CNN's Schneider on McCain: "The straight talker is back"
During the July 3 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said of Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain (AZ): "The straight talker is back. And he's hoping to turn into the comeback kid." As Media Matters for America has documented, CNN and The Situation Room have repeatedly touted McCain's "straight talk" -- the theme of his failed 2000 presidential bid -- despite his numerous inconsistencies on issues ranging from the Iraq war and the Bush administration to his opinion of conservative Christians.
From the July 3 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
SCHNEIDER: McCain's strategists have figured something out about 2008. The political establishment is in trouble. So McCain is repositioning himself to run the same way he did in 2000.
JOHN WEAVER (McCain political strategist): John McCain is the Republican change candidate in a change election cycle, a volatile election cycle.
SCHNEIDER: Wait a minute. Unlike 2000, there's now a Republican in the White House. Can a Republican run as the candidate of change? McCain's strategists think so.
WEAVER: He's going to challenge our party and our country to let him end the out-of-control spending, which has shamed the Republican Party and wrecked our country's budget.
SCHNEIDER: They talk about a liberated John McCain -- liberated from Washington politics.
McCAIN [video clip]: We let spending get out of control. We presided over the largest increase in the size of government since the Great Society, and our constituents and our Republicans became dispirited and disenchanted.
SCHNEIDER: The straight talker is back. And he's hoping to turn into the comeback kid.
It could work for another reason. The Republican establishment doesn't really have a candidate to rally around. The vice president's not running. Conservatives have problems with Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney. Fred Thompson? We'll see.
Suzanne.
I have a bridge I'd like to sell you, and it's paved with 1-dollar rugs.
If a "straight talker" ever LEAVES, he doesn't get to "come back". He is crooked talking forever more.
It's like having a mother of three claiming to "come back" to virginity. It may be a charming GOAL, but in reality, it can never happen. Having once LEFT virginity, or "straight talking", one can never return.
God it would be great if one of these "pundits" would say something like that. Methinks he/she wouldn't be invited back to the panel.
This shows how these little sound bites are recycled to the point of insanity.
SPENDING...I didn't know that was the BIG issue in the upcoming election. Silly me, I was thinking about the slaughter of our troops in Iraq. But have no fear, McCain will flip to that later.
Six great words..."The vice president is not running." There is a GOD
Good point. To corral the "runaway spending", they'll attack domestic programs like school lunches and food stamps...all while Bush and Cheney are operating a virtual Money-Shredding Machine in Iraq.
No, we can't afford national healthcare, but we can afford to spend a million dollars a minute on Bush's optional war...and give tax cuts to billionaires at the same time.
Please.
I guess kissing up to the theofascists hasn't worked so well for the Mav, huh?
Imagine the outcry if Schneider referred to Hillary Clinton as "the great American" or Obama as "the guy with fresh, new ideas" or Edwards as "the fighter for middle class values." Since when do news anchors refer to candidates by their preferred taglines?
When I run for president, my tagline will be "the Magnificent One." So when Schneider refers to me, I expect him to refer to "and the Magnificent One spoke in Ames, Iowa today..." But I really shouldnt expect that unless I run as a Republican who kisses up shamelessly to the media.
If McCain wants to be "liberated from Washington politics," he should resign his Senate Seat. Otherwise, this is just another "reformer with results" pile of talking points BS.
Judging from his latest financial report, McCain has apparently liberated himself from raising money. And the Republican party campaign contributors have liberated themselves from John McCain.
Wow...six posts and not one "Why is this here?"
Well Nerzog allow me...
Why is this here?
"The straight talker is back. And he's hoping to turn into the comeback kid."
So Bill Schneider may appear to be numb as a fart to continue to believe that McCain has a chance, but it's only his opinion. And Schneider is a political analyst, and gave his reasons for this opinion. Yeah you & I might think his reasoning is loopy, but I fail to see this as Conservative MIS-information.
My opinion, McCain is all done. But I don't work as at CNN as a political analyst...
Well, I guess I could give Schneider a pass if his "opinion" had some foundation in actual fact. But it doesn't, and I won't.
Well...one has to ask why this repetitive nonsense seems to work with the Republicans and their base? If I were a Republican, I'd be insulted. Hell, I'm insulted and I'm NOT a Republican. If you're a mindless drone... well, then you never got past "...one has to ask...".
Bomb, bomb, bomb,bomb, bomb Iran.......Need anything more be said?
"I know now why you cry. It is something I can never do." Arnold, in Terminator II.
With the state of the war in Iraq, maybe McCains fans do want to hear about spending now.
Throw in some illegal immigration talk, mention Harriet Meyers,create the illusion that you're critical of this administration and that you're completely different.That's what the people want to hear.Let them know they can still vote GOP and pretend to be paying attention.
The Baby Talk Express would be more appropriate.
Maybe they mean "straight" in a sexual sense?
Well, I actually agree with MMFA on this one.
McCain voted for Medicare Part D.
He is part of the spending problem!!
Did you write to your Congressman and tell him/her your ideas to remedy the insane cost of prescription drugs?
Or do you prefer to simply tune this out and devote your passion to "real issues" like gay marriage and prayer in school?Yeah, and a prostitute is a straight talker, too.
Which is exactly what McCain is.
At least a prostitute admits it though ...
Jeter2 says:
Schneider is a political analyst, and gave his reasons for this opinion. Yeah you & I might think his reasoning is loopy, but I fail to see this as Conservative MIS-information.
CNN might think Schneider is a political analyst, but those of us who know his backround see him as a Republican flack. Schneider had some high level job in the State Department of Ronald Reagan and when George W. Bush was elected, he was considered for a job in the Defense Department. The job eventually went to Douglas Feith who was one of the archetects of the Iraq War. Also, he's a card carrying member of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington.