7 Days in America: Will McCain Put Reputation First at Wednesday's Debate? w/ Mellman, Huffington, Conason & Green

Dear Senator McCain:

We don't know each other well. We only met once when I interviewed you in 2002 for a book on money in politics. And like many progressive Democrats, I found you interesting, engaging, pretty independent.

What happened?

I understand how ambition can warp judgment. But your recent personal attacks on Barack Obama are so beyond the pale for presidential politics that you now face a fateful choice by the Wednesday debate -- will you pull back from the abyss of sleazy slander or risk losing not only the election but also your reputation and honor?

If Friday is any indication, you're on the fence. On the one hand, when another rally started turning into a mob, you chastized some hateful supporters by saying that Obama was "a decent person [who] you do not have to scared of as president of the United States" and "we will be respectful." But that same day your campaign released an ad that was anything but respectful, asserting that Obama "worked with terrorist Bill Ayers" and then "lied" about it. And of course Sarah Palin keeps repeating that Obama "started" his political career in Ayers' living room.

According to newspaper reports, this is a big lie -- one any candidate should sympathize with. Hundreds of people have hosted events for me, and I assure you that I don't know what awful things they did decades earlier. Indeed, it's known that the two of them worked together handing out educational grants on the same board of the Annenberg Foundation, whose widow endorsed McCain this week! So are you supported by terrorists?

What's unusual this year is that so-called Swift Boat tactics are being launched not by mysterious 527s so a candidate can deny paternity... but by the presidential and vice-presidential candidates themselves. The mud is dripping from your hands -- and the anger and hatred from your supporters ("traitor," "Arab," "kill him") was ginned up by the McCain Team.

With three weeks to go, I'd urge you to make a decision on this by the third and last debate this Wednesday. You can choose to be be forever known as a 21st Century Joe McCarthy or modern day Joe Welch who faced down McCarthy's excesses. You should do so for three compelling reasons:

• First, it's wrong and you shouldn't engage in such self-immolating behavior.
• Second, it's backfiring -- since polls show the gap widening since voters care a lot more about their jobs and 401(k)'s than Bill Ayres.
• Third, while a loss is a loss, for down-ticket Republicans, an Obama win by 10 points rather than by 4 points can be the difference between 56 and 60 seats in the Senate, between 245 House seats and 260 House seats.

Senator, we both recall how Lee Atwater on his deathbed apologized for all those years of playing the race card for Republicans -- and how you repented for not telling the truth about the Rebel Flag during your South Carolina primary in 2000. This time there will be no mulligans. No apologies later accepted. It's not Steve Schmidt's name or decision, not Nicolle Wallace's decision or name. It's your decision and it's time.

Listen to the entire show at AirAmerica.com

7 Days in America, INTERVIEW WITH POLLSTER MARK MELLMAN, October 8, 2008

GREEN: Three weeks ago McCain was slightly ahead after his convention, yet now Obama is measurably ahead and pulling away. You're a leading pollster -- what happened?

MELLMAN: Well, you hit the nail on the head. There is a natural cycle to these elections. The fundamentals of this election suggest a win for Barack Obama. The economy is the worst economy we've had in the public perception since the Depression, we've got the most unpopular president we've ever had, and we have the most unpopular war we've ever had. All of that speaks to an Obama victory. Obama was ahead going into the convention period, came out of his convention with a bounce, but that ran smack into the Republican convention. And you know what? Those bounces dissipate. And now we're back to a situation dictated by the fundamentals, a situation where Obama's ahead. And that's only been magnified by the financial crisis, which has had people very much focused on the economy -- an area where Obama is very strong, and an area where McCain is extraordinarily weak.

GREEN: How hard is Obama's lead in the battleground states?

MELLMAN: We are in a situation at this point where it's very hard for John McCain, I think, to really turn this election around. He has to change the subject in a significant way; he needs to change the dynamic in a significant way. And in this week's debate, he really failed to do that.... That alone would make it a big, big win for Obama. I think Obama won on points, as well, and so did the polls, and so did the public. Now, what's the margin going to be, is it going to be six or seven points, is it going to be two points or ten points? I think it's too early to say.... As you look at it at a state-by-state basis, Obama has a lot of paths to victory here. Obama is extraordinarily likely to win every state that John Kerry won, with the possible exception of New Hampshire. But there are a lot of states now that John Kerry did not win and that Barack Obama is likely to. States like Ohio and Colorado, and potentially Florida and others. If Obama wins this race by four points, that's going to be a huge electoral vote margin.

