possible relationship he had had with the lobbyist Vicki Iseman.

Fanques: So is there any whiff of truth to the story?

Sen. McCain: Sure, I guess there's a whiff of truth. She is a woman, and a good looking woman. It's more convenient to pin her on me than it would be a male lobbyist. That's for sure. Every person on the hill deals with lobbyists.

Fanques: But the New York Times also alludes to something deeper than a drink with a lobbyist.

Sen. McCain: Sure they do. Have you read the 'paper lately? They allude to a lot of things. And the Times has a stake in getting their boy Obama elected. They shredded Hillary Clinton, and now they're coming after me.

Fanques: But that still doesn't really answer my question.

Sen. McCain: But isn't this interview supposed to be about how I would support the arts after I'm elected?

Fanques: It is, indeed. But this seems a little more important.

Sen. McCain: Than what?! This is a f***ing sideshow you're running here. Let's talk about The Issues.

Fanques: We are. This has become the issue.

Sen. McCain: Look. I've become a threat to the Democrats and to the New York Times. So you drag up a ten year old story and start flogging it. It's not relevant to the campaign.

Fanques: So just what WAS your relationship with Ms. Iseman?

Sen. McCain: I think I explained that. Several times this week.

Fanques: But the New York Times and some of your staffers seem to think otherwise.

Sen. McCain: You're talking about Pravda here. A paper that is ashamed of the United States. And some traitor staff members who will be rapidly disposed of. Pardon me for ending that sentence with a preposition.

Fanques: But Senator, you've explained that you did some business with a lobbyist. Now, it seems, you need to explain the accusations that have been lodged against you about having a romantic relationship with Ms.Iseman.

Sen. McCain: Really. OK. I drilled Vicki Iseman. So what? Do I get the same pass you gave Slick Willy? Do I get the same pass you've been giving Obama and Hillary?

Fanques: Pass? I don't recall hearing these sorts of allegations against them?

Sen. McCain: Then you have your head in the sand. Because it's all out there. This interview is over. [click].

---o0o---

Karl Rove's dirty trick on John McCain

By Pablo Fanque, national affairs ed.

I recently revised and reprinted an article on Dick Tuck, the master of dirty tricks.  In the course of writing that, I ran into some other famous dirty tricks.  One of the most famous occurred in LBJ's early days on the campaign trail.

In one of his early congressional campaigns, Lyndon B. Johnson told one of his aides to spread the story that Johnson's opponent f****d pigs. The aide responded "Christ, Lyndon, we can't call the guy a pigf***er. It isn't true." To which LBJ replied "Of course it ain't true, but I want to make the son-of-a-bitch deny it." 

A fairly recent dirty trick that never got the attention it deserved is Karl V. Rove’s onslaught against Senator John McCain, who was running for President in the primaries against his boss, George W. Bush.  In 2000, John McCain won the New Hampshire primary and polls showed him ahead in South Carolina. McCain was on the verge of halting Bush's march to the White House and would likely become the nominee.

Rove chose one of the oldest weapons in the book of dirty tricks—the whisper campaign (see sidebar above).  A whisper campaign is spreading malicious and/or embarrassing rumors about your opponent, while making sure the rumors aren't actually traceable back to your campaign.

Two weeks before the election, pamphlets began appearing under windshields at candidate debates with a picture of McCain and his adopted Bangladeshi daughter.  The pamphlets alleged that McCain had an illegitimate African-American daughter.  This charge would cost him votes in a state that had never fully embraced desegregation.

Shortly after the pamphlet bombardment, anonymous pollsters began calling local Republicans to ask if they would be more or less likely to vote for McCain if he were mentally unstable because of his imprisonment as a POW in Vietnam.

McCain was so pissed off about the attacks that he confronted President Bush in person to demand that he stop; when Bush denied responsibility, McCain replied, “Don’t give me that s**t!” By Election Day, McCain's lead had vaporized and Bush won by 11 points.

