Posted on 10/11/2008 1:18:52 AM PDT by Chet 99
Campaign heats up: Minnesotans urge McCain to attack
Don Davis
Bemidji Pioneer - 10/11/2008
LAKEVILLE, Minn. — John McCain’s Minnesota supporters gave him a loud and clear message Friday — take a harder line against presidential opponent Barack Obama.
In a turnabout from the candidate setting the agenda, several of the 21 people who asked McCain questions during a town hall meeting told him to battle his Democratic presidential candidate.
“There is a time for fighting,” one man told the Republican candidate during a 70-minute meeting.
“We want you to fight,” a Navy and Army veteran told McCain.
“I got the message,” the Republican presidential candidate responded, but still called on supporters to respect Obama.
The men’s comments, saying McCain was letting Obama off too easily, drew some of the loudest response from the partisan audience. Occasional “hit him harder” chants could be heard.
Reporters who travel with McCain said they never before heard such a strong public demand for McCain to go on the offensive.
McCain said Republicans must be respectful in the campaign, but he said he would explain the differences between himself and Obama.
“He is a decent person and he is someone you don’t have to be scared of as president of the United States,” McCain said to a chorus of boos.
“We will be respectful,” he preached. “I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments.”
More boos followed those comments.
Gayle Quinnell of Shakopee, Minn., told McCain: “I don’t trust Barack Obama because he’s an Arab.”
McCain snatched the microphone out of the 75-year-old woman’s hand and said: “He’s a decent family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.”
But McCain also took on Obama: “There is a record of him never having reached across the aisle to work with the other party on important legislation.”
Friday’s questions were much more partisan than McCain fielded during earlier town hall meetings in St. Paul and nearby Hudson, Wis.
He opened the meeting talking about the hot news of the week, the economy.
The only way to solve the current American economic crisis is for the government to buy bad mortgages, McCain said.
“As long as home values continue to decline, we are not going to turn this economy around,” he said in Lakeville, a southern Twin Cities suburb.
In a Tuesday night debate with Obama, McCain said he wanted to spend $300 billion to buy mortgages that now are in risk of failing. In a Thursday ABC interview, McCain said he hoped the $300 billion could come out of the recently passed $700 billion rescue plan, but it could be new money if needed.
A top Obama adviser also was in the Twin Cities Friday, claiming McCain’s mortgage-repair plan is nothing but a reward for lenders.
“It is a reward for bad conduct,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said.
Durbin, visiting with Minnesota labor officials and talking to reporters, said McCain’s proposal puts money in the hands of lenders who sold risky mortgages.
“Mortgage foreclosures are the rot on the base of our economy,” Durbin said.
Obama’s mortgage plan is to change the law so courts can require lenders and home buyers to renegotiate terms of mortgages. Durbin said that would put on pressure to negotiate with borrowers even before going to court.
The McCain campaign said 2,000 people attended the event at Lakeville South High School.
At one point, a Farmington Christian school teacher rose to tell McCain her students had a comment: “Drill, baby, drill,” a row of girls cheered.
“If you are not busy, we would like to take you with me,” replied McCain, who has promoted more off-shore oil drilling.
Duluth talk radio host Carinda Horton, speaking before McCain arrived, said callers to her morning show say he has the wisdom, experience and trust to be president.
“He has spent his entire life serving us,” added Horton, a military veteran.
She wore a button proclaiming: “Hire a veteran, vote McCain.”
Gov. Tim Pawlenty introduced McCain, their first joint appearance since the presidential candidate decided not to pick Pawlenty as his running mate.
McCain was to spend the night in the Twin Cities before leaving for Davenport, Iowa, this morning. While in the Twin Cities, the candidate conducted satellite and local television interviews.
Pawlenty used the theme of the day – experience – in his short remarks. In picking a president, he said, “one measure we look at is: ‘Who has the record?’”
McCain’s Lakeville appearance was his third town hall meeting in the Twin Cities area and came three weeks after he and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin rallied more than 10,000 people in a northern Twin Cities suburb.
Obama has criticized McCain’s economic plans at every turn, and Friday his spokesman said the Republican’s latest proposal was risky and illegal.
