McCain's New Hillary-Powered 'Maverick' Ad

Republican Presidential nominee John McCain has released a new ad called, "Praising McCain," featuring a surprising cast of characters: Democratic lawmakers!

Most of the ad is filled with the kind of glad-handed banter that you'd hear on any given day in the Senate, where, in the interest of comity, even Satan would be referred to as "the distinguished gentleman from West Gehenna."

But then, there's the dismount:

SEN. CLINTON: I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.

I'm going to resist the urge to say "I told you so," but then immediately succumb to it. I told you so, but I don't think this will help McCain much. In fact, this could turn out to be a huge mistake for him.



First of all, aside from Senator Clinton's dismissive clincher, the ad comes off as really desperate. Think about it. Who has to pay millions to run an ad telling you that he's a good guy?

Also, who calls himself "a Maverick?" Do you see me saying, "Tommy Christopher is roguishly handsome" in my profile? OK, bad example. But there are certain things you can and can't call yourself. You can call yourself "honest", but not "above reproach." You can call yourself "knowledgeable," but not "Super-smart!"

Does a real Maverick keep a detailed library of all the times he's been called a Maverick, in case his Maverick-osity is ever called into question?

The reason this is a problem for McCain is, he's giving Obama a huge opening here to push several narratives that are damaging for McCain, ones that the mainstream media have already picked up on.

Most glaring is that the wheels have come off of the "Straight Talk Express." All of these quotes, save those from Obama and Clinton, predate the 2006 mid-term election, going back as far as 2000. Here's a quick list of the dates for each.

SEN. DASCHLE: He can work with Democrats on key issues whether it's campaign finance reform or tobacco policy. He's worked with us.- (Sen. Tom Daschle, Press Conference, 3/10/00)

SEN. BIDEN: John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain.- (Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" 8/2/05)

SEN. KERRY: I have enormous respect for him. He's a courageous, patriotic American who stands up for what he believes.- (CNBC's "The News," 4/7/04)

HOWARD DEAN: I admire Senator McCain greatly, he's one of the people we modeled our campaign over because he is very direct, very blunt, and nobody has to guess at what he's thinking.- (CBS's, "Face The Nation," 1/5/03)

SEN. FEINGOLD: I love John McCain, he's a great guy.- (ABC's, "This Week," 8/13/06)

SEN. OBAMA: Since coming to Washington, I've believed that the right approach begins with the proposal put forward by Senator Lieberman and Senator McCain.- (Sen. Barack Obama, Hearing, Committee On Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate, 1/30/07)

SEN. CLINTON: I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.- (CNN's "The Situation Room," 3/3/08)

The Obama quote is from January of 2007, well before the primaries began, and as I said earlier, is typical Senate comity boilerplate. Why is this important? Because these quotes only reinforce the fact that John McCain has sold his soul and embraced policies that he knows are wrong, like the Bush tax cuts, just to gain support from the conservative base. He has courted the endorsements of those he once called "agents of intolerance." His Maverick past only brings his pandering present into sharper relief.

And what about that conservative base? Does McCain think that the Obama campaign can't dig up 30 seconds worth of clips featuring Republicans eviscerating McCain (that great Ron Paul clip from the Reagan Library debate), and praising Obama (like Gordon Smith's current ad)? I guarantee you there will be just such a memo in my inbox before the end of business today.

That brings me to the most effective, yet potentially devastating, part of the ad: Hillary Clinton.

I imagine the response to the Clinton clip will go a little something like this:



This gives Obama a huge opening to turn around the question of judgment on Iraq and beat McCain all over the place with it.

There are loads more clips of Hillary Clinton praising McCain while slamming Obama, a strategy that I took severe issue with, but there is a great way to neutralize them. Vice President Hillary Clinton. I think I said it best when I said this:

What's great about this, too, is that it effectively neutralizes most of the damage Clinton laid on Obama in the primaries. The media, and the Republicans, will throw the Clinton campaign's quotes at Obama, but her campaign will be there to hit 'em right back at McCain. Only Clinton's campaign has the brass ones to pivot their narrative on a dime, chuck the whole silverware drawer at you, then scold you for covering up your face.

Yes, the thought of Hillary Clinton on Obama's ticket fills me with joy. For years, we've watched the GOP make "Boom-Boom" Mancini out of the Democrats, but now, I laugh at the thought. Barack had a measure of the high ground and good, solid policies to protect him a little. McCain has tissue paper and faith in a merciful God.