With no realistic way now to nail down the nomination, McCain dropped out.  He never forgave Bush for the attacks on his family and wartime heroics.  He got his shot eventually, and went on with his VP nominee Sara Palin to get whipped by BHO.

Related:

Dick Tuck, American Prankster Hero
Teardrops: Glenn Beck, Anthony Weiner, John Boehner and remembering back to when Edmund Muskie's crying speech ended his Presidential campaign

---o0o---

John McCain's recent endorsement of, and his thoughts on, Mitt Romney in 2008

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor
illustration by Jack Brummet

Although Senator John McCain endorsed Mitt Romney in his quest for the presidency yesterday, this is a new position  for him.   Wednesday's McCain-Romney event was a rather stiff affair, and seemed to stop well short of a heart-felt embrace of Romney.  The endorsement was a one-hand-washes-the-other/quid pro quo arrangement for Romney's 2008 endorsement. The only thing missing is John McCain holding his nose and crossing his fingers. . .

In 2008, Senator McCain had a different take on Mittens:

---o0o---

Sen. McCain tears into Ex-VP Dick Cheney: "helped to recruit thousands of young men [to al Qaeda]."

Tom Dougherty [http://www.autodaddy.blogspot.com/ http://tomdougherty.carbonmade.com/ http://tom-dougherty.blogspot.com/ pointed out this awesome video. There is something so satisfying about seeing the GOP cannabilize itself. . .and it's kind of nice to see Sen. McCain once again tilt against his own party. Yes, he says Dick Cheney helped al Qaeda...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/30/mccain-whacks-cheney-tort_n_272179.html


---o0o---

Sarah Palin explains How Obama Won with collusion from "the bloggers" and liberal media as she is interviewed for the documentary "Media Malpractice"

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Correspondent

Sarah Palin was recently interviewed for what seems to be a right wing documentary on how Obama won, titled "Media Malpractice." It's basically stock Palin. . .interestingly, she doesn't take on the McCain campaign who were probably more responsible than anyone for how she was perceived by the media, and the public, particularly in the last month of the campaign, when they unabashedly threw her under the bus (ed note: do not infer by this that we don't believe she fully deserved to be placed under the bus).


---o0o---

Joe Lieberman: The Reckoning

Senator "Crazy" Joe Lieberman's day of reckoning is at hand. Interestingly, Barack Obama, whom he mercilessly slagged during the presidential campaign, has the least appetite of anyone for making him pay. Obama will take office as a relentless advocate of bi-partisanship and he will not allow Lieb to be drummed out of the party. Nor will he punish John McCain for his transgressions. In fact, I bet you will see John McCain step up and work very closely with Obama on some of those key issues.

I know why this will happen, but I still wish we couldn't take Lieberman to the woodshed for his much-deserved 40 whacks.
---o0o---

The Palin Phone Call Prank

An Associated Press article came out yesterday, with a transcript of much of the prank phone call to Sarah Palin from a Quebec radio station's "President Nicolas Sarkozy of France." Jump here to read the article. It's pretty good.

click to enlarge the Governor

"Palin praises Sarkozy throughout the call and also mentions his wife, Carla, a model-turned-songwriter.

"You know, I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally and your beautiful wife," Palin says. "Oh my goodness, you've added a lot of energy to your country with that beautiful family of
yours."

The Sarkozy impersonator tells Palin his wife is "so hot in bed" and then informs her that Bruni has written a song for her about Joe the Plumber entitled "Du rouge à lèvres sur une cochonne" - which translates as "lipstick on a pig."

---o0o---

Keeping hockey mom/pit bull Sarah Palin presentable: Clothes: $150K; Hair: $36K; Make-up: $18K

click the gov to enlarge

According to an article by Michael Luo in today's New York Times, the highest paid person on John McCain's campaign staff in October is Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis, Mark Salter, Charlie Black, Jill Hazelbaker, Amy Strozzi, Sarah Palin's make-up artist.

