Hey, John McCain: Have you bothered watching the ad you condemned yet?

Michelle Malkin ^ | 04/26/08 | Michelle Malkin

[coffee260]

Did you know that John McCain lambasted the North Carolina GOP’s anti-Obama/Jeremiah Wright ad without having seen it?

Yes, this noxious little tidbit was tucked into an AP story three days ago when the controversy broke and has been little remarked upon since. When I mentioned this fact at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference dinner last night, much of the audience gasped. Obviously, the word hasn’t gotten out there enough:

The ad opens with a photo of Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright together and a clip of Wright, whose incendiary comments about race have bedeviled Obama.

“He’s just too extreme for North Carolina,” the narrator says in the 30-

second spot. “We asked them not to run it,” McCain told reporters traveling with him in Kentucky. “I’m sending them an e-mail as we speak asking them to take it down.

“I don’t know why they do it. Obviously, I don’t control them, but I’m making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there’s no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don’t want it,” McCain said.

McCain said the ad was described to him: “I didn’t see it, and I hope that I don’t see it.”

Let me repeat that:

“I didn’t see it, and I hope that I don’t see it.”

He didn’t bother to watch the 41-second video before his campaign leaned on the NC GOP to withdraw it.

He doesn’t want to see it, lest he sully his delicate eyes.

Yet, he’s so indignantly sure “that there’s no place for that kind of campaigning.”

And then he has the gall to turn around and knock Obama’s elitism.

Congratulations, Sen. McCain: You’ve out-snobbed Snobama.

Yes, without having seen the ad or talked directly to the NC GOP officials, he’s absolutely convinced that he’s right about his knee-jerk assessment of their supposedly bigoted motives.

McCain Math is the same as MSM Math: Southern + Republican + video featuring radical leftists who happen to be black = RACISTRACISTRACISTRACISTDANGERWILLROBINSON!

Naturally, McCain’s New York Times editorial board endorsers at the NYTimes were happy to oblige and pile on with a Pavlovian editorial this morning calling the ad racist and divisive, “shameful and ugly.” Congratulations for giving them the rope to hang North Carolina Republicans:

The assertion that Mr. Obama is “just too extreme for North Carolina” is a clear bid to stir bigotry in a Southern state…Senator McCain was right when he said, of the new ad, that “there’s no place for that kind of campaigning — and the American people don’t want it, period.”

Now he needs to get his party to listen.

Here’s the vid from yesterday’s Today Show interview with McCain that I blogged about yesterday:

The transcript:

VIEIRA: Okay. I want to switch gears here and talk about the latest controversy. It’s over an ad in North Carolina coming two weeks before the Democratic primary.

VOICE OVER: For 20 years, Barack Obama sat in his pew, listening to his pastor.

REVEREND JEREMIAH WRIGHT: And then wants us to sing God bless America? No, no, no.

VIEIRA: The ad says, quote, “just too extreme for North Carolina.” Now, you have called this ad degrading and you’ve asked the state party to pull it. But so far, they’ve refused to do that. Why do you think they’re not listening to you, a? And why do you believe they would continue to raise questions about Senator Obama’s patriotism?

McCAIN: They’re not listening to me because they’re out of touch with reality in the Republican party. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and this kind of campaigning is unacceptable. I have said that. It will harm the Republicans’ cause. And I’ve done everything that I can to repudiate and to see that this kind of campaigning does not continue. I have engaged in and will continue a respectful campaign of either Senator Obama or Senator Clinton.

VIEIRA: Senator Obama said if you wanted to, you could get that ad pulled because you are, after all, the nominee and the standard bearer. So if you can’t get the ad pulled, does it raise any questions about your leadership?

McCAIN: I don’t know exactly how to respond to that, except that I would hope that Senator Obama would repudiate and apologize for his remarks concerning the heartland of America where his elitist remarks indicated that people who are hardworking dedicated people, who harbor traditional values and principles and value their religion and the Second Amendment of the Constitution would not be treated in an elitist fashion. I hope he’ll apologize for that.

How about you apologize first, Sen. McCain, for running to the liberal media to once again trash conservatives as racists for exposing hard truths about the hard Left?

“Calm down?”

Not bloody likely.

***

Following the cue of McCain and Howard Dean, there are now two TV stations who refuse to play the ad because it is “offensive.”

Always happy to show it here again (with a reminder that the NCGOP could use your financial support):

Meanwhile, McCain continues to give himself special dispensation to challenge Obama’s relationship with Weather Underground radical Bill Ayers.

Because, you see, raising questions about a Radical of Color is “not appropriate and unhelpful,” but raising questions about a Radical of Pallor is McCain-tested and RNC-approved.

[Mercat]

could someone link the ad. I haven’t seen it either.

[Will88]

“Krauthammer said last night that it was McCain who is out of touch with reality. He added that McCain must be out of his mind. The only things that will save McCain from himself are (1) I will vote for him by default, and (2) BO will make even worse gaffs.”

That’s the sad state of affairs. McCain will get the votes from white Dems. who won’t vote for a black candidate, also a hefty Hispanic vote for the same reason.

Then, if he wins, he’ll lecture us how he won back the Reagan Democrats, and how his compassionate approach to illegal aliens won a good Hispanic vote for the party. But it’ll mostly be because some Dems. just wouldn’t vote for Obama.

[ballplayer]

Im waiting for MCCain to apologize for running for President in the first Place,Might as well get it out of the way now

[Will88]

It’s near the bottom of Michelle’s column:

http://michellemalkin.com/

It’s surprisingly short.

