McCain's Brother: VA Suburbs "Communist Country"

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate John McCain's brother made an apparent joke at a campaign rally this weekend that might not play well in parts of newly competitive Virginia.

Joe McCain, speaking at an event in support of his brother, called two Democratic-leaning areas in Northern Virginia "communist country," according to a report on The Washington Post's Web site.

"I've lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country," Joe McCain, a Navy veteran, said at an event in Loudoun County, Va.

Joe McCain then apologized, but the remark drew laughter at the event, according to the report.

Virginia has long been a Republican stronghold in presidential elections, but Democrat Barack Obama is running even or ahead of McCain in recent state polls. Obama is being helped by fast-growing communities in the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Northern Virginia, which tend to vote more Democratic than other parts of the state.

One of those areas is Arlington, Va., where John McCain owns a condominium.

"This was Joe McCain's unsuccessful attempt at humor," said McCain campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho. "John McCain and Sarah Palin are committed to winning the support of voters in Northern Virginia and understand the region's importance to victory statewide."

Comments

[toochie50]

Today Electoral count:
Fivethirtyeight.com
Obama: 333
mc-204

Realclearpolitics:
Obama: 353
Mc: 185

Electoral-vote.com:
Obama: 338
Mc: 185

It's going to be a landslide Sarah!

[greejambri]

Sarah's 15 minutes of fame is about to end. Too bad.

[Decipherer]

Yeah, and just wait 'til the IRS get done with her & Taaaahd!

[gretcheno]

Ta-ta Sarah back to Alaska you go!

[SmootyBooty]

is there anyone Johnny hasn't alienated?
bin Laden, perhaps?

[Hoslo2]

Bin laden loves this guy!
He just loves another idi@t in office to go on with the endless wars..

Bin Laden loves both McSame & Palin.. same types as him, same interests: FARE!

[zendem1]

Nancy Fartanhour, McCain trainwreck cleaning woman said, "What the senator's brother meant to say was that Obama will raise taxes and let's not forget about terror and the surge is working and sarah plain is qualified."

[Bitsko]

And the fundamentals are working people. Ah, right, DearJohn.

[Decipherer]

All neatly packaged into an accusation that folks living hereabouts in N. Va. are "communists!" How dey do dat?

[Hawaii4Obama]

That's an even better re-work of Pfotenhauer's name than Jon Stewart's "puhfoten..."....good one!!

How many times does this "Straight Talk Express" have to back up after getting derailed??? Talk about damage control!

[iPolitics]

Is that anyway to treat the good people of VA? Time to vote for Obama

[Indie2008]

Joe: "How 'bout them communists?" ..... John: "Haeeeeh?

[arthur2008]

He seems to have the same political acumen his brother exhibited in Michigan. It is a delight to watch these people stumble with every erratic step.

[helloworld2008]

McCain & Palin = HATERS

[ThankGodforAtheists]

I guess their new slogan is, "Virgina is for Commie Lovers"

[tangelan]

I think brother Joe is about to disappear.

[Bitsko]

They'll just dump him at the local Budweiser plant.

[LawrenceL]

He'll be sent off with Carly Fiorina.

[Decipherer]

That's a pairing I'd really rather not think about.

[TheIndependenceParty]

To quote another recent radical member of the Reich "Say it ain't so, Joe!"

The Communists have been invading Northern Virginia for years and years and have never made it South of Tyson's Corners or West of Reston? Should we call in the National Guard, ... alert the Civil Defense, (Where did I put that spaghetti bowl hat and green leggings?) or maybe raid some of the mansions in McLean to see where some of our money went in the Investment Bank Bailout of last week? Now THAT was a real attack on America, eh Joe?

Why doesn't Brother John just appoint Joe to be "Commander of the Second Army of the Potomac" to fend off the Red Threat? Oh, ... that's right, ... now that the Communists are pretty much washed up, the Republicans have become the "New Red Threat".

At the end of the day, Cindy was glimpsed pushing Ole Joe's wheelchair back into the front doors of the "Home", ... as they re-activated his "WatchMate", so they would know when he wanders out into public again.

John was overheard saying, ... "Let the C**t push the Ole F**t back to his room, ... I've had a bad week!"

[Indie2008]

I love it! ...Now there are two fronts in the war on Putin. He could rear his head over Alaska or Northern Virginia.

[kat1park]

And Sarah Palin's experience seeing him from an island in Alaska that she has actually never visited would be key to addressing this very serious foreign policy issue. :-)

[Rog49Thomas]

And now the logic of nominating Sister Sarah to the ticket becomes abundantly clear.

She's kept the Russkis (and those treacherous Canucks) from attacking Alaska, but with Northern Virginia occupied by the Reds, it's only a matter of time before they make their move.
Those brave Republicans in Congress (you know the ones whose feelings Pelousy hurt) have to stand tall for just 3 months and 20 days. Help is on the way.

In the meantime since the District's gun law was overturned, I expect to see a well regulated militia of Republicans drilling on the Mall.

[postman606]

I thought the term communist had gone out of vogue as a useful persausion device, but I recently read a statement by consevative columnist Lisa Schiffren of The National Review. She states that Obama is a secret communist baby because in her experence ALL of the children born of the union between blacks and whites in Obama's age group met in the Communist Youth League. She was on Bill Maher's show last week, Bill never called her on this remark. This room called America needs to be fumigated.

[Decipherer]

Maher did not call her out on that and a host of other idiotic and despicable references for which she is well known, I think because he pitied her just a bit during the rather substantial comeuppance she received. Piling on is rather ungentlemanly, don't you agree?

[Bitsko]

Spoken like a democratic gentleman or gentlewoman. Can't wait for the return of civility under President 0bama. (Fingers crossed)

[postman606]

I certainly love the idea of being gentlemanly, but let's face it, that's not Maher's forte. He cuts his guest no slack, and went on "The View" and cleaned Sherri Shepard's clock. I just want him to remain consistent.

[CatPower]

If anyone knows where the Commies are, it's Joe 'Stalin' McCain.

[Rog49Thomas]

Joe McCarthy McCain.

My Chairman, I have a list of 500 communists in the State Department ....

[wpiv926]

These are the kinds of idiots we are dealing with here folks. But, everybody should just take a deep breath, we will only have to listen to their garbage for one more month. Obama-Biden-'08

[greeniefromOH]

I agree; and I hope you are right.... in another few years, may they both be the answers to Trivial Pursuit questions!

[RJKruger]

HAHAHAHA! I hope they'll be too trivial to be Trivial Pursuit answers. And how about they can't even answer Trivial Pursuit questions today?

[Petey131]

I guess it's true: Stupidity can run in the family. McCain family that is.

[ProgressiveThought]

LOL atleast he did not call it g-word(racial slur) country. Only thing dumber than a bush is a mccain.

[kat1park]

I tell all of my friends that I didn't believe we could ever have another president as dumb as George Bush until McCain was nominated by the GOP. And now Palin is his running mate? Are they trying to win the Dumb and Dumber Country First Award? The only thing they are putting first is their ambition. They are so ambitious, in fact, that it is lost on them that they are both too dumb to run the country.

[Indie2008]

"Communists" in Virginia,... "They don't see the world like us"..."I know war" - The views of this ticket and their loyalists seem to be caught in a 1950's time warp.

[Bitsko]

Yep, especially if you mean Joe McCarthy's 1950's.