The Anger at McCain/Palin Rallies
I’m appalled (and quite concerned) at the level of anger and vitriol that is coming from the crowds at McCain/Palin campaign rallies.
From a Politico story:
The unmistakable momentum behind Barack Obama’s campaign, combined with worry that John McCain is not doing enough to stop it, is ratcheting up fears and frustrations among conservatives.
And nowhere is this emotion on plainer display than at Republican rallies, where voters this week have shouted out insults at the mention of Obama, pleaded with McCain to get more aggressive with the Democrat and generally demonstrated the sort of visceral anger and unease that reflects a party on the precipice of panic.
The calendar is closing and the polls, at least right now, are not.
With McCain passing up the opportunity to level any tough personal shots in his first two debates and the very real prospect of an Obama presidency setting in, the sort of hard-core partisan activists who turn out for campaign events are venting in unusually personal terms.
“Terrorist!” one man screamed Monday at a New Mexico rally after McCain voiced the campaign’s new rhetorical staple aimed at raising doubts about the Illinois senator: “Who is the real Barack Obama?”
“He’s a damn liar!” yelled a woman Wednesday in Pennsylvania. “Get him. He’s bad for our country.”
At both stops, there were cries of, “Nobama,” picking up on a phrase that has appeared on yard signs, T-shirts and bumper stickers.
And Thursday, at a campaign town hall in Wisconsin, one Republican brought the crowd to its feet when he used his turn at the microphone to offer a soliloquy so impassioned it made the network news and earned extended play on Rush Limbaugh’s program.
“I’m mad; I’m really mad!” the voter bellowed. “And what’s going to surprise ya, is it’s not the economy — it’s the socialists taking over our country.”
After the crowd settled down he was back at it. “When you have an Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the hooligans up there gonna run this country, we gotta have our head examined!”
The Washington Post had a story on this today as well:
There were shouts of “Nobama” and “Socialist” at the mention of the Democratic presidential nominee. There were boos, middle fingers turned up and thumbs turned down as a media caravan moved through the crowd Thursday for a midday town hall gathering featuring John McCain and Sarah Palin.
“It is absolutely vital that you take it to Obama, that you hit him where it hits, there’s a soft spot,” said James T. Harris, a local radio talk show host, who urged the Republican nominee to use Barack Obama’s controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., and others against him.
“We have the good Reverend Wright. We have [the Rev. Michael L.] Pfleger. We have all of these shady characters that have surrounded him,” Harris bellowed. “We have corruption here in Wisconsin and voting across the nation. I am begging you, sir. I am begging you. Take it to him.”
The crowd of thousands roared its approval.
In recent days, a campaign that embraced the mantra of “Country First” but is flagging in the polls and scrambling for a way to close the gap as the nation’s economy slides into shambles has found itself at the center of an outpouring of raw emotion rare in a presidential race.
“There’s 26 days and people are looking at the very serious possibility that there’s a chance that Obama might get in, and they don’t like that,” said Ian Eltrich, 28, as he filed out of the crowded sports complex.
”I’m mad! I’m really mad!” another man said, taking the microphone and refusing to surrender it easily, even when McCain tried to agree with him.
“I’m not done. Lemme finish, please,” he said after a standing ovation. “When you have Obama, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and the rest of the hooligans up there going to run the country, we have to have our head examined.
“It’s time that you two represent the rest of us. So go get ‘em.”
The crowd burst into loud chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
Standing at the center of the crowd, McCain and Palin drew on the crowd’s energy as they repeatedly trained their fire on Obama.
They booed again when he mentioned William Ayers, who bombed U.S. facilities to protest the Vietnam War as part of the domestic terrorist group the Weather Underground. They booed again at the mention of Rep. Barney Frank, a liberal from Massachusetts.
McCain spends most of his time at his rallies and town hall meetings lambasting his rival, often calling him a “co-conspirator” with congressional Democrats in what he argues are the seeds of the financial crisis at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
[...]
At the town hall gathering here, McCain praised Harris for his “courage” in speaking his mind. But, heedful of the economic chaos gripping the country, McCain sought to steer away, at least briefly, from attacks on Obama’s character and integrity.
“Yes, I’ll do that,” he said of the request to “take it to” Obama. “But I also, my friends, want to address the greatest financial challenge of our lifetime with a positive plan for action that Senator Obama and I have. We need to restore hope and trust and confidence in America and have Americans know that our best days are ahead of us. That’s the future and strength and beauty of America.”
[...]
As the crowd filed out, several said they agreed with the man who said he was mad. Others went further.
“No, I’m not mad, I’m pissed,” said Joan Schmitz, who owns a plumbing company here. She said she was frustrated with polls showing Obama surging, McCain’s performance in a Tuesday night debate, Obama himself, the media, and the liberal group ACORN, which she said was registering voters fraudulently.
[...]
“I can’t stand to look at him, I don’t trust him. I don’t like the circle of friends he keeps, I don’t like his policies,” Schmitz said of Obama. “I’m pissed off by it. I’m beyond mad. How is he climbing up in the polls?”
[...]
