Althouse: "No, no, no, no. I'd describe the campaign as going well. I'm very happy with it. People are free to make their own assessments."

July 10, 2007

"No, no, no, no. I'd describe the campaign as going well. I'm very happy with it. People are free to make their own assessments."

Says John McCain.

Okay. If you insist. You seem to be collapsing.

49 comments:

Ruth Anne Adams said...: I do enjoy the straight talk.

You won't have John McCain to kick around much longer.; 7/10/07, 5:46 PM
David Walser said...: Such questions, while understandable, are pointless. Candidates simply can't answer, "Yea, I'm screwed." That would be the same as announcing a withdrawal from the race. Even if a candidate is actively considering quiting, he or she cannot admit that truth in public. Such an answer would all but prevent going forward. So, until all hope is gone, the only answer an candidate can give is, "Things are great! Sure, they could be better, but everyone faces challenges..."; 7/10/07, 5:53 PM
Cyrus Pinkerton said...: "No, no, no, no. I'd describe the campaign as going well. I'm very happy with it. People are free to make their own assessments."

For the record, I'm very happy with it too.; 7/10/07, 5:55 PM
chickelit said...: For the sake of badly needed bipartisanship, we're better off he stays in the Senate anyway.

Face it, John McCain was exciting a few years ago but he muffed (after he got muffed).

If we ever went to war in Asia, he'd be relevant again.; 7/10/07, 6:31 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Sadly, He's history in this campaign.

John McCain is a genuine American Hero and a good man. I supported him in 2000, but won't this time, primarily over immigration. Regardless, he deserves our respect. I hope he has another 8 years in the Senate were I think he is a positive influence on both the Senate and America.

John: God Bless You and your son.; 7/10/07, 6:40 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm not sure how McCain was any different than Bush in retrospect. He's Bush if Bush could give a speech.

In 2000, I felt that Bush could beat Gore but not McCain. I can't for the life of me remember why that was.; 7/10/07, 6:47 PM
The Drill SGT said...: where, not were; 7/10/07, 6:55 PM
Hey said...: Despite being a true American hero and my deep abiding respect for his service, he does not respect the First Amendment and can not honestly take the Oath of Office. He is thus incapable of being President and I can't support him.

This is another demonstration of the fact that no career ends well in politics. Hopefully he will stay in the Senate where he can be a generally positive influence, outside of his attacks on the First Amendment and border security.; 7/10/07, 7:25 PM
Anonymous said...: He's collapsing, because he likes Hispanics.

And the Republican party is the party of hate, and they hate Hispanics a whole lot.; 7/10/07, 7:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey,

The other Republican candidates don't respect the First Amendment either, i.e. the Bong Hits for Jesus case.
Or the fact that they are trying to take down an advertisement in Times Square for a Bidet company.

Republicans hate free speech. They only like it for corporations.; 7/10/07, 7:34 PM
Eli Blake said...: If we ever went to war in Asia, he'd be relevant again.

Actually, Iraq IS in Asia. So is Afghanistan.

But McCain's blind and unbending support for the war in Iraq has put him out of step with 75% of the American public, hence he's toast.; 7/10/07, 7:49 PM
chickelit said...: sorry, I meant east asia.; 7/10/07, 7:51 PM
Eli Blake said...: Also a prediction (just because I live here, and even though I'm a Democrat I know what ordinary people-- including ordinary Republicans are saying on the street.)

McCain doesn't even win his home state on Feb. 5. Mitt Romney does.; 7/10/07, 7:51 PM
Anonymous said...: That's silly Eli. You can't win the Republican nomination unless you support the Iraq War fully.; 7/10/07, 7:51 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: You seem to be collapsing.

Well denial isn't just a river in Egypt.

I always wondered who ever gave him the idea that he had a shot to begin with.

Maybe he should just stick with the Senate seat and figure out more ways to subvert the First Amendment.; 7/10/07, 7:55 PM
Anonymous said...: Yeah right Hoosier. I'm sure you're just sooooooooooo upset with McCain, because of McCain Feingold.

Yet somehow you give Bush a pass for SIGNING the freaking bill.; 7/10/07, 8:00 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Yet somehow you give Bush a pass for SIGNING the freaking bill.

I did? Where did I say that? Or are you simply assuming it?; 7/10/07, 8:26 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm not assuming anything. You've had dozens of supporting comments about President Bush on this blog. Possibly Hundreds.

Maybe you started hating him after he said he liked brown people, but there were tons of supporting comments post the signing of McCain Feingold, and pre-Bush speaking nicely about Hispanics.; 7/10/07, 8:37 PM
reader_iam said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/10/07, 9:03 PM
Revenant said...: I'm not assuming anything. You've had dozens of supporting comments about President Bush on this blog.

