McCain Defends Obama At Campaign Event
by Todd Beeton, Fri Oct 10, 2008 at 04:02:51 PM EDT
As Josh wrote yesterday, the crowds at McCain/Palin rallies have been getting more and more virulent in their reactions to Barack Obama, a sentiment that has been, to say the least, encouraged by the irresponsible rhetoric of McCain and Palin themselves. With some real pushback against this by Barack Obama, Joe Biden and even many in the media, and perhaps the glimmer of a conscience, John McCain stepped back some of his criticisms on the stump today, even praising and defending Obama at a couple of points.
From The AP:
"If you want a fight, we will fight," McCain said. "But we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments." When people booed, he cut them off."I don't mean that has to reduce your ferocity," he said. "I just mean to say you have to be respectful."
TPM has the video:
At another more dramatic moment,
"I don't trust Obama," a woman said. "I have read about him. He's an Arab."McCain shook his head in disagreement, and said:
"No, ma'am. He's a decent, family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with (him) on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign is all about."
TPM has yet another moment where he literally said "you don't have to be scared" of Barack as president.
John McCain seems to be realizing the monster he has created and appears to be trying to undo some of the damage. Let's hope this is the first of many campaign events where McCain and Palin walk back some of their irresponsible fearmongering.
As for McCain's motives for doing the right thing, they may not be entirely selfless in nature. Sure it could be out of a hidden store of decency, or it could simply be political expediency. Take a look at the new Newsweek poll of RVs and you see what his shameful attacks on Obama have gotten him: Obama leads McCain by 11 points, up from a tie a month ago.
And then there's the matter of this:
The poll suggests that the McCain campaign's strategy of sharp attacks on Obama's character have not yet had their desired effect and may, in fact, be backfiring. In recent days, McCain's campaign--and, in particular, his running mate, Sarah Palin--have sought to highlight Obama's ties to the '60s radical William Ayers and paint the Democratic nominee as outside of the mainstream. But 60 percent of voters said they have a favorable view of Obama, while 36 percent said they viewed the Democratic candidate unfavorably. That's actually an improvement from a month ago, when Obama's favorable to unfavorable ratio was 57 to 37. In the same period, McCain's favorability rating has decreased, from 57 percent in September to 51 percent today, while his unfavorable percentage have risen, 36 to 45.
Update [2008-10-10 20:25:56 by Todd Beeton]:Just saw more footage of this on Countdown. It's actually even more dramatic because McCain keeps getting booed at his own events for defending Obama. Reap what you sow, my friend.
Tags: 2008 Presidential election, Barack Obama, John McCain (all tags)
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