McCain v. McCain

The Democrats this fall, knowing that John McCain is still very popular with independents who think he is independent and a truth teller, and, most of all, a resilient man, will seek to portray him as the opposite: beholden to whichever partner he is bringing to the dance.

That's the idea behind this new website from the DNC

It's called McCain Debates.

The turn is: he's debating himself.

Example, from the DNC:

ROUND 1: Do you think Saddam is a threat?

"I believe that Saddam Hussein presents clear and present danger to the United States of America with his continued pursuit of...to acquire weapons of mass destruction." [CNN Late Edition, 3/3/02]

vs.

"I never said that it was a, quote, clear and present danger because of weapons of mass destruction." [Hardball, 9/17/03]

Those ellipses are suspect....I admit.

Hey -- and here's a subject for another "debate."

Was John McCain on the verge of changing his party affiliation or joining John Kerry's ticket in 2004? He says never. The historical record is murky.

Comments

This is a potentially rewarding path for the Dems to take. Flip-flopping candidates are always vulnerable.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Posted by matt | March 24, 2008 8:13 AM

You's a gotta fix yo link to the McCain Debates.

Posted by Joe Petty | March 24, 2008 8:30 AM

This thing could be clearly caused by age related problems like dementia. Isn't he something like 80?
That is the reason why McCain always has his two side-kicks (Liberman and Lindsey Graham) next to him anywhere he goes. Grandpa is so old that he always needs help.

Posted by Ari | March 24, 2008 9:29 AM

Barrel-fishing - in the first quote, he says Saddam is a threat due to his "pursuit" of WMDs. In the second, he denies saying Saddam was a threat because of WMDs, which could easily mean his current possession of WMDs.

That is your best shot?

OK, who said this:

[Saddam Hussein] has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.

Bonus Round - who said:

It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Folks who find Google tedious will guess (correctly) that the first speaker was the other Hussein in sept 2002; the Bonus Round goes to his female opponent.

Keep the fun coming.

Posted by Tom Maguire | March 24, 2008 10:05 AM

Until I dig up his Senate speech in Oct 2002, this Feb 2003 speech from McCain will have to do:

The government of Saddam Hussein is a clear and present danger to the civilized world and the values that unite our people. His moral code is so perverse that he has gassed his own people. He has attacked five of his neighbors. His will to power has so affected his judgment that he has started two major wars and lost them, each time imperiling his own grip on power. He is the worst kind of modern-day tyrant--a conscienceless murderer who aspires to omnipotence and who has repeatedly committed irrational acts since seizing power. Given this reality, containment and deterrence and international inspections are unlikely to work any better than did the Maginot Line 63 years ago. Containment has failed. Deterrence has failed. As long as Saddam remains in power, he will deceive, bribe, intimidate and attack his way out of any containment scheme.

The evidence of his deceit and defiance is overwhelming, as Secretary Powell, in his statement before the Security Council, a statement that exposed the folly of further accommodation, irrefutably made clear. Saddam Hussein has developed stocks of germs and toxins in sufficient quantities to kill many millions of people in the most horrible of ways, and has placed weapons laden with these poisons on alert to fire at his neighbors within minutes. He develops nuclear weapons with which he would hold his neighbors and us hostage. Failure to end the danger posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq makes it more likely that the interaction we know to have occurred between members of al Qaeda and Saddam's regime may increasingly take the form of active cooperation to target the United States and Europe with weapons whose use threatens civilization itself.

I suppose that could be re-spun in Sept 2003 as "I didn't say he was a clear and present danger exclusively because of WMDs."

A bit of context would be helpful; darn those ellipsis.

Posted by Tom Maguire | March 24, 2008 11:12 AM

Tom, McCain usually pushed other angles when supporting the war - human rights, genocide, regional instability, etc. To claim he exclusively supported the war because of WMDs is silly.

Posted by Jesse | March 24, 2008 2:36 PM

By the way, we unfortunately live in a sound bite culture where out of context (and apparently trunticated) statements can be placed side by side to create the illusion of flip flopping.

The DNC has been taken to task repeatedly by factcheck.org for smearing McCain in this manner. They are quickly being reduced to moveon when it comes to credibility amongst people who are not already drinking the coolaid.

Character assasination is now their stock in trade. Howard Dean has been running the type of campaign of personal destruction that Obama has been running against this entire election.

The DNC is also, by the way, the only dem organization that is raising LESS cash than its repub counterpart. Something about Howard Dean's stunning lack of leadership makes me think he should be replaced with a more honourable man.

Posted by Jesse | March 24, 2008 2:41 PM

I had trouble with the link to the DNC site. This worked http://www.democrats.org/page/content/mccaindebates/.

Also ... you added the ellipses. He just had a senior diction moment.

Posted by Robert Waldmann | March 24, 2008 6:48 PM

That is the least of it. How about Mccain's complete 180 on the Bush tax cuts, government spending, and his embrace of Jerry Falwell...

Posted by JY | March 24, 2008 7:30 PM

That is the least of it. How about Mccain's complete 180 on the Bush tax cuts, government spending, and his embrace of Jerry Falwell...

Posted by JY | March 24, 2008 7:30 PM