Stephen Marks: February 2008 Archives
Finally, expect the Democratic nominee to hit McCain on his
strongest point; his honesty and integrity.
During the 2000 campaign, McCain was pretty much given a pass over his
involvement in the “Keating 5” scandal, where McCain and four other senators
helped a corrupt banker with regulators as that banker was looting his bank’s
assets in one of the biggest S&L failures.
Since Bush defeated McCain pretty easily in 2000, he never
had to use this issue against McCain.
But we can expect McCain to get hit by the Democratic nominee as voters
will be reminded of the fact that Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering
and fraud in both state and federal court after his Lincoln Savings & Loan
collapsed, costing the taxpayers $3.4 billion. Though he was not convicted of
anything, McCain intervened on behalf of Keating after Keating gave McCain at
least $112,000 in contributions. In the mid-1980s, McCain made at least 9 trips
on Keating's airplanes, and 3 of those were to Keating's luxurious retreat in
the
In addition, it was also reported in 2000 that McCain still
owned a piece of property in
Then there’s the issue of McCain’s temperament, or lack
thereof, not mention his famous temper.
McCain polls very well with Independents and even many Democrats.. That could change once those voters hear some
of McCain’s past pearls of wisdom, such as the following:
"Do you know why
Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father."
“Leonardo DiCaprio is
"an androgynous wimp."
There is also the issue from 1994 regarding federal prosecutors looking into whether the senator's wife received special treatment when she was allowed to apply for a diversion program rather than face prosecution for stealing painkillers from an international medical charity she headed.
Even after it turned out Cindy McCain lied about her status
with federal prosecutors and about the dates when she'd entered treatment, it
never blew up into scandal. Her husband by her side, she entered a federal
diversion program instead of spending years doing time, and when she left, her
record was cleared.
None of this was bad for McCain. Until only days after his wife's legal agreement was reached, McCain voted against crime legislation that would have provided $1 billion in funding for more diversion programs that might have helped others.
First, expect McCain to be hit for sending birthday regards
to Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonano, one of
Since both Clinton and Obama have had ethical questions
regarding corrupt associates (Obama with Tony Rezko, and Hillary with corrupt
unions, for instance), McCain’s letter sending birthday regards to Bonano could
become an issue.
When campaigns get the negative “hits” from the opposition
researchers like myself, those “hits” are then given to the pollsters. Once the pollsters determine which two or
three “hits’ are most offensive to the voters, these hits become issues used in
the negative attack ads and mailings.
During my years as an opposition researcher, one negative “hit” that always polls very high (meaning it
scares the voters) are any ties to organized crime. Once you go outside the big cities, just the
mention of the words “Mafia” or “organized crime” scares voters to death.
Hillary’s former association with the AFSCME union (The
American Federation of State, County, Federal and Municipal Employees union,
which was called a “mob-infested” union by then-Attorney General Janet Reno)
while she was first lady became such a negative issue, that any Democrat that received even the
smallest campaign contribution from AFSCME was hurt badly politically.
McCain has claimed that he only sent a letter to Bonano politely declining his birthday invitation, but other news sources at the time reported that McCain sent “regards” and “regrets” that he couldn’t attend. Either way, this could become a major issue against McCain.
The negative attacks against John McCain will not come from
Mike Huckabee, but from the Democratic nominee in the general election. Huckabee is only staying in the race as a
favor to McCain and the GOP, so McCain can continue to be front-page news as he
racks up more primary victories.
For
instance, this week McCain shares the spotlight with Obama as they both swept
the “
Likewise, McCain will not attack Huckabee. The negatives against Huckabee will only come out should McCain make him his running mate. In that case, there would be plenty of ammo for the Democrats against Huckabee.
Why has Bill Clinton been so out of control? Wagging the finger at reporters this year exactly the same
way he did at the camera when he declared “I
never had sex with that woman!!!”
The reason is simple: It’s his only chance to secure his
place in history as a quasi-great president.
Should Hillary win, it would not only reinforce that the
country once again needed the Clintons, but that the 2000 Bush victory (in
between the two Clinton presidencies) was an historical blip; a mistake in
fact, because thousands of Gore voters
in Florida didn’t know how to fill out the ballots properly. Therefore, a victory by Hillary would simply
correct that historical wrong, and should Hillary Clinton go on to have a
successful presidency, Bill Clinton’s presidency would be looked upon far more
favorably by history.
On the other hand, should Hillary go down, Bill’s presidency
will be remembered 20 years from now the same way it’s remembered today; as a
disgraced impeached president whose most notable achievement was being fodder
for Jay Leno every night. No one will
remember that
That’s why he needs Hillary to win so badly.
And that’s why his negative campaigning against Obama (which
has gone totally against everything he’s ever stood for) had been so out of
control that it has in fact backfired in Obama’s favor.
