The Obama campaign today held a conference call going after McCain for being "reckless." Greg Sargent has it over at TPM:
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.
Also on the call, Richard Clarke apparently joined the chorus calling him "reckless," "trigger-happy" and "discredited."
TPM's David Kurtz wonders whether this meme will be effective "in a nation where we like our action heroes to shoot first and ask questions later." Fair question but what Kurtz doesn't take into account is the message below the message: McCain's age.
As McCain's fellow POW, Phillip Butler, wrote in an editorial:
I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.
That's what this is about. As I wrote early in July, McCain's age should be on the table. Chris Bowers agrees:
Attack McCain's age. This might seem more dangerous, and I have cautioned against it before. However, it would seem foolish to avoid it at this point, because all of the clever attacks are being directed at Obama. We need to turn the tables, and this would help out quite a bit. For starters, voters want "change" in this election, and old age is an antithesis of change. Second, there is already a well-established national narrative about McCain's age, so it would reinforce existing anti-McCain narratives. Third, if the attack was done correctly, there would still be deniability that McCain's age was even being attacked. It could turn McCain into an angry, whiny, too sensitive candidate, which in turn makes him look old and weak. The narrative can thus reinforce itself even if McCain fights back.
Seems to me that's what we're looking at with this "reckless" meme.
Update [2008-8-20 19:57:4 by Todd Beeton]:GWU Battleground 2008 poll finds that 27% of respondents are "not at all comfortable" with electing a 72 year old president; only 4% said the same thing about electing an African-American.
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