[murron]

Well, I did see the ad, and I think the NC Republican party should stay out of the presidential campaign. I realize that they are saying that this is an ad for the gubernatorial race, but in effect what they are doing is weakening Obama in a state that he is supposed to win big,. If he wins this state big, and can win Indiana, then Hillary will most likely not be able to continue in a legitimate fashion.

This may be what McCain is thinking. He may rather run against Obama than Hillary, and this ad may keep her in the race and eventually bring her the nomination and the victory in November.

He has a right to ask them not to run the ad because it affects his campaign, no matter what Rush Limbaugh rants and raves about.

[Will88]

“Im waiting for MCCain to apologize for running for President in the first Place,Might as well get it out of the way now”

Remember how a drumbeat in the media and elsewhere arose that Bob Dole just had to resign his Senate seat to show that he was fully committed to the presidential race? He did resign and that ended his Senate career.

Maybe we can get the same from McCain. Then, if he loses, we’d have the little weasel out of the Senate.

[Mercat]

thanks. it’s surprisingly un offensive. I love the cute grandma at the end.

[kalee]

I live in NC. I am active socially, politically and philanthropically in my community. I do not know a single black person who is voting for McCain.
I am calling the Republicans in my precinct to remind them to vote, but quite a few of them have switched parties.
Part of the reason is that Richard Moore is a hometown boy and the residents want him to win governor's race. “He has a plan and he can pay for it” Problem is he hasn't said how.

[Will88]

“Well, I did see the ad, and I think the NC Republican party should stay out of the presidential campaign. I realize that they are saying that this is an ad for the gubernatorial race, but in effect what they are doing is weakening Obama in a state that he is supposed to win big...”

Using such an ad does not mean the NC Republican party is getting involved in the presidential campaign. I wish I had a dollar for every ad that’s run in a state showing some state politician in a smiling photo with Ted Kennedy, or any well known politician who is unpopular with the state in question. It’s been done for years and the tactic will continue to be used, and Obama’s ties to Wright are much stronger than that between most politicians.

McCain needs to keep his nose out of state races because he clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

[Andy from Chapel Hill]

Folks, consider the obvious:

This is a wink-wink, nod-nod between McCain and the NCGOP to test market the Obama/Wright link as a campaign ad issue.

In private, no one I know is upset at McCain, instead, they just chuckle at the vast amount if info they are receiving to guide their planning of the GE ad production.

This is a test. Repeat, this is only a test...

[Will88]

“This is a wink-wink, nod-nod between McCain and the NCGOP to test market the Obama/Wright link as a campaign ad issue.”

Were it anyone but John McCain, I might believe that. But no one matches him for preening self-righteousness, and this was a wonderful opportunity for him to preen in public again, with his usual lack of regard for how it might affect anyone else, or the party in general.

[fweingart]

McCain doesn't resemble an elephant. Rather he looks more and more like a jackass every day.

When one considers the others that could be standing tall as a Republican candidate for president, a feeling of utter hopelessness and disgust sets in.

[JaneNC]

Maybe he just isn’t very bright...ever thought of that?

[MARTIAL MONK]

He’s not after the black vote, though it would be nice. Obama has it wrapped up. He is after the people who may be sympathetic to Blacks but just can’t quite handle Obama. He is making himself acceptable as a second choice.

[MARTIAL MONK]

I don’t think he’s from North Carolina.

[jetson]

300 million people to choose from...and we get JUAN?

[browardchad]

McCain believes the conservative vote is locked up

Everything becomes clearer when you come to the realization that McCain has written off a large percentage of conservative republicans. He will continue to target the religious right with Huckabee's help, as well as hawks, veterans, military families, Hispanics and perhaps gun-owners (picking Crist as VP would boost his cred on that issue), but otherwise his main focus will be wooing the center left, since, as has been obvious throughout his career, that is his comfort zone.

He'll of course take the vote of small government, strict constructionists, and may he even manage to throw a bone their way with some occasional platitude, but otherwise, we can pound sand.

[Miss Didi]

This controversy is all about Senator McCain's ego.

Why Should Conservatives Be Loyal to Maverick McCain's Ego?

We're All Mavericks Now, Senator
He has no interest in rebuilding the Republican Party.

[murron]

If this was Fred Thompson calling for the state party to stop running the ad, hardly anyone around here would say a peep. McCain was my last choice for the candidacy, but now that he has it, no matter what factors played in his getting the nomination, we are stuck with him unless we go 3rd party, which is a dangerous thing IMO.

The NC Republican party may be helping Hillary get the nomination, and if she does, she will win the presidency. The Republicans in NC can run the ad as much as they want after Obama secures the nomination. My question is, why are they running it now? Is this the only dirt they have on the Democrat? A smiling photo with Ted Kennedy is different in the sense that Ted Kennedy isn’t running for the presidency, nor is he closely associated with any candidate. (He is supporting Obama, but he is not the preacher in his church for 20 years). Surely the Democrat must have ties to Hillary’s associates as well. I haven’t seen any dirt run on her in quite a while, not only in NC, but anywhere.

McCain has a right to tell them what to run if it affects his campaign, and this most certainly does.

[MARTIAL MONK]

Remember how a drumbeat in the media and elsewhere arose that Bob Dole just had to resign his Senate seat to show that he was fully committed to the presidential race?

Dole made a virtue out of necessity. The Democrats were pulling parliamentary stunts designed to tie him up in Washington and hinder his campaign.