Rage rising on the McCain campaign trail

CNNPolitics.Com

From Ed Henry and Ed Hornick
CNN

(CNN) -- With recent polls showing Sen. Barack Obama's lead increasing nationwide and in several GOP-leaning states, some Republicans attending John McCain-Sarah Palin campaign rallies are showing a new emotion: rage.

At a rally in Minnesota on Friday, a woman told McCain: "I don't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's an Arab."

McCain shook his head and said, "No ma'am, no ma'am. He's a decent family man...[a] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. That's what this campaign is all about."

One man at the rally said he was "scared of an Obama presidency." McCain later told the man he should not fear Obama.

"I want to be president of the United States, and I don't want Obama to be," he said. "But I have to tell you, I have to tell you, he is a decent person, and a person that you do not have to be scared as President of the United States."

McCain's response was met with boos from the crowd.

When asked about these outbursts, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said that he didn't know who those people were and if they were there as supporters or to disrupt the rallies.

A day earlier, the same type of hostility toward Obama was evident at McCain-Palin rallies.

"When you have an Obama, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and the rest of the hooligans up there going to run this country, we have got to have our head examined. It's time that you two are representing us, and we are mad. So, go get them," one man told McCain at a town hall meeting in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Another man was more pointed.

"And we're all wondering why that Obama is where he's at, how he got here. I mean, everybody in this room is stunned that we're in this position," another man said at Thursday's rally.

"I'm mad. I'm really mad. And what's going to surprise you, it's not the economy. It's the socialists taking over our country," one said. Watch more of the anger at the rallies »

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More of the story....

McCain urged his supporters to be respectful of Obama.

"We want to fight and I will fight. But we will be respectful," he said. "I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments. I will respect him and I want everyone to be respectful, and let's make sure we are." Watch McCain address attacks on Obama »

CNN contributor David Gergen, who has advised Democratic and Republican presidential administrations, said Thursday that the negative tone of these rallies is "incendiary" and could lead to violence.

"There is this free floating sort of whipping around anger that could really lead to some violence. I think we're not far from that," he said. "I think it's really imperative that the candidates try to calm people down."

On Friday, Obama said the "barrage of nasty insinuations and attacks" was a result of the Republican nominee's failed economic ideas.

"They can run misleading ads, they can pursue the politics of anything goes. It will not work. Not this time. I think that folks are looking for something different this time. It's easy to rile up a crowd, nothing's easier than riling up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that's not what we need right now in the United States. The times are too serious," Obama said at a rally in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Recently, McCain's campaign launched a string of ads that question Obama's judgment and character.

The McCain campaign calls Obama "too risky for America" in a new Web ad that focuses on his political relationship with Bill Ayers, a founding member of the radical Weather Underground.

"Barack Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers. Friends. They've worked together for years. But Obama tries to hide it," the announcer said in the 90-second ad.

The now-defunct Weather Underground was involved in bombings in the early 1970s, including attacks on the Pentagon and the Capitol. Obama was a young child at the time of the bombings.

Obama and Ayers, now a university professor, met in 1995, when both worked with a nonprofit group trying to raise funds for a school improvement project and a charitable foundation. CNN's review of project records found nothing to suggest anything inappropriate in the volunteer projects in which the two men were involved. CNN Fact Check: Is Obama 'palling around with terrorists'?

Obama, in an April debate during the primaries, called Ayers "somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8."

At a rally Tuesday in Clearwater, Florida, Sarah Palin said Obama was being "less than truthful" about his ties to Ayers. "His own top adviser said they were 'certainly friendly.' ... I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America -- as the greatest source for good in this world," she said.

Palin told the crowd that she sees "a pattern in how our opponent has talked about one of his most troubling associations." Watch more of Palin's comments »

One member of the Palin audience in Jacksonville, Florida, Tuesday shouted out "treason." And at another rally in the state Monday, Palin's mention of the Obama-Ayers tie caused one member to yell out: "kill him" -- though it was unclear if it was targeted at Obama or Ayers.

