Doesn’t MoveOn cutting an ad attacking John McCain help him? I think that Michael Goldfarb nailed it:
As the Hotline points out, "The more liberals bash McCain, the more comfortable conservatives tend to get." Truer words were never written. The idea that this ad could do any damage to McCain in a primary is absurd. Republicans don’t take their cues from the defeatist advertising of MoveOn.org–images of burning American tanks? Do they seriously think that will help them get their message across in Red America?
64 percent of Republicans approve of the president’s handling of the war in Iraq. How does tying McCain to Iraq hurt him in the primary? If MoveOn.org really wants to go after McCain, they should endorse him as the Republican most likely to take action on global warming. But this…this is a gift. I’m feeling more comfortable about a McCain presidency already.
After all, the air mail line got an applause from the veterans. Of course, MoveOn edited that out. But hey, no one ever accused them of being honest…
Now, my friend Matt Lewis makes an important point:
Give McCain credit for taking it to Iran. I might add that Mitt Romney has also done a good job of this as well. Moveon appears to be afraid of a McCain candidacy — at least, that’s what this attack implies to me …
Are they making the calculation that McCain will be the nominee? This stuff does work with independents. Are they being strategic for the general?
And McCain’s response:
"Please, I was talking to some of my old veterans friends," he told reporters. "My response is, lighten up and get a life."
Classic.