“John McCain’s response to the economic crisis has grown so erratic that in the span of 12 hours, he completely reversed his position on whether or not his risky and illegal bailout scheme would be financed with additional taxpayer dollars,” spokesman Hari Sevugan said. “Whatever position Sen. McCain finally settles on, experts from across the political spectrum have made it clear that his bailout scheme is a guaranteed loser for taxpayers and would hand our money to the very Wall Street banks and lenders who got us into this mess.”
Positively bizarre. Seconds after saying “I got your message,” he’s saying it’s NOT IMPORTANT to defeat Obama.
I’ve been thinking about this a little bit with regards to what McCain was saying. Yep, I’m a little frustrated with his answer, but I believe he’s thinking that things could turn violent given how angry people are over everything. He could have worded it better where he could have went after Obama passionately on the issues and then told the people to take their frustration and vote!
This shows me that WI and MN are very much in play, which is not what the polls say - the Ayres issue is becoming a huge issue with voters and rightfully so. Now, if Obama is supposed to be winning this in a “landslide”, then why is he buying 30 minutes of airtime on the networks and engaging in voter fraud?
Bizarre indeed, but vintage McCain. He got our message about “comprehensive immigration reform” too. He plainly didn't agree with the message or plan to absorb and act on it in any way, but he got it. McCain is just throwing us a bone. It's insulting.
You can't win an election if your front man can't make your arguments because he doesn't believe them. The financial crisis has turned next month's vote into a referendum on capitalism. McCain is an authoritarian statist who doesn't care a bit about freedom, economic or otherwise. Occasionally he'll go on a riff about how his POW experience makes him prize liberty. Unfortunately he's talking about the absence of incarceration. He has never grasped what liberty means beyond that.
McCain won't argue for capitalism because he doesn't believe in it. He won't attack Obama as a socialist revolutionary because, fundamentally, he's got no problem with socialism.
The man would be a disaster if he came on the heals of a Reagan. Following W, who never had the ability or inclination to defend himself against his political enemies, McCain may mark the moment when the decline of Western Civilization became irreversible.
It is hard to understand how Republicans could have screwed up this badly during the primary season, but they did.
Don't be a flippin’ idiot, John you are acting like
an out of touch OLD FOOL,just like they say you are.
Patriotic Americans are terrified at what is coming. What will happen to our nation if this nightmare comes to pass? John McCain and his terrible scheme of mortgage buying looks old and tired on the campaign and will not use the tools he has at hand to win this election. He has to put doubts in the heads of Americans about Hussien Obama’s associations, loyalty, patriotism. What has happened to the Sheriff of Lee County FLA for just mentioning the middle name of Barack Hussien Obama is only a taste of things to come if BHO wins this election. God have mercy on our nation.
McCain’s butt-kissing of Obama last night night sickens me. It will be used against him.
He just kicked his base in the teeth. I’ve taken down my McCain sign from my yard. If he’s going to phone it in, I may as well too.
I posted these thoughts on a thread last night. They remain fresh with me this morning. I’ve edited them a bit for clarity.:
I’m still trying to figure out a way to post my impressions of the rally without appearing to be a defeatist or an unrealistic RINO. It is a fine line to walk because I DO believe Obama is dangerous to our Constitution, our freedom and our very way of life.
In my point of view, the media gave us McCain, and I am trying my very best to make lemonade from lemons.
Freepers, I was disappointed. I had to make my way to the back of the audience, away from my inexperienced but lovely political compadres with whom I’ve been phonebanking.
A secret service agent and I shared a back wall, poor guy. I wish I could’ve joined the folks in the bleachers that gave McCain the loud boos when he said ACORN is alleged to have had some voting improprities. ALLEGED? I was yelling PROOF! Obama is a good man who has done good things??? BOOOO!
The rally was really well run and I think the woman who barged through and said Obama was an Arab could’ve been a kook. Otherwise, a third of the questions/comments wanted him to hit back and hit hard at Obama.