At several recent rallies, Palin has stirred up crowds by mentioning the "liberal media." Routinely, there are boos at every mention of The New York Times and the "mainstream media," both of which are staples of Palin's stump speech.

Some audience members are openly hostile to members of the traveling press covering Palin; one crowd member hurled a racial epithet at an African-American member of the press in Clearwater, Florida, on Monday.

And at a McCain rally in New Mexico on Monday, one supporter yelled out "terrorist" when McCain asked, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" McCain didn't respond. Watch as McCain ramps up his criticism of Obama »

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, on Friday told voters that the McCain-Palin campaign "would want you to be afraid of Barack Obama."

Some Republicans have also been critical of the McCain campaign.

Former Michigan Gov. William Milliken, a Republican, told the Grand Rapids Press he was "disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign."

"He is not the McCain I endorsed," Milliken said Thursday.

Some anger found at McCain-Palin rallies is directed at McCain for a different reason. Watch analysts weigh in on the recent attacks »

"I am begging you, sir, I am begging you, take it to him," another supporter said to the Arizona senator at the Wisconsin rally.

McCain, however, seems torn. On one hand, he is going negative on the Ayers controversy.

"The point is, Sen. Obama said he was just a guy in the neighborhood. We know that's not true," he said at the rally in Wisconsin. "We need to know the full extent of the relationship because of whether Sen. Obama is telling the truth to the American people or not."

On the other hand, McCain is trying to focus on the economic downturn plaguing the country.

"But I also, my friends, want to address the greatest financial challenge of our lifetime with a positive plan for action," he added.

Also, the McCains said months ago they didn't want their son Jimmy -- a Marine serving in Iraq -- dragged into the campaign.

But on Thursday, Cindy McCain brought up her son.

She criticized the Illinois senator for voting against a bill to fund troops in Iraq, a regular line of attack from her husband's campaign.

"The day that Sen. Obama cast a vote not to fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body, let me tell you," she told a Pennsylvania crowd before introducing her husband and his No. 2.

The vote Cindy McCain is referencing came in May 2007, when Obama was one of 14 senators who voted against a war-spending plan that would have provided emergency funds for American troops overseas.

A CNN fact check deemed the charge that Obama voted against troop funding "misleading." Obama supported a different version of the troop-funding plan -- one that McCain spoke against. Fact Check: Did Obama vote to cut funds for the troops?

McCain and Palin Guilty of Hate Speech?

OEN
OpEdNews

October 10, 2008 at 05:00:31
Diary Entry by JOHN LORENZ

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John McCain and Sarah Palin are becoming not only embarrassing with their extreme hate-mongering but they are becoming dangerous as well. I'll explain why:

::::::::

McCain is becoming more and more of an embarrassment as he gets further behind in the polls. He thinks declaring himself an "underdog" means he will just come from behind and win, as always. I certainly hope this time his little pardigm won't hold up.

He is acting like an idiot, harping on this Ayers thing when the country is going down in flames. But what is worse is that his, and Sarah Palin's inciting their base to become worked up until people start shouting that Obama is a terrorist and shout their hatred and yell 'kill him' should be prosecuted as HATE SPEECH. They are, in fact, inciting some possibly unstable person somewhere to attempt assassination of Barack Obama. I have seen the news reports myself in which followers in McCain's audience become beside themselves with rage and express complete hatred and abandonment to their fanatic hatred.

This is dangerous and ought to be investigated by the FBI as the crime it is. They are going beyond free speech and very possibly inciting people to commit violence. It is very dangerous what they are doing with this demagoguery.

McCain, in his orgy of Obama-bashing, shows that he has no regard for the suffering of average people, but only does what he needs to do to score political points (or at least how he thinks he can score them).