Maybe Hoosier, like most sane people, cares about more than one issue in politics.

Bush gets support from a lot of people here here because we have a two-party system, and for the most part "not supporting Bush" means "supporting the Democrats". Bush is bad on the issues I care about, but the Democrats are almost always worse, ergo I support Bush -- not because I like Bush, but because I dislike him less than I dislike Democrats.

The Republican primary race is a different scenario, because there are many alternatives to choose from that represent my beliefs to a greater or lesser degree. If Bush was running in the Republican primaries I wouldn't even consider voting for him; I doubt many people here would. Put him up against Giuliani (or even Romney) and Bush's past misdeeds are a deal-breaker. Put him up against a quisling like Kerry or an apparatchik like Pelosi, though, and I've got no choice in who I support.

Hoosier has not "given Bush a pass" on McCain-Feingold; he has, as I recall, criticized him for it. But since Kerry was pro-McFein as well and the Democratic Congress feels we need MORE restrictions on political free speech, well... what exactly is his alternative to backing Bush?; 7/10/07, 9:04 PM
reader_iam said...: I scratched him off the list a while ago. I still admire him for his past service, but unfortunately, "past [it]" is where he's at.

9:03 PM; 7/10/07, 9:06 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: I'm not assuming anything. You've had dozens of supporting comments about President Bush on this blog. Possibly Hundreds.

So a topic about McCain's campaign dissolving, I make a disparaging comment about his support of McCain-Feingold and somehow that translates into a Bush supporter.

Sorry if I fail to follow the logic. Unless of course I qualify all my future posts with an anti-Bush rant.

Tell me, did you support welfare reform? NAFTA? Or did you give Clinton a pass? Just curious.; 7/10/07, 9:15 PM
AmPowerBlog said...: He's collapsed. Great pro-war credentials. Not-so-great on the former frontrunner status.

Liked what the Drill Sergeant had to say. Immigration's not helping McCain!; 7/10/07, 9:16 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Dtl - If the republicans hated the 1st amendment, don't you think they would silenced you long ago?; 7/10/07, 9:17 PM
Hoosier Daddy said...: downtownlad said this nasty bit:
Maybe you started hating him after he said he liked brown people,

I suppose you assuming I don't like anyone a lighter shade than me too.

Maybe you could point to one of my previous posts to back this accusation up. Then maybe not since tossing the race card is typical when you don't have any argument.; 7/10/07, 9:18 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Drill sgt said it best. I just caught it. Good smart summary of Sen. McCain. I agree with you very much.

Even when I don't agree with McCain, I like how he keeps his temperment level.

Except for those 2-3 times where he was part of the smug, oh so smart grand bargainers.; 7/10/07, 9:21 PM
TMink said...: I respect him for his service in Vietnam. His voting record is only so so in my estimation.

I would gain respect for him if he answered the question "Well, things are not going well. I am working to get my message out more clearly. The people will have the upltimate say, but right now I am concerned."

Trey; 7/10/07, 9:42 PM
Cedarford said...: Yeah, yeah - we all respect John McCain's service sooooooo much. But in politics, that is about as relevant to electing him as Vietnam ace Duke Cunningham, McGovern who as a WWII bomber pilot had the most dangerous job for Americans in that war, Max Cleland for blowing himself up with his own hand grenade, Bush II flying the dangerous F-102...and so on...

Perhaps that helps get you in the door as a "weighty figure" - much like a wealthy businessman, a doctor, an astronaut, a "crusading prosecutor/AG" does..

But that's it. Courage and utter faith in your convictions means little if it is affixed to making disastrous decision after decision and refusing to address the possibility you might be wrong, explain why you are taking such a stand adequately. Or figure out how voters see you when you do go back on your stated position and emerge from a back room arm-in-arm with Teddy, Russ Feingold, and Lindsay "the weasel" Graham to announce a principled compromise position has been reached and people who object are bigoted poopy-heads...

Joe Lieberman easily got away with being pro-Iraq war because he went straight to the voters and explained why, and explained well, he was taking that position. He had built up big reserves of trust and credibility in a way that Bush II, McCain, Kerry, Max Cleland lacked - and an ability to articulate why he deviated...

McCain has pulled his maverick act and called his various stupid stands "courageous" too many times and backstabbed supporters on issues all too often.

He's toast.

It's courage when you are bucking your supporters every now and then and can explain why. It's reckless stupidity when you do it every other month and your supporters conclude you are wrong 90% of the time and only doing it to get along with "your dear friends of 25 years inside the Beltway" and so you can mug shamelessly for the cameras.; 7/10/07, 10:10 PM
Sloanasaurus said...: I like McCain. I think he is a hero. He is right about a lot of things, especially the war in Iraq.

