Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Time for McCain to Restrain His Crowds

By

I’ve been watching with increasing concern the increasingly ugly crowd reactions at McCain/Palin rallies.  I’m not the only one, as evidenced by an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun written by a former McCain supporter…

At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, “Kill him!” At one of your rallies, someone called out, “Terrorist!” Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee – an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.

Shame!

…

John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.

When I read this article, I remembered how Governor Patrick handled a less inflammatory incident on Election Night back in 2006…

Let us also thank Mitt Romney for his service.

(boos from the crowd)

No, wait a minute. That is not what we are about. We have had our differences, but every resident of this state owes a debt of gratitude for anyone willing to serve, and I thank him for him for that service and the accomplishments of his administration, and I look forward to working with him and his team to ensure a smooth transition.

I remember feeling very convicted at that moment, and have remembered that example often in the two years since.  We are going to be facing some very challenging times in the coming years and we are going to have to come together as a nation like we haven’t in a long time in order to get through them.  John McCain once said he’d rather lose an election than lose a war.  I hope he’ll stop and think about whether the risks that come with continuing to let the anger and hatred being expressed at his rallies go unanswered are worth the increasingly dim hopes that he can pull out a victory in this election.

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0

Comments

  1. From his blog

    We’ve seen this before. One thing that has been sort of written out of the mainstream history of politics is the sheer insanity of the attacks on the Clintons—they were drug smugglers, they murdered Vince Foster (and lots of other people), they were in league with foreign powers. And this stuff didn’t just show up in fringe publications—it was discussed in Congress, given props by the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, and so on.

    What it came down to was that a significant fraction of the American population, backed by a lot of money and political influence, simply does not consider government by liberals (even very moderate liberals) legitimate. Ronald Reagan was supposed to have settled that once and for all.

    Or as I wrote in a deleted thread

    I’ve been wondering about why so many folks on the right have this strange idea that Obama is creating an army of mindless followers who all think alike. I suspect it’s because [many] conservatives deeply believe … that they are the majority. The idea that polling shows McCain to be trailing … by over 5 points nationally and losing in Virginia, Ohio, and Florida is just inconceivable.

    It can’t be true! It must be a delusion! It must! It must! It must be mind control or George Soros or millions of dollars from Libyan contributors.

  2. Courtesy of TAPPED, an article from TNR:

    Mainly what is noticeable to the naked eye is how much less pleasant the Dole campaign has become—which is saying something. The crowds flip the finger at the busloads of journalists and chant rude things at them as they enter each arena. The journalists, for their part, wear buttons that say, “Yeah, I’m the Media. Screw You.” The artillery aimed at Clinton gets heavier by the hour.”

    …

    This sort of behavior has become routine in the Dole campaign; indeed, from the beginning the Dole people have preferred to insult your intelligence than to craft more plausible lies. The disjuncture between the persona of the candidate (straight talker) and the behavior of his campaign (big liars) dates back to the very start of the primaries. At the same time that Dole was presenting himself as a force for decency his campaign was spending millions of dollars on push polls.

  3. MSNBC:

    Earlier today, Obama remarked on recent outbursts of “Traitor!” “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” at McCain campaign events. “It’s easy to rile up a crowd,” Obama said. “Nothing’s easier than riling up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that’s not what we need right now in the United States.”

    In response, McCain senior adviser Nicolle Wallace released this statement, NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell reports. “Barack Obama’s assault on our supporters is insulting and unsurprising. These are the same people [O]bama called ‘bitter’ and attacked for ‘clinging to guns’ and faith. He fails to understand that people are angry at corrupt practices in Washington and Wall Street and he fails to understand that America’s working families are not ‘clinging’ to anything other than the sincere hope that Washington will be reformed from top to bottom.”

    Hideous no?

    • Late this afternoon McCain took a question from a supporter at a town hall meeting who said he was scared to have his unborn child grow up in a country with Barack Obama as President.  McCain responded that while he had major disagreements with Barack, he thought he was a decent individual and the man didn’t need to be afraid.  McCain got booed for his trouble.

      • …he physically took the microphone away from a woman who called him “a Ay-rab”.  

        <

        p>I can’t pretend to know his motives — self-interest, honor, legacy, or some combination thereof.  But it’s good to see him doing the right thing.

        • is mccain really trying to stem the nastiness, or are he and palin egging on their audiences to play the bad cop (and humor the basest of the base) so that he can then play the good cop (thereby still looking semi-sane in the eyes of moderates)?  

          • No incompetence is beneath them.  If McCain/Palin want to play a psychological con game on the politics-obsessed electorate while American eyes are on the economy, that’s their call.  This is election 2008, not Ocean’s Eleven.

      • Here are the Globe and NY Times links.

        <

        p>The Times notes:

        <

        p>

        But moments later, Mr. McCain, the Republican nominee, renewed his attacks on Mr. Obama for his association with the 1960s radical William Ayers and told the crowd, “Mr. Obama’s political career was launched in Mr. Ayers’ living room.”

        <

        p>Sounds to me like: Here’s some red meat. But don’t eat it. It’s kind of a microcosm of the lurching nature of his campaign.

        <

        p>I wonder at this point: If this is what’s left of McCain’s base, would he be better off strategically to move to a responsible tone and to consistently challenge those supporters who are out of line and back off the personal attacks? He might get some ship-jumpers back and recover some respect. I’m not going to sit around waiting for this to happen.

  4. WHEN CAMPAIGNING ON HATE

    <

    p>What sly tempter

    <

    p>Whispered

    <

    p>That hatred is the way to win?

    <

    p>When did you abandon your ideals

    <

    p>And choose smears over truth?

    <

    p>The honor of your heritage, and your father, and your grandfather

    <

    p>lies in shreds, torn, scattered, across the countryside

    <

    p>buffeted by your lies, and your seduction by your lobbyist cronies.

    <

    p>He who lives by lies and hate, withers into a caricature.

    <

    p>Did  no true friend warn you?

    <

    p>c Deborah Sirotkin Butler
    2008

Archives