If McCain is an 'underdog' it is because when you scrape away his lying cover rhetoric of being a 'reformer', it is painfully obvious that his policies will be very similar to George W. Bush's: little or no help for average people, endless war and endless debt and NOT A CLUE how to fix this broken economy. He is out of touch and out of ideas and out of time. His underdog status is his OWN FAULT. He has shown disrespect, disregard for civilty and plays fast and loose with the truth on a regular basis. He will say anything, do anything to try and win, no matter how unscrupulous.

Also, I think his trading on his 'hero' status is pretty despicable. Most TRUE heroes don't wear it on their sleeves like this fraud does.

Unless the Republicans succeed in disenfranchsing voters snd hacking the voting machines, I think John McCain will lose. If there are voting irregularities this time, the whole nation needs to have a sustained riot and work stoppage and refusal en masse to pay taxes until the Republicans stop cheating, lying and stealing and GET OUT.

They need to GET OUT. The world and this country are sick of them and their selfish disregard for the USA. They can shout "USA" "USA" all they want but in fact they are un-American.

I am a disabled man living in northern California who cares more about the future of our country than about party affiliation. I am distressed over the downward spiral in our social and political culture.

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McCain plans fiercer strategy against Obama

By Michael D. Shear

updated 10:22 a.m. PT, Sat., Oct. 4, 2008

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said.

With just a month to go until Election Day, McCain's team has decided that its emphasis on the senator's biography as a war hero, experienced lawmaker and straight-talking maverick is insufficient to close a growing gap with Obama. The Arizonan's campaign is also eager to move the conversation away from the economy, an issue that strongly favors Obama and has helped him to a lead in many recent polls.

"We're going to get a little tougher," a senior Republican operative said, indicating that a fresh batch of television ads is coming. "We've got to question this guy's associations. Very soon. There's no question that we have to change the subject here," said the operative, who was not authorized to discuss strategy and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Being so aggressive has risks for McCain if it angers swing voters, who often say they are looking for candidates who offer a positive message about what they will do. That could be especially true this year, when frustration with Washington politics is acute and a desire for specifics on how to fix the economy and fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is strong.

Robert Gibbs, a top Obama adviser, dismissed the new McCain strategy. "This isn't 1988," he said. "I don't think the country is going to be distracted by the trivial." He added that Obama will continue to focus on the economy, saying that Americans will remain concerned about the country's economic troubles even as the Wall Street crisis eases somewhat.

Swing states are now a priority Oct. 4: MSNBC's Chuck Todd takes a look at the latest polls in key battleground states as the presidential election heads into the final month. MSNBC

'Just the beginning'
Moments after the House of Representatives approved a bailout package for Wall Street on Friday afternoon, the McCain campaign released a television ad that challenges Obama's honesty and asks, "Who is Barack Obama?" The ad alleges that "Senator Obama voted 94 times for higher taxes. Ninety-four times. He's not truthful on taxes." The charge that Obama voted 94 times for higher taxes has been called misleading by independent fact-checkers, who have noted that the majority of those votes were on nonbinding budget resolutions.

A senior campaign official called the ad "just the beginning" of commercials that will "strike the new tone" in the campaign's final days. The official said the "aggressive tone" will center on the question of "whether this guy is ready to be president."

McCain's only positive commercial, called "Original Mavericks," has largely been taken off the air, according to Evan Tracey of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political ads.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's performance at Thursday night's debate embodied the new approach, as she used every opportunity to question Obama's honesty and fitness to serve as president. At one point she said, "Barack Obama voted against funding troops [in Iraq] after promising that he would not do so."

Palin kept up the attack yesterday, saying in an interview on Fox News that Obama is "reckless" and that some of what he has said, "in my world, disqualifies someone from consideration as the next commander in chief."

McCain hinted Thursday that a change is imminent, perhaps as soon as next week's debate. Asked at a Colorado town hall, "When are you going to take the gloves off?" the candidate grinned and replied, "How about Tuesday night?"

Yesterday in Pueblo, Colo., McCain made clear that he intends to press Obama on a variety of familiar GOP themes during the debate, as he accused the Democrat once again of getting ready to raise taxes and increase government spending.