GREEN: What could happen before the election that would significantly shrink Obama's lead?

MELLMAN: It's hard to imagine an event that changes the outcome of this election. John Kerry does blame the bin Laden tape in part for his loss, but the reality is that John Kerry was not ahead at that point. It blunted his forward movement, blunted his momentum, but he was not ahead. The fact is that Obama is ahead, and ahead by a substantial margin. It's hard for me to imagine an event that really changes that, unless, God forbid, some huge dramatic world event happens, and that is totally unpredictable.

GREEN: Do you agree with the consensus among pollsters that the so-called Bradley Effect --where polls overstate voting for a black candidate -- is largely gone?

MELLMAN: Let's separate two different questions. First of all, are there people who are going to vote against Barack Obama because he is African American? There is no doubt there are those people. The second question, a separate question is, are people unwilling to tell pollsters that they are going to vote for someone other than Barack Obama because they are afraid of being labeled racist? And I think honestly the answer to that question is no. People are perfectly comfortable saying that they are voting for John McCain; as you said, just a few weeks ago John McCain was ahead in this race. So I don't think people feel stigmatized by saying that they are not voting for Barack Obama.

GREEN: What were the worst moments in the second debate for Obama and then for McCain?

MELLMAN: Well, honestly I don't think Obama had really any bad moments. I think he connected well with the audience. That's very important in those town hall debates: it's not just the information that you provide, it's not just the statements you make, it's the extent to which people watching feel that you're connecting with that individual. I think McCain had a very different look and feel. He seemed angry, seemed negative, and was not connecting with voters in a personal way. And I think when he got angriest and sort of referred to Obama as "that guy" or "that person".... GREEN: "That one!" MELLMAN: Right, "that one." I think that kind of epitomized for people the sense of anger and disdain that McCain was displaying. And debate watchers want to see the debaters connect with the audience, not just take issue with each other.

GREEN: If you were advising McCain, would you suggest that he and Palin keep trying to link Obama and "a domestic terrorist" Ayers, or is that so harsh that it's boomeranging?

MELLMAN: Well, if you're the political advisor, not concerned with the long-term image of John McCain, and you're just concerned with maximizing the chances of winning the election, frankly I'd say "hard negative." Go after him hard, go after him in ways that are going to be perceived as fair and substantive, but go after him. The reality is that it's not going to help, and it's going to destroy John McCain's image. He's not going to win the race that way, and it will destroy his image for the future.

GREEN: So then how should Obama-Biden respond to this relentless guilt-by-association -- stay above the fray and just talk about the economy, unleash Biden, attack Palin on Troopergate and McCain on the Keating Five?

MELLMAN: I mean, McCain and Palin are saying things that are completely untrue; newspapers and other independent observers have made clear that they're completely untrue. Yet, knowing they are untrue, they have continued to repeat them. John McCain considers himself an honorable person; that concept, he says, is critically and centrally important to him. He's really given up his claim on being an honorable person. You can't go out there and lie day after day, week after week, knowing you're telling lies, and continue repeating them, and still look yourself in the mirror and say you are an honorable person.


7 Days in America PANEL WITH HUFFINGTON, CONASON AND GREEN, October 10, 2008

GREEN: Watching the McCain-Palin rallies attacking Obama so harshly and then crowds responding as if they were mobs after Frankenstein, I was reminded of your book title, "It Can Happen Here," a take-off of Sinclair Lewis's novel about fascism coming to America? Can it happen here?

JOE CONASON: The mobs chasing Frankenstein's monster were actually much more charming than the ones that are going to see McCain and Palin right now, because they at least had pitchforks and were kind of cute and peasant-y looking. But this is sort of a throng of authoritarians, really. My book was about the threat of authoritarianism in America. And the people who show up and are calling for what sounds like the death of Barack Obama, or "off with his head"...the rage at these rallies is, you know, it's an authoritarian emotion. Because what they seem to be saying is, they don't want to accept what they are afraid will be the outcome of the election.

GREEN: Could these crude, McCarthyite attacks work? Or are they more likely to make McCain lose by 10 points if he keeps it up?

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: Well, you know, Mark, you and I have talked a lot about fear-mongering and how powerful and effective it is. But there is something else happening right now, which is that there is real fear that has gripped Americans based on what's happening with the economy and what's happening in their own lives. In the presence of that real fear, fear-mongering about imaginary enemies and imaginary dangers is much less effective. Certainly that's how it's been so far, and barring anything unforeseen, it's going to be...It's really even turning some of the most mild in the media against McCain and Palin.

