McCain Camp Insists Obama Is Playing Age Card

The McCain camp is taking offense at an appearance of Barack Obama on Wolf Blitzer this week, claiming that Obama is playing the the age card.

Obama told Blitzer that he was "disappointed" by McCain repeating a smear connecting Obama to Hamas:

"I've said it's a terrorist organization and we should not negotiate with them unless they recognize Israel, renounce violence, and unless they are willing to abide by previous accords between the Palestinians and the Israelis. So for him to toss out comments like that I think is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination. We don't need name calling in this debate."

The McCain camp released a memo in response, saying Obama using the phrase "losing his bearings" is a deliberate attempt to attack McCain's age:

First, let us be clear about the nature of Senator Obama's attack today: He used the words 'losing his bearings' intentionally, a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue. This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning.

You can read the whole memo below (and you should; it's quite a rant).

Obama's spokeman Bill Burton had this to say about the "age" memo:

Clearly losing one's bearings has no relation to age, given this bizarre rant that Mark Salter just sent out. It's clear why a candidate offering a third term of George Bush's disastrous economic policies and failed strategy in Iraq would want to distract and attack, but it's not the kind of campaign John McCain has promised the American people that he would run.

---

To: Interested Parties

From: Mark Salter, Senior Advisor
Date: May 8, 2008
Re: Senator Obama's Attack Today

First, let us be clear about the nature of Senator Obama's attack today: He used the words 'losing his bearings' intentionally, a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue. This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning.

We have all become familiar with Senator Obama's new brand of politics. First, you demand civility from your opponent, then you attack him, distort his record and send out surrogates to question his integrity. It is called hypocrisy, and it is the oldest kind of politics there is.

It is important to focus on what Senator Obama is attempting to do here: He is trying desperately to delegitimize the discussion of issues that raise legitimate questions about his judgment and preparedness to be President of the United States.

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Through their actions and words, Senator Obama and his supporters have made clear that ANY criticism on ANY issue -- from his desire to raise taxes on millions of small investors to his radical plans to sit down face-to-face with Iranian President Ahmadinejad - constitute negative, personal attacks.

Senator Obama is hopeful that the media will continue to form a protective barrier around him, declaring serious limits to the questions, discussion and debate in this race.

Senator Obama has good reason to think this plan will succeed, as serious journalists have written of the need for 'de-tox' to cure 'swooning' over Senator Obama, and others have admitted to losing their objectivity while with him on the campaign trail.

Today, Senator Obama is complaining about comments John McCain made about a senior Hamas advisor stating that Hamas would welcome Senator Obama's election as president. Indeed, on April 13th, senior Hamas political advisor Ahmed Yousef said, 'We don't mind - actually we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with domination and arrogance.'

The McCain campaign has never suggested that Senator Obama supports Hamas' agenda, but it is more than fair to raise this quote about Senator Obama because it speaks to the policy implications of his judgment.

Just today, the president of Iran, whom Senator Obama wants to meet with unconditionally, called the state of Israel a 'stinking corpse.' Iran is the paymaster and state sponsor of Hamas.

In his victory speech this week, Senator Obama stated that 'wisdom' is meeting with our enemies, including Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, North Korea's Kim Jong Il, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Raul Castro. John McCain couldn't disagree more. Rather than giving tyrants and dictators the prestige of meeting with an American president, John McCain will instead meet with the champions of human freedom around the world and opposition leaders fighting for liberty .

We understand why Senator Obama doesn't want to engage in a debate over leadership and judgment with John McCain, but the American people demand that debate take place.

These are serious times that call for a serious debate on the profound issues facing our future. John McCain is ready for that debate and we hope Senator Obama will one day get serious and join it.

Comments

[AJH]

"to his radical plans to sit down face-to-face with Iranian President Ahmadinejad "

Funny I was watching this gathering of former secstates in georgia on PBS last night and who would have thought they all thought we should be talking to iran without precondition about the situtation in iraq. OK maybe kissinger hedged a bit.

