Say What?! McCain Trying To Raise Money Over Hillary "Bitch" Flap

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain says he respects Hillary Rodham Clinton and that he said as much when a woman used the word "bitch" to describe her.

"How do we beat the bitch?" the woman asked Monday at a McCain event in South Carolina.

Watch the video here.

....On Tuesday, CNN's Rick Sanchez raised the question of whether McCain should have admonished the woman, and McCain's campaign criticized that criticism on Wednesday.

"Most people who have seen it are looking at it as a real mistake on his part in terms of the way he handled it," Sanchez said on the cable network's "Out in the Open."

McCain's South Carolina campaign manager, Buzz Jacobs, said in a statement Wednesday: "It not only reflects poorly on him, but on CNN. If Mr. Sanchez had even the faintest perspective on the race for the White House, he would know that Senator McCain has expressed his utmost respect for Senator Clinton numerous times on the campaign trail, as he did at Monday's event in Hilton Head."

Hours later, the McCain campaign was using the controversy to raise money for his candidacy.

Campaign manager Rick Davis e-mailed supporters, saying, "We are asking you to help us fight Rick Sanchez and CNN and stand with John McCain. Please make your most generous contribution from $25 up to the maximum limit of $2,300 to the only candidate who can defeat Hillary Clinton."

Update: Politico's Jonathan Martin notes that McCain's fundraising email is also highly dishonest:

Irony aside, the McCain camp misrepresents the facts of the encounter with the lady in South Carolina who asked, "How do we beat the bitch?" McCain did not first respond by noting his respect for Clinton before talking up his electability, as Davis asserts in the email.

Rather, he laughed along with the rest of the crowd, cracked a joke and then laughed some more at another joke before deeming the inquiry "a good question." Then he cited favorable polling data. After all this, he noted his respect for his colleague.

McCain's campaign didn't respond when asked about the discrepancy.

Comments

[jbcowan]

Well, that "Bitch" is gonna kick John "more troops, more Blood" McCain's ASS !

[nunzia]

If that were said by a citizen about one of THEIR candidates, her name would be all over the news by now. What's the name of the bitch that called Hillary a bitch? Why the hell do they get off scot free when they pull this crap??
What's her name?

[GeoLee]

I have not read all 759 blog comments, but by now has anyone been able to identify the woman who asked the question? I would love to know her name and where she came from and what she does for a living besides talking disrespectfully about other people she probably does not know well enough to use that appellation with the confidence she did. Or maybe, as my dad used to say, "When someone resorts to crude descriptions about others, it is merely a demostration of the person's own lack of intelligence" After reading some of the wonderfully stated putdowns of people such as the Winston Churchill delicacies, I understand what my dad meant and I try not to engage in such sophistry. Surely someone knows her name as her photo would have been pretty recognizeable to people who knew her. I think she should be outed because of the pride in which she said what she said in public.

[StillAmused]

Just a day or so after he sat there grinning like a bobblehead doll as his sainted mama dissed Mormons, here he is, yukking it up with some firebreathing sow who refers to Hillary as "the bitch"...

Go for it, Johnny -- it's a classic GOP race to the bottom, and you still might open up a lead in the same state where Karl Rove painted the floor with you and your family.

Poetic Justice sometimes has a twisted sense of humor when she does her thing...

[JaneC]

Ok so, some bitch in the audience at some bitches campaign rally called Hillary a bitch. Does anyone think she'll be:

A) crushed?
B) surprised?
C) agreeable and proud that someone noticed?

[BushJustdrivesdemscrazy]

Notice all these 'tards outraged that McCain didn't "stand up for his wife and adopted child" in 2000?

These same 'tards have nothing to say about Hillary not only tolerating Bill's repeated infidelities and serial harassment of women (possibly including rape) but also having the women victims investigated for vunerabilities to silence them.

These people must think "double standards" means twice the value.

[beekeeper]

IT is NEVER okay to refer to a woman as a bitch. How about we say that when pricks (males) are assertive they are respected. When a woman does the same thing she is a bitch.

Enough.

[SouthpawSass]

Okay this is only a test:

Who is the Farkle family?

a)An Iowa family who support McCain
b)A family of English musicians
c)A family from Rowan and Martins laugh-in

[dr4Will]

Mc Fake is sick--the years as a pow are showing up as he hits the 70's--he has as much credibility as bathroom Craig--two sick right wing fanatics----

[GrouchoMarxist]

Looks like psycho got the boot.

[Zentomato]

McCain? McCain. The whisper campaign in South Carolina against McCain was immoral. It attacked his family through mendacity and shameful inuendo and yet in the end he gave bush a hug. What the heck is wrong with the conservative mindset?
The 2004 Republican convention they made a mockery of the Purple Heart award by wearing silly purple heart bandaids on their chubby cheeks . As a Nam era vet I will never forget the image of a portly woman at that convention laughing wildly as she sported a purple heart bandaid. It was insulting to all the men who were awarded the purple heart by shedding their blood for their country. What the heck is wrong with the conservative mindset?
When Max Cleland, who left three of his limbs in South Vietnam, was smeared and made a mockery of in Georgia and the Republican challenger ran ads with pictures of Saddam Hussein and Max side by side, questioning Max's patriotism..What the heck is wrong with this current crop of conservatives?
The list is long, too long for this short venue but what is amazing is the fact that conservatives are able to look past such events like this. What is wrong with the conservative mind set? Are they truly "not right in the head?"

[gotalife]

McOld reeks of desperation.

Loser.

[GrouchoMarxist]

Okay, fine. But the important question that has yet to be asked is whether or not McCain remembered to tip this woman.

[FirstBlowupDollLaura]

McCain would not even defend his own wife and young daughter against the smears of Bush's flying monkeys, and then he embraced the S.O.B. to boot.

What makes anyone think he would defend a fellow candidate against a sexual slur?

Coward.

[DinahMoeHum]

McCain & Co. better be careful:
If HRC becomes POTUS, the B-word could have a whole new meaning:
Boys,
I'm
Taking
Charge
Here