Posted on 02/28/2008 7:00:23 AM PST by xzins
Will the "Willie Effect" Impact the Election?
Some speculate the controversy could cost McCain the White House
By 700WLW News
Thursday, February 28, 2008
( Cincinnati ) -- Some reports claim the on-going controversy involving 700 WLW talk show host Bill Cunningham (Willie Cunningham) and presidential candidate John McCain has the potential to impact the results of the 2008 election.
Ohio is a key state in the presidential election. For Republicans it is essential that they win as much support as possible in southwest Ohio to counter the strong Democratic party support in the Cleveland area.
Political Science professor Jason Johnson from Hiram College spoke to the Cincinnati Enquirer and told them John McCain needs radio talk show listeners and Willie fans to go his way, "John McCain needs those people if he has any hope of winning in November."
With other national talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity rushing to Willie's defense, it widens the rift between the party's conservative base and John McCain even further, at a time when the Republican party has only recently started to solidify around the likely nominee.
Absolutely!
Please pass word on on FR, on Tom’s decision to run! And keep everyone informed on others you are aware of around the country.
We will need a Conservative candidate to run against McCain or Hussein in 2012!
The politically expedient thing for McCain to do is to get with Cunningham behind the scenes and have Cunningham say that he and Senator McCain have resolved their differences.
In short, that might involve an apology. He has to work that out with Cunningham.
It looks like no matter who wins, we will get the “Fairness” Doctrine.
If you all recall Mccain was told by his aides what cunningham said. And cunningham did put rice down in his speech along with hussein *G*
McCain is "my man" only by default- the realization that no hero on a white horse is going to come along and save the Republicans from themselves. The only option at this point as an American is to support the candidate who will do the least damage to this country over the next four years- can anyone here honestly say that will be Obama? or Clinton?
Conservatives unfortunately were never able to unite behind a candidate, so a moderate was able to win by appearing to be all things to all people. If we don't unite behind McCain, albeit with serious reservations, Obama will beat McCain with that same abiility in the general election.
I agree...........McCain was really stupid here.
Why not a public apology with McCain on his knees in front of this talk radio guy? Will this make you feel better. How about if McCain goes on knees and kiss the feet of every conservative talk radio show in the country? Will this make you very happy?
As for his other comments -- well, it was McCain's event, after all, and he gets to set the tone. And thus he has the right to object when somebody purporting to speak for him tries to inject a harsher tone than McCain wants to use.
And, fwiw, I think McCain's got a better bead on the mood of the electorate than Cunningham does. Cunningham is a professional loudmouth, who was doing his normal schtick ... but I strongly suspect that the typical talk-radio innuendo attack won't work against Obama. It will cause the middle-ground voters, who are already somewhat attracted by Obama's charisma, to feel like defending him -- to McCain's (and our) detriment.
As to the issues he raised, especially Rezko .... are they legitimate? Sure they are. But if they're going to become campaign issues, they've got to be approached in the right way. You'd have thought the Clinton years would have taught Cunningham a thing or two about that. Apparently not.
There you go again! Say, Dane, are YOU a “mind-numbed robot”? FYI, the conservatives I know (and some are leaders in the Movement) are wise people. They see the landscape and know what’s goin’ down. Right now, they see a “mind-numbed robot” named McAmnesty who is their bitter enemy trying to pull reinvent himself as “a true conservative” when he’s an angry, war-mongering Liberal with a huge chip on his shoulder! They aren’t about to put that creep’s finger on the nuclear button!
Beautiful, Little Ray! Beautiful!
here’s how its playing in the media, and seems like a very smart move by McCain. Lose thousands on the far right hand part of the electorate, while becoming acceptable to millions in the center:
McCain denounces racist comments
February 27, 2008 - 1:24am
By LIZ SIDOTI
Every time you want to hold your nose and vote McCocaine he’ll do something to show his contempt for conservatives and he can’t wait to scoot across the aisle to his buddies the Dems to the accolades of the media.McCocaine is a drug that will make see you Republican while the liberal agenda is shoved down your throat.He would rather have Wolf Blitzer sings his praises then have any conservative support.I won’t vote for him even if that means we get Obama then it’s 4 years in the wilderness as opposed to 20 with McCocaine.Oh by the way Willie Rocks!
You are quite correct in that statement. Many conservatives do not like McCain and never have. I'm one of them. But for me, I have already resigned myself to vote for the guy but when he pulls a stunt like he did with Cunningham it just adds fuel to the flames which are trying to convince me to just stay home on election day, not that I actually will.
But there's lots of people who feel as strongly about this as I do who are willing to actually take that step and McCain is doing absolutely nothing to sway their decisions........That is not leadership and if the dems win in November there will be no one to blame but McCain himself......
That’s a good idea. Do you think McCain and Cunningham are the sorts of fellows that can resolve personal differences though? McCain carried a sort of hatred for Bush for years and hurt his own political interests acting on it in some critical votes and moments. I hope McCain is not as stupid and vain as he seems to be from a distance. Cunningham jumped right on the opportunity to promote himself and attack McCain.
Democrats loved Ford because he lost. McCain shouldn't have had Cunningham as a speaker, as he needs the Dem and crossover votes. Cunningham could have done what he does, while McCain does what he does. As it is, McCain is doing everything he can to make it harder to hold your nose and vote for him.
I said early on, having watched John McCain for a long time, that he would run an absolutely terrible campaign. I didn’t think he would start so soon.
He has an advanced case of Senatoritis. He believes in his superiority. He is nasty, snotty and arrogant. This is going to be a tough time for us.
Well of course! The media and moderates are the two most important constituencies! In that order of course, I mean, let's be real - of what worth are VOTERS if there isn't a fawning media, right?
I live in SW Ohio and have never listened to Bill Cunningham, at least his talk show. However, I agree McPain made a huge gaffe by condemning and then apologizing for Cunningham's Hussein remarks. Any conservative that pays attention knows McPain for what he is, essentially a loose cannon RINO that delights in shafting pubbies at every opportunity. McPain wasted his trip to Ohio thinking, I'm sure, that he would win over conservatives. He should have stayed in Texas, or Washington ... he would have been much better off.
I live here. It’s a split state. McCain won’t get democratic votes. Therefore, he can’t afford to throw away conservative votes.
The truth is that no one around here would have cared about Cunningham using Obama’s middle name. Not one soul. For one thing, there’s nothing wrong with using someone’s real middle name. For another, Cunningham is a hometown favorite, everyone knows his style, and they like him. I’d say that market research must show that, because he is spokesperson for a HUGE number of companies who use him in their advertisements....everything from cars to windows to potato chips.
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