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Friday, October 10, 2008
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Obama Called "Traitor" Again At McCain Rally John McCain's rally on Friday once again inspired furious reactions from his supporters, with one woman screaming "traitor!" as McCain criticized Barack Obama's tax record.
"He promised higher taxes on electricity," McCain charged at the event in La Crosse, Wisconsin. "He voted for the Democratic budget resolution that promised to raise taxes on people making just $42,000 a year." At that point, the woman yelled "traitor," and both McCain and his wife Cindy appeared to look in her direction.
The Arizona Senator continued with his stump speech without referencing her.
Here's video:
As Talking Points Memo's Greg Sargent noted, GOP loathing for Obama seems to also be "spilling into down-ticket races," with <a href="http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/bomb_obama.php";>one woman yelling "bomb Obama!" during a Thursday debate between Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and his Democratic challenger.
During a Friday appearance on Fox News, Obama aide Stephanie Cutter said that McCain's crowds have become "mob-like" in their anger and argued that McCain cared "more about the state of his campaign than the economy."
"The thing that is most important right now is that we have got to instill confidence in people in our economy. We have got to calm people down," Cutter said. "We do not need to stoke fears on the campaign trail with these mob-like rallies that we have been seeing. We need to take a step back and provide steady leadership. This is a crisis. This is not what leaders do in crises. Barack Obama invoked FDR, 'the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' Those are words to live by at this point."
Cutter had been asked to weigh in on McCain's newest proposal for the government to buy home mortgages at face value from the banks and renegotiate them at terms more favorable to the homeowner. Clearly, however, she was hoping to further a meme that the Obama campaign sees as a winner: that McCain is appealing to the worst of people's fears and prejudices in order to advance himself electorally. But in referring to the crowds as "mob-like" Cutter brings the argument further than anyone else from Obama's headquarters.
The Senator himself sounded a similar theme during his speech in Ohio Friday morning.
"It's easy to rile up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that's not what we need right now in the United States. The times are too serious. The challenges are too great. The American people aren't looking for someone who can divide this country -- they're looking for someone who will lead it. We're in a serious crisis -- now, more than ever, it is time to put country ahead of politics. Now, more than ever, it is time to bring change to Washington so that it works for the people of this country that we love."
McCain hasn't seemed all too eager to tamp down the hate-filled rhetoric emanating from his crowds, beyond merely distancing himself from two introductory speakers that used Obama's middle name as an epithet.
Read more: Obama Ohio, Barack Obama, Stephanie Cutter, Crowds Mob, Mccain Crowd Mob, Obama Aide, Mob-Like, Mccain Crowd, Mccain Race, Video, Politics News - The Huffington Post News Team [Huffpolitics on The Huffington Post]
10:54:45 AM 
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Kerry: McCain-Palin's "Hate Filled" Crowds Should Disqualify Them Four years ago, John Kerry flirted with the idea of making John McCain his running mate. Today, he is denouncing the Arizona Senator for "a stunning failure of leadership," and running a nasty, hate-filled campaign.
In a letter to supporters, the Massachusetts Democrat -- no stranger to smears himself -- ramps up his criticisms of McCain to new heights. In addition to airing disgust with the tone of the McCain crowds, he rips Gov. Sarah Palin for making "outrageous charges that only a few years ago would have disqualified someone from serious consideration for national office."
The letter reads:
John McCain has shown a stunning failure of leadership. His campaign, in a time of economic crisis and foreign policy drift, has degenerated into a negative and nasty campaign of smears.
The reports are piling up of ugliness at the campaign rallies of John McCain and Sarah Palin. Audience members hurl insults and racial epithets, call out "Kill Him!" and "Off With His Head," and yell "treason" when Senator Obama's name is mentioned. I strongly condemn language like this which can only be described as hate-filled.
According to reports, every ad paid for by the John McCain campaign is now a negative ad -- every single one! McCain allows his running mate to make outrageous charges that only a few years ago would have disqualified someone from serious consideration for national office.
We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to fight back, spread the word about what kind of low campaign he's running, and make sure people know the truth.
