McCain should throw Bush under the campaign bus

Darrell Laurant

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By Darrell Laurant

Published: August 30, 2008

If I were John McCain, this is what I’d do. Maybe he’s already done it.

I would call President Bush, meet with him at the White House, and tell him: “Nothing personal, George, but I’ve got to start bashing you.“

It wouldn’t be the first time. McCain bashed Bush with great glee when he ran against him in the Republican primary in 2000. Besides, it’s all politics.

The Democrats, at their convention, gave McCain a great opportunity. Over and over, their rostrum speakers thundered: “We don’t need four more years of George W. Bush.“

Fine, McCain should say. I wasn’t crazy about the guy, either.

If he peppered his acceptance speech on Thursday with his disagreements with Bush, a lot of the air would go out of the Democratic argument. It’s not, after all, that America has become less conservative over the past eight years. It’s not Bush’s philosophy they don’t like—it’s him.

Fairly or unfairly, the incumbent is getting all the blame for all the problems we’re facing now—economic and international alike. In an era of expanding oil prices, it doesn’t help that he and Vice President Cheney are (what a coincidence) oil men. That’s why the President’s popularity rating is as low as any American leader in recent memory.

I always thought the Democrats exhibited a curious death wish in 1984 when they nominated Walter Mondale as their candidate. Ronald Reagan hammered Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election, so the Dems decided to choose Carter’s vice president to run against the same opponent. What were they thinking?

Similarly, it would seem to make sense for McCain to get as far away from Bush as he can.

Sure, it would be a tightrope act. You hate to disrespect a sitting president—or, by extension, all those people who voted for him. But if McCain continues to cling to Bush’s coattails, it’s going to be Walter Mondale all over again.

Reader Reactions

Posted by ( Freedom ) on September 04, 2008 at 11:44 am

ahh KNIPP,,i dont know what to say,,i did e-mail Darrell and let him know about your posting,,but thanks for the compliment,,( i guess),,i am looking for a job,,so if he answers you put in a good word ,,ok,,sorry i cant reveal myself,,i enjoy this incognito,,

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Posted by ( Randolph Knipp ) on September 04, 2008 at 11:07 am

Darrell, is that you hiding behind the name of Freedom?  It doesn’t exactly sound like you…  But the logic is so great!  Flawless, I must admit.

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Posted by ( Freedom ) on September 04, 2008 at 10:29 am

KNIPP,,$$MONEY$$,,is power,,just ask the lobbist,,o.j,,90 % of these crooks,,buy their way out,,you dont see rich people in jail/prison,,and if you do its always murder !! and murder most of the time for money or control of it ,,you dont see people who drive BMW or caddie,,in jail for dui,,again unless its vehecle homocide,,just look at holloywood,,anyway ,,next time you see a homeless person,,ask what got him there,,9/10 will tell you cause i owe 10 trillion $$ on my credit card,,no money ,no credit,no car ,no house,cant even rent,,so we as a nation are bound by those same laws,,( 10 trillion equals 4 years of taxpayers money and country budget)our oil dependance allows saudie aribia/kuwaite et.al. and they are not democracy but kingdoms,,and yet the king gives his subjects,,free medical from birth til death,,free drugs(legal),,free education from pre-school til a 4 yr college degree,,no standing military to speak of,,they contracted us out in gulf war 1,,sweet hun,,and they paid us,,unlike iraq,,they dont collect any taxes at all ,,but rather at the end of the year,,the majesty gives his subjects a fat rebate check,,women dont work,,and spend their days at the gym,culbs,shoping at macy,s..with hire nanny,s maids,etc,,the men all drive bmw,,they still like their silk tents and camels and do hang out in the desert,,and they did this all in 50 years,,while this democracy runs its people into the dirt turning them into slaves of coporate america worse than what pharoh did to the JEWS,,now we are broke !and give it all away to NEW WORLD ORDER,,MEANING globial welfare/socialism,,while we at home get table crumbs,,as broke as we r bush just sign over another 1 billion to georgia to pay for russia bombing,,so dont tell me you dont see something WRONG here,, the middle east/china/japan and now eu are buying our cities,roads,BUDWISER ,,enough said,,later,,p/s,,and if you ask me to prove this,,ill kick you butt from here to the www,,its your job to prove me wrong !! yea ..they pay 45 cents for a gallon of gas!!i say this is eco war ,,food for oil !!

