NC GOP Right, McCain Wrong

I strongly support John McCain for the presidency of the U.S. I have done a great deal online – and off – to advance the cause of John McCain, and I will do a great deal more.

That said, I strongly disagree with McCain’s position that the North Carolina GOP should withdraw an Obama ad, one using Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s anti-American and anti-white comments to criticize two NC Democrats running for governor. Both candidates (Richard Moore and Bev Perdue) have endorsed Barack Obama.

John McCain has said “there’s no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don’t want it.” He also added that his knowledge of the ad was second-hand. In his words, “I didn’t see it, and I hope that I don’t see it.” Frankly, if he wants to condemn the ad, he should at least look at it.

John McCain is an honorable, decent man. In the case of the NC ad, he’s overstepping his authority. Yes, he will be the Republican standard bearer, but the North Carolina GOP is a separate entity, responsible for the performance of Republicans in their state.

Frankly, there’s nothing false or meretricious about the ad. Rev. Wright presented the sermon featured (the one where he says “God damn America”) as it appears in the ad. Obama has distanced himself in vague ways from what he calls Wright’s “controversial” remarks, but has not spoken in any detail about the issue.

In fact, Republican candidates around the country are holding Democrats to account on their support of Obama. In my own congressional district, GOP candidate Melissa Hart has repeatedly criticized her opponent, Jason Altmire, for not distancing himself from Obama’s so-called “bitter” comments. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is supporting such efforts.

As for McCain, he’s taking too much of a kid gloves approach to Obama, who misrepresents McCain’s position on a daily basis. Most disturbingly, McCain told MSNBC’s Chris Mathews that Obama’s “bitter” remarks were “elitist,” but that he wouldn’t characterize the Senator himself as an “elitist.”

I give up. Even Hillary Clinton, Obama’s fellow Democrat, has called him an “elitist.’ Frankly, an elitist is someone who makes elitist remarks and is guilty of elitist associations, and Obama regularly does both.

I sometimes fear that Senator McCain yearns for the good old days when the U.S. Senate was a “gentleman’s club.” In his chronic misrepresentations of McCain – for example, saying he’d like to fight the Iraq War for another 100 years – Obama is not exactly being a gentleman. In fact, he’s being a left-wing elitist, one detached from the realities of life in most of America.

In the campaign, Obama and his friends at MoveOn.org are going to throw the kitchen sink at McCain. Heck, they’re going to throw the stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher at McCain – not to mention the local landfills.

Senator McCain can not be under the illusion that he’s a latter-day Dwight Eisenhower running a contemporary version of Adlai Stevenson. Like the North Carolina Republicans, McCain must not overestimate the character of his opponent(s).

In the Gulf War, General Schwarzkopf said his approach would be to “hit the enemy in the face with a baseball bat.” Frankly, that’s a good description of what American leftists -- including Barack Obama – will try to do with McCain.

When you see a baseball bat coming your way, the best approach is NOT to turn the other cheek. Trust me, Senator Obama and his supporters are not to miss any opportunity to defame John McCain, and he’s better be ready for that.


Note: The material below describes in some detail the controversy over the NC political ad.


http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/04/23/ap4926459.html


"We asked them not to run it," McCain told reporters traveling with him in Kentucky. "I'm sending them an e-mail as we speak asking them to take it down.

"I don't know why they do it. Obviously, I don't control them, but I'm making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there's no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don't want it," McCain said.

McCain said the ad was described to him: "I didn't see it, and I hope that I don't see it."

Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan, who accompanied McCain, said he had left a voice mail message for state party chairwoman Linda Daves asking her to pull the ad.

McCain, in an e-mail to Daves, said he will draw sharp contrasts with Democrats. "But we need not engage in political tactics that only seek to divide the American people."

Asked about the ad during an appearance in New Albany, Ind., Obama said: "My understanding is that the Republican National Committee and John McCain have both said that the ad's inappropriate. I take them at their word, and I assume that if John McCain thinks that it's an inappropriate ad, that he can get them to pull it down since he's their nominee and standard-bearer."

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean piled on, saying McCain should call the party chairwoman personally.

"If John McCain means what he says, he should call the North Carolina Republican Party chairwoman and tell her not to run this ad," Dean said. "Sending an e-mail and turning a blind eye as the state party ignores him is not leadership."

North Carolina GOP spokesman Brent Woodcox said the ad will begin running statewide on Monday, a week before the state's crucial May 6 primary. The ad actually targets gubernatorial candidates Richard Moore and Bev Perdue, Democrats who have endorsed Obama.