"I guarantee you, you're going to learn a lot about who's the liberal and who's the conservative and who wants to raise your taxes and who wants to lower them," McCain said.

A senior aide said the campaign will wait until after Tuesday's debate to decide how and when to release new commercials, adding that McCain and his surrogates will continue to cast Obama as a big spender, a high taxer and someone who talks about working across the aisle but doesn't deliver.

Two other top Republicans said the new ads are likely to hammer the senator from Illinois on his connections to convicted Chicago developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko and former radical William Ayres, whom the McCain campaign regularly calls a domestic terrorist because of his acts of violence against the U.S. government in the 1960s.

The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. appears to be off limits after McCain condemned the North Carolina Republican Party in April for an ad that linked Obama to his former pastor, saying, "Unfortunately, all I can do is, in as visible a way as possible, disassociate myself from that kind of campaigning."

McCain advisers said the new approach is in part a reaction to Obama, whose rhetoric on the stump and in commercials has also become far harsher and more aggressive.

They noted that Obama has run television commercials for months linking McCain to lobbyists and hinting at a lack of personal ethics — an allegation that particularly rankles McCain, aides said.

Campaigning in Abington, Pa., yesterday, Obama continued to focus on the economy, even as he lashed out at McCain.

"He's now going around saying, 'I'm going to crack down on Wall Street' . . . but the truth is he's been saying 'I'm all for deregulation' for 26 years," Obama said. "He hasn't been getting tough on CEOs. He hasn't been getting tough on Wall Street. . . . Suddenly a crisis comes and the polls change, and suddenly he's out there talking like Jesse Jackson."

Obama highlighted a new report showing a reduction of more than 159,000 jobs last month, and he linked the bad economic news to McCain and Palin.

"Governor Palin said to Joe Biden that our plan to get our economy out of the ditch was somehow a job-killing plan; that's what she said," Obama told a crowd of thousands. "I wonder if she turned on the news this morning. . . . When Senator McCain and his running mate talk about job killing, that's something they know a thing or two about, because the policies they've supported and are supporting are killing jobs in America every single day."

'A very aggressive last 30 days'
McCain issued a statement yesterday saying the bailout bill "is not perfect, and it is an outrage that it's even necessary. But we must stop the damage to our economy done by corrupt and incompetent practices on Wall Street and in Washington."

Speaking in Pueblo just as the House was finishing deliberations on the package, McCain blamed fellow lawmakers for the failure to adequately regulate the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"It was the Democrats and some Republicans in the Congress who pushed back and did not allow those reforms to take place, and that's a major reason we are in the trouble we are in today," he said. "Those members of Congress ought to be held accountable on November 4th as well."

Before the bailout crisis, aides said, McCain was succeeding in focusing attention on Obama's record and character. Now, they say, he must return to those subjects.

"We are looking for a very aggressive last 30 days," said Greg Strimple, one of McCain's top advisers. "We are looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis and getting back to discussing Mr. Obama's aggressively liberal record and how he will be too risky for Americans."

Staff writers Michael Abramowitz and Perry Bacon Jr. contributed to this report.

Related McCain Plans Gloves-Off Fight

With a month left before election, GOP camp aims to shift focus from economy to Obama's character.

Media figures falsely accuse Democrats of attempting to direct millions of dollars to ACORN

MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA
Wed, Oct 1, 2008 10:15pm ET

Summary: Media figures have recently accused Democrats of attempting to direct millions of dollars in government money to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in the financial bailout bill. The accusation is false. Neither the draft proposal nor the version of the bill that was voted down in the House contained any language mentioning ACORN. Those making the false claim were misrepresenting a provision -- since removed -- that would have directed 20 percent of any profits realized on troubled assets purchased under the plan into the National Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund.

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In recent days, media figures have accused Democrats of attempting to direct millions of dollars in government money to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in the financial bailout bill. The accusation is false. Neither the draft proposal nor the final version of the bill contained any language mentioning ACORN. Those making the false claim were misrepresenting a provision -- since removed -- that would have directed 20 percent of any profits realized on troubled assets purchased under the plan into two previously established funds: the National Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund.

