McCain Camp: If You Point Out Lies, You’re ‘In The Tank’ For Obama
Monday, September 22, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Following the McCain campaign conference call with reporters this morning, in which senior campaign adviser Steve Schmidt lashed out at the media — specifically The New York Times — for being “completely, totally, 150 percent in the tank for Obama,” Politico’s Ben Smith went to work fact-checking Schmidt’s myriad claims.
It turns out Schmidt, who complained that, “any time the Obama campaign is criticized at any level, the critics are immediately derided as liars,” wasn’t telling the truth — about pretty much anything.
From Politico:
Sen. John McCain’s top campaign aides convened a conference call today to complain of being called “liars.” They pressed the media to scrutinize specific elements of Sen. Barack Obama’s record.
But the call was so rife with simple, often inexplicable misstatements of fact that it may have had the opposite effect: to deepen the perception, dangerous to McCain, that he and his aides have little regard for factual accuracy.
The errors in McCain strategist Steve Schmidt’s charges against Obama and Sen. Joe Biden were particularly notable because they seemed unnecessary. Schmidt repeatedly gilded the lily: He exaggerated the Biden family’s already problematic ties to the credit card industry; Obama’s embarrassing relationship with a 1960s radical; and an Obama supporter’s over-the-top attack on Sarah Palin when — in each case — the truth would have been damaging enough.
A brief summary of the untruths: Schmidt said Biden’s son was a lobbyist for the credit card and banking industry; the truth is Hunter Biden works for MBNA, but was never a lobbyist. Schmidt said Obama adviser Robert Wexler called Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin a “Nazi sympathizer,” the truth is Wexler called former GOP presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan a “Nazi sympathizer,” and said Palin supported him in 2000 — which appears to be untrue. Schmidt said “Obama began his political career in its early stages raising money at [former Weatherman William] Ayers’ house”; the truth is that Ayers did host a campaign event for Obama at his home when Obama first ran for the Illinois state senate, but it was not a fund-raiser, and Ayers “did not contribute money to Obama’s first campaign, according to Illinois records.”
One McCain aide, Michael Goldfarb, said Politico was “quibbling with ridiculously small details when the basic things are completely right.”
The problem is, Schmidt’s transgressions might be forgivable if they didn’t fit so neatly into the McCain campaign’s apparently compulsive inability to be honest and forthcoming with the facts.
The real kicker: when Smith contacted the McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers, to comment on all of Schmidt’s false information, what was the response?
“You are in the tank,” he e-mailed.
15 Comments
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
McCain's getting desperate… he's starting to yell at the playing field … lol
Why would America REWARD complete Republican failure ?
We wont.
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 4:12 pm
Mr. Delong, if you SINCERELY believe that the NY Times, the Washington Post, and many other MSM outlets are NOT in the tank for the Obama campaign then you should seriously consider getting a food tester because someone is drugging your food or drink.
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 4:12 pm
Gee, why no complaints about Faux New's bias in the media. Do you really want this pathetic whiner in charge of the country?
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 4:23 pm
There are a lot of us voters out here who are getting so upset about the McCain campaign dishonesty, and now bullying attempt to censor the press. When you look at all these articles on the subject on Google, they run as…”McCain campaign skewers NY Times…McCain lashes out at the media…McCain accuses media. Bully boy prize bouncer, Steve Schmidt, succesfully managed to distract the media from the real story – MCCAIN CAMPAIGN LOBBYIST ENABLED DEREGULATION OF FANNIE & FREDDIE & MCCAIN PLAYED ALONG!
Isn't it time that Mainstream Media did their job and served their real constituency – - the American public.
Media doesn't have to make the McCain campaign happy, media is supposed to provide the public with accurate reporting and furnish us with the facts and insights we need to make good voting decisions. Instead, media is merely passing on McCain copy points, without andy critical review. Nowhere is this more blatent than in the bizarre case of Governor Palin, the protected political species.
The whole situation is absurd. Stop enabling John McCain's daily lies and distortions. Be brave and speak out, put an end to it. Let's bring truth back into political reporting and censor lies, not the other way around.
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 4:25 pm
Run Google and check out the volume of puff stories on McCain's big boy statements on the economy over the last 48 hours, then come back and give us the count on how many favor McCain and how many Obama?
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 5:39 pm
I second that. The media's place in democracy is to keep the politicians honest.
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 7:27 pm
I find the media point out all those GOP lies and their repressive tactics FAR to little. It is completely shocking to what a low level the GOP has sunk and it should be pointed out daily. Alaskans see much clearer what the McCain campaign attempts to do: they call it hijacking the Alaskan justice system and government. Thanks God if the media do their job and report truthfully!
Comment posted September 22, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
Let's call it 'advocacy journalism' and claim responsibility for it as American Citizens. All the sensationalism, negativity, and political posturing is a result of the degredation of core values. The answer to restoring lost values is to restore them within ourselves first.
IF YOU WANT RESPECT – SHOW RESPECT, for yourself and everyone around you. Our family, our neighbors, our media, our leaders will reflect our expectations. This is a Government 'by the people and for the people', meaning, Americans must set the standard for our leaders, not the other way around. Our Government is a mirror image of us. No leader can save us, we must save ourselves.
Let's call it the 'duty of citizenship'.
Comment posted September 23, 2008 @ 5:38 am
yes Robert, we can check the supposed 'liberal bias' of the media easily. any time you want, go to the most liberal msm websites you can find, msnbc, cnn whoever. then count the headlines pro mccain and pro obama. it is ALWAYS at least five to one for mccain. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS let's put this LIBERAL BIAS LIE to bed once and for all!
Comment posted September 23, 2008 @ 6:29 am
Maybe if someone had pointed out Bush's Campaign lies in 2000 and 2004, we wouldn't be having this ridiculous discussion. Schmidt's lies are so easy to confirm. I guess he expects the same deference that Bush received. McCain is too smart a candidate for the Republicans. They would rather have a Democrat to kick then a smart Republican who won't do what he's told. Bush still thinks he is going to go down in history as the best and least understood President. He was so obviously bought and paid for that he would have to dense indeed to think virtually everyone didn't know that.
Comment posted September 23, 2008 @ 9:22 am
It's such an easy tactic, as we all know by now: repeat the lies ad nauseum until people stop factchecking them; then, if any source dares to counter, they are derided and denounced.
Classic Fascism.
(yes, O'Reilly, **that** is fascism, contrary to what you'd like your mindless viewers to believe)
Comment posted September 23, 2008 @ 12:38 pm
yes Robert, we can check the supposed 'liberal bias' of the media easily. any time you want, go to the most liberal msm websites you can find, msnbc, cnn whoever. then count the headlines pro mccain and pro obama. it is ALWAYS at least five to one for mccain. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS let's put this LIBERAL BIAS LIE to bed once and for all!
Comment posted September 23, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
Maybe if someone had pointed out Bush's Campaign lies in 2000 and 2004, we wouldn't be having this ridiculous discussion. Schmidt's lies are so easy to confirm. I guess he expects the same deference that Bush received. McCain is too smart a candidate for the Republicans. They would rather have a Democrat to kick then a smart Republican who won't do what he's told. Bush still thinks he is going to go down in history as the best and least understood President. He was so obviously bought and paid for that he would have to dense indeed to think virtually everyone didn't know that.
Comment posted September 23, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
It's such an easy tactic, as we all know by now: repeat the lies ad nauseum until people stop factchecking them; then, if any source dares to counter, they are derided and denounced.
Classic Fascism.
(yes, O'Reilly, **that** is fascism, contrary to what you'd like your mindless viewers to believe)
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
rss