In the aftermath of the incident caused by the taking and photocopying of Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign plan book, when the McCain camp was implicated, some of McCain’s supporters have come out with some pretty defensive remarks.
Jim Nicholson, a key member of Team McCain, retorted to the speculation by accusing Rudy’s staffers of being “sloppy,” saying: “If I lost it, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to admit it. I can’t see any other campaign stalking and stealing a notebook. I think they should just say it got lost and move on.”
John Weaver, a chief political strategist for McCain, had this to say about it: “Don’t put pen to paper.? I thought [Giuliani Partners] was a security company.”
Mr. Weaver called speculation that Team McCain was involved in the theft “ridiculous” and said: “If I were them, I would search in the grassy knoll.”
Methinks thou dost protest too much…?
One would think the McCain camp would have the benevolence to just say, “We didn’t do it, but we’re really sorry to hear what happened and will let Rudy’s camp know if we uncover any evidence of suspicious activity amongst our staffers.”? One would think McCain would have the common sense to jump on this opportunity to build goodwill by condemning the taking of Rudy’s playbook and saying something like: “That was wrong, and my team is committed to running a clean, fair, and positive campaign.? We wish Team Rudy all the best of luck.”
Now, that would be classy.? But instead, McCain sits back and lets his top political strategists tear into Team Rudy with scathing and cynical remarks.? But, still, a tiger can’t change his stripes, and based on the kind of campaign McCain ran in 2000, it looks like McCain is shaping up to run another politics-as-usual,?down-and-dirty?race.? Yet, with top aides like John Weaver and Terry Nelson (infamous for the “Harold, call me” ads) was there ever any chance that McCain would run a clean, positive campaign?
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:36 pm
“…based on the kind of campaign McCain ran in 2000, it looks like McCain is shaping up to run another politics-as-usual, down-and-dirty race.”
After what John McCain was subjected to by the Bush team in SC in 2000, I have a hard time taking that statement seriously. It is true that McCain did respond more or less in kind to what can only be described as slander against him, but make no mistake that in 2000 John McCain did not throw the first punch.
And just as you seem to have no problem taking a totally pro-Rudy stance on all these issues, I have no problem giving McCain the benefit of the doubt. Therefore, I don’t blame them for being defensive when it seems the general opinion is to credit McCain and Co. with this on what is – at best – fairly circumstantial evidence.
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:48 pm
“After what John McCain was subjected to by the Bush team in SC in 2000, I have a hard time taking that statement seriously. It is true that McCain did respond more or less in kind to what can only be described as slander against him, but make no mistake that in 2000 John McCain did not throw the first punch.”
I find that argument about as compelling as the “He/she started it” and “I’m a felon because my mother never hugged me” arguments.
As for giving McCain the benefit of the doubt, did I ever accuse him or his staff of actually taking Rudy’s playbook? No. All I said was that I think Team McCain is handling this the wrong way and is headed in a very negative direction.
January 3rd, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Patrick,
Bear in mind that it is a law of nature that any organization eventually takes upon itself the basic characteristics of its leader. McCain is very well known for lashing out at his opponents.
There is an old saying that a problem that happens once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend. Team McCain has been nailed a number of times already for — shall we say less than savory actions? I am unaware of similar problems with the Giuliani or Romney camp. Team McCain truly needs to be more careful.
Let me put it another way. Team Romney has to avoid the slightest hint that they have working with the Mormon Church. Team McCain has to avoid the slightest hint of mud-slinging. Team Giuliani has to avoid the slightest hint of cozying up to the social liberals.
Fair or not, those are the facts of life right now for the 2008 candidates.
January 3rd, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Listen, I don’t blame McCain for doing this whatsoever. He had some pretty nasty things done to him in 2000. And when Romney hires the same marketing guy in SC who was responsible for it in 2000, it’s akin to declaring war.
2008 is going to be the nastiest primary and campaign ever. There is much more to come from many different candidates.
January 3rd, 2007 at 5:25 pm
And, ironically, that’s probably the last thing America needs at this point.
January 3rd, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Well for what it is worth, so far the vast majority (if not all) of the so-called dirty tricks seem to be coming from one camp and one camp only (which shall remain nameless). If his opponents can manage to continue down the high road, and the implicated camp doesn’t clean up their act, then that candidate will likely find himself on the outside looking in while someone else carries away the nomination.
Kavon, unless a candidate signs off on an ad campaign, an agency won’t get paid. So they will produce what the candidate wants or wall that hard (expensive) work is wasted. Romney hired those SC guys because they are the best. If he wants dirt, they can deliver the filthiest imaginable. If he wants clean, above-the-board ads, they can deliver the best of that, too. So let’s wait to see what they produce for our good Governor before assuming he will run a dirty campaign, okay?
January 3rd, 2007 at 6:43 pm
marK,
It works both ways though. A candidate evaluates ad agencies based upon the quality, effectiveness, and content of their ads.
Romney hiring these people was a shot across McCain’s bow, believe it or not.
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I had always assumed that Rudy and McCain would play pretty nice as both guys seem to be pretty good buddies. But all is fair in love and war. I also found the reaction of Team McCain very unsettling as their comments almost bordered on below the belt and you’d hope that even they would realize that they are one of the obvious suspects, whether they did it or not.
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Oh, I can well imagine Romney (or someone in his camp who knew the history) likely smiled when they were hired. However there is no denying that they are some of the best political PR people in South Carolina. Attack ads are only one weapon available to them in a whole arsenal of expertise.
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:03 pm
When my oldest son was much younger, he had a reputation of getting into trouble. Nothing serious, mind you, just doing things that he shouldn’t have. The boys next door soon picked up on this and discovered that all they had to do was blame my son for something they did in order to get out of trouble. Their parents would believe them every time. As a result, his reputation of being bad news just continued to grow.
One day their father showed up at my doorstep with their latest accusation. All three of his sons had sworn that they had seen my son doing something (I don’t remember what) just the day before. They had provided graphic details in what exactly they had seen my son doing. I informed the father that my son had been away at scout camp for the past four days. The look on his face was priceless. He said, “I see, thank-you”, and left. Wouldn’t you have loved to have been a fly on the wall in their house when he got back home? We never had to answer for my son again.
Right now Team McCain has a problem. They have been developing a reputation of less than savory actions. If they don’t watch out, they will find themselves in the exact situation as my son was in where all their opponents have to do is accuse them of something underhanded, and people will accept it at face value. They have got to get control of this, or it will control them.
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:17 pm
marK,
That anecdote was priceless! I bet those boys were in deep you-know-what when their dad got home.
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:34 pm
I can imagine it, yes.
January 4th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
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