It already has helped just look at the polls…It is amazing McCain is this close.

Going negative will not help McCain. If Cindy reminds him to breate and when to eat, he should do O.K.

no it is not. it just shows that mcshame has nothing to offer this country. he should just retire and go back to arizona.

What else does he got?!?

No, it has actually made me loathe him and the republicans. I think americans are tired of the negativity and the same ol political strategy, it’s enough already. We see what the repuglicans dirty tricks costs us and we are still paying 8 yrs later. It would be one thing if they were truths but mccain just out and out lies and distorts the truth so much it is actually laughable and no sound minded person could believe him. Karma comes full circle and i think the fact that he is such a ‘well known’ and so called ‘experienced’ person, he should be leading the polls not constantly trailing behind Obama goes to show you that he is more of the same mold.

Not unless going negative ultimately includes pictures of Obama being caught in a motel room with Marion Berry and strippers doing crack cocaine, no.

No, that only works if your name is Hillary Clinton.

Apparently even his closest advisors think this is his only hope - too bad it just reinforces the fact that he was, is and continues to be a clone of Bush and ‘old’ republican politics.

If you look at what he is saying, there is nothing new, nothing offered to fix the mess we are in. With nothing to offer he is trying to get the focus off his empty and pathetic campaign by trying to paint a negative impression of Obama. Won’t work.

If my reaction is typical, no it won’t help. As an Independent, I am now ashamed to say I voted for John McCain in the 2000 New Hampshire primary. John McCain 2000 and John McCain 2008 are 2 different people and the latter version has lost all honor and integrity.

Jack,
I hope going negative on Obama, in this way, backfires on the McCain campaign. I think what we are seeing is jealousy and early desperation.

It also appears to me that the McCain campaign is attempting the Harold Ford Jr. attack strategy, it ’s a sorry state for a once proud man.

It should, especially since McCain claims he won’t run one of “those” campaigns
Then again, he flip flops on everything else so why should this be any different

Jack, it is so sad that the campaign appears headed into the gutter. What’s even sadder, the negative ads tend to work.

Going negative has been a winning strategy for Republicans for years. The Democrats and their “high ground” have lost more than one election because of Karl Rovian attacks. I hope their high ground will give them comfort when McBush is being sworn into office.

McCain and his campaign cant’ get its act together.

Nothing but lies, misrepresentations, and distortions. So much for the “Straight-talk” express.

Enough of this!!! I sick of hearing it and their pathetic explanations after the fact.

If this is the best McCain has to offer this country then he definitely needs to retire to a rest home!!!!

This country deserves better but isn’t getting it.

Sadly to say John McCain has become John McComplain. You know when attacks on character and using Britney Spears and Paris Hilton things are getting desperate. You know when you are losing when your message is lost.

For a so-called maverick who promised a clean fight based solely on the issues John McCain certainly isn’t living up to his promises. That raises the question: If McCain can’t keep a simple promise like a clean fight, how do you expect him to keep the harder promises like not raising taxes or pushing for cleaner energy?

No, not a winning one, just a strategy that not only insults Obama but voting Americans as well. Goodness sake, these costly campaign ads are nothing more than commercials like those during the super bowl, only this is no laughing matter and I’m getting up and changing the channel.

Every campaign that has posted a presidential winner has used the classic tactic of negative ads, from the founding fathers until today. McCain has already created ads showing his solutions for America and now he has to show America what Obama is all about. Obama doesn’t have to make his own negative ads because he has supposed neutral sources such as MoveOn.org and the New York Times creating their own attacks against McCain. So for Obama to think that McCain is the only one going negative, I would say that the liberal media is 100% on Obama’s side and are conducting their own attacks against McCain.

It’s not a matter of how low a candidate can go, it’s a matter of how gullible and uninformed the American voter is.

Sadly, exploiting voter fears against certain candidates seems to be the Rovian tactic that Republican presidential candidates have come to rely on.

Why? Because it works!

It worked so well for Hillary, I’m surpised Mark Penn hasn’t suggessted it earlier. He is the genius who came up with this Hail Mary right? No wonder he gets the big bucks. Smith is an alias.

Jack, negativity will only be a winning strategy if Sen. Obama doesn’t get specific with his counterattack–highlighting his family upbringing (hardly elitist or celebrity driven) comared to McCain’s, the huge US deficit that wasn’t there in 2000 and doesn’t include the Iraq funding, how he has surrounded himself with experts on the economy and every other issue (conpared to McCain’s Phil Gramm, etc), how there are current off-shore oil leases that need development and no need for expansion of same, etc. I think we Americans are eager for the negativity to end and to hear facts, facts, facts.

Same old dog … same old tricks … when has being, saying or doing something negative ever benefitted anyone, let alone John McCain? Its the old “you reap what you sew” … all McCain is going to get from going negative on Obama is more negative criticism about himself and his campaign.

Going negative is status quo for Republicans because they have no real agenda that will get America back on track. The problem with the McCain camp is their negative ads are obviously lies and just plain dumb.

The negativity does not do anything positive for us. John Mcsurge is so bent on using those same republican tactics that very few people, including himself, knows exactly what he stands for. Obama has stayed consistently positive and speaks to us as if we are educated and can think for ourselves. Everytime I see a mccain attack ad I feel insulted as if he thinks I have the mind of a three year old. I am sticking with the positive, so no doubt I will be voting for Obama no mattter what bull mccain tries to throw up in my face.