GREEN: As I asked Mellman, how should the Democratic ticket respond to these charges, if at all?

CONASON: You know, I think the media in general has done a reasonable job of at least attempting to look at Sarah Palin's background. And therefore the Obama/Biden team does not need to discuss her, personally. What they need to do - and they've been doing this - is to say, "Sarah Palin, as a surrogate of McCain, is just like McCain; she doesn't want to talk about real issues because they have no real solutions. And so she keeps bringing up these irrelevant things to try to stir up the Republican base. But if you want to address what's really happening in the country" - the real fear, that Arianna's talking about - "you need to come with us." I think that's a very effective thing to do. In other words, to marginalize her. It's important to constantly make the point is that the reason they're talking about these things is that they don't have one clue about what to do for this country. On any level. They don't know what to do in foreign policy; they don't know what to do for the economy. I mean, McCain's now talking about a spending freeze! If I were Joe Biden, I'd be talking about that. That is the deadliest thing that could possibly be done in the face of this economic crisis.

GREEN: The U.S. and Great Britain are about to spend probably hundreds of billions buying stock in banks. Is this capitalism, socialism, or something unnamed?

CONASON: It's called the Scandanavian Solution, and we're all Social Democrats now. Richard Nixon once said, "we're all Keynesians now." I guess that we're all going to be Social Democrats now, which means allowing the government to take a much more forceful role in the economy. If banks won't lend money, which they in many cases are refusing to do now leading to this credit freeze, the government needs to go in and order them to lend money, and say "we will back up these commitments with the full faith and credit of the federal government."

GREEN: What might McCain learn from the second debate so he's more effective in the third next week?

HUFFINGTON: He needs to have some kind of anger and contempt management training before the next debate. Because his contempt and anger at Obama are so palpable that there's almost nothing he can do to disguise it. And he needs to do something real; he needs to seriously look at that, because it makes him so unattractive. I mean, the one statement of "that one" that we all wrote about - it was really indicative of his whole attitude towards Obama. He needs to move beyond that.

Comments

[krocklin]

So McCain considers himself an honorable person?
"I have ALWAYS done the right thing, I have ALWAYS put the country first" he told the Des Moines Register. As though this was going to work with undecided voters and talk them into voting for him.
And yet he and Palin repeat the same things that have been disproven over and over again?
With that he has lost his reputation and honor. It is too late for him.
Picking Palin was one of the most disgraceful transparently cynical moves in the history of Presidential elections.
The very idea of a President Palin is an absurdity that blasts out of the tv screen every time they are seen together.
The incongruity of the so-called distinguished stateman and the Hockey Mom must make him wonder at times. On the other hand Cindy seems to be loving it.

[patianneb]

Honor? Reputation? In my book he needs to win them BACK. From what I've seen, he's spent them.

[serena1313]

Frank Rich has a new NYT column out that addresses the escalation of violent rhetoric at McCain and Palin's rallies. Basically it boils down to vigilantes -- people who take the law into their own hands. That coupled with Conason's remark suggesting what "they seem to be saying is, they don't want to accept ... will be the outcome of the election" puts it into a context that is both unnerving and unsettling.

Mostly, but not exclusively, Palin is stoking fears by branding Obama as a potential terrorist based on guilt-by-association. Surrogates including a Florida Sheriff, while in full uniform, are invoking Obama's middle-name which takes on a whole other aspect that goes past racism.

The American people are looking for a leader. Americans want change. We want to know someone is going to look after our best interests not just businesses. Unless things are brought back into balance it won't matter how much things are tilted toward business because if the people do not have money enterprise cannot last. Obama realizes one cannot exist without the other.

Palin and McCain are committed to furthering their political fortunes by ramping-up fear at the public's expense & well-being. In contrast with a commitment to the betterment of the human-condition Obama and Biden are encouraging calmness in times of turmoil. The latter is type of leadership Americans have decided to vote for.

[JodyMcg]

I'll keep trying to post until I turn blue or until my state does. Palin won't hold a press conference. The press still has not put enough pressure on her to get answers. She has not been asked questions and follow up questions. Who is Sarah Palin. After 5 weeks America has no idea.

She is set to go on SNL Oct 25th. Audience members will change her skit to a town hall format. They are going to ask one question at a time and if she doesn't answer then they will protest until SNL cuts to a commercial. SNL may backfire. Just like the rest of the campaign.

