Calls Dem's comment that he doesn't look like other prezs 'shameful'
New York Daily News Jul 31, 08 2:29 PM CDT
(Newser)
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John McCain’s campaign adviser accused Barack Obama today of having “played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck,” reports the New York Daily News. The Dem had yesterday described how opponents would use fear against him, saying, “You know, ‘he’s not patriotic enough…he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.’”
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ANALYSIS
Politico documents the differences
Politico Jul 31, 08 2:10 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Much has been made recently of John McCain’s difficulty in driving a message from his “eclectic and occasionally politically inconvenient hodgepodge of policy positions,” Politico says, but little has been said about how often the candidate’s top aides disagree with him. And while fewer public disagreements within the Obama campaign might be attributable to tighter messaging as well as the Democrat's shorter and less-maverick career, Politico takes a look.
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analysis
Candidate ad libs as staffers attempt to strategize
Washington Post Jul 31, 08 1:38 PM CDT
(Newser)
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John McCain relishes interacting with voters and sparring with the press, a style that's helped earn him his "maverick" reputation even as it ties his advisers and staff in knots. The campaign as a whole is turning to Karl Rove-style tactics, but the candidate's unpredictable behavior is making it tough to present a united front, the Washington Post reports.
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OPINION
As candidate flails, labels range from dishonorable to 'stupid,' and 'losing it'
Wall Street Journal Jul 31, 08 12:10 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A rare level of pundit fury is flying at John McCain, as some erstwhile defenders lose patience with the Republican. Daniel Henninger asks point blank in the Wall Street Journal , “Is John McCain stupid? Is John McCain losing it?” The venerable rightie documents lazy and repeated stumbles on social security, Al Gore, and Nancy Pelosi—questioning McCain’s “mental focus” and “intellectual discipline.” And it’s not mere flip-flopping: it’s a "sex-change operation" and a simple refusal to “put in the work” to win.
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He still holds 5% edge; McCain attacks don't stick either
CNN Jul 31, 08 9:51 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Neither Barack Obama’s foreign tour nor John McCain’s harsh attacks of it have made a dent in the polls, CNN reports. In the first poll conducted entirely after the trip, Obama holds a 51-44% lead, a mincing step up from last month’s 50-45% edge. His numbers on foreign policy and national security issues remained similarly stationary.
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OPINION
Among them: Obama is a bit like Bush, and he needs to strike back harder at Mac
New York Jul 31, 08 6:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Here are five things we learned in the wake of Barack Obama’s overseas trip, via John Heilemann in New York : Obama's got guts: The trip was “risky business, fraught with peril”—but we know now that he's willing to gamble if the potential payout is right. His team is great, but imperfect: The trip once again proved the organizational brilliance of his aides, but the non-visit of troops in Germany gave McCain ammo.
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Tactics echo Bush re-election strategy
New York Times Jul 31, 08 4:57 AM CDT
(Newser)
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John McCain's latest attack on Barack Obama as a self-absorbed "celebrity" candidate out of touch with ordinary Americans marks a new aggressive stage of his campaign, reports the New York Times . The "star power" offensive against Obama, sharper than earlier efforts, comes as key players in President Bush's attack-driven re-election campaign take control of the McCain camp.
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Weaver breaks silence after leaving campaign last year
Atlantic Jul 30, 08 7:00 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Former John McCain strategist and “Straight Talk Express" architect John Weaver blasted McCain's latest ad as "childish" today, the Atlantic reports. Breaking his silence about the campaign, Weaver said that the attack ad likening Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton “diminishes” and “reduces McCain on the stage.”
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OPINION
He's giving away a must-win fight on the economy
Wall Street Journal Jul 30, 08 5:49 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Taxes should be an easy issue for John McCain, as he’s running against a Democrat “who says matter-of-factly that he wants to raise” them. So the Wall Street Journal wonders why he appears to be giving away his advantage. Given a chance to voice his support for private retirement accounts, he told ABC only that “I am a supporter of sitting down together and putting everything on the table and coming up with an answer.”
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He's a celebrity but unqualified to lead, it says
Time Jul 30, 08 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A new ad from the McCain campaign deems Obama the “biggest celebrity in the world” while flashing images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, Time reports. While mocking his rock-star status with other images from his trip to Europe, it asks, "But is he ready to lead?" The Obama camp responded that McCain has launched “yet another…false, negative attack. Or, as some might say, ‘Oops! He did it again.’”
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Voting absences, political conflict may stall huge Solana plan
Politico Jul 30, 08 2:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A plan to construct the world’s largest solar plant in Arizona could be in jeopardy due in part to voting absences and political reluctance by John McCain, Politico reports. The fate of the nearly 2,000-acre plant hinges on energy tax credits that are due to expire—credits funded by increased taxes on business, which McCain is hesitant to support.
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It's the 2nd accusation
of cozying up to
right wing for Fournier
Politico Jul 30, 08 1:58 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Ron Fournier’s objectivity is being questioned yet again, as Politico reports that the AP’s Washington bureau chief was offered a senior position in the McCain campaign before returning to the wire service in March 2007. Fournier’s political leanings have been a hot topic lately, since a 2004 email surfaced in which the reporter told Bush adviser Karl Rove to “keep up the fight.”
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ANALYSIS
But Mac insists that his rival skipped over media coverage
Washington Post Jul 30, 08 1:34 PM CDT
(Newser)
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John McCain is standing by his accusation that Barack Obama skipped a military hospital trip in Germany because he co