'Today' to McCain: Why Move Right?

Photo of Mark Finkelstein.
By Mark Finkelstein | February 2, 2008 - 09:14 ET

Mooch-a-mas grassas! That was Ted Kennedy -- the man who brought you "Mike McGwire and Sammy Sooser" -- thanking a California crowd. View here. Now we know why he paid someone back at Harvard to take that Spanish exam.

John McCain might want to borrow that snippet of smashed Spanish from his amnesty bill buddy to thank Today. The NBC show this morning depicted the Republican primary race as all but over with the GOP establishment coalescing around the Arizona senator. And for good measure, weekend co-host Lester Holt threw in some campaign consulting, gratis, counseling McCain against moving right to appeal to the conservative base.

Holt interviewed Chris Matthews. View video here.

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LESTER HOLT: Why does McCain care about courting to the right at this point? If he's so close to wrapping up the nomination in this case, and he's looking down toward November, it's not like the conservatives are going to vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, are they?

Matthews manifested a better grasp on Republican politics.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, you have people like Rush Limbaugh on the radio just blasting away at him. He has two big problems that I can see he has to overcome to win against Hillary or Obama in November. He has to deal with the cultural base of the party: very pro-life, very anti-tax, very anti-government in many ways, very Second Amendment. He's got to convince them that it's worth their voting. Some of them will just stay home. They're very evangelical about politics, they need to be inspired to vote. They don't think of themselves as partisans who have to beat the Democrat. The other crowd he has to get is radio. The medium of radio is very conservative, Rush Limbaugh being the star of it, but so many voices on radio just are tough, and I think he knows that if they continue to rant against him he will have a very hard time rallying the Republicans.

BONUS COVERAGE

Start honing your skills assembling those energy-saving fluorescent bulbs.

Hillary's Central Planning Committee has determined that you should be "ready for new green-collar jobs" in America.

View here.

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.

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Today Program

The  motto of the Today Show Show by "We decide, you follow".  Not only do they tell you what to feel, the Today program tells you what to think. 

They do this in a subtle way, by making some things seem 'cool' (e.g. McCain) and somethings seem uncool.

I like that, we decide you

I like that, we decide you follow.. 

 

 

Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party,the party left me.

Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.

Man, you got that

Man, you got that right!

 

 

Mitt Romney 2008

More Ammunition From The Washington Post

I know this is a little off our specific topic here, but Drudge has a McCain link up from Washington Post reporter Joel Achenbach that is so stunningly biased against GOP conservatives it has to be seen to be believed.  The header: "Immigration Battle Divides Arizona GOP."  Here are some samples of the language used by the anti-McCain conservatives - Illegal Immigration equals "the invasion" - one man carries a concealed gun to protect himself from immigrant "thugs" - "The protesters are members of the Minutemen, Riders USA, United for a Sovereign America. They find a common bond in their rage, their fury at the government, their loathing of Hispanics who have come to the United States illegally. They say that many immigrants carry disease, and kill cops, and rape children" - One woman wears a surgical mask with "No TB please" printed on it - So, how about the "moderate Republicans" who support McCain?  Gosh, looks like the WaPo editor forgot to Google their names.  There's "moderate Republican" Grant Wood, the former Arizona Attorney General.  One 5 second Google search later, we find out Grant Wood threatened to join the Democratic Party in 2002.  Then there's Horst Kraus, a 77 year old Republican immigrant from Germany, who, what else, compares expelling illegal Mexicans in 2008 to expelling Jews from Germany in 1938.  Mr. Kraus is your typical Republican in that he owns a nudist camp where "conservative Republicans outnumber everyone else 2-1."  

Moochimass

Moochimass Grassass...!!!!

He didn't even get the "gracias" right!!! How bad is that???

ROFLMAO!!!!!

I'm here in support of Barack Osama-bama......

RE HRC:

What the hell are "green-collar jobs"?

Gawd this woman is bad when she tries to rally the crowd...Take back our COUNTRYYYYYYYYYYY......

Re McCain:

LESTER HOLT: Why does McCain care about courting to the right at this point?.....[ ]....it's not like the conservatives are going to vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, are they?

Holt is suggesting that McCain treat conservatives EXACTLY the way Democrats treat the black vote (where are they going to go????)

Holt is assuming that just because liberals follow like sheep behind the Democrat candidate, conservatives will do the same for McCain.

They won't. They won't vote for Clinton or Obama, (he's right about that) but they WILL stay home. He should be in no doubt about that.

green-collar jobs

What the hell are "green-collar jobs"?

Those are the jobs the illegals have, you know, like cutting the green grass, trimming the green bushes, pruning the green trees, picking the green vegetables.

D

Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.

green collar jobs

That's interesting, DontFeedTheTrolls, because I would think that, coming from a Democrat, any reference to the word, "Green" would have to do with environmentalism, and keeping the world  safe from alleged man-made global warming.
Seems that Hillary can't even get the jargon right!

