ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style2 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style3 { height: 69px; } .style4 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style2">McCain&#39;s Liability</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright October 9, 2008<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style4">W</span>hen GOP Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced Aug. 29 that Alaska Gov. Sara Palin would be his running mate, the Republican establishment gasped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain insisted the 44-year-old first-term governor as well-qualified for VP, something strongly doubted by most voters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain said he picked a real  maverick like himself but couldn t convince too many voters that she was qualified for VP by reason of experience and readiness for the Oval Office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Weighing out objections from social and religious conservatives, McCain picked Palin over former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and former Penn. Gov. Tom Ridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain enjoyed a brief bounce after Palin s Sept. 2 well-choreographed speech at the Republican National Convention, blasting Obama and the Democratic Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since then, she s watched her approval ratings drop like a rock after some bungled TV interviews.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>From the day McCain picked Palin, he s been on the defense about her credentials, knowing, without foreign policy experience, she s a heartbeat from the president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain threw pundits for a loop, not because she offered such unique qualities for a VP but because, during a time of war and economic crisis, she offered nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Palin s acerbic tongue has morphed into McCain s chief attack dog, blasting Barack for his ties or lack thereof to former  60-70s Weather Underground radical William Ayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Ayers, now an education professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago campus, served on a non-profit board with Barack and hosted, in the mid  90s, a get-to-know Barack at his South Side Home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>For that, Palin and McCain have accused Barack of  palling around with terrorists. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Ayers detonated some pipe bombs protesting the Vietnam War in the early  70s.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Lagging in the polls, McCain and Palin have gone to character assassination to make up lost ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Judging by current results, the strategy seems to have backfired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Confronting Obama directly at the Oct. 7 Nashville, Tenn. debate, McCain avoided any mention to the Ayers controversy, preferring to spread falsehoods and ugly rumors on the campaign trail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>A direct confrontation would have given the accused a chance to confront his accuser, something McCain avoided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Many former  60s radicals, including former Black Panther Eldridge Clever, author of the 1968 best selling book  Soul on Ice, had close relationships with many elected officials before his death at age 62 from prostate cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Palin told Burlingame, Calif. Fundraiser that Barack  would pal around and work with, a former domestic terrorist, questioning Barack s honesty and fitness to be president.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Palin can t answer questions about the economy or Iraq but she can spread gossip and innuendo about Obama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> McCain s strategists tell him to attack Barack s character if he has any chance of making up ground in the polls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> McCain s plans for the economy and Iraq have fallen flat with voters, forcing a last-ditch strategy of character assassination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Voters seem more worried about their jobs and 401(k)s than Barack s specious associations with a former  60s radical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While McCain insists that Palin is a fellow maverick, she has made little headway with independent voters likely to swing the Nov. 4 election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He thought she would capture the women s vote but recently polls say otherwise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since picking Palin Aug. 29, McCain has been on the defensive trying to vouch for her credentials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No matter how much vouches, the press raises more and more questions. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain picked Palin ironically to solidify Bush s so-called base, largely social and religious conservatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Moderate Republicans and independents have deserted Bush for some time, evidenced by his abysmally low 27% approval ratings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If Palin brought Bush s 27%, it made no sense for McCain to ignore the lion s share on independents and moderate Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain now faces the added dilemma of having to justify his pick at a time when the campaign is stuck in reverse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Palin appeals to Bush s base but virtually no one else, a bad choice if McCain has a chance of chipping into Barack s lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Attacking Obama s character carries additional risks of looking desperate less than four weeks to the election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain finds himself preaching to the choir and virtually no one else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Had McCain picked Romney or Ridge, they would have appealed to mainstream voters.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain biggest miscalculation of the campaign was picking Palin to go after what s left of Bush s base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> With only 27% remaining, McCain painted himself into a corner, alienating mainstream voters, unwilling to entrust the VP to a political and foreign policy neophyte.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After making the argument that a post-Sept. 11 world can t afford  on the job training, McCain impeached his own credibility picking Palin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> He calls his campaign slogan  country first but clearly picked Palin to shore up Bush s right wing base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whatever threat people feel from the economy or terrorism, they now worry about an unqualified VP, potentially becoming president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain s age and past medical problems leave voters concerned about his ability to complete a first term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Picking Palin raised serious doubts about McCain s judgment, choosing a running mate unfit for commander-in-chief.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;<bAbout the Author</u><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyxing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <i><a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> </i>and <i><a href="books.html"> Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>