Does Anyone Fear Old Man McCain Against Obama?

I keep wondering who people are talking about when they say the Republicans will eat us for lunch with someone with so little foreign policy experience.

McCain is pretty much the only one in the lot with any experience, but he is about as old as Skeletor. And his shenanigans in Iraq are a made-for-media moment.



"Never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today."



Who else?

Huckabee?
Romney?
Guiliani?
Thompson?
Paul?

of who our nominee is.

Especially with a Pakistan threat looming (if it's still just "looming" by then), people may turn to McCain in fear. The R's favorite weapon.

I think McCain has expended most of his goodwill with the American people. His unwavering support of the war has really decreased his stature, IMHO.

He's very vulnerable and eminently beatable.

His "Brokeback moment":

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/election2008/ig/Election-Funny-Pictures/McCain-Bush-Brokeback.htm

and he'll have positive approval ratings lower than the Evil Dick's.

I have to say NO.

OBama is the total opposite of McCain....in many good ways!

Youth vs. age
Yesterday vs. tomorrow
Hope vs. Fear
New to Washington vs. Being in Washington forever
Against Iraq from the getgo vs. advocated that it was a good thing
Healthy vs. sick
Changes vs. Hugging Bush really really hard
Progressive and Inspiring vs. Regressive and boring
Calm vs. Easy to unglue
Advocates "We the People" vs. Advocates that he knows better than we do

Obama would also do well against McCain. He is the single best symbol of change against the oldest man running for president ever. In addition, the Repugs would have to be "careful" on how they run a negative campaign against Obama. Obama is the exact opposite of McCain; young, charismatic, pensive and engaging. His lack of a long senate career and his consistent record would also help him. His proven good judgment on calling the Iraq war what it was; dumb....gives him the edge over the other IWR Democratic candidates. Obama can clearly state that he would not have voted for the IWR, something that McCain cannot say. Obama would energize youth and Minorities currently not voting into registering to vote. The swing purple states could change the map toward Obama. And I don't believe for one minute the CW from some camp that in the privacy of the ballot box, White folks wouldn't vote for Obama. Hell, if the Teevee show "24 hours" can have a Black President featured and shown as mainstream, I believe that Americans will not think of it as an impossibity. I believe that Obama would be a good fit against McCain....not because of their similarities, but because of their differences.

Not the least of which is immigration. He will be hard-pressed to make it out of the primary.

I don't fear any of 'em.

Whoever they nominate will have the full power of the Mighty Slime Machine behind him. If Huckabee is on the ticket, that will guarantee 150% turnout for all the Fundies.

McCain could beat us. Worse yet, he may pick Huckster as a running mate. McCain is so old and decrepit he would probably die in office, and we would be fuckabeed.
We may also get fuckabeed directly, since Huckster won the Iowa caucus and may very well win the Repiglican nomination unless there is a large effort to stop him.

Especially against Obama who will have a very hard time putting together an electoral college majority.

It would fit well with the "experience vs. change" theme, partly because of the age gap between him and McCain, he has successfully used against Clinton. It would also allow him to contrast his opposition to the Iraq war with McCain's zealous support for it.

The last guy we want going up against Obama is someone perceived to be the protector against terrorists, as the rightwing will have McCain painted as such.

Obama would fare much better against someone else with as little foreign policy experience as him, maybe the Huckster.

His enthusiastic support of every step the Adminstration has taken in Iraq would cripple his national security credibility in the general, so long as our nominee has a campaign competent enough to remind people of it. Without his perceived advantage on defense, he's as regressive on social and economic issues as anyone else they can field, so he'd be a wash.

Moreover, he isn't the relaxed, chipper, dynamic-for-a-Republican figure he was eight years ago. Age and overall health concerns have taken their toll on him; he's moving and speaking much more slowly, and his jarring emotional lability-not just his famous temper, but unpredictable fits of giggling-would make him a liability on the stump or in debates.

for Iraq.

He was asked several Iraq related questions in terms of what he would do, and he was quite fuzzy. He was asked about the Shittes and the Sunis not getting along and what would he propose to solve that issue? Would he divide up Iraq? He said that he wouldn't divide it, but that the government of Iraq would need to get their act together. That wasn't really answering the question, IMO.

