New Ad Highlights McCain Dishonesty

Yesterday I discussed an ad which represented a new low for the McCain campaign. The ad distorted the meaning of a bill supported by Obama which was intended to teach boundary lessons to children so that they would understand how to react to potential child molesters. The McCain campaign twisted the ad to claim that Obama wanted to teach children “about sex before learning to read.”

As I noted yesterday, this is twisting the truth so badly that it would be less of an incorrect statement to say that McCain supported child molesters. Neither is true, but this is another example of the type of logic McCain is using.

I bring this up again today because others are also seeing this as a new low for McCain. McClatchy fact checks this and declares it “Unsportsmanlike conduct.” After discussion of the ad they conclude, “Penalty: 15 yards for the McCain campaign’s deliberate low blow.” It is a shame that there really is not any means to penalize candidates who resort to such dishonesty without also infringing upon freedom of speech.

E.J. Dionne asks if the truth matters anymore and writes that McCain is “stooping to cheap advertising that would be condemned as trivial and misleading in a state legislative race. Boy, do I miss the old John McCain and wonder what became of him.”

Joe Klein, who has totally changed his view of McCain in recent days, writes a post entitled Apology Not Accepted:

Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he went about apologizing to journalists–including me–for his most obvious mis-step: his support for keeping the confederate flag on the state house.

Now he is responsible for one of the sleaziest ads I’ve ever seen in presidential politics, so sleazy that I won’t abet its spread by linking to it, but here’s the McClatchy fact check.

I just can’t wait for the moment when John McCain–contrite and suddenly honorable again in victory or defeat–talks about how things got a little out of control in the passion of the moment. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.

This ad, the lipstick on pig nonsense (which I will write about later in case any readers have missed it, and lies which even Fox News has exposed, should put an end to McCain’s reputation as a straight talker and a maverick. Back in 2000 conservatives succeeded in portraying Al Gore as an exaggerator or a liar by distorting things he said. This actually became a major narrative of the campaign. This year we have numerous actual examples of outright dishonesty from John McCain. This should become a major issue of the campaign as people who campaign dishonestly are likely to govern dishonestly. Such “credibility gaps” have been a problem from administrations of both parties in the past, and we have especially seen the dangers of a dishonest administration over the last eight years. We cannot risk another four years of the same.

3 Comments

  1. 1
    MsJoanne says:

    I tore apart everything that was said in that ad and every single thing was a lie.  Not just intimating that Obama supports pedophiles but EVERYTHING is a lie!

    Read the whole thing and see just how low the Republicans and McCain are willing to go.

    And I fear it will only continue on a downhill slide. I think we are just now seeing the start of the real ugly which is about to besiege us.

  2. 2
    Jerry says:

    Rats; from the title I thought Obama had come out with an ad that hilighted McCain’s dishonesty.  Instead you were referring to McCain’s ad.
    Here’s a thought.  Obama makes a “special” ad in which he begins by speaking to the viewer, explaining that McCain’s gone so over the top that Obama’s felt compelled to address this “honesty issue”.  Snippets of various McCain ads are then shown, followed by Obama’s short – direct explanation.
    This “ad” could be 2 minutes long and cover from 2 to 4 McCain ads.  I think this personal approach would be very effective.  Someone tell Obama, OK?

  3. 3
    MsJoanne says:

    I would love to see Obama buy a half-hour worth of time in primetime and do something hard hitting.  He has enough money to do that.  I think it would be money well spent.

    Maybe during American Idol. 😀

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