McCain Stacks Fox News 'Town Hall' With Supporters

Tonight was the first in a much-hyped series of 'town hall' forums scheduled by John McCain's campaign, in which Barack Obama had been challenged to show up to discuss the issues directly with the GOP nominee.

Except, as Fox News reported, McCain's campaign misled the public about the nature of the event. The forum was "billed by the McCain campaign as a town hall with independent and Democratic voters," but Fox News noted at the end that the audience was actually "made up of invited guests and supporters," the Democratic National Committee said in a statement.

Here is FNC's Shepard Smith breaking the news:

SMITH: "I reported at the top of this hour that the campaign had told us at Fox News that the audience would be made up of Republicans, Democrats, and independents. We have now received a clarification from the campaign and I feel I should pass it along to you. The McCain campaign distributed tickets to supporters, Mayor Bloomberg, who of course is a registered Republican, and other independent groups."

DNC Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement:

"Once again John McCain's campaign is trying to mislead the American people. Senator McCain should understand that after seven years of a President who has divided Americans and pursued a scorched earth policy full of misleading propaganda campaigns, we need a leader who understands he is the President for all Americans not just his supporters. Copying the Bush campaign model of stacking events with his prescreened supporters is not the transparency Americans are looking for. If that is Senator McCain's idea of straight talk, the American people are in for a long and disappointing campaign season."

Comments

[windwalker1984]

They have more to worry about than these stacked town hall meetings. Bush has been visiting Germany and the people over there have been expressing their negative opinions of him and US policy under him.

The Der Spiegel publication compiled some of the comments, which are quoted below.

-- Berliner Zeitung: "Rarely has an American president been less popular in this country. And rarely has one embodied the arrogance of power more convincingly than Bush.

"It is unforgotten how he humiliated the United Nations, how he went to war against Iraq with a 'Coalition of the Willing,' how his closest aides portrayed France and Germany as wimps. Bush discredited values which had brought United States worldwide respect. Many have lost faith in America...­."

-- Handelsblatt: "Bush junior wasn't up to the challenge following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, because he let himself be pushed into an unwarranted war by listening to the wrong advisers, and thereby prevented a broad front against terrorism. Constructive Middle East policy was made more difficult, and the regime in Iran was strengthened. ....."

-- Suddeutsche Zeitung: "In Germany, America is no longer seen as a country of individual liberty, as a reliable ally, and definitely not as a model. There are a large number of justified accusations leveled at Bush's policies..­.."

"Bush won't care, but in the thoughts and feeling of many Germans he is leaving behind a mixture of antipathy, ridicule, anger, and skepticism towards U.S. policies and towards America in general.

[freecasey]

If McCain wants to waste his time preaching to the choir, I'm all for it. Besides, a partial audience is probably the only forum that will forgive him for his antiquated world views and senior moments. Let grandpa have his fun now, because the debates will put his ineptitude front and center.

[LiberalBuzz]

And the Lone Rove(r) strikes again. Straight out of the Rovian playbook on how to make your candidate look....we­ll now....rid­iculous.

[MalloMel]

I have nothing against age, as I'm a bit up there myself, but McCaine is showing a bit of early onset alzheimers or dementia. I've seen it before, and he is there.

If you want to see what I mean, just picture him as he was, back in the day, flying jets over Vietnam. And, picture him now. It's not just a matter of looks. It's a matter of mental sharpness. You should be able to visualize that he is no where as sharp now as he was then.

Can you see him making decisions that affect the very survival of our country as a major player on the international playing field. It's bad enough having a Republican elected at this time, but do we need a senile one? Look at Bush. He's mentally challenged, and look at what he has done to our country. Do we need to keep doing this to ourselves?

Like I said, I'm an older person. I don't have as much at stake as some of you younger ones. So, think a lot before you pull that lever in the voting booth. You've got a lot riding on it. Stop letting them fool you while they rob you of your future.

[WAstateliberal]

Go Howard Dean! Love the man. Best DNC chair in my lifetime. I will forever be a Deaniac...

[gbht12]

FOX NEWS: Fair and Balanced, yeah right! Of course McCain has to stack this venue with supporters. He has no other way, did he pay them also? Free flights on Cindy's jet?

Who cares, he is a liar and a man with NO principle. Lobby loving war mongler!

If I hear the commentators say one more time, "he is a war hero", I will go insane. Just because he went to war and was a POW does not mean he knows the best thing for America. There are plenty of POW, or war hero's that DISAGREE with McCain. I don't care about his war record, period. That means nothing to me at all. He placed last in his class at the Navel Academy.
That really dosen't make me feel warm and fuzzy!

He has to use his POW experience I quess because he has not done much else. His record in congress is terrible and he has voted with Bush's policies since DAY ONE. Except when he has Flipped! I can't keep track of him anymore.

[syzito]

They both need a few debates in order for the American public to see their differences in how they will govern the USA if elected. If one of them will not debate then that means he is hiding something or incompetent.

[sillyseason]

There are quite a few things most Americans don't know about the trickster, Johnnie Mac.

For example, do you really know where he stands on women's health care issues?

watch the video below, and see how many Americans THINK they know Johnnie's positions on women's health care.

http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/knowmccain?qp_source=knowmccain%5fmoe

Please forward to every woman you know.

[M.S. Bellows, Jr. - Huffpost Blogger]

If you don't know the differences between them without watching them debate, then you're not paying attention. And neither of them has declined to debate -- both have agreed to three debates, the regular ones we all watch every cycle. The only disagreement is over how many town halls (1 or 10 or somewhere in between) and the format.

