Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Why McCain Has More 'Friends' Than Facebook

The candidate wants to be your buddy

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 1, 2008 3:55 PM CDT

(Newser) – John McCain wants to be your friend. He regularly and repeatedly addresses audiences as “my friends,” Paul Collins writes for Slate, calling the habit  "the most mystifying verbal tic of any politician since Bob Dole." FDR and William Jennings Bryan shared the habit, but in recent years it's been co-opted, perhaps because of its old-timey feel, by conservative pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan.

The phrase's roots lie in classical antiquity, but its “less nuanced” use by the likes of Limbaugh and Buchanan makes its “implicit aggression” more overt, Collins notes: “Generally, when someone not personally known to you addresses you as 'my friend,' the safe assumption to make is that he is not.”

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-AZ., greets supporters outside the ISOH/Impact charitable organization's facility in Toledo, Ohio.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-AZ., greets supporters outside the ISOH/Impact charitable organization's facility in Toledo, Ohio.   (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
John McCain hugs Tiffany Rochet after visiting the ISOH/Impact charitable organization's facility where he help pack Hurricane Gustav relief packages in  Toledo, Ohio, Monday, Sept. 1, 2008.
John McCain hugs Tiffany Rochet after visiting the ISOH/Impact charitable organization's facility where he help pack Hurricane Gustav relief packages in Toledo, Ohio, Monday, Sept. 1, 2008.   (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
 John McCain reaches into a crowd of supporters after a campaign rally with vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov., Sarah Palin, in O'Fallon, Mo., Sunday Aug. 31, 2008.
John McCain reaches into a crowd of supporters after a campaign rally with vice presidential running mate, Alaska Gov., Sarah Palin, in O'Fallon, Mo., Sunday Aug. 31, 2008.   (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

More Newser Stories

Contests Underscore Hard-to-Heal Divisions

Rush Limbaugh Rips McCain

Meghan McCain: I Hate the Hate

2010 to Bring 10 GOP Promises

Limbaugh Loves Palin Memoir


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne