Posted on 09/28/2008 8:17:49 PM PDT by Chet 99
-snip-
With respect to his campaign, McCain needs to liberate his running mate from the former Bush aides brought in to handle her aides who seem to have succeeded in importing to the Palin campaign the trademark defensive crouch of the Bush White House. McCain picked Sarah Palin in part because shes a talented politician and communicator. He needs to free her to use her political talents and to communicate in her own voice.
Im told McCain recently expressed unhappiness with his staffs handling of Palin. On Sunday he dispatched his top aides Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis to join Palin in Philadelphia. Theyre supposed to liberate Palin to go on the offensive as a combative conservative in the vice-presidential debate on Thursday.
That debate is important. McCain took a risk in choosing Palin. If she does poorly, it will reflect badly on his judgment. If she does well, it will be a shot in the arm for his campaign.
In the debate, Palin has to dispatch quickly any queries about herself, and confidently assert that of course shes qualified to be vice president. She should spend her time making the case for McCain and, more important, the case against Obama. As one shrewd McCain supporter told me, Every minute she spends not telling the American people something that makes them less well disposed to Obama is a minute wasted.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
SARAH, if you (or anyone else in the camp) are reading this....JUST BE YOURSELF !!!!!!
Perhaps McCain's adsters have been cowed by Obama's Truth Squad.
I agree. It seemed we were doing much better when we were on the offensive, telling the truth about Obama.
See my post 63. You have gone into much more detail than I have , but we are in agreement . I understand about the Republicans turned Independent , but there are a good number of Conservative Dems that need to be kept in our column as well .
They each have their strengths , but they both need to be aggressive in their own ways toward the same goal . Keep the Base energized while keeping the Independents and ConDems in our column .
Very true!
McCain and Palin need to go nuclear now and name names .
The Maverick needs to tell it like it is and stop the nice guy act.
Don't know what you're saying here. I didn't mention any "attack against the media," but thanks for the note.
I am saying that McCain must deliver The Truth about Barack Obama immediately. The later it gets, the more it will be interpreted as a last ditch political stunt.
Exactly . There are certain items that can’t be addressed at the last minute . 30 days is the right amount of time to pound negatives home without it wearing thin .
B.O. has so many negatives they can rotate the truth on him and it will not get old .
Really! Who let the nanny state Obama talker in the house?
“The Bush presidency started going down the toilet right around the time Ari Fleischer was replaced with that backstabbing fool Scott McClellan
BINGO!
So check it out - Ari was press secretary from January 20, 2001 July 15, 2003
http://www.hist.umn.edu/~ruggles/Approval.htm
within a year or Aris leaving, Bush was down roughly 10%. Within 2 years of Aris leaving, Bush was down 20% from when Ari left. That was all under that clown Scott, who was there from July 17, 2003 April 26, 2006”
You guys have hit it not only on the head, but solidly.
We Conservatives have time after time been put on the defensive by Bush and his advisers not having the cajones to go head to head with the MSM and the Dems. Occasion after occasion we have taken it in the shorts. One of Bush’s legacys will be that he had the most inept public relations people heretofore known to mankind.
You can quote me on that. Sarah is real, Sarah is genuine, let the lady speak and we will reap the reward of victory on Nov. 4th.
Mahalo
Let’s face it, McCain is a terrible candidate. He was the last man standing in a shredded primary contest. This no pork-barrel and earmarks stuff ain’t working. The sheeple want more government, they want the government to save them from their miserable lives. This is what we’re seeing in the polls right now. They need to turn Sarah loose and not worry about her mistakes. If they’re sandbagging and playing rope-a-dope, it isn’t working.
Let her loose! Generate some passion in this thing. The last debate was like watching paint dry.
Something major does need to change, and quick.
I liked your hockey analogy. Or, seeing that you are a Red Wings fan [insert “boo, hiss!” here] here is another one: on Thursday, Sarah needs to have a Gordie Howe hat trick. Go Stars! :)
I don't see it in the eyes nor inflections of McCain and his campaign people. It should happen immediately after Palin's debate this week, I think. If it doesn't happen then....
I suspect she'll be operating under different "rules of engagement" this time. This time it may be "weapons free".
Maybe she just wants to slap that fricken smirk off of her face.
Yes and no. Yes she should be in every interview possible - the more the better. But no she should not do any interview that allows any form of editing. Just read the transcript of the Gibson interview and see what was cut out. Half of an answer would be cut out and the ends joined together to either completely distort her actual intent or to pose her as naive, clueless or simplistic.
If the airtime to be allotted is X-minutes then the interview should be X-minutes with a legal guarantee that if the interview is to be cut into two or three segments that they run concurrent and do not cut anything out - good or bad. Essentially the interview should be in the style of the Sunday Morning shows - live or live on tape.
They also need to dictate the interview setting and demand that McCain/Palin have a right to have their own camera present.
Makes me wonder about Bush people helping Gov Palin — wonder if she put out a call for help. I would say keep all Bush people away from her because I am not sure Bush wants McCain to win. I used to think I was going nuts by saying that but not anymore since he sided with the Dems on the bailout.
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