Letter to the editor:

McCain flip-flops on negative campaigning

Stephen Metz, Henderson

Fri, Aug 8, 2008 (2:04 a.m.)

Every four years, when it’s time for America to elect our president, it sadly has been decided by both political parties that negative attacks on your opponent work. We have all seen the vast coarsening of our politics that has led to total inaction by our Congress. With the bitterness between the political parties, bipartisanship is nowhere to be found.

Currently all we hear is Barack Obama or John McCain has flip-flopped on the issues. Certainly both Obama and McCain have enough changes in policy to justify the label of flip-flopper. But the worst of the flip-flopping has just taken place. And this nation is suffering from that decision.

The Rove style of personal attack politicking has now become the method of choice of McCain. We all heard, over and over again, John McCain claiming that, after he became the presumptive nominee, he would never go negative, that attacking your opponent personally adds nothing to the debate.

Yet all it took for McCain to flip-flop on that promise was the seeming reality that he could not win the election solely on the merits of his plans for America. He had to go totally negative to possibly win.

It reminded me of the outrageous and unbelievable sleazy claim by McCain that Obama would rather lose the war in Iraq if it meant winning the election. McCain has to look in the mirror, for it seems he would rather attack his opponent personally than win on the merits of his plans for America. So, in reality, who is the great flip-flopper?

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

By neiman1

8/8/08 at 8:35 a.m.

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Let's see, Obama surrogate Clark suggesting McCain's service record was not leadership. Obama telling us McCain is running for Bush's 3rd term. Obama NOT playing the same race card he played on Bill and Hillary. NOOOOOO. Obama isn't being negative. Everything he does is negative attack and thinks he gets to do it because he is an Historic candidate. I think McCain waited way too long to point out to the voters that the emperor wears no clothes. Watch Obama anytime he has to answer questions about anything instead of reading speeches someone wrote for him. Between stammering and stuttering trying to remember the scripted answers, his anger at a follow up when he avoids the question, and his answers that need immediate clarification after his handlers tell him where he screwed up I don't find much McCain says is actually negative, just pointing out the stupidity of Obama as a real candidate for anything.
By ksand99

8/8/08 at 8:59 a.m.

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Sorry neiman1, but when Clark said that Obama immediately denounced it, whereas there have been numerous attacks on Obama, from McCain surrogates and McCain's shrugged his shoulders.

For example, when McCain was asked whether he thought Obama is a socialist (for god's sake!) he shrugged and replied, "I don't know."

Obama has stood up and defended McCain's military service to our country, and when given the chance to reciprocate and show some backbone, he waffled!

McCain's campaign ads have been negative for several weeks now, and it's a sign of a desperate candidate with no traction.

The obvious jealousy of the campaign coverage Obama had for his wildly successful overseas trip drove McCain to launch the first negative ad of the campaign, even after repeatedly saying that voters deserved better.

We agree, John McCain, we deserve better. We deserve Barack Obama.
By JohnF

8/8/08 at 2:03 p.m.

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neiman1,

It's interesting that you would consider equating John McCain with George W. Bush as negative campaigning.