via TMP -- Fussillade Of Stand-Alone Stories Slammed Obama For "Gaffe." So What About McCain? Okay, so here's the question. The media pummeled Barack Obama for a "gaffe" and a "stumble" when he said American lives were "wasted" in Iraq. So how about McCain? How about it? Yesterday, during his Presidential announcement on David Letterman, McCain described American lives lost in Iraq as "wasted." He has just issued a statement saying he screwed up and instead should have used the word "sacrificed." This is exactly the same mistake, of course, that Obama committed back in mid-February. A number of bloggers today have pointed out that the conservative outrage machine has been silent about this -- even as it went into overdrive in response to Obama. But here's another thing to look at. How many stand-alone stories by the big news orgs will we see about McCain's screw-up? How many times do you suppose mainstream media commentators will refer to McCain's fumble as a "mistake," a "gaffe," or any similar such term? Thus far crack TPM reporter-researcher Eric Kleefeld and I have been able to find exactly zero such descriptions. We've found a grand total of two -- yes, only two thus far -- stand-alone stories about McCain's foul-up, and neither used any such language. One was by ABC News, the other by the Associated Press. USA Today, meanwhile, used the AP story but actually described the incident positively in a subhed, saying that McCain moved "swiftly to calm the waters." By contrast, when Obama committed this error, he was greeted with a fusillade of stand-alone stories, many of them hammering him for his political screw-up. "His first stumble," said the Chicago Sun Times. "Stumbling out of the gate," said political wise man Ron Fournier in a piece carried by MSNBC. Matt Lauer of NBC wondered: "How big a fallout will there be over this?" There was plenty of other babbling about it on cable, too. And on McCain? Nutin'. As of yet, anyway. Again, it's early days. Maybe we'll see a bunch of stand-alone stories on this tomorrow. Maybe we'll hear lots of similar denunciations of McCain's blunder in the next 12 to 24 hours. Or maybe not. Maybe instead we'll be reminded yet again of the media's default setting: On military matters, Dems are presumed to be politically vulnerable, while Republicans -- particularly McCain -- are presumed to be politically infallible. http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/03/fussillade_of_s.php
Mr. Obama is a better man than I. -- But at the Senate today Obama defended McCain, surmising that McCain was trying to say what he had been trying to: that the troops deserved better planning and preparation than the Bush administration had given them. "One thing I don't think McCain can be faulted for is his dedication to the troops," Obama said. "He's been there, done that." http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2915397&page=1
McCain is an idiot. He's senile. His views are bizarre. He's fading fast in the Republican primary race, and he'll just about disappear when he has to start answering questions.
He is no where near the guy that ran in 2000. He's gone from maverick to run of the mill Republican. At this point, I'd be suprised if he makes it past Iowa. I think it's between Rudy and Mitt. Could anyone seriously vote for a guy named Mitt?
Newt or Tommy Thompson are my current predictions. Were I a betting man, I would bet the farm that neither Romney nor Rudy nor McCain is at the top of the GOP ticket.
didn't know you were a mindreader.. guess what i'm thinking right now.. so mccain says what he does not believe in?
Weak. In the other thread, you said this... Whether McCain really believes it or not has no bearing on the parent who lost a child and hears him say that. What kind of language is that from someone who aspires to be the Commander in Chief?
You have been pawned from the moment he said it and you said nothing. You were doubly pawned from the replies to your response. Even among your amusing proclomations in this thread, you have been slammed.
McCain spent how many years in the dark, eating scraps in a Vietnamese prison? WHO ARE YOU to question his patriotism? You libs are unbelievable...
Because he flip-flopped on everything. In 2000, the guy's platform was almost entirely different that it is today. I really liked him back then but today he's altered his stance on everything to conform with the Republican mainstream