Is disagreement over details of town halls an indication of "hiding something" or "incompetence"? Not at all. It's a sign of common sense. Obama does better in some settings, McCain does better in others. Some people are better at swords, some are better at pistols -- that's why when one person challenges another to a duel, the second one gets to pick the weapon. McCain challenged Obama to town halls, believing that they'll give him an advantage. Obama's response is to make sure he gets the best possible setting. That's wisdom and a refusal to be bullied. Good for him.

[indypete]

...Or he knows the other is going to be cheating.

[oscartucker]

This was not a debate forum. I don't blame Obama for not going; he had just become the nominee, when McCain said, "Meet me on June 12". Some preliminaries need to be worked out. There is no need for Obama to be "railroaded". I think that there will be only one town meeting between the two. McCain will be made to look exactly as he is, and he will say, "No Mas!"

[AFPISCES]

Besides, who is Grampy McOldy to try to command Obama to do anything? He might be old enough, but he ain't Barack's granddaddy! Anyway, there hasn't been any "town halls" around since the late 1980s! Grampy needs to get with the program!

[libbygirl]

The debates are a useless waste of time. We all know where they stand on the issues and who we're going to vote for. Let McCain go out and have his town halls/ McCain rallies and have fun by himself.

[hannitysux]

The only one at Fox "News" that I have heard mention the stacked audience is Shepard Smith. He is the only one there that I can respect. He's not smarmy like the others. And yes, I do watch Fox as well as all the others. I am a political junkie. That is how I can say without a doubt Fox "News" is neither fair nor balanced.

[WAstateliberal]

Yeah, what's the story on Shep Smith? Why does he stay there? I don't have the patience for the cesspool that is Fox News. And being there damages Shep's credibility. He should take over Dan Abrams' slot at MSNBC. Abrams' ridiculous campaign to get Hillary on the ticket got old after about three days of it.

[willisbones]

If "fair and balanced" is an advertising slogan, and we have laws that govern "truth in advertising", shouldn't FOX be sued for false advertising?

[carlgt1]

you know what's amazing, remember when the corporate media had everyone convinced that Al Gore was "stiff" & "wooden" in his speaking? Yet he is 100 times more dynamic than McLame, and I haven't heard anybody utter the obvious about his awful speaking manner, which is so phony & contrived in addition to being stiff, wooden, off-cue, you name it...

[RobBob]

The "news" outlets aren't talking about it, but you'll definitely hear about it on the late-night comedy shows. Still, I don't think that McCain's complete and total lack of charisma should necessarily disqualify him -- but his lack of worthy things to say does.

[KarlRoves3rdchin]

let's not forget the MSM also claimed Gore was a liar and exaggerator (which he is neither) -then compare that to all the outright lies McCain tells publically and is NEVER corrected by MSM.

One of the many BIG LIES he said, "I've supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy (Katrina).­"

Fact: McCain twice voted against the legislation put forth that would have created an independent commission to investigate the Katrina tragedy.

Look up all the lies where he says he always supports our troops -look at all the votes where in fact he's voted against the troops' best interest.

[JimLarkin]

THE MORE MCCAIN TRIES TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM BUSH THE MORE CHIMPISH HE LOOKS

[MaxBob]

No way a politician would do that, no way. I refuse to believe all those 'softball' questions came from RIGHTWING RUBES. We need a CHANGE, so I HOPE Barack jumps into the fray to CHANGE the dynamic. At least, they'll be softball questions from both sides of the aisle.

[plooger]

Ummm.... More of the same, Mr. McCain?

From April . 2005... http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=114494

[jtmoney]

I bet McCain smells like a medicine cabinet.

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

One McBush falsehood is that he says America is losing jobs because of corporate income tax rates which are abnormally high. That's true in the most narrow sense. The real measurement of taxes paid is the tax burden for each country. Of the 40 large industrial countries America has the 36th lowest tax burden. The reason is that American corporations get many more right offs and tax breaks than other industrialized nation. Republicans have been writing tax breaks into corporate tax codes so they never pay the nominal rate on their real profits, just whittled down profits.

http://www.forbes.com/global/2006/0522/032a.html

America is losing jobs because of labor costs and health care costs that are much lower in other countries. Low labor costs in countries like China and India are obvious one reason corporations move production out of the US. The US is also losing jobs to countries who have universal health care in Canada and Europe. The fact is US employers pay an average of $6000/year on health care while Canadian countries only pay about $800/year.

cont...

[1099]

Countries like Canada and many nations in Europe (Scandanavia for exaple) can have low health care costs because their governments can afford to pick up a lot of the tab. That's a luxury these nations have because they spend very little on defense as they expect (depend on) the US to take care of that sort of thing.

Labor costs are low in China because there are hardly any health or environmental regulations on their business not to mention that they pay their workers aren't affored the rights that workers in the US receive.

[MalloMel]

"Labor costs are low in China because there are hardly any health or environmental regulations on their business not to mention that they pay their workers aren't affored the rights that workers in the US receive."

1099, are you suggesting that we should treat our workers and the environment the same as China?

Another thing: If we didn't spend many billions of dollars on this trumped up war that we started in Iraq, then maybe we'd have some money to spend on other things, such as health care and education. What about our country's infrastructure that is decaying before our eyes? Have you thought about that?

[SpaceCadet]

Obama could be stepping into a trap if he agrees to these town-hall meetings. McCain will try to load the audience with his supporters. Obama will get pounded with questions from the audience about Rev. Wright and the bogus "bitter-gate scandal." And McCain will get Steven Colbert type questions: "Will you be a great president or the greatest president?"