Hey Jack
The same way it helped HRC
Cinti, Ohio

Jack,
I hate to say it, but yes. Going for the low blow will help because as much as we claim to hate sleaze, most of us are quite ready to believe the worst about our politicians.
I think this is partly due to the utterly inadequate education we provide in Civics and Politics. In most states it’s a one semester credit in senior year of high school when it should be taught from the first grade onward with a strong emphasis on The Constitution and the Rule of Law.
Clearly, both office seekers and incumbents also suffer from this lack of education as evidenced by their behavior.

Pablo

I supported Sen. McCain’s candidacy in 2000 and I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in his almost total reversal of his positions and his descent into this negative and untruthful campaigning. Of course, after being slimed by Bush and Rove in the 2000 South Carolina Primary, maybe he thinks that ’s what it takes to win. He would rather lose our respect than lose an election.

Ed Reed
Port Aransas, TX

I think there is a difference between negativity and reality. If John McCain can sufficiently spoil everyone’s idealisms of Obama and brings voters back to reality, he’ll win. If he sounds like an old man in a rocking chair, cursing the heavens above, he’ll lose.

I guess it will work on the same people who don’t mind voting for a hypocrite.

Guess who said this - “It’s time we did away with a lot of this political rhetoric at the level we’re at, including these negative ads. Nobody likes these negative ads. You want to know what we’re for, not who we’re against.”? John McCain. I guess the straight talk express has become the politically expedient express.

It just makes him look small and petty, I thought a campaign was to be used to put forward a candidates plan on what he will do for the nation. Since McCain changes his mind every day I guess that would be difficult. There is a site dedicated to keeping track of his flip flops, last time I checked it was 61 and counting.

Jack, it depends on whether his negative talking points are parroted as fact by the media, or scrutinized and reported in context. It’s really up to the fourth estate.

It’s a losing strategy.
By being so negative at one end of the magnet only increases Obama’s positive end. Voters want the important ideas and issues discussed, not whether Obama is popular or unpatriotic.
McCain is making himself look more and more ridiculous, more and more unworthy to be the most powerful leader on this planet.

Monty
El Paso, Texas

He will not personally go very negative, especially before Denver, but the surrogate groups will go appallingly negative once Obama is officially the nominee. It will make what happened to Kerry and Dukakis look like a day at the proverbial beach, in comparison. This will seriously affect the impressions of those many voters who are not paying much attention now, but who will be late in October.

But the negativity will be muted before Denver because the Republicans want to run against Obama and do not want to derail his nomination. Other Dems would beat McCain in landslide demensions, so the Republicans want to avoid that. Ironically, Obama’s own gaffes and past and present associates have been the most detrimental, and no one knows what will pop up next!

It usually helps unforfortunately. of course, one man’s negative is another facts.

People today vote out the candidate who has the worse sometimes small quality, which makes the other person the winner of their ballots by default, even if its not important on a larger scale. Its not the classiest way to go because candidates should be chosen by who is the best overall. It will help McCain until the Obama Campaign replies with another negative bash.

Nothing,I repeat nothing,will help him.Being a clean shaven Conservative myself,the GOP as a political assemblage of the
highest number educated iiliterates,shouldn´t exist anymore.
Now Jack could you tell me what´s wrong with being liberal?
Are we all not supposed to be open-minded regardless of our
political proclivities?

If the American people elect a candidate who wins by belittling his opponent that is a sad commentary of our country.

Negative campaigning if factual on the issues is not a bad tactic and serves a purpose by informing the public.

However, the McCain attack ads have nothing in common with the truth and are only meant to appeal to the most gullible of the voting public. He will get some success from these ads but I think it is fair to assume the majority of Americans are smart enough to sift through the garbage.

Just makes him look desperate and sad. Wonder if the campaign had permission from Paris and Brit to use them in that childish ad? McCain has nothing else to talk about without showing his ignorance. Just today we saw him tout nuclear energy by saying there had never been any problems with nuclear energy or nuclear powered submarines. Ummm did he forget Three Mile Island and the USS Thresher? If you can’t get it right, go negative - seems to be his strategy. All the Obama put-downs can be countered by simply reading Sen. Obama’s policies, without enhancing the truth. I call this “running scared”

I don’t see that McCain has any choice but to go negative, because, just like Senator Clinton, the Republicans just don’t know what else to do with Obama. Although it won’t work because it is a case of “going to the well” to many times. The Obama campaign is structured, organized, planned and battle tested. And Obama is intelligent, resourceful, and quick minded. For the Republicans, catching (nevermind holding) Obama is like trying to catch a cheetah that has run through butter! To fast, too strong, too clever, and too talented! It’s almost unfair!

No, look who is now running McCain’s campaign, the same cheap shysters of the Bush administration. For those rigid conservative Republicans it will work for a while, but over time everyone will get tired of it and vote for the opponent.

The scary thing Jack is that’s why Bush won in 2000 and 2004 by throwing out negative deceptive ads that over 1/2 of the American people believed (like sheep I must say) and voted the worst President we have ever had in history into power twice…

Now I would assume that the American people have learned their lesson and have been educated enough in how to view these fear and negative tactics, but if some still believe everything they see in McCains ads stating, like Bush blabbers, that “offshore drilling” will bring down the gas prices (FACT: maybe 5 cents per gallon in at least 