[JodyMcg]

The media needs to continue to pressure Palin into a Press conference. She has only had 2 interviews on Networks other than FOX interviews and 1 debate. The Couric and Gibson interviews were edited. She has not answered questions. She has not answered follow up questions.

She may have to answer tough questions on Saturday Night Live on Oct 25th if she dares to appear. Audience members are turning her skit into a town hall meeting. They will be yelling out 1 question at a time. If she doesn't answer and answer follow ups they will protest and the network will have to cut to a commercial. Good luck Gov. Palin.

The Governor will do a comedy show before answering legitimate, serious questions. Who is Sarah Palin. After 5 weeks America has no idea! What a crazy format for a Press Conference but she did say she wanted to talk to the American people unfiltered. Well. SNL will be her chance.

[Gidster]

She is an Governor that is a bit light in the integrity department
.
Maybe she should actually read the Alaska State Constitution as well as the US Constitution. See what the rules are instead of what she thinks the rules should be.

[silverball]

excellent comment.....and exactly how the current occupant and his cronies have been running the government....not by the "rules", but instead by how they think the rules should be....just incredible...i hope the plan is to indict them AFTER he leaves office so he can't pardon them.....

[ArchAngel]

Obama must literally confront McCain squarely head on in no uncertain terms.

He must tell McCain to his face that he is a dangerous racist demagogue. He must use simple stark language with clear examples to describe McCain's evil so that all may fully understand.

Anything less than that will leave uninformed voters with the impression that McCain is somehow right about what he says. This has always been the mistake of Democrats - you cannot ignore evil or hope that others will see it. Or continue to play nice hoping the bully will change his mind and play nice. It's not a question of stooping to McCain's level.

The only way to deal with this ugly evil is it to confront it head on and expose it fully for all to see.

Obama must show Americans about McCain's desperation to divide and conquer with fear and hate.

Obama must reassure Americans that he cares equally for all Americans and will defend and protect every last one.

[jean1]

Does anyone know if the people who are attending the rallies we've seen on tv have gotten printed information or been trained to be SO MEAN? From what shows on tv, it's definitely a mob mentality. & ir's scary! People that i know and talk to every day in rural America are concerned!

It's beyond being embarassed for America as a country, how the world is laughing at us, etc. It's evil!

[Indieguy]

This is very real and exposes the underbelly of intolerance and racial hatred that still exists in America and is fueled by the right wing radio talk show wack-jobs.

[applejax46664]

Fortunately a candidate came along who recognized this as a cancer on America and challenged our citizens to become more engaged in the process, to gather information on their own, to embrace the politics of ideas and reject the politics of fear. Then he challenged those who became informed to share with their co-workers, their neighbors, and their communities in a way that did not demand they vote a certain way, burt simply take a look at what a positive campaign looks like and decide, but most importantly think, for themselves.

[SuburbanMalcontent]

This is the reality of the "love America" crowd. It's why I always say they should be forced to add, "I just hate 60% of the people living in it." They're simpletons who've spent their lives wanting somebody to literally control every aspect because they're too afraid to take responsibility for it themselves. Whether it's their churches, their workplace, or the television and radio news they get, they want people to tell them what to think and what to do. It's downright sad and pathetic, but it's what these people choose because they're so afraid to admit they're a failure on their own.

[applejax46664]

They have received no formal training but have intentionally subjected themselves to 22 months straight of Sean Hannity who brainwashed (please no jokes about needing a brain in order to have it washed) them into believing that Senator Obama is a mysterious and dangerous man.
The crowds at McCain rallys are not espousing their own thoughts, but those that they are barraged with in their email boxes, on their conservative talk radio programs of choice, and by the news channel pundits they choose to watch. What riled up McCain supporters to such a low-point this week was Hannity's America program that aired Sunday night and falsely claimed (with rephrehensible dramatizations/re-enactments) that Senator Obama was a leftist-radical who has numerous terroist connections in his past. The one-news-source conservative base scared and angry after this propoganda piece. If they could have brought torches and pitchforks through the event security of the McCain rallys they would have.

[needsmustard]

Remember that McCain is more Gambler than Maverick. Try to get a sick gambler to walk away before maxing out his credit with a littlebit of dignity in-tact. It is late and almost bedtime and that gambler who is losing will always make the big reckless bet because even though he knows how stupid it is and would never do it under normal circumstances, he is possessed by the idea that ifit works, he will be okay. The difference is that now he isn'tgoing all-in with Cindy's beer money, but rather with his integrity. It is actually quite painful to watch this all transpire, a man destroying himself before the nation.