So Baker, Powell, Albright, Christopher etc are all radical foreign policy experts who knew.

[JoeBlough]

Mommy - Grampa is making up stories again. Tell him to stop. He's taking too much stool softener.

[FrictionSoul]

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that McCain and his campaign aren't playing with a full deck.

[PLUMPLUM]

I could have sworn it was Cindy who was swooning and had to go through detox. so time ago.

[DragonMama]

and, more recently, botox.

[1PALady]

McCain a forgetful old coot! I'm about sick of him already. He's said and insinuated some horrible things about Obama and gotten away with it. It's just time now for people to start paying attention to what he's saying and start calling him out on some of it. He supposedly wasn't going to play dirty politics. Well he needs to start living up to what's he been preaching, because so far he's been pretty dirty!

[lobo1939]

He's getting his talking points from Hillary.

[moda31]

obama's remark is simply hitting at the same point he makes when he says that bush's tax cuts for the wealthy stopped offending mccain's conscience somewhere en route to getting his party's nomination. if the mccain campaign wants to throw a hissy fit and remind the world that mccain really is pretty darn old with their response, that's just an added bonus.

[lizzard825]

I completely agree. Obama was referring to the fact that McCain, in his quest to win over conservative voters, has completely lost sight of what he used to stand for. Age has absolutely nothing to do with it. As an Obama supporter, I would be offended if I thought these remarks were intended to characterize McCain as a senile old man. We, as a nation, need to learn that it is possible to engage in a lively, productive political debate without resorting to divisive personal attacks, and I think Obama is the only candidate who understands this.

[fanoftruthiness]

I'm curious why we never see Crankshaft's family on stage with him?

[obamanation31]

McCain is playing the "fear" card. Also the race card.

[obamanation31]

McCain is the fear Card.

[LoloZ]

Where was LIeberman to whisper in McCain's ear what to say??

[abby4ever]

I am starting to think all 3 campaigns have a 'card' person: he monitors what their other camps say and looks for cards, then the whining starts. How childish, given the real issues that face us all. Not to mention the fact that, in this case, saying that 'losing his bearings' is playing the age card, is a stretch so far it should snap any time now.

[benwha]

Way to go abby. Way to play the "anti card playing" card. geez :)

[abby4ever]

I'm just sick of cards and I am not alone, see ahead.

[Decipherer]

Obama didn't raise the "age issue" at all -- he raised the "qualifications issue" which goes to the very difference between Obama and McCain. It was the McCAIN CAMPAIGN that raised the age issue, after all.

It is not in Obama's nature or campaign playbook to stoop to sliming people, but McCain will slime anybody (except George W. Bush, for chrissake!) and then say he didn't!

McCain and his agents tried that unsuccessfully with that so-called "independent" GOP organization which paid for those grossly unfair attack ads against Obama in North Carolina and now, this so-called Hamas "endorsement" of Obama, a total falsehood.

What else is Obama to do, sit back and let McCain retool & fire-up the swiftboat machine?

Again, it is NOT AGE people! But questions about McCain's possible PTSD, anger management issues (near fistfights with colleagues in the Senate cloakroom, publicly calling his trophy wife a "c**t!", ad nauseam), his serious and recurring melanoma, and other medical matters left over from his Vietnam and POW days, ARE very serious issues as to McCain's capacity to serve as president of the United States.

So, where are those medical and psychological records?

[benwha]

I LOVE PLAYING CARDS!

With all the card playing going on, I need to get into politics.

Next headline:

"Obama accuses McCain of playing the "playing the X card" card.

[abby4ever]

When is someone going to accuse someone of playing the card card? The time is now: I myself accuse all of them of playing the card card, and ask that it stop.

[barrista]

The McCain campaign should up its meds a bit more. (or perhaps lay off them a bit). Obama was clearly talking about how McCain has said he would run a clean campaign, and because of his Hamas comment, he was losing his bearings on that front.

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

Obama shrewdly got McElderly on the defensive about his age. It will be in the news all weekend. Like taking candy from a baby.

Thanks McElderly.