Yes, it costs money to put lipstick on a pitbull! Amy Strozzi, the Emmy Award [for So You Think You Can Dance?] winning makeup artist, was paid $22,800 in October.

Managing that famous head of hair isn't cheap either: Angela Lew was paid $10,400 as a communications consultant in October. Ms. Lew works out of the Hair Grove in Westwood Village, the very same place Cindy McCain gets her hair "done." That makes Ms. Lew the 4th highest paid person on the campaign.

Make-up artist Strozzi and hair stylist Lew were also paid around $22,000 total in September (for lipstick application "communications consulting," and hair-combing "GOTV" consulting).

The tally so far to keep ah-shucks hockey mom Governor Sarah Palin presentable:

Threads, shoes, accessories: $150,000
Hair: $36,000
Makeup: $18,000
---o0o---

Senator John Kerry muses on underwear, speculating he might go without, and says John McCain eschews boxers or briefs and chooses Depends®

Over the weekend, John Kerry was talking to the press corps, expounding on what it's like to be under the fifth estate microscope. . .

"I don't know if any of you know what it's like. I do, obviously," he said. "I've been asked all of those brilliant questions that were repeated this year."

"Barack got asked the famous boxers or briefs question," Kerry went on. "I was tempted to say commando."

Senator Kerry said Barack Obama successfully parried that question but that in his answer, John McCain, had some problems.

"Then they asked McCain and McCain said, ‘Depends,'" Kerry said to laughter from the crowd.
---o0o---

Did John McCain really make that face? Yes, he did.

Did John McCain really make that face? Yes, he did. But it wasn't just another Captain Queeg moment. . .you've probably seen it out of context. He was attempting to shake Bob Schieffer's hand, when Schieffer walked in the opposite direction. McCain made the funny face to show he was all mixed up. It was pretty funny...until the photo started circulating.

If you doubt my veracity (how could you?), you can see this moment on this YouTube video, if you jump in around 4:25, near the end.
---o0o---

Presidential Debate Three: Obama edges out McCain, but just barely

"I love you, man." "I love you too." Click to enlarge.

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

Our verdict on the third Presidential debate?: Obama edged out McCain, but just barely. . .exactly what he needed to do.

"You didn't tell the American people the truth," Senator John McCain charged. McCain delivered his best debate performance to date. However, his face told the tale. He was blinking at an alarming rate, mugging, and flashing a smile that bordered on a grimace, or even a rictus [1]. At times he seemed to be involuntarily mugging like The Joker.

As always, cool, cerebral, charming, unflappable, and surging ahead in the polls, Obama expertly parried each thrust, and, at times, lobbed a few Molotov cocktails of his own, all the while appearing absolutely Presidential. At the end of the debate, there was little question of who the voters would want to lead America until 2013.

Obama held fire, wisely. Ahead now in every single poll, and in some by 14 points, there was no reason to jump on the ledge in any issue. Obama performed admirably. . .probably his coolest performance in all three debates. But he is on top: he had nothing to win and everything to lose. And he expertly worked that angle. McCain offered him a chance to decimate his running mate Sarah Palin and Obama held back. What could he possibly gain from attacking the wildly popular Palin? Obama effectively diffused the Obama-Palin campaign's unending attempts to link him as some sort of acolyte of college professor and former Weather Underground mastermind William Ayers. A.C.O.R.N. was also mentioned repeatedly by McCain and Obama--rightfully--basically brushed off the association, leaving McCain pounding sand.

Arguably, the key exchange of the debate was when the frustrated McCain finally said in a clearly scripted remark, "Sen. Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."

Obama fired back and dismissed McCain's claim of political independence from The Administration:

"If I've occasionally mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people - on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities - you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush," he said.

Senator McCain passed up the chance to say his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, was qualified to become President (and Obama, also wisely, didn't touch it). McCain did praise her performance as governor and expressed admiration for her work on behalf of special needs children (which according to Alaskans is not a given at all).

