HERE IS A VERBAL TAKEDOWN: THE TEXT OF A LETTER MCCAIN SENT TO OBAMA IN 2006 - A LETTER WE BLOGGED ABOUT AT THE TIME:
John McCain released a SCATHING and SARCASTIC letter he sent to Senator Barack Obama. Here's an EXCERPT:
Dear Senator Obama:LAST NIGHT'S STRIDENT AND DISHONEST BOILERPLATE SPEECH FROM OBAMA HAS CONVINCED ME THAT MCCAIN WILL DEMOLISH OBAMA IN THE FALL.
I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform legislation were sincere. When you approached me and insisted that despite your leadership’s preference to use the issue to gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better example of political leadership, I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable.
Thank you for disabusing me of such notions with your letter to me dated February 2, 2006, which explained your decision to withdraw from our bipartisan discussions.
I’m embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble.
Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again. [...]
As I noted, I initially believed you shared that goal. But I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party’s effort to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman Senator, and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness.
Again, I have been around long enough to appreciate that in politics the public interest isn’t always a priority for every one of us. Good luck to you, Senator.
Sincerely, John McCain United States Senate
Yes. I was surprised at Obama's nervous delivery. He rushed, swallowed his points, never developed the momentum of building cadences. The text basically sucked. More empty promises, promising things no President can deliver. My guess is, due to the McCain Campaign's effective "celebrity" ads, Obama's team backed away from the extravagant rhetoric that they would have preferred. The drive by media will laud the performance, just as they did after Obie's "unforgettable" Philadelphia speech, of which of course nobody now remembers a single phrase. Obie is a will o' the wisp, a phenom, and the only reason he will never be a has-been is that he is a never-was.
ReplyDeleteIt was prescient of you to post this before McCain picked Palin to be VP...
ReplyDeleteObama's prancing was complete and McCain promptly delivered the first blow.
That video is great. What an allegory!
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