McCain's South Carolina Pro-Life Mailer

In 2000, unknown opponents of John McCain tried to smear him by inciting racial hatred. McCain's adopted daughter from Bangladesh was presented in a mailing as his out-of-wedlock black baby.

In 2008, McCain's daughter, Bridgette, is prominently featured in another piece of mail. This time, its author is the McCain campaign, and it serves to highlight his pro-life credentials and his work on behalf of the cause of adoption.

Comments

Did you misspell Bridget/Bridgette's name or did the mailer?

Posted by cms | January 11, 2008 9:54 AM

Hello, Marc-

Thanks for keeping us informed as to what the GOP electorate in SC is seeing in their mailboxes. It appears to me that the mailer might have been designed when it appeared that Mitt was the primary opponent in SC, given its emphasis on McCain's unchanging position on the issue.

Posted by ElectionNightHQ.com Publisher | January 11, 2008 11:13 AM

How does Mother Theresa in full Muslim garb jibe with the Republican Party's pledge to bomb every Musilm to smithereens?

Posted by goethean | January 11, 2008 11:15 AM

Umm....goethean you're a moron. Mother Theresa is a Christian, and one who is being considered for a fastrack to Sainthood! And India is not a Muslim country. And that is not Mother Theresa, but a nun from her convent.

Posted by Tyler | January 11, 2008 11:30 AM

Tyler's first sentence cannot be improved, only endorsed. I guess the typical lefty has never seen a nun? (And yet they always act like conservatives are the provincial ones.)

Posted by y81 | January 11, 2008 12:32 PM

The reference to McCain's consistency on the issue is a dig at Romney, for sure; but I think it's intended at least equally to serve another purpose. Back in 2000, McCain was frequently accused of being pro-choice or at least inconsistent on the abortion issue; the basis for this accusation was, IIRC, a Bush ad that took a quote McCain gave to a California newspaper completely out of context.

The quote wound up making its rounds in conservative circles, even long after McCain ended his 2000 campaign. Because of that quote, there are still a surprising number of social conservatives who are convinced McCain is completely pro-choice even though they have no idea of his voting record on the subject. This is in part his way of telling them that those rumors are completely b.s.

Posted by Mark | January 11, 2008 3:28 PM

This is just brilliant, politically. Abortion bonafides aside, even.

It nods to his family values -- not abortion or gay rights -- but a meaningful devotion to his children and wife. For a social conservatives that matters a lot. It's seen as THE marker of an upstanding man - proof of basic goodness, honesty, and wisdom, all their primary job requirements.

That's why conservatives want candidates to wear their family and faith on their sleeve. (Not in a creepy way Romney tried though.) McCain has always seemed uncomfortable doing that. Bush was not in the slightest. A distinct advantage back then.

And that's what made the 2000 S.C. smear so damaging. The racist element is there to be sure, but the idea of a secret, illegitimate child is the truly repugnant part for conservatives. Even without much supporting evidence, it remains as a very negative impression for many.

It's also why Bill and Hillary Clinton are still so much distrusted and thus easily so reviled. From serial philanderer, it's a short logic jump to smarmy liar, crook, murder even. (Yes some people still believe that crap.)

If McCain had this mailing to respond to the disgusting smear against him in 2000, he may have very well inoculated it, even picked up points with the added bonus of material for the tried-and-true meme: "the other guy is a negative campaigner, I'm the honest patriot." (Sound familiar Mitt?)

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