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Posted by ( Randolph Knipp ) on September 04, 2008 at 9:07 am

Okaaayyyy, Freedom!  Your lucid letter really cleared things up for me, and I bow to your eloquence and flawless logic.  I don’t really think that there is a thing I could possibly say that would counter your facts and figures.  You must indeed have studied much classic Greek and Roman history, and I thank you for warning us of what the future holds.

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Posted by ( Freedom ) on September 04, 2008 at 5:18 am

knipp,,since its you and you are useless and need to NIP IT,,just go to usa budget on the google search engine ,,and it will give u the complete history of usa defecit under republican/demo gov..and study roman/eygpt et.al.  as they went broke and could,nt afford to pay for military defence,,they collapse,,!!so dont worry about country,,that speeds ups the downfall !!half the states have yet to replace their military hardware sent to iraq!!duuuddd,,russia always moves when it knows we r in a state of military weekneess,,so just be happy !!why do i waste my time !!and whats reagon excuse for creating a defecit higher than all pres.combined before him.??tax breaks to the rich,,(coporate raiders,outsoursing steel mills etc.,union busting)and reagonomics trickle down eco tax..and bush yea i give hime the war on terror,,but thats cost 2 trillion,,so explain the other 8 trillion,,again try tax breaks to the rich and more trickle down eco tax increases more outsoursing,,so much so ,,now we have to import ROCKET fuel for our military missles from china no less!!,,and lets not forget stealing all the money out of the soc.sec.fund..better yet just be truthful to yourself,,and say its THE REPUBLICAN HIDDEN TAX !!cause you idiot,, taxpayers pay it off,and here is the flying eagle for you ooIoo,,good day !and the reason you cant tie facts to,, as you stated is because you want me to do it for u ,,well in the future everyone,,note this cause i just may not have the time to do your work,,go back to school and learn RESEARCH !!and stop showing your childish ignorance,,grow up !!

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Posted by ( Randolph Knipp ) on September 03, 2008 at 9:05 pm

You are wrong, Freedom, when you allege the country was in the black when Bush took office, we were heavily in debt.  You surely refer to the fact that Clinton was successful in eliminating the deficit, which to his credit was in the right direction.  With the War on Terror it was only reasonable for the deficit to return under the spending requirements.  I apologize for not being able to follow your logic in the rest of your post.  I feel that you have some emotion there, but little in the way of issues and facts that I can tie to.  I believe the country will survive!

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Posted by ( Freedom ) on September 03, 2008 at 8:13 am

,,R.KNIPP,,there is more to pres BUSH than just 9/11,,i,ll list a few,,when he took office the country was in the black,,as of today the defecit is 9.72 trillion ,,so bankrupting the country,,bailout have surpassed anything in our history,,bears/stern/fannie/freedie/about 150 banks,,first time in our history have we borrowed from china,,and its a wooping 2 trillion,,jobs keep getting outsourse,,illegals keep invading,,poverty has increased,,pay checks have decreased,,housing market ,,food prices,,and passed so many laws that are in direct conflict to our bill of rights/consitution ,,that will take generations of americans to correct if ever,,considering how long it took to resolve the gun issue !!like i said just a few things and why DARRELL said throw him under the bus is beyond me !!i say charge w/treason and excute him !!and he,s done most of this in just 7 years !

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Posted by ( Randolph Knipp ) on September 02, 2008 at 9:44 pm

I don’t often disagree with your editorials, Darrell, but on this one I do.  Take comfort, though, because I am sure that many agree with you totally.  Just recall, however, that the 9/11 crowd has been stopped totally cold in their tracks as far as attacks on the U.S. soil is concerned.  The Europeans cannot say that.  Many others have not been so lucky.  And we are not “lucky”, we are protected by an active and strong President.  I am not much for abstract argumentation, that which says vague things about “loss of freedom” (a feeling I just don’t have and cannot see anywhere around me), and although I am sure there are others who are not better off than eight years ago, it doesn’t apply to me and most of my friends.  I’ll make my conclusions on facts I know and feel, and when I weigh those, I like what I have seen from this last eight year Presidency.  Somehow, I feel that you might come to a similar conclusion!

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Posted by ( Freedom ) on September 02, 2008 at 10:56 am

,,sorry,,but i,m not voting for john MCBUSH or sarah QUAYLIN !!

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Posted by ( Marie Batten ) on August 30, 2008 at 5:07 pm

Tell me again how one would actually get AWAY from someone when they voted 90% of the time with them?
And then he picked a VP that is in lockstep with, and maybe even goes beyond, Bush in her conservative views.  I would have voted for McCain in 2000 - and glady so, but with his kowtowing to LU and other right wing types, I say NO WAY NO HOW and NO MCCAIN….

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