[Indieguy]

McCain keeps rolling the dice and all he does is crap-out.

[AliLiz]

Good reporting. Still wonder how we got this far into hate and anger on the campaign trail. Sad for everyone.

Shame on McCain, Palin GOP and the mob of ''supporters.

[RRG64]

This is not something that just occurred. This is decades of festered racial wounds, there will always be this kind of ignorance, let`s just pray America wakes up before it`s too late.

I honestly hope for the long term sake of the nation that the McCain we saw debunk his own campaign reappears and responds appropriately and doesn`t go ALL IN on this one. If he does, it`s not going to be pretty. There are very dark forces at work behind all this.

And the article is right on point, It is his time and his hour as well.
John McCain cannot blame this on his advisors, he has allowed this to go way too far.

He is personally accountable and should be held accountable by the American public and his political peers, at least any of the ones who have a shred of decency left, I know they are out there.

[Rog49Thomas]

Perhaps, some observers only became aware of this during the past two week but the reputation and honor were lost long before.

[LanguagePolice]

"GREEN: So then how should Obama-Biden respond to this relentless guilt-by-association -- stay above the fray and just talk about the economy, unleash Biden, attack Palin on Troopergate and McCain on the Keating Five?"

Mellman did not really answer this question. I am hoping the answer from the campaign will be:

FREE JOE BIDEN!!! BIDEN CAN TAKE THIS ON, AND DO IT WITH FINESSE.

Imagine Biden speaking:

"John McCain- John McCain. You're telling us you don't know who Barack Obama really is. And now you are saying that he had connections with a terrorist and that he lied about it.

John, you're telling us you don't know who Barack Obama really is. After 25 years in the Senate with you, I'm beginning to wonder who John McCain is, because this is not the John McCain I know.

I know that there's a taboo of sorts in politics about getting personal- but to call somebody, a fellow Senator and public servant, a liar and a terrorist- that's getting pretty personal.

John, God love you, you're running the most negative campaign in the recent history of the United States. I am baffled by this. I'm just baffled by this. This is not the John McCain I know. John, for the love of God, for the love of America, stop this. I don't know how you can look at yourself in the mirror. Please stop this.

Please stop this."

Or something like that. Joe Biden could pull this off.

[hyjanks]

A conversation that may be taking place at this very moment . . .

John M: This negative stuff doesn't seem to be going over very well and I think the poll numbers show it.
William K: Give it time, John. The beast--excuse me--the base simply hasn't awakened yet. Their small minds simply haven't grasped the enormity of a terrorist Muslim in the White House. You've got to be consistent in your speeches . . .
Sarah P: Also, as our great president Ronald Reagan used to say, "Confluence is the hemoglobin of the bloodstream".
David B: Pardon me, Sarah, but I believe that was, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds . . . and that was said by Ralph Waldo Emerson and . . . Sarah, did I ever say that I admire your spunk, your ability to speak to the common man . . . our loins!
Sarah P: You betcha! But, also, I thought you said, like, I'm a canker on our PartyI 'Guess cankers aren't so bad, huh?
John M: (muttering under his breath) Jeez! Lieberman is looking pretty good right now . . .
William K: Look. The election's around the corner. We've got Dibold on our side and our operatives are already purging the voting rolls of blacks and Union members. We've got this thing in the bag if everything falls into place . . .
Sarah P: Fer surrrrrrrrre! The gloves will remain off!

[DrBillo]

McCain has the attitude that many seniors have--they feel that something is owed to them because they served or because they made it to their 70's and beyond-nothing is owed anyone but respect--McCain is not giving respect and he is not getting it back--you have to give respect to get it back-age does not give you a free ride anywhere unless you act your age----

[Gdebs]

I paided into teacher's retirerment for 33 years and yes I think I am owed a pension. Do you have a problem with that?

[MyAudacity]

You paid into your teacher's retirement for 33 years, and you are due your pension.

If I were to have any problems, it may be regarding your former students education. Hopefully, someone was able to pick up your deficient areas.

[wizardofoz]

ARIANNA kudos for bringing this out in the open,sen MCAIN brought this on himself with the smears
of another senator by his surrogates and his running mate,it just proves to the AMERICAN people
there are still racists and extremists in this country.The country is in turmoil right now,with people
losing their jobs,homes,some their 401ks,its time we the people came together as AMERICANS not
dems or repubs,and get this great country back where it belongs.