However, he is also wrong about a lot of things, such as taxes, immigration, campaign finance, "climate change" The conservative base doesn't trust him.; 7/10/07, 11:55 PM
blake said...: McCain opened my eyes to the political process.

How many years did he stand firm in a Vietnam? 5 1/2?

And how long on the campaign trail before he sold out by pandering to Southerners over the confederate flag (which he confessed later did not actually reflect his beliefs).

So...the campaign trail is approximately that much tougher than a Vietnamese prison camp.

[shudder]; 7/11/07, 3:32 AM
Cyrus Pinkerton said...: Put him up against a quisling like Kerry...

Why is it that so many people use the word "quisling" inappropriately?

Revenant, please try again.; 7/11/07, 3:41 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Why is it that so many people use the word "quisling" inappropriately?

I ask the same thing when certain people label those they disagree with as 'racist', 'fascist' or 'nazi'.; 7/11/07, 5:18 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Alphaliberal says:
Conservatives play the Chicken little routine anytime a new change comes along.

You mean like proposing private savings accounts for Social Security?

I find it interesting that when the two biggest entitlement programs (SS and Medicare) we have are looking at becoming insolvent as early as 2018 for Medicare, I have to question the rush to add yet another massive social program.

I really wish advocates for more governmental control would simply be honest and just tell me how much of my paycheck I can keep. After roughly 31% of my pay going to the Feds, I get hammered with increasing property taxes, state sales taxes and in Indiana, car registration ( I spent $478 last year to register my car to get my plates) all the while being told that more funding is needed to provide ‘services’.; 7/11/07, 7:10 AM
hdhouse said...: Didn't Holmes say something about taxes are the price you pay for living in a civilized society?

What is your alternative to medicare? social security? I'm 40 years of payments in and at pretty much to the max payments every year. I don't like it much but its "I pay for you, you pay for me" and supposedly there is an IOU somewhere.

The neo-GOPrs simply want something for nothing and when they can't have it they holler "waste fraud and abuse"...but I point out to you that it was this president and his minions who rammed through the prescription drug plan "with NO bargaining" and then had to lie to get it through.

As to the topic, the McCains of this world, the go along get along types, should implode. They deserve it. I lost all respect for that guy when he got push-polled in South Carolina and confronted Bush but didn't have the political balls to nail his sorry as to the tree.; 7/11/07, 7:45 AM
hdhouse said...: yea Hoosier....soon as you stop trotting out "unamerican", "hates america" and "traitor".

dish it out but can't take it? typical.; 7/11/07, 7:47 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: hdhouse said
dish it out but can't take it? typical.

Don't recall ever saying that to anyone myself.

Then again, I do recall you calling me a brownshirt.; 7/11/07, 7:59 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Hdhouse said:
Didn't Holmes say something about taxes are the price you pay for living in a civilized society?

I’m not objecting to taxes per se, only the price. In other words, how much is enough?

What is your alternative to medicare? social security?

Simple, reduce coverage. Make people start taking more responsibility for their own health and retirement. One of the biggest problems with Medicare is the constantly expanding coverage which in turn increases costs. I don’t have a problem with people living an unhealthy lifestyle all their lives just don’t ask me to pay for it. Same thing with SS. I see a whole lot of people my age with zero saved living in McMansions and driving Audis yet these will be the same ones whining in 25 years that they can’t live on a meager SS check. Boo frickin hoo.

The neo-GOPrs simply want something for nothing and when they can't have it they holler "waste fraud and abuse"

Not sure I understand that, yet on your side of the aisle, I tend to hear the need for more funding with the justification that ‘its for the children.’

...but I point out to you that it was this president and his minions who rammed through the prescription drug plan "with NO bargaining" and then had to lie to get it through.

You don’t have to point it out because that is one of the biggest beefs I have with Bush. If you think because I’m a conservative and vote Republican I march in lockstep with Bush, you’re sadly mistaken. Believe it or not, more than a few GOPers do not agree with EVERYTHING a fellow GOPer says.; 7/11/07, 8:14 AM
Fen said...: wasting your breath Hoosier. HDhouse is the fascist & racist - he's always projecting, so he won't feel so alone in his shame.; 7/11/07, 8:39 AM
Fen said...: Must admit to gloating as McCain's numbers have dropped off. He's always been a media whore. Add in McCain-Feingold and his support of amnesty without enforcement... good ridance.; 7/11/07, 8:57 AM
vet66 said...: I wrote Senator McCain an e-mail several months ago that his position on immigration would cost him whatever chances he had in his bid for the presidency. Paying for uninsured/underinsured motorists on my insurance, paying huge costs for medical insurance I use sparingly, paying property taxes that increase every year for education that caters to english as a second language programs, watching the same deportees come back across the border after being deported, failure of enforcement agencies to share information on convicted/charge illegals, is suicidal for our country.