Under the now-removed provision, the money going to the National Housing Trust Fund would have been distributed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the form of block grants to states, which would then award grants to qualified applicants. Money going to the Capital Magnet Fund would have been distributed by the U.S. Treasury Department through a competitive grant application process.

Salon.com's Gabriel Winant reported that ACORN's legislative director said the organization's housing advocacy affiliate, ACORN Housing, is unlikely to seek any grants, and even if it did, it would have to go through the same application process as any other group:

Thursday night, Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC] told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that 20 percent of the funds for "the retired debts" in the Democratic proposal would go to the progressive organizing group ACORN.

[...]

There's not even any reason, at least at this point, to believe that any of the money allocated to the Housing Trust Fund would end up with ACORN.

Brenda Muniz, the organization's legislative director, told Salon that Graham's claim is "just ludicrous." ACORN itself claims to take no money at all from the government. ACORN Housing, an affiliated but ostensibly autonomous nonprofit that provides free housing counseling, is considering applying for funds from the Housing Trust Fund, but will probably not choose to do so. "It's unlikely that we stand to get anything," Muniz said. Because ACORN Housing's primary area of expertise is housing counseling -- which is not what the Trust Fund's grants are for -- Muniz said that it's "unlikely that they would take on something like that."

Even if local ACORN Housing affiliates did choose to apply for money from the Housing Trust Fund, they would have to go through the grant proposal process at the state and/or local level. The fund allocates money to state and local government agencies and trust funds, which in turn grant it to housing development organizations that make it through the application process.

The following media figures have recently falsely claimed or suggested that congressional Democrats have attempted to direct funds to ACORN:

• During the October 1 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, host Steve Doocy said: "There was a story out there that the Democrats were trying to give ACORN 20 percent of those almost trillion dollars, so that's extraordinary." Former Ohio secretary of state and Townhall.com contributing editor Ken Blackwell replied: "It was a classic payoff. It was a classic payoff. It was political graft at its worst."
• In an October 1 column, syndicated columnist Mona Charen wrote that "Democrats in Congress managed to find time to slip language into the bailout legislation that would provide a dandy little slush fund for ACORN. ... With the whole financial world and possibly the world economy trembling and cracking like a cement building in an earthquake, Democrats continue to try to fund their friends at ACORN?"
• On the September 29 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, host Lou Dobbs claimed: "ACORN stands to reap hundreds of millions of dollars from a government bailout of Wall Street." Dobbs added later: "This is a straightforward deal for ACORN and other groups, left-wing groups, set up by the Democratic leadership of Congress. They're not interested in the bailout per se. They want to spread this out, and many people believe that this bailout in part is dear to the Democratic leadership because they want to advance a social agenda here as much as much as an economic bailout of Wall Street."

A draft of the bill included the following -- since removed from the final version the House rejected on September 29:

(d) TRANSFER OF A PERCENTAGE OF PROFITS.

1. DEPOSITS.--Not less than 20 percent of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited as provided in paragraph (2).

2. USE OF DEPOSITS.--Of the amount referred to in paragraph (1)--

1. 65 percent shall be deposited into the Housing Trust Fund established under section 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Regulatory Reform Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568); and

2. 35 percent shall be deposited into the Capital Magnet Fund established under section 1339 of that Act (12 U.S.C. 4569).

(3) REMAINDER DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY.--Revenues of, and proceeds from the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act that are remaining after payments under paragraph (1) shall be paid into the General Fund of the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.

From the October 1 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

DOOCY: Before the bailout plan was rejected earlier this week, there were reports of House Democrats trying to funnel money to an organization called ACORN, also known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. As part of the deal, ACORN has come under scrutiny for its alleged ties to criminal voter fraud in states such as Ohio, a key battleground state. So why is ACORN significant? And what is Senator Obama's connection to this group? Joining us right now from Cincinnati is Ken Blackwell, former Ohio state -- secretary of state. Good morning to you, Ken.

