Hothead

The reason that we're going to need a draft in a McCain presidency is because he's a reckless hothead who's default setting is more wars and more carnage.

In an apparent effort to regain the offensive, the Obama campaign launched a broad attack on McCain today, portraying him as reckless on foreign policy, a hot-head who's too willing to use force and not willing enough to apprise himself of facts on the ground before urging military action.

On a conference call with reporters just now, senior Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice argued that there is "a pattern here of recklessness" when it comes to McCain's approach to various national security issues. She pointed out that McCain reacted too quickly with "aggressive and bellicose" rhetoric on the Russia-Georgia crisis, and contrasted that with Obama's measured response to the dust-up.

"There's something to be said for letting facts drive judgment," Rice said, also referring to McCain's desire to target Iraq right after 9/11.

Considering their reluctance to attack on these terms before, clearly there's been an alarm bell at the campaign, and a need to start defining the opponent. This is a good start, especially if it's amplified by surrogates. The DNC sent out a host of quotes by Republicans who know McCain saying they don't trust him with his finger on the button.

GOP Senator Thad Cochran: “The Thought Of His Being President Sends A Cold Chill Down My Spine.” “Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, who has known Senator John McCain for more than three decades, on Wednesday endorsed Mitt Romney for president. Cochran said his choice was prompted partly by his fear of how McCain might behave in the Oval Office. ‘The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine,’ Cochran said about McCain by phone. ‘He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.’” [Boston Globe, 1/27/08]

Former GOP Senator Rick Santorum Said McCain’s Anger Is A “Legitimate Cause For Concern.” “Former Senator Rick Santorum… said Mr. McCain, of Arizona, deserved credit for having gone through the entire campaign ‘under stressful conditions’ without any memorable outbursts. ‘Does he have a capacity to control it?’ asked Mr. Santorum, referring to Mr. McCain’s detonations. ‘Over the course of the campaign, I think he has managed to. But I think it is a legitimate cause for concern.’” [NYT, 2/17/08]

Former GOP Senator Bob Smith: “His Temper Would Place This Country At Risk In International Affairs, And The World Perhaps In Danger. In My Mind, It Should Disqualify Him.” “Former senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican, expresses worries about McCain: ‘His temper would place this country at risk in international affairs, and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, it should disqualify him.’… Smith admits to not liking McCain, a point he has often made over the years to reporters. ‘I've witnessed a lot of his temper and outbursts,’ Smith said. ‘For me, some of this stuff is relevant. It raises questions about stability. . . . It's more than just temper. It's this need of his to show you that he's above you -- a sneering, condescending attitude. It's hurt his relationships in Congress. . . . I've seen it up-close.’” [Washington Post, 4/20/08]

GOP Senator Pete Domenici: “I Decided I Didn't Want This Guy Anywhere Near A Trigger.” McCain’s “ire is all too real. This has prompted questions about whether his temperament is suited to the office of commander-in-chief or whether it might handicap him in a presidential campaign against either Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton, who are not known for such outbursts. ‘I decided I didn't want this guy anywhere near a trigger,’ Domenici told Newsweek in 2000. […] McCain's temper hinders his efforts to make peace with his critics and rally Republicans behind his candidacy for president. That could be a big problem, because his most persistent foes — conservative radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson — talk to tens of millions of people each day. […] McCain's tone was certainly on Dobson's mind when he issued a stinging anti-endorsement on Super Tuesday. He mentioned various issues, but Dobson also said the senator "has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language." [AP, 2/16/08]

Former Arizona Governor Jane Hull: McCain’s Anger Is “Something That John Has To Keep Control Of.” “The state's most popular politician and fellow Republican, Gov. Jane Dee Hull, has defied political custom and endorsed Gov. George W. Bush of Texas over the home-state candidate. An important reason, say people close to Mrs. Hull and Mr. McCain, is the Senator's dismissive treatment of her. … Mrs. Hull described her relations with Senator McCain as ‘not particularly warm.’ Pretending to hold a telephone receiver several inches from her ear, Mrs. Hull explained in an interview this week how she reacted to Mr. McCain's occasional eruptions at her. ‘You've got to hold it out there for a while, and let him calm down,’ she said. "We all have our faults, and it's something that John has to keep control of.’” [New York Times, 10/25/99]