He also shut this woman down who said that she wanted him to give his opinion on a proposal that she had regarding a federal program proposed. He stated that he doesn't believe that government shouldn't be made bigger, period....and that he was sorry that he couldn't really agree or think about this proposal. Sounded reall closed minded without having gathered any facts.

but won't admit it :smoke:

Although he has plenty of problems within the Republican rank and file, I believe he is the most electable from their side and has independent appeal. The other one that I fear would be Guiliani -- again he can bring in the fear factor.

CheckMate

Obama is becoming a world-class campaigner and McCain gets older every day. The Bhutto incident proved that Americans don't care much about terrorism that doesn't target us directly. In the event of another attack here, Obama's got a great line about not using 9/11 to scare up votes but rather using the terrorist threat to unite the country to face our collective security chanllenges. This ties right into his broader unity theme that is working beautifully right now. I'm sure he'll also have a running mate with strong national security credentials.

McCain is the one repub candidate that may have appeal to independent voters, so long as they buy into the notion that he's a 'maverick'. I also think that the press tends to view McCain more favorably than any of the other repub candidates, so that will help him as well.

I should make clear that I think McCain is the most dangerous candidate the Democrats could face no matter who the Democratic nominee is. While the "experience" card may get played if its McCain/Obama, I think it would get played against HRC or Edwards as well. I think if McCain gets the nomination, and I still think that's a real possibility, it will be interesting to see who he picks as a running mate. I think he goes for Huck, as a way of trying to keep the religious right in the fold. Of course, in doing so, he may lose some folks who would might otherwise support him. I think the choice of a running mate is also important for each of the potential Democratic nominees. Obama probably has to pick an "old hand" type -- maybe Biden or Richardson. HRC needs someone to appeal to male voters -- maybe Webb or Clark. I'm less clear on who fits best with Edwards. I'd be curious to hear from Edwards supporters what they think.

For the record, I would have no trouble supporting any of the Democratic front runners (Obama, HRC and Edwards) and have not yet chosen one over the others as "my" candidate.

But Oprah can't help him against McCain and neither can $.

will continue to Obama/Rove him and that will just fix him more firmly in the moderates and independents mind as the least objectionable.

Oh wait, Obama is foroedained by god, the second coming, unstoppable....bullshit! He is the weakest of the remaining three. He can win, but it will take the untireing effort of every last Democrat for the entire campaing to ensure the vote gets out. Been a long, long time since the DEMS have shown that fortitude and level of sacrifice for anything.

After a Bush, a magnificently corrupt Congress, and one of the sorriest group of Presidential hopefuls in many a year, the conservatives are really out of excitement. Maybe if Clinton was the nominee, they might be able to get up some of the old piss and vinegar, but Obama is someone who excites moderates and doesn't particularly offend the sensibilities of conservatives.

Obama can walk away from a anti-abortion gun rally and have the crowd cheering by the end. Admit it, he's got a golden touch. Allow yourself to hope.

Barack Obama doesn't exactly inspire me with much confidence but McCain is an old geezer who's out of touch with the rest of the country. Why the hell would anyone want this Bush-loving, war-supporting goon as their president?

alone would go a long way in sinking McCain. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Russia sent a confrontational message and a conciliatory message (Kennedy went with the latter so as not to start WW III). McCain laughed about how he would have went with the former (like starting WW III is a laughing matter). This was reported on one of the cable news shows (not sure which one).

In Iowa he brought out Indys, Dems, and youth.

South Carolina will show that he can get the African-Americans to vote as well.

African-Americans will win him the South. Youth will win it for him everyewhere else.

Iowa Dem caucusgoers are among the most liberal Democratic voters. You can't even prove that he wins Iowa in the general. Many of the Repuke Iowans will come out in the general.

At this point in time, he will be formidable.

a lot better in a suit. McCain is 71, looks 81, and dresses like he's 91. It was hilarious yesterday watching Cspan. An Obama event had a youth-leaning audience. A McCain event followed, and behind him onstage was a long row of chairs, every one of which was occupied by an elderly white man that looked even older than McCain. I'm surprised Madeleine Albright wasn't up there.