McCain Oopsapalooza Tour 13: Obama Train Leaving the Station Edition

Scarlet B Replaced By Scarlet L, Doesn't Reflect Well

John McCain's campaign representative in Pennsylvania, communications director Peter Feldman, overtly race-baited late Thursday when he pushed a false and incendiary hoax about a McCain volunteer supposedly being victimized by an Obama supporter. Instead, nothing of the kind happened. The mentally unstable woman in question claimed she was beaten and had a backwards "B" carved onto her face, most likely by herself or an accomplice. No Obama supporter was ever involved.

The McCain spokesperson's claims -- which came in the midst of extraordinary and heated conversations late yesterday between the McCain campaign, local TV stations, and the Obama camp, as the early version of the story rocketed around the political world -- is significant because it reveals a McCain official pushing a version of the story that was far more explosive than the available or confirmed facts permitted at the time.

Like much of the worst of the McCain-Palin campaign, the wounds were self-inflicted. The campaign's attempt to capitalize on the woman's plight was a disgraceful attempt to make a mentally unstable person a martyr for the campaign--yet blame always landed elsewhere.  Definitely some pants on fire here.

OOOPS.

H/T to Debbie for the TPM story.

More Self-Inflicted Wounds

McCain accidentally agreed with Obama supporters who characterized McCain-Palin followers as racist.

H/T LawyerMama.

Respected Cons Flee

A former McCain campaign advisor, Charles Fried, announced that he had voted for Obama, and asked that his name be removed from all public mention of advisors to the campaign, thereby withdrawing his endorsement or any association with the McCain campaign.

In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision "is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."

Ooops.

My Fair Extreme Right-Wing Drag-on-the-Ticket Lady

John McCain, aka Henry Higgins, pulled scruffy ragamuffin Sarah Palin (aka Eliza Doolittle) from the streets, taught her elocution and got her some fancy duds.

Only $150,000 and multiple trips to Neiman Marcus later, So You Think You Can Govern/Extreme Makeover star Palin failed to entice a wider audience. People stayed away in droves.

Oops.

The makeup person was the highest paid McCain campaign staffer that week. Oops.

A lengthy NYT article revealed that McCain had met Palin for a total of three hours before he selected her as VP. (A NYT Magazine piece dissects the inability of the McCain campaign to find a consistent message.) Another article, in the New Yorker, documented how key "media elites"--conservative pundits--were her greatest advocates to the McCain campaign. So much for being an outsider to DC. Or a "maverick." Oops.

A majority of Americans now have a negative impression of Palin. 58% say that she's insufficiently experienced. Oops.

Palin says the McCain-Palin campaign will "fully fund" programs to help special needs children, but suggests money will come from cutting earmarks that would otherwise fund "fruit fly research"--only, the fruit fly research is what may unlock understanding the causes of autism in children.

OOOPS.

Ben Smith of Politico now reports that Palin is refusing to take the advice of McCain aides and resents the soon-to-be scapegoating over a McCain-Palin election loss.

No research needed on what happens to your brain if all your news comes from FoxNewsPorn. (H/T to radiant Debbie for the faux Fox site.)

It gets soft.

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.

Comments

[LaPopessa]

I gotta say, I'm all for Palin freeing herself from her clothing-donating masters and letting fly with all the random freaky thoughts that are bouncing around in that empty skull. There are still around 30-40% of the population that don't think she's a moron - so let her open her mouth and dispense with all doubt.

[cynematic]

LaPopessa, I know what you mean. All along I've been yearning for her to appear on the Sunday news shows like a real candidate would. It's like a vaccination: let her saturate the airwaves now with her special brand of stupid, and we'll be safe from coming down with a more dangerous version of Palin in 2012.

[Scheherazade Khan]

The really scary part is that there are women who actually believe this mannequin represents them, and cares about their interests. I'm sorry, but anyone that takes that much pleasure in shooting and butchering innocent animals for "fun" (and likewise butchers the English language) should never be allowed anywhere near the White House.

[JCK]

Ouch. I just love your posts. The McCain campaign appears to be hanging themselves, but I can't relax until we can say...President Obama.

[cynematic]

JCK, that's right--no time to get complacent! Vote early, vote all the way down the ticket, if you're in CA or another proposition-crazy state, vote down crummy propositions.

Give Obama-Biden a landslide victory!

[Glennia]

Best Oopsa ever. The hits just keeping on comin'. The fruit fly quote is the best.

[Donna]

The only sad thing about the election finally occurring is that I'll miss all your Oopsapalooza's. (That is, unless McCain-Palin actually WIN. God forbid. So here's hoping this Friday will be the last time you NEED to write one...)

[cynematic]

Donna, I'll be glad to stop writing the Oopsas, actually! The undercurrent to all the silliness and snark is true dread that we'll have some of the least qualified, least in-touch people in office for the next 4 years if McCain-Palin get elected.

I'm happy to try to ridicule their candidacies out of the ballot box, but there's not enough Prozac in the world for me to try to laugh those dangerous fools out of the White House.