McCain Campaign Removes Clinton Slur From Website Months After Posting

Does John McCain's campaign have its own message on Sen. Hillary Clinton straight? Last Tuesday, during his poorly received speech in front of the now infamous lime-green backdrop in Louisiana, Sen. John McCain began an attempt to woo disaffected supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton when he said she deserved "great respect" for her campaign.

Before McCain decided to launch a charm offensive, however, he might have scrubbed his own website free of gender-loaded expletives. As of this morning, the Center for American Progress Action center discovered that JohnMcCain.com still featured a comment culled from Andrew Sullivan's blog last November, in which Clinton is described as "a bitch." By 12:30 this afternoon, however, the page was pulled down from view.

Click here for a screengrab of what the McCain campaign immediately realized could become a public relations disaster.

The Arizona Republican's campaign is, of course, not responsible for the original post's existence, though its placement on McCain's official site lends the "critique" something like sanctioned status. It is, at a minimum, a loss of message control at precisely the same time many conservatives are wondering whether McCain can defeat Barack Obama on the communications front.

And it's not the first time the Republican nominee has appeared callous in response to a sexist cry aimed Clinton's way, either. In November of last year, a female questioner at a town hall event asked McCain "how do we beat the bitch?" McCain appeared to laugh in a convivial manner before answering the question straightforwardly.

In an attempt to quiet the minor uproar that followed, McCain's campaign issued a statement saying: "McCain has on many occasions expressed his respect for Senator Clinton, just as he did when confronted with the question in South Carolina."

Then, as now, "respect" was the watchword of the McCain camp when it comes to Clinton. But how many slip-ups will their intended audience endure before judging the outreach enterprise as less than fully sincere?

Comments

[DrDemon]

McCain = True Mess!

[BluesDogLefty]

That vid---a room full of rich white men----and the women?!?!?! Clearly, these women are the "hand maidens of patriarchy" aiding in the repression of their own gender. Disgusting.

Alice Walker has a term for women like this: Axe Handle. "When the axe came to the forest the trees said the handle is one of us."

Patriarchy uses these women as a means to subjugate the others.

The woman who called HRC a b***** is worse than the men in that room. sad

[Susanfrom29]

Hey, he didn't call her a c**t or a trollop, did he?

[johnqdemocrat]

I guess that's the end of his female support. I can't imagine a true Hillary supporter (not one of these republican trolls) actually voting for McCain.

[fair1234]

Everyone, we need to forward this youtube clip to every blog and email because this is just disgusting!!!!!!!!!! Mccain even boast to translate that Bitch is Hillary Clinton who he is beating in the polls. How can any Hillary supporter vote for this man?

[free4all]

i really believe clinton supporters will think long and hard about voting for mccain..if you look at his record and his party's record....they've been doing this for years...he even called his wife a c**** on national tv...i dont know why someone would even think of voting for mccain...hillary supporters you really need to come to your senses now and think about your decisions very careful

[DCtrain]

What a cheesy smile McCain has... it looks pretty fake

[glorysong]

Hillary supporters need to see this You Tube. This is the man who has no class about women and these silly women want to vote for him. Because Hillary lost the race, they do not want to vote for Obama. How stupid. If they do vote for McCain I hope he throw them under the bus, and roll all over them. He do not care about them, all he want is their vote. He is making a joke out of you. You better think about this before you vote for McCain.

[NoBiasJustTellTheTruth]

Note to all female supporters of Hilaree Clinttton...


I hear from a lot of HRC supporters who are unhappy that she did not win the nomination - and there's nothing wrong with that.

But I can't for the life of me imagine why I've hears SO many of HRCs female supporters say they'll vote for JonMCane.

They're actually willing to vote for a guy who SLEPT AROUND on his first wife, then DUMPED HER after she suffered a horrible automobile accident for a woman who is 18 years younger.

He has also called HIS OWN WIFE a "CUN*" and a "BIT**" ... IN PUBLIC!!!

He laughed OUT LOUD when a woman referred to HRC by saying "How do we beat the BIT**?"

He had discouraging and disrespectful remarks about HRC on his own website (until yesterday).


Yet some of HRC's female supporters would rather vote for JonMcand than for Obbamma?

I can understand you're disappointed that HRC didn't get the nomination.

But to act upon that disappointment by voting for a guy who does the things I've listed above - well, with ALL due respect - I really think that makes no sense whatsoever. I'm telling you, it sounds like a stupid thing to do.

For those reasons, I also think the whole "HRC Supporters For MCane" website and movement is a really, REALLY bad idea. Would HRC want her supporters voting for a guy (Mcane) who calls his own wife a "Cun*" and a "Bit**" in public???

[Teritt]

Makes you wonder if Hillary supporters should try to blackmail McCain into making her VP for their votes. Do you think he & the Republicans are desperate enough? Between the way he's treated his wives, what he said about Hillary on his website, do you really think Hillary will have any political relevance if he's elected?

[Sali68]

Now what is TRULY amazing to me is that a clinton supporter feels OBAMA disrespected her and one woman claimed in her bitterness that she rather slit her wrists than vote for him...this is the man you would HAND over the election to...wow

[DrDemon]

The woman you are referring to sounds like she's an extremist.

Please hand her a pack of "straight edge" razors, and tell her to go bark at the moon!

[JiminNC]

And anyone is surprised? If McParallelUniverse will call his wife a cword in public, he certainly isn't too concerned about someone disrespecting his "good friend" HRC, for whom he has the utmost respect.

[Agnim]

More on McCain't disrespect of women issues

Why would cause any liberated American female to vote for a man who disrespects his wife IN PUBLIC by calling her an f-ing kunt and a trollop?

And this 'man' is hell bent on electing judges to the Supreme Court that would set back the cause of women for decades?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADmuftIjlSE

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1024927/The-wife-John-McCain-callously-left-behind.html

Low self-esteem in those American women who would vote for such a man?
Masochism maybe?

Why are the women in the media so quiet on such disrespect from a Presidential candidate towards womankind?
Those women in the media were even silent when this misogynist accepts his supporter calling Hilary Clinton the b-word (rhymes with witch). lol

Senator Harry Reid has been uncharacteristically vocal about McCain's destructive temperament. Alert Americans will take heed and reject any thought of such a one having his hand on huge amounts of power or to be 'leader' of 300 million.

[Sali68]

Excellent point...where were all these feminist and their support? there should be a million bombardments of emails from these women AGAINST McCain but instead they focus that energy on Obama...

[IndieVisible]

My fellow friends, no matter what McCain says, or how he says it, as a established flip flopper we should all be cautious of every word that comes out of his mouth! Does any one any where really believe he cares or respects Hillary Clinton? Or can this simply be a political move to woe angry Hillary supporters and win some of them over? This man could even be worse then President Bush ever was! Bush was at least consistently wrong! McCain flip flops so much I can't keep up with who he is today!

[jewel4Obama]

Thank you for posting this. I've been trying to get the word out to women who are saying they will vote for McCain because they are angry about HRC loss. It's crazy that anyone who respects and cares about Hillary would ever vote for a man like this. If anything, DON'T VOTE or write in HRC but don't support a man like this. This is how he really feels about women!!!

[barackobama4prez]

These supporters should vote for Barack, but if they can't bring themselves to do it, they may want to sit it out or give their votes to Bob Barr (libertarian who wants to end the war). Voting for McWar is laughable. He's been dissing Hillary since Bill Clinton took office...even dissed Chelsea in a crude attempt at humor among his senate buddies.