McCain referred repeatedly to a voter, Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Toledo, Ohio Obama had an exchange with. They both directly spoke to "Joe" several times, and in the end, it went nowhere.

McCain's most critical debate mistake was seeming to dismiss the mother's health exception on the abortion issue. "I am completely supportive of a ban on late-term abortions, partial-birth or otherwise, as long as there's an exception for the mother's health and life, and this did not contain that exception," Obama clearly stated.

McCain sarcastically paid tribute to "the eloquence of Senator Obama. He's (for) health for the mother. You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything." "mother's health," he seemed to be saying, "...who cares?" And with that statement, Senator McCain lost virtually every potential swing vote from pro-choice voters.
McCain tried to raise the issue of public financing, but was effortlessly slapped down by Obama. Yes, Obama did go back on his pledge to consult with McCain and hopefully use only public financing in the campaign. While McCain opted for public financing, any possible ethical or moral advantage has been utterly neutralized by the RNC with its massive war chest relentlessly--and indirectly--pumping gushers of money into the McCain campaign.

With only a couple of exceptions, the Presidential campaign is now being waged in battleground states that were solidly Republican in 2004 - states like Virginia, Colorado, and Iowa - and in most of them, Obama holds significant leads in the polls. In the end, this debate changes nothing. It's on to November 4th!

[1] A gaping grimace: "his mouth gaping in a kind of rictus of startled alarm" (Richard Adams). We often think of the rictus as a death-grin.
---o0o---

All This Is That Electoral College Map - Obama 526, McCain 12

Click our electoral college map to enlarge...

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

As of October 14, 2008, All This Is That is officially calling the election for Senator Obama. We project Obama to take the states of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, for a total of 526 electoral votes.

John McCain will likely win both Alabama and Alaska for a total of 12 votes, although support in Alabama appears to be eroding at an alarming rate.

If John McCain's statement "We, my friends, have got them [Obama-Biden] just where we want them" is the delusional raving of a broken-down wardheeler correct, the next question is "Exactly where would that be Senator McCain?"


---o0o---

Barack Obama Double Dog Dares John "Queeg" McCain To Say It To His Face Next Week

by Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

In an interview with Charles Gibson yesterday, Senator Obama threw down to Senator John McCain.

"We've been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days," Obama told Charlie Gibson, "he wasn't willing to say it to my face. But I guess we've got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate."

That's just about as close as you can come to throwing down the gauntlet, and calling the "war hero" a gutless pansy.

Barack Obama's situation reminds me of something Adlai Stevenson once said:

"I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them."

---o0o---

Photos from The Sarah Palin protest in Anchorage

Contrary to what you may have heard, Sarah Palin is not universally worshipped in Alaska, or Anchorage, or Wasilla. Here are some photographs from a massive--by Alaska standards--protest in Anchorage.

It isn't the largest protest ever (as the organizers claim)...that honor goes to the native Americans who held a protest a few years ago. . .but it does come in second, and as you can see from the photos, The Governor is hardly universally worshipped.


click to enlarge


click to enlarge


click to enlarge
---o0o---

McCain Weasels: "I can't debate. It feels like my head is on fire."

"What Are You Going To Do If You're Elected
And Things Get Tough? Suspend Being President?" [1]


By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

In a stunningly desperate move, Senator John McCain "suspended" his campaign for President. He also said he was cancelling or postponing the debate scheduled for Friday night.

With his lead long since obliterated, the Palin bounce now a momentary flash in the pan, and the backlash following his calling the economy "strong" only last week, McCain threw a desperate Hail Mary Wednesday afternoon. The announcement was mocked by the Democrats and seemed to puzzle the Republicans. One Republican congressman, who refuses to be named, told me "I just about s**t my pants! He must have gone off his meds."

McCain's surprise announcement that he was suspending his presidential campaign was met by a statement from Barack Obama saying it's ``more important than ever'' for the candidates to tell voters how they would deal with the crisis." They can work with Congress while campaigning, Obama said.