Kerry, like Obama, has set up a website to debunk smears in real time. And he directs supporters to the link: http://www.truthfightsback.com/page/content/smearpolitics
His strained relationship with McCain serves as a reminder of how much the political dynamics have changed in the past four years. It also begins to raise the question: what kind of reception will McCain receive either if he goes back to the Senate as a campaign loser or has to work with Congress as the next president?
Read more: McCain Sarah Palin, John Kerry, Hate Filled Campaign, Kerry Smears, Palin Smears, John Kerry Campaign, Kerry McCain, Kerry John Mccain, Mccain Hate Filled Campaign, Mccain Attacks, Mccain Rallies, Politics News - The Huffington Post News Team [Huffpolitics on The Huffington Post]
9:58:53 AM
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Congressional Republicans Have No Opinion On McCain Mortgage Plan How seriously are Republican members of Congress treating John McCain's new $300 billion proposal for the government to buy up troubled mortgages?
On Thursday afternoon, the Huffington Post reached out to roughly two dozen press offices for Republican members of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services committees, not one of which was ready to talk about the GOP presidential candidate's proposal in even the broadest terms.
"I don't think he's worked his way through it at this point," said a spokesperson for Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling. It proved to be a common theme.
Sen. Judd Gregg "hasn't weighed in on that yet," his spokeswoman acknowledged, offering to provide a response later.
"I have not heard him say anything about it [McCain's plan]," said a press officer for New Jersey Rep. Scott Garrett, who sits on the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.
Of course, it's easy to see why members of Congress might approach the plan with caution. Unveiled in somewhat surprising fashion during Tuesday night's presidential debate, McCain's announcement quickly set some conservative pundits on edge -- including the <a href="http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=MjNiM2QzZjVjZGQ3YjUyNzFjMGRlZDNmNzc3NzM2NWY";>editors of the National Review, who called the plan "a full bailout for lenders."
Since then, while McCain operatives have attempted to <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14430.html";>cement the specifics of the plan, it's still not clear whether the plan <a href="http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/is_mccains_plan_legal_under_ta.php";>is even legal. On ABC News Thursday night, McCain admitted his plan might require "<a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/mccain-new-mone.html";>new money" outside of the $700 billion provided by the recent economic rescue package.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both railed against the specifics of McCain's proposal, which had been compared to past initiatives from both Democratic figures. Calling the comparison "<a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/10/squabbling-senators-disown-mccain-mortgage-plan/?page=2";>offensive," a Clinton staffer echoed the National Review by saying McCain's plan would "[bail] out and rewarding irresponsible bank and mortgage lenders, while sticking taxpayers with the bill."
Several GOP offices said they would pass along their boss's view on McCain's plan later. We'll update this story with their their responses if we receive them.
Read more: Obama Mortgage Crisis, John McCain, McCain Mortgage Proposal, Republicans Mortgage Crisis, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Politics News - The Huffington Post News Team [Huffpolitics on The Huffington Post]
9:40:37 AM
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Anti-war nuns branded as âo[breve]terrorists.âo[dot accent]. Sisters Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte have been [base ']Äúsecretly branded by Maryland State Police as terrorists and placed on a national watch list[base ']Äù due to their participation in anti-war protest activities. They were added to the list after Maryland state police spied on them:
 “This term terrorist is a really serious accusation,” Sister Ardeth, a nun for 54 years, told The Washington Times on Thursday in the first interview that the women have given since being informed they were among 53 people added to a terrorist watch list in conjunction with an extensive Maryland surveillance effort of antiwar activists.
“There is no way that we ever want to be identified as terrorists. We are nonviolent. We are faith-based,” she said. […] “Democracy is built on these elements on being able to speak out to speak what we believe is truth,” Sister Carol said.
The nuns said they were not involved in the protests that state police say they targeted. “The spying occurred during the administration of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican.”
[Think Progress]
8:42:38 AM
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© Copyright 2008 Patricia Thurston.
Last update: 11/4/08; 8:35:18 AM.
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