McCain advisers dismissed the crowd’s angry tone as an exception and not representative of most of the campaign’s events. And they noted that those gathered seemed most upset by the media’s handling of the contest, and simply wanted McCain to be more aggressive.
I don’t have any problem at all with passion for one’s candidate. But some of the shouts quoted above, as well as the “Kill him!” quote from earlier this week are over the top. So is the unfortunate racism that’s been apparent at these rallies, hurling racial epithets against members of the media (as well as unbridled anger at the media itself, culminating in yelling at reporters present).
The McCain/Palin campaign has a responsibility to discourage this extreme behavior. If they don’t, there could be blood on their hands. The McCain campaign — and their surrogates and crowd warm-up speakers — know full well what they’re doing. They’re trying to associate Obama with terrorism, by painting him as a close associate with William Ayres, someone Obama barely knows. They’re also calling him Barack Hussein Obama. (That’s fine. That IS his name, after all. But they’re using Hussein as an epithet.) They’re also rhyming his name with Osama, trying again to make him seem un-American, to make him seem like he’s a terrorist.
Even some Republicans think McCain is going too far. From the Politico piece, linked above:
John Weaver, McCain’s former top strategist, said top Republicans have a responsibility to temper this behavior.
“People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, the differences with Sen. Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared to Sen. McCain,” Weaver said. “And from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive.”
From John Kerry’s Truth Fights Back site (h/t Ben Smith):
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.
Kerry is right. The language is hate-filled. It’s frightening.
That the McCain campaign isn’t discouraging this is tantamount to inciting a riot, or inciting something far worse. It’s reprehensible on the part of McCain’s team. It’s apparent that for the McCain campaign the “Country First” slogan that’s on their podiums is just a trite saying. It’s also apparent that the McCain campaign needs to collectively take a breath and really take a look at what they’re doing. It’s time for McCain to stop this disgrace, assuming he really does put his country first, and not his quest for power.
***
Slinging mud is part of campaigning. It’s fine to throw some mud. Everyone does it. But this is going far, far beyond that. Attack Obama on the issues, or on his philosophy. Go negative if the issues aren’t winners for you. (McCain’s already been doing that, of course.) But if McCain doesn’t rein it in a little, something terrible may happen. And that would be the end of the Republican Party.
I’m genuinely concerned. I sincerely hope that the Secret Service is watching this and is working behind the scenes to make sure that nothing happens. Beyond my concern for Obama, I’m concerned for the country. A nation with this much hatred for a candidate is unhealthy. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised after 16 years of hyper partisanship. But it’s time for healing. Does anyone believe — I mean REALLY believe — that McCain is the guy to start some of that healing?
Sadly wait till you see the next four of angst and revenge
I’ve been following this closely because it is quiet frankly, frightening.
Look for where its turning up in other Republican events too, as at a Saxby Chambliss rally today the crowd started in on a “Bomb Obama” chant.
Yeah, I heard about that, “bomb Obama” chant. Its really ridiculous and scary. I think as bloggers and hopefully MSM will do it also, which is point these incidences out, so that people know that this is not OK, that this is something that should not be tolerated. No one wants to support a candidate who is starting a mob-like movement.
McCain supporters are accusing Obama of being a socialist dictator, yet they are acting like they belong to socialist dare I say the F word movement
They were playing this stuff all afternoon yesterday on CNN. From the looks of it, people are really coming off the rails.
Sensico, it’s a bit ironic that McCain’s supporters would accuse Obama of being a socialist, when McCain’s Homeownership Resurgence plan couldn’t be MORE socialist.
Chen, they really are. It’s quite scary. And I think the onus is on the McCain campaign to try to tamp it down a bit before something really bad happens.
Why ?
cause it’s happening at his rallies.
The rhetoric is so scary that I wonder if violence has already been committed. These McCain-Palin supporters then go out in public, to a restaurant or bar where they then spew more hatred and racist filth. And someone is going to end up being the target of violence. This is how it spreads. It’s shocking to think McCain-Palin don’t consider this. And for that, I have to say they are racist and don’t care. Anyone who has been in politics and has held a public position knows that words are power – they have effects, ramifications, and consequences. McCain once said about Obama, “He chooses his words carefully. ” Unfortunately, McCain-Palin have also chosen their carefully in order to stir up fear and hatred. Shame on them. Talk about treason.
Exactly, Marc. Because it’s happening at his rallies, and his people are the ones out there trying to make Obama seem un-American, and using his middle name as a slur. Sure, it’s his name. He acknowledges it. But I think using it as an epithet is calculated. And it’s irresponsible.
update,
mccain apparently asked for people to act respectfully and snatched the mic from a questioner about to say obama’s a terrorist at his evening rally, going on to say that he isn’t
thank god.
You people mustn’t have paid attention to the rhetoric of the left over the last eight years, it has been equally as frightening. Bush has been called a terrorist, the world’s biggest terrorist in fact, he has been compaired to Hitler. Books have been written that explained how to assassinate him, a movie has been made that dipicted his assassination. He has been called every name in the book. Our troops have been accused of running gulags. They have been called murderers.