LESTER HOLT: Why does

LESTER HOLT: Why does McCain care about courting to the right at
this point?.....[ ]....it's not like the conservatives are going to
vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, are they?

He left out the third liberal that conservatives won't vote for : John McCain. Of course, all of the democrats voting for him now won't either, so if he is the nominee, it will be a landslide for the dems. Turning my attention to Congress as the presidential election may be moot now.

Brian Williams Announces US in Recession

Am I mistaken or did BW announce this last night?

How can McCain Lose with 71.5% of Republicans Not Voting for Him

McCain he is the ONLY one who can beat Hitlary and Osama!

Primary Results:

87% of Republicans Do Not Want McCain in Iowa
63% of Republicans Do Not Want McCain in New Hampshire
61% of Republicans Do Not Want McCain in Michigan
87% of Republicans Do Not Want McCain in Nevada
67% of Republicans Do Not Want McCain in South Carolina
64% of Republicans Do Not Want McCain in Florida

An average 71.5% of Republicans Do Not Want McCain as the Presidential Nominee

Now those are Front Runner Numbers I mean the whole election is just over because the MSM says so.

Romney

29949 - IA
75343 - NH
22649 - NV
337847 - MI
64970 - SC
598152 - FL

1128910 - Total Votes

McCain

15559 - IA
88466 - NH
5651 - NV
257521 - MI
143224 - SC
693425 - FL

1203846 -Total Votes

Nobody else has a chance against these numbers and so many people already voting. Who says there are 300 Million people in this country not the MSM!

The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource

Let's see...Her Royal

Let's see...Her Royal Clintoness WAS "inevitable"....now McCain "IS" inevitable......

Why don't they just do one of their famous "polls" today,
announce the winner and we can forego the election and all go back to
our mundane daily lives? I mean why waste all this time when they have it all figured out?

There is nothing I would like better than to see Romney just blow McCain right out of the water on Super Tuesday....just to watch the MSM meltdown.

Not holding my breath for

Not holding my breath for SuperTuesday. Some polls have McCain up by 20 points on Romney. Of course, I don't know if they asked repubs of dems. ;)

Not much difference in total votes between the two. Maybe Romney passes him by a big margin. Let's hope.

It's kind of a moot point.

It's kind of a moot point. Barak will be our next president.

Romney is NOT the white knight that some of the party faithful want you to beleive he is. The GOP is sedning out it's legions of party faithful to try and convince people that Mitt's the conservative in this race. These people don't give a rats behind about preserving conservatism, all they want is to save the party.

I don't want Obama as POTUS, but I don't want Hillary, Mitt, John, or Mike either. A vote for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil. 

The Conservative movement is about to be reborn.

Clear Thinker

Don't get me wrong CT, I wasn't happy about any of the repubs up for the nomination, save for Hunter, but I never got much of a chance to research him. Fred might have been a good choice, but I still had a few reservations about him. I'm not at all pleased with our selection, to some extent, being determined be the MSM, and dems in open primaries. I guess I am just a little disgusted with the way things have turned out. I'm not sure what I will do, hence my reference to Congress. Perhaps a modicum of hope there.

Btw, sure wish George Allen hadn't been so easily knocked aside. I'm sure conservatives would have backed him. Thanks again for the impartiality MSM.

Restless... You have a

Restless...

You have a good point. Everyone should be concentrating on Congressional seats and the like. This presidential season is lost. 

The Conservative movement is about to be reborn.

Man, that defeatist

Man, that defeatist attitude never accomplished nothing!

Why in the world would you think Mitt Romney couldn't win the Presidency? He is just as good of a speaker as Obama, and instead of selling gloom and doom, bread and soup lines, Romney is talking positive.

I guarantee you the way some of you people have got so twisted up, if Ronald Reagan himself came back, and had to run on his record prior to, or during the his two terms as President, you wouldn't vote for him! He wouldn't be able to live up to his own legend! I mean no disrespect to President Reagan. He is by far the best President of our lifetime, and one of the greatest men who ever held the office. If anyone deserves a spot at Mt Rushmore, it's Reagan. But you guys that complain Mitt Romney isn't "pure" enough, need to go back and look at the parallels between Reagan and Romney. You will find they have tons in common.

I know you are in the "let's show 'em and write Fred's name in" crowd. Nothing could be more misguided. Mitt Romney is one of the most qualified men we have had run for President in a long, long time. On either side of the aisle.

To sit and give up, or pine for a guy that didn't care enough to even run for the job, is insane. No ifs, ands, or buts.

We have a really good chance to get a good man in the White House. Let's all try and not screw this up!

Gary

Look, I am not pissin' all over Mitt. Just don't think he'll get the nomination. My guy would have been George Allen, but the wheels came off for him before he even got started, thanks to the MSM making a mountain out of a mole hill. I'll give that Mitt has the economics side of things down. Don't know if I completely trust some of his other flip flops. As of right now, I am leaning towards Mitt, but I fully expect a dem in the WH when all is said and done. Everyone is so dialed in to the Presidential campaign, that we are not thinking about the Congress. As far as I am concerned, getting the Congress back is just as important, if not moreso, than winning the WH.