There are other lines of attack, to be sure - Obama has consistently hit McCain on being part of the "same old Washington" of George Bush, and now, Jack Abramoff (that's a great ad, and it's running specifically in Georgia, another example of these local ads that can make a difference) - but the "hothead" one can be tied to everything. McCain wants to recklessly privatize Social Security. He wants to recklessly give control of your health care over to insurance companies. He wants to recklessly drill for oil offshore instead of moving to a clean energy future. He wants to recklessly get everyone you know involved in multiple wars.

He's a hothead. A flyboy. Remember the last one of them we had in the White House?



I also want to distance myself from this. While it's clear that McCain can't manage his military service or his own family, it's unclear what you can get out of attacks on his POW record, like this and this and this and this, and this video:



I don't know why he won't unseal his POW records. It seems curious, but it's none of my business whether or not he gave secrets to the enemy.

... I should add that Josh Marshall is right - demanding that the other campaign stop attacking you is a fool's errand. Today's round of attacks are far better.

Off His Game

An ABC reporter gave John McCain the opportunity to discuss Wes Clark's comment - the ACTUAL remarks - and McCain went apeshit.

McCain became visibly angry when I asked him to explain how his Vietnam experience prepared him for the Presidency.

“Please,” he said, recoiling back in his seat in distaste at the very question.

McCain allies Sen. Lindsey Graham stepped in to rescue him. Graham expressed admiration for McCain’s stance on the treatment of detainees in US custody.

(That would be the stance that he flipped on by voting against a ban on torture in the Senate just this year.)

Another few questions like this and he's going to strangle somebody. The precedent of him hauling off at people is certainly there. And this reporter is probably going to have to fly in the back of the plane from now on.

I actually think that Wes Clark completely threw McCain off with this. The Villagers are having their little hissy fit, but this has exposed that McCain believes in his own divine right to the Presidency based entirely on his suffering and his wounds (which he's ever so "reluctant" to talk about, he mentioned in the same interview. Yeah, right.) Clark touched a nerve here by questioning the assumption that McCain's biography can stand in for his judgment or policy prescriptions. He deflated McCain's entire rationale for his candidacy. And McCain can't take it so he's acting like a WATB.

You endured a horrible imprisonment for our country years ago, and we thank and honor you for it. But let's have some actual straight talk here: you've been thanked and honored for this exact thing for decades. Lionized, feted, canonized even. Maybe the problem is that you feel entitled to nothing BUT that at this point, but... if so, you shouldn't be running for President. It's not appropriate for a democracy to give anyone that office as a gift, without the proper debate.

What you want, Mr. McCain, is to be spared scrutiny. You want the office to be given to you by acclaim, and for ANY criticism of your record to be called an act of disrespect for your military service. It's a cowardly way to approach this election -- morally bankrupt and un-American.

McCain's in quite a bit of trouble. The insiders are worried, he had to overhaul his top staff again and he's caught up in lies over his past statements about not knowing anything about the economy. This Clark story may look like a win for him, but it's consumed almost a week of his campaign, which again is message-free, rootless and unfocused, without any overarching narrative or reason to be President other than "I served." He's angry when challenged about the substance behind the bio, and it comes off ugly.

Get Off My Lawn!

Fun to see McCain turning from depression to anger.

“I’m not going to talk about my campaign anymore. I’m finished with talking about it. I’ve talked about it for two weeks. I will not discuss it or any aspect of it. Thank you.”

Hilarious. You get a sense that the next line would have been "Don't you know who I am? I am John Foster McCain!"

Citizen McCain... hmm... what a movie parody that could be...