BLACKWELL: Good morning. Good to be with you, Steve.

DOOCY: OK, there in Ohio right now, you've got this deal where, for the next six days or so, you can register and vote on the spot, and we've heard all sorts of things that community organizers are going out to get as many people as they possibly can to get them to register and vote immediately, even though oftentimes they don't have any proof that they can legally vote in your state.

BLACKWELL: Oh, absolutely. And the backdrop there, though, and the safeguard is that those votes won't be counted until Election Day, which means that the bipartisan boards of election in our 88 counties have ample time to validate whether or not the person who cast that ballot was a legal voter. But it really does speak to what I consider to be a fallacy in our system. Here's an organization, ACORN, that believes in the doctrine of "voters without borders." Here is an organization that from coast to coast has been embroiled in controversy around voter fraud, and we had the Congress -- the Democrats in Congress-- attempting a midnight gift to them in the bailout, or the rescue plan regarding -- depending on your perspective.

DOOCY: Yeah. There was a story out there that the Democrats were trying to give ACORN 20 percent of those almost trillion dollars, so that's extraordinary. Now, Barack - Barack --

BLACKWELL: It was a classic payoff. It was a classic payoff. It was political graft at its worst.

DOOCY: All right. Now, Barack Obama worked for ACORN for a while -- that's where he was a community organizer, and he was a trainer. He was one of these guys who showed guys how to do exactly this. Are you suggesting today, Ken, that ACORN is trying to steal the election?

BLACKWELL: Well, let's put it this way. This is an organization whose -- has a disturbing pattern of voter fraud, and they were, this time, going to do it with more of our tax dollars. These guys already get taxpayer dollars. We should be outraged -- we should be outraged that Congress is attempting to give them more at a time when one of their trainers is on the ballot.

DOOCY: It's something to think about. All right, Ken Blackwell, former Ohio secretary of state and chairman of Coalition for a Conservative Majority, we thank you very much, sir, for joining us live today from Cincinnati.

BLACKWELL: Glad to be with you.

From the September 29 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight:

DOBBS: Well, one of the groups at the center of this financial crisis is a so-called community activist group known as ACORN. In point of fact, ACORN is a left-wing special interest group now under investigation for embezzlement, voter fraud and providing mortgages to illegal aliens, among other things.

The group ACORN lobbied Congress for years to allow more of those risky mortgages that in part led to this crisis. And now, ACORN stands to reap hundreds of millions of dollars from a government bailout of Wall Street. Lisa Sylvester has our report.

[...]

SYLVESTER: And ACORN, which calls itself the nation's largest grassroots organization of low and moderate income families, has come under fire for other issues. At least five states have opened investigations into its voter registration drives, and ACORN employees have been convicted of voter fraud. Still, this group, as you mentioned, stood to benefit from the bailout deal and part of any profit realized from the sale of troubled assets were to go into a fund, and that money would be distributed to low income housing advocacy groups including ACORN, Lou.

DOBBS: Now, and think about this. In the midst of this -- you know, everyone talking about a clean bill and the Democratic leadership, let's be clear. This is a straightforward deal for ACORN and other groups, left-wing groups, set up by the Democratic leadership of Congress. They're not interested in the bailout per se. They want to spread this out, and many people believe that this bailout in part is dear to the Democratic leadership because they want to advance a social agenda here as much as much as an economic bailout of Wall Street.

SYLVESTER: Yeah, Lou, in fact what they did is in prior legislation they actually created these two funds. And now essentially what they were going to do is try to use this bailout to fund and put money in those funds in order to benefit groups like ACORN and in order to advance some other causes, as you mentioned, including their voter registration drives, Lou.

DOBBS: It's -- this is pitiful in the fact that, of course, this Congress is fully supportive of this nonsense is all the more disgusting, so voters right now, all of us as citizens have a lot to be disgusted with on Capitol Hill. Thank you very much, Lisa -- Lisa Sylvester reporting.

—E.H.H.