Senator McCain, I am a moral person, and I believe in fighting a good fight in the realm of gentleman. However, those days are long past, much to my chagrin. Even Rudy Boschwitz, our former Minnesota Senator, said you must hit Obama hard on his Anti-American past. He called you out in this forum, a good friend of yours! You are fighting a Chicago thug politician. It does not mean that you have to resort to Obama’s level of smearing the newborn Down’s son of your VP candidate, but you can fight the man who threatens our republic.
Do NOT call Obama, a good man. He associates with people that say the suicide bombers on 9/11 did not do enough.
I hoped to be energized by your talk today. What the h*ll happened to “Country First?”
Why is it that Republicans have to take a 2 X 4 to mcCain’s head every few days ?
You know it’s pretty bad when reserved, ultra-polite Minnesotans have to get out the 2x4. I remember from our conversations, that you have lived here in the past.
I’m still voting for McCain, well Palin, and have many hours of phone-banking ahead of me. I guess it’s up to me and my fellow callers to point out Obama’s foibles. Thanks John for making my job that much harder. In a positive way, I guess McCain has honed my resolve to get the message out because he won’t, but d*mn, I hate being stuck in this position.
The above is a link to the town hall meeting, so now you can see and hear yourself.
I recall thinking that Bush 41 really didn’t want another four years of WH duty and I’m wondering if McC has the same lack of fizz.
“I disagree with Giuliani on many things, but I think he could wipe the floor with this guy in a debate. “I’ve run a city that was a target of terrorists on 9-11 and worked for the justice department prosecuting gangsters, what the hell have YOU ever done? Huh? Speak up, we’re not in Chicago anymore, you don’t get patted on the back just for showing up.””
Hindsight is 20-20, ain’t it?
Giuliani was a scrapper with both his political opponents and the press. He LOVED “the fight”, and even though he didn’t win every one that he was in, he at least _tried_. He wasn’t afraid to make assertations that would cause both the media and his political enemies to howl. Good on him.
McCain seems to envision himself as a “compromiser” willing to “work” with the other side. As much as I respect his years of service and confinement, he seems afraid to go for the jugular, or for any other artery, for that matter.
I would to see McCain to turn this around, but - short of some sort of seismic shock that even the media can’t avoid covering up - I sense that he has lost the election.
I can’t say that Rudy would have won in his stead. This has been a near-impossible year for Republicans, and nearly everyone fears attacking Obama because of the race factor. (Aside: I have posted openly about that factor here on FR, when few others were willing to address it.) And we know how folks who loudly supported Giuliani were treated earlier this year in this very forum.
But one thing is for certain:
Rudy is a political warrior.
McCain - his heroic military past notwithstanding - is not.
- John
“The financial crisis has turned next month’s vote into a referendum on capitalism.”
Yours is perhaps the most insightful comment I’ve seen on this election from ANYone.
But... as good as it is.... I pray that you are wrong.
- John
After seeing McCain yesterday, I don’t think it’s a lack of fizz. He truly believes in his ‘statesmanship’, just like President Bush 43. In that sense, he’s authentic.
That’s not the way the world works today though, and he’s going to bring the rest of us down with his unwillingness to deal with the Left in a harsh, unblinking manner. Palin is my only hope at this point. Too bad she’s not at the top of the ticket. People can scream all they want about her lack of experience. Obama has no experience. Can you tell I’m frustrated? LOL!
One of our last nice weekends down here for a while. We will head out on the pontoon and try to put aside the daily blather.
What do McCain and Obama have in common:
Neither one of them like reaching across to Republicans.
Pray for W, Palin/McDole and Our Troops
Enjoy your day, Eric. It’s a picture perfect Minnesota fall day here, crisp air and beautiful autumn tree color.
I’m going to chill out for awhile myself. Life is too short to be consumed by this stuff. (I keep telling myself that.) LOL!
Well, John, he scares the hell out of me and, frankly, he should do the same for you!
Did you steadfastly oppose the Communists for 5 1/2 years in the Hanoi Hilton - only to make nice with them today when they are in the position of actually taking over your country?
Get real, McCain, or quit the race and let somebody with some sense and determination take your place at the top of this ticket before you blow this election to the onrushing tyranny of an unknown Marxist sneaking into the Presidency at the head of a new Leninist Movement!
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