What is the difference here other than the party that the candidate belons to?
There are no books written that explain how to assassinate Bush nor was a movie made that depicted his assassination. Bush has spread terror in the hearts of the Iraqi people when he invaded their sovereign nation.
What amazes me is the media makes news out of comments made by conservatives on the edge. Where has the coverage been when the left call Bush and Cheney murderers that has been going on for years now? What an absolute double standard.
I want to clear, I am in no way supportive of threats of harm or suggestions thereof against anyone. However, as far as the general mood of conservatives about the reality and the threat of an Obama presidency, the reaction is understandable. Here is a candidate with documented socialist leanings, who has found himself in a perfect environment for his anti-capitalist, anti-economic freedom positions. Combine that with a country that has lost it’s love of freedom and instead wants a gigantic government to ensure their security at every turn, regardless of the costs to our cherish history of freedom. Yeah, they are concerned, they are upset and it is understandable. Those gullible, greedy enough, or envious enough to vote for Obama, will not be the only ones to suffer. We will all pay the price. I just hope that this is a presidency from which we can recover and that it is not the beginning of the slide of America into a mediocre power. This is especially dangerous at a time when a energized China is vaulted forwards in its place in this world.
In 1984 with Ronald Reagan, it was Morning in America. Sadly, in 2008, it is nearly Midnight in America.
Under the Bush administration we have had a beef-up of BIG GOVERNMENT, McCain’s home-ownership plan where the GOVERNMENT buys high and sells low is extremely socialist and poor economics.
Under the Bush administration companies get tax cuts if they send jobs over seas, of course Im sure you wouldn’t want to blame Bush for that.
Your over-dramatization of what would happen if Obama is elected is so over the top and a characteristic of someone who be on the lunatic fringe.
Cats…there actually was a movie depicting a Bush assassination so I don’t know where you’re coming from. As for Iraq that sovereign nation was under sovereignty raping articles by the UN,
Sensico. The McCain plan is cheaper than the current one. Is only as socialist as the current plan. Socialist is a good sound bite name but lets face it either plan is just super govt. hulking.
I also want to stress that the McCain plan goes to the people.Not Rum makers,solar panel makers and wooden arrow folks. It doesn’t go to the financiers that put us in this mess.It also would have quicker results since the “bottom up” approach impacts the system quicker.
Also let’s be honest. The biggest tax break companies get via outsourcing or straight out moving is evasion of such jewels as Sarbanes-Oxley.
Disclosure note…I am no fan of BO. Am not voting JM.
The movie was called “Death of a President (note the acronym). This movie actually took the presidents image and superimposed it over an actor’s body. The movie did not have an actor playing him.
Pehaps I didn’t explain the book correctly. The book was called “Checkpoint” and it is about a man who plots to kill Bush, in it he discusses his diferent options. While the options are farfetched, I was just trying to point out that this kind of hatred has been going on for eight years, but Cats didn’t mind it. Just look at Cats comment, that is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to what the left has been saying.
“We will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”
-George W. Bush, September 20, 2001 address to the United States Congress.
I think that all political observers that accused Sarah Palin of not knowing about the Bush Doctrine need to reassess their beliefs. She may not have been able to communicate the principles intelligibly, but she has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she has internalized an understanding of the tactics that the approach involves. The McCain/Palin ticket are simply applying the Bush Doctrine to its political opponent. The accusations that Palin and McCain are making by insinuation have very real consequences, and they need to be held accountable for them.
Read SERENDIPITY.
I don’t think that the argument about saying the left has been doing this the last 8 years is valid.
First, both parties have extremists. The left has their extremists and the right has their extremists.
Second, arguments and statements made by extremists are usually not covered by the MSM news because they aren’t made in front of presidential candidates. Additionally, presidential candidates (and veeps) usually don’t support these positions.
When an extremist says something in front of a presidential candidate (or any politician), they have a moral responsibility to correct that person. Without their rebuttal, the extremist argument goes forward with the politician’s passive support – since the politician didn’t voice their opposition to the extremist argument.
This is why MSM are carrying these extremist remarks now and not before. If someone called McCain something when Obama had a microphone in his hand, it would be his responsibility to correct that person – the same thing that McCain is now starting to do.
The movie and books are regrettable but a result of a free society. Neither of the two products are endorsed by the either party, officials, or candidates.
Americans are fighting back against Ms. Sarah now. Here’s a whole stadium full of Americans booing Palin so loudly the officials had to turn up the music to TRY to drown the boos out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7TgDanmWkg
Americans are not stupid. They know a lipstick wearing Pig when they see one.
Kay, I hope you’re right about Americans not being stupid. I said the same thing in 2000 and again in 2004. Look what happened then. Eight years of Bush.
I do think, though, that the political climate is different this year than it was in ‘00 or ‘04, and that bodes well for us.
“I do think, though, that the political climate is different this year than it was in ‘00 or ‘04, and that bodes well for us.”
No you all are still running against Bush, guess what ? This time you’ll win.
And Kay….Americans really are stupid.