CNN's Schneider: McCain's presidential hopes boosted by "a midterm where Iraq was a big issue"
On the November 13 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, senior political analyst Bill Schneider, while discussing how the 2006 congressional elections could affect possible 2008 presidential candidates, asserted that Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) "strong national security credentials are no small thing after a midterm where Iraq was a big issue." But Schneider overlooked the fact that McCain's position on the war appears to be at odds with that of the majority of the American people. McCain is a strong supporter of the Iraq war, and as recently as the November 12 edition of NBC's Meet the Press, restated his position that the United States should send more troops to Iraq: "I believe that there are a lot of things that we can do to salvage this, but they all require the presence of additional troops. [...] I have said from the beginning, my first trip over there, that we needed more troops." However, as Media Matters for America noted, according to CNN's nationwide exit poll for the House races, only 17 percent of voters supported sending more troops to Iraq. By contrast, 55 percent favored withdrawing all or some of U.S. troops in Iraq, and those voters broke for Democrats by lopsided margins.
As Media Matters has documented, Washington Times reporter Stephen Dinan, Washington Post staff writer Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, and the Los Angeles Times editorial board have all baselessly claimed that the 2006 congressional elections benefited McCain.
From the November 13 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
SCHNEIDER: This year, we saw a big market for outsiders who can promise change. That's good news for [former New York City Mayor] Rudy Giuliani [R] and for any Republican who can speak the language of bipartisanship. Here's one.
McCAIN [video clip]: Are we doing the things organizationally and legally that need to be done to prepare for it? Yes.
SCHNEIDER: His strong national security credentials are no small thing after a midterm where Iraq was a big issue.
"Are we doing the things.... that need to be done"
Can someone tell me what exactly McCain has done? What have any of them done? More empty rhetoric... with no follow up. Not to mention, how on earth can these guys be billed as fluent in the "language of bipartisanship"? Perhaps, relative to the rest of the party that locked out anyone not Republican over the past 6 years. Oh yes. Come to think of it, I do remember all the wild protests from Giuliani and McCain...pleading with their Repub brethren to extend the olive branch of bipartisanship. Please.
The machine keeps on running. The Dems have a lot of work ahead of them and it ain't gonna be easy.
that MMFA isn't going away. We missed you guys over the weekend, but you certainly deserved a few days off. Thanks for all you did to help win back the congress.
and in the wingnut supported media can a takeover by Democrats be seen as "a call to bipartisanship" and a boost to the presidential hopes of McCain, Giuliani, and every other GOP flavor-of-the day . . .
Meanwhile, IA Governor Tom Vilsack announced his candidacy for president . . . WHEN is there going to be a story on that? Or do they just want to keep focusing on Hillary?
Bush and the hijacking of the government was the issue.
... who thinks McCain looks drugged lately? His condemnation of Kerry was delivered in a listless monotone, and resembled a video of a kidnap victim under extreme duress. His subsequent interviews show a man fighting to stay awake. No energy, no charisma, no spark.
If he is ailing, he should tell us, considering he is a "frontrunner" for the next presidential contest. If he's NOT ailing, what's happened to him? If he's just tired, from campaigning or some other activity (or condition such as insomnia), then that TOO is an issue the public has the right to know, either from a health or a judgment standpoint.
of someone whose soul is being crushed as they subvert their own principles.
...I agree. The price of becoming the "maverick" has taken its toll, I think.