Does McCain look petty?

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Playboypenguin

Moderator
I was just watching Wolf Blitzer's show and they repeatedly made the statement of how some people are saying McCain looks petty for not having Cheney speak at the convention. The official story is Cheney was supposed to be there but cancelled because of weather but the behind the scenes story was that there was much debate about Cheney speaking and McCain was not thrilled with the idea.

Do you think McCain is being petty or do you simply think he is doing what is best for the party? Cheney is hugely unpopular and his presence would probably not add anything positive to McCain's campaign.

One of the senior republican officials made the statement that Cheney would have actually been popular with the people at the convention but when asked to clarify by Blitzer if he meant people just in attendance at the convention or republicans as a whole he said just the ones actually there and admitted he might not play well with those watching on TV.

I think Cheney is a scoundrel and history will only show how bad he truly was once he is gone and I do not think McCain is beholden to him at all. I agree with McCain's reluctance to want to be associated with a person like Cheney. I do not think he is being petty. I think he is being principled.
 
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FireMax

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McCain has always been petty. After Bush kicked his butt in SC in 2000, McCain was so embittered, you could actually see his face turn red when he would talk about it to the liberal media. That's about the time that democrats claim McCain approached them about possibly switching parties.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/06/02/mccain.daschle.02/

Asked if Daschle will talk to McCain about leaving the GOP, Ranit Schmeltzer, Daschle's press secretary, told CNN, "I won't speculate about what they're going to talk about. ... Sen. Daschle is interested in talking to any Republican interested in becoming a Democrat."
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Forwardassist

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I think you answered your own question. McCain and Cheney are not exactly best friends. McCain is smart enough to know that the people he needs to appeal to are independents, who have the power to swing the election one way or another. Right now they are heavily leaning Obama. He already has the conservatives locked up with Palin.
 
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JWT

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Nothing McCain does would, or could do, would avoid criticism by Wolf Blitzer or CNN.

That being said I don't think McCain was/is petty - he has to do what he believes is best for his campaign and if that means staying away from some folks while embracing others, so be it.
 
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dm1333

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But have you heard a party official making that comment or just Blitzer? This is the McCain campaign, with all the talk about this being a third term for Bush it would be suicidal to have Cheney give a speech.
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
A lot of things look like something they're not or look bad if they are scrutinized enough. The entire political process is petty. The most insignificant details which would mean nothing to anyone in any other theater are examined and reverse engineered just trying to find a reason a decision was made that may not be forthright or straight forward. Imagine if each of our day to day lives was examined to that extent. How would WE look?
 
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JuanCarlos

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McCain? Petty? Not unheard of.

In this case? I'd consider it more prudent than petty. There's no particular reason that the VP needs to speak there, and he's pretty unpopular (with the public at large). If Cheney wanted to be invited to speak, he should have tried not being evil.

Kidding, of course.

Kinda. :D
 
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Erik

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"Do you think McCain is being petty or do you simply think he is doing what is best for the party?"

I think that he is doing what is best for his campaign, and that people in politics understand that. The press, too, despite what they might speculate about... The issue, if there is one, should be why the press wants to create a controversy. Then again, just about everyone in AND out of politics understands that, too.
 
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toybox99615

New member
Politics at work

and politics is where you do what is necessary to win. Distancing himself from Cheney or anyone else that might influence a voter to look elsewhere is just good political strategy.
 
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mountainclmbr

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I just find it ironic that those way to the left call Cheney and Bush evil, yet they seem to love Che, Castro, Stalin, Hitler (before he attacked the USSR), Mao, the Viet Cong and current Maoist insurgencies in Nepal and India. I forgot Kim Jong Il in North Korea and Chavez in Venezuela.
 
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Buzzcook

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Cheney is the least popular politician in the US. He is also a horrible public speaker.
McCain's only smart move was to keep Cheney away from the convention.


For me the low point of 2000 republican campaign, is when Bush stood shoulder to shoulder with the guy that called his father a traitor to the country. Perhaps it's just me, but I think a candidate should be above kissing the ass of a man that slandered his father.
 
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Playboypenguin

Moderator
I just find it ironic that those way to the left call Cheney and Bush evil, yet they seem to love Che, Castro, Stalin, Hitler (before he attacked the USSR), Mao, the Viet Cong and current Maoist insurgencies in Nepal and India. I forgot Kim Jong Il in North Korea and Chavez in Venezuela.
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Wow...if you have any sense of personal responsibility or concern for your credibility you would delete your own post.
 
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JuanCarlos

New member
I just find it ironic that those way to the left call Cheney and Bush evil, yet they seem to love Che, Castro, Stalin, Hitler (before he attacked the USSR), Mao, the Viet Cong and current Maoist insurgencies in Nepal and India. I forgot Kim Jong Il in North Korea and Chavez in Venezuela.
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Just how far to the left are you talking, here? Must be pretty far, because aside from Che I don't think I've ever seen any love or support for any of the above. Well, maybe a little lukewarm support for Chavez for like five minutes once. Even Che is just "popular" among college students who wear shirts with his face on it because he looks "revolutionary" or whatever, and of whom a significant portion couldn't even tell you who the guy is.

Whereas I know plenty of people who are more than comfortable referring to Bush and/or Cheney as "evil," though with varying levels of seriousness. Including myself, of course.

Besides which, Hitler support at least tends to come from the far end of the right, rather than the left. Though it's not really fair to associate the extreme fringes of either side with the majority anyway.
 
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gc70

New member
Does McCain look petty?

To answer the question, you have to reject the stated reason for Cheney not speaking and subscribe to rumor and innuendo.

Unless you want to speculate on rumor-mongering, there is no question.
 
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