19 Days Out: That Line Seemed Like a Good Idea Last Night, But This Morning I Just Feel Horrible...

Jesse Lee is the Online Rapid Response Manager for the DNC, this is a daily update on the day's messaging.

Oh, they were so proud. After handily losing two presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, with another loss likely coming down the pike, John McCain got off what his campaign felt was simply the best line ever. Frank James of the Swamp noted, "You could see he was spring loaded on that one." Chris Cillizza of WaPo said, "In case you were wondering whether the 'I'm not President Bush' line was planned...McCain campaign sends this..." - a link to the Youtube of the clip of course. And CNN got the insider reaction...

CNN: "Relieved McCain aides thrilled over Bush one-liner... McCain aides expressed relief Wednesday night that the Arizona senator "finally" used a line that took on one of Obama's central campaign themes. 'Sen. Obama, I am not President Bush,' he said. 'If you wanted to run against President Bush you should have run four years ago. I will take this country in a new direction.' McCain advisors - who said they had been pushing him to stress that distinction more explicitly than he had in the past -- immediately uploaded the quote to YouTube, and circulated it to reporters."

And so it must have been very disappointing to wake up and find that the "best line ever" was being used by the Obama campaign in one of the best and most amazingly rapid response ads of the election:

That must be just the message the McCain campaign wants front and center. You might have also noticed some of McCain's greatest facial expression hits. Lest anybody be accused of taking them out of context, here they are in full contextual glory:

John McCain rolls his eyes over murdered labor leaders in Colombia:

John McCain gives air quotes to "the health of the mother":

John McCain has the shock of his life at discovering he's been "flat-out lying" about Obama's health care plan:

Read more reactions to the Obama-McCain Hofstra Presidential Debate from HuffPost bloggers

Comments

[berryessence]

THIS ELECTION WILL BE STUDIED FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE CLASSES ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

THE POLITICAL WARFARE, NUANCE, TERRITORY, ADS, CAMPAIGN INJECTIONS HAVE BEEN THE BEST I'VE EVER WITNESS.

THANKS OBAMA , HILLARY, AND MCCAIN.... YOU HAVE MADE AMERICA MEANS SO MUCH WORTH FOR DEMOCRACY....

I SHOULD KNOW..... I FOUGHT IN DESERT STORM TO SEE THIS SH$T STORM OF A WHIPPING THAT OBAMA IS DOING TO YOU

[sociocanuck]

Old man yells at everything.

[dutt]

McCain was mostly incoherent during the debate. I have to admit, his prepared zinger about not being Bush was a pretty good one. It also was one of the few moments he said something that wasn't just a bunch of words randomly pieced together.

[JanaK63]

The team of David Axelrod and David Plouffe deserve some type of medal for the campaign they have ran for Barack Obama...it has been nearly flawless. Perhaps McCain should use them in his senate reelection campaign in Arizona.

[Krikkit]

Finally using Rove's core tactic against the Republicans: Turn their strengths into weaknesses. Of course, if denying -- again -- that McCain's policy history is anything like supporting Bush's policies wasn't much of a strength to begin with if you think about it. Only in the deranged minds of the GOP base could the outcome have been any different. The rest of it already knew long ago that McSame is, and always has been, McBush.

[marytny]

Wow! Again I'm blown away by the organizational skills of Obama's team!
That was FAST!

Great ad!!!!!

Donating again.....

[canobserv]

The "health of the mother" air quote turned my stomach and I would imagine he lost every independant woman out there......

[santamonica39]

That is an EFFIN' brilliant ad! Please donate to Obama so he can run it in every swing state!!

[Protoguy]

I think the saddest thing in the world is the fact that the deep-end, deep-denial conservatives actually believe that.