Why go right?

McCain is considered a war hero. At one time he ridiculed John Kerry for receiving 3 purple hearts having never spent one day in sick bay. Still, in 2004, McCain considered joining Kerry as his running mate. Now that's what I call conviction!

Sidebar on Ted Kennedy:

Sidebar on Ted Kennedy: Checking out Mark's link re Ted's cheating at Harvard, I also saw how when he was expelled and joined the Army he mistakenly signed up for 4 years instead of 2.

His father screamed at him: - "Don't you ever look at what you're signing?"

Now we know why Ted signs so many stupid pieces of legislation.....

→ Sidebar on Teddy

Certainly wouldn't catch him at a salad bar, would you?

A sandbar? pickup bar? Open bar? Candy bar?

You're right, any bar.

♣ a seal

Holt's a dough-head

Holt's a dough-head.

McCain can't win without the base. The numbers aren't there. The undecided may go for him, but at best that will be 10 to 15 percent of the vote. Without the 35 to 40 percent base he is sunk.

By the way, I agree with the fiscal conservatives here. We would be better off letting the Dems win and hose everything up, thereby ensuring that we regain the majority in Congress, then letting McCain win and hose everything up which would cause us to lose seats in the long run. Either way, the country will be mismanaged, so really what is the difference?

I am finally at the point where I will not vote Republican, the only question I have is if I can stomach voting Democrat as a protest vote (otherwise I will write in someone like Alan Keyes). I figure that a protest write in is worth 1/2 point (it hurts the Republican but doesn't help the Dem), a protest Democrat vote is worth 1 point (it hurts the Republican AND helps the Dem).

Those who beat their swords into plowshares usually end up plowing for those who didn't. - Ben Franklin

→ Truly sad Ben.

I'm at the same impasse.  It doesn't seem fair we'll probably have to choose between two Liberals in the General Election.

♣ a seal

I think a better way would

I think a better way would be to vote Libertarian for three reasons:

#1 if you vote Dem. They will look at like a mandate (not that they won’t anyway) if the vote is lop sided.

#2 It is showing the Rep. the way we want the party to steer.

#3 It will be a better way to track how much we are pissed off.

Don’t get me wrong I have some issues with the Libertarian party, mostly drugs and the wining of a war we are in right now. But other then that I like their ideas.

I not sure where this election is going to take us but I know I am not going to like the destination.

 

 

 

 

Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party,the party left me.

Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.

USA, I agree with your

USA, I agree with your assessment. I am a registered Libertarian, but have never voted for one outside of local races. It is the best way to lend credence to the fact that the Conservatives are not interested in the positions on the left, and it certainly will let the Republican leadership know they screwed up.

Voting Libertarian is the best solution vs McCain

Libertarians share Conservative Fiscal Policy and effectively believe in leaving you the hell alone about everything socially which is better than Socialist/Communist Democrats.

The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource

A Few Facts about John McCain

and who you gonna vote for if not him? Great choices.

IMMIGRATION: he wrote the bill granting amnesty to illegal
immigrants (co-sponsored by ultra left Ted Kennedy) and pushed the Bush push for illegals

SOCIAL SECURITY: he voted to give your social security
money to illegal immigrants

TAXES: he voted against the Bush tax cuts multiple times

FIRST AMENDMENT: he wrote the McCain-Feingold campaign
finance bill that was declared to be an unconstitutional infringement of
the 1st Amendment (co-sponsored by ultra-liberal Democrat Russ Feingold)

SECOND AMENDMENT: he was called the 'worst 2nd amendment
candidate' by the president of the NRA

ENERGY TAX: wrote a bill (co-sponsored by his buddy Sen.
Joe Lieberman) imposing a massive tax on energy which, according to the
Department of Energy, would drastically raise the price of gasoline.

GLOBAL WARMING: supports radical global warming legislation

JUDGES: he joined with Democrats (Gang of 14) to block
the Senate Republican's attempt to confirm conservative, strict constructionist
judges.
He stunned Conservative lawyers by stating Sam Alito was too Conservative.

GAY MARRIAGE: he joined liberals to fight against a federal
marriage amendment

CHRISTIANS: In 2000, he famously described Christian
leaders as 'agents of intolerance'

ABORTION: he filed an amicus brief against pro-life advocates
in Wisconsin

BI-PARTISANSHIP: he met with leading Democrats in 2004
to discuss the possibility of being John Kerry's VP.

ETHICS: ringleader of the infamous Keating 5 ethical
scandal which cost US tax payers $160 billion

PERSONAL: McCain cheated on his first wife after she
had a severe accident. He then divorced her and married his multi-millionaire
mistress, whose daddy bought McCain a spot in the Congress.

From Conservative blogger John.

 

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