Immigration and terrorism are inextricably linked. We have enough of a problem with rapists, gangbangers, scofflaws, and DUI's with our own citizens. We don't need to augment our criminal system by importing more.

Terrorism is terrorism. Whether we are attacked by an illegal or a jihadist we are still being terrorized. It is a matter of degree/intent not speculation.

McCain, a true military hero, screwed himself. The military has a term for it: SNAFU!; 7/11/07, 9:40 AM
The Drill SGT said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/11/07, 11:34 AM
The Drill SGT said...: McCain, a true military hero, screwed himself. The military has a term for it: SNAFU!

Actually, SNAFU is a WWII term, that I don't think applies to McCain. Since things clearly aren't as good as they were for him.

I think our Vietnam era term is a better fit for McCain's chances:

FUBAR; 7/11/07, 11:35 AM
Revenant said...: Why is it that so many people use the word "quisling" inappropriately? Revenant, please try again.

I admit that "traitor" is the more technically accurate term, but it is so over-used. :); 7/11/07, 12:25 PM
Revenant said...: Didn't Holmes say something about taxes are the price you pay for living in a civilized society?

Oliver Wendell Holmes did, indeed, justify taxation by saying "Taxes are what we pay for civilized society."

He also justified forced-sterilization eugenics programs by saying "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." Shall we assume you support him in that as well, HD? Or shall we agree that "Oliver Wendell Holmes thought it was a good idea" doesn't imply "it really IS a good idea"?

What is your alternative to medicare? social security?

My alternative to social security is to guarantee anyone over the age of 65 with no personal assets a yearly income of $20,000 and basic medical coverage. Anyone with savings or with a yearly income in excess of that gets nothing. This would be paid for out of income tax; social security tax would be eliminated.

I'm 40 years of payments in and at pretty much to the max payments every year.

Unless you're saying that people deserve government benefits in proportion to what they've paid in taxes -- which would put you among the more radical extremes of the Libertarian Party -- it doesn't matter what you've paid in taxes. We don't (and left-wingers in particular don't) believe that what you pay in taxes has any relationship to what benefits you're entitled to. In any case "the previous generation screwed ME, so I have a right to screw YOU" is not much of an argument.

I don't like it much but its "I pay for you, you pay for me" and supposedly there is an IOU somewhere.

First of all it isn't "I pay for you, you pay for me". It is "I pay for you, you die of old age, I grow old and hope somebody ELSE pays for me". Secondly, the "IOU" was written by the government TO the government. Enron's books were better-balanced than that.

The neo-GOPrs simply want something for nothing

Maybe, but so do the people bitching about health care. It is an obvious fact that the average person is going to have to pay more for health coverage than they get in benefits (the people administering the plan need to be paid too, after all). Anyone who thinks we can forcibly cover another few tens of millions of people -- most of whom won't be contributing payments for it -- without paying through the nose is delusional.; 7/11/07, 12:47 PM
Fen said...: Maybe, but so do the people bitching about health care. It is an obvious fact that the average person is going to have to pay more for health coverage than they get in benefits (the people administering the plan need to be paid too, after all).

Add to that something similar to the devaluation of property once it becomes "public" [people tend take care of things that belong to them, not so much when it belongs to the community] - applied o health care: I have more incentive to engage in healthy behavior when I know I'm responsible for my own care. Should we all be forced to pay medical bills for someone stupid enough to ride a motorcycle without a helmet?; 7/11/07, 1:00 PM
Revenant said...: Should we all be forced to pay medical bills for someone stupid enough to ride a motorcycle without a helmet?

Current trends suggest that "unhealthy" behaviors will just be made illegal on the grounds that they inflict costs on the public.; 7/11/07, 2:30 PM
Fen said...: ie. Universal Health Care will give the government more power to tell me what I can and cannot do? Lovely.; 7/11/07, 2:44 PM
Revenant said...: Universal Health Care will give the government more power to tell me what I can and cannot do? Lovely.

That's what it has done in those countries which have it, yes. It suddenly becomes the government's business whether I eat cheeseburgers or get enough exercise.; 7/11/07, 5:51 PM
TMink said...: Rev asked: "Should we all be forced to pay medical bills for someone stupid enough to ride a motorcycle without a helmet?"

Nope. The rider should be forced to purchase, well, a rider to engage in the stupid activity or be jailed.

Or forced to watch video of what a head injury did to Gary Busey.

Trey; 7/12/07, 2:09 AM