"It is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once,'' Obama said.

The move by McCain is "desperate,'' said Linda Fowler, a government professor at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. "He has been trying to change the conversation every time the press and public starts paying attention to the issues."

Presidential Campaigns have not been suspended before, even during the Civil War, the Depression, World War II, and the Vietnam War. "McCain's move should be judged too clever by half,'' said Stephen Hess, a scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

______________________________________

[1] Some other choice remarks David Letterman made Wednesday:

"In the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?"

Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."

"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sarah Palin. Where is she?"

"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"
---o0o---

VP nominee Sarah Palin defends John McCain "the deregulator" (with bonus Palin painting)

In an interview today between Katy Couric of CBS News and Governor Sarah Palin, Couric probed Palin on Senator John McCain's credentials as an economic reformer:

Couric: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

Palin: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie - that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.

Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.

Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

---o0o---

Palin-McCain Halloween Card

From the often amusing blog site, BartCop.com, a Halloween card. . .
---o0o---

John McCain: "I have oversight over every part of the economy." Nice job, John. You're starting to look like Herbert Hoover.

"Sen. McCain bragged about how as chairman of the Commerce Committee in the Senate, he had oversight of every part of the economy. Well, all I can say to Sen. McCain is, 'Nice job. Nice job,'" said Barack Obama to a rally at a baseball stadium in Las Vegas.

"Where is he getting these lines? The lobbyists running his campaign?"

---o0o---

60 Frames campaign ad video: "I masturbated to Sarah Palin."

John McCain's acceptance speech: "We have failed you. Re-elect us."

John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, after kudos to the unnamed 41st and 43rd Presidents, and even Barack Obama and Joe Biden, was less a celebration of the G.O.P. than an admission of failure. He hammered away at the failures of the Bush administration over and over and over. After this speech, it's hard to imagine George Bush ever campaigning for McCain/Palin. I've never heard anything like it. It wasn't a great speech, but then John McCain is not a great orator. He didn't offer a lot of substance, but he probably got the job done. And he left the democrats an incredible array of sound bites on failed Republican policies.

Even his own party blanched at the excoriation and abuse he heaped upon the Bush Administration and all of their enablers (including, of course, many Democrats):

Of the 67 paragraphs in his speech, six focused on Barack Obama. One of those paragraphs praised Obama, and five took issue with his policy. But the most interesting paragraph was one that was met with near silence from the assembled multitude.

He did mention his predecessors, George Bush, although he could not bring himself to actually name them:

"I’m grateful to the President for leading us in those dark days following the worst attack on American soil in our history, and keeping us safe from another attack many thought was inevitable; and to the First Lady, Laura Bush, a model of grace and kindness in public and in private. And I’m grateful to the 41st President and his bride of 63 years, and for their outstanding example of honorable service to our country. "

And then, McCain began to talk about his own President, his own party, and the failed policies of the last eight Republican, years.

"I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption."

"We’re going to recover the people’s trust by standing up again for the values Americans admire. The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics."

"We need to change the way government does almost everything"

"I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn’t even noticed."

"We have to catch up to history, and we have to change the way we do business in Washington."

"All you ever asked of government is to stand on your side, not in your way."

"when we tell you we’re going to change Washington, and stop leaving our country’s problems for some unluckier generation to fix, you can count on it."

"I’ve fought corruption, and it didn’t matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and had to be held accountable. I’ve fought big spenders in both parties, who waste your money on things you neither need nor want, while you struggle to buy groceries, fill your gas tank and make your mortgage payment.
"

"I’ve fought to get million dollar checks out of our elections. I’ve fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes [Jack note: coincidentally, yesterday, Jack Abramoff received an additional four years in prison]. I fought crooked deals in the Pentagon. I fought tobacco companies and trial lawyers, drug companies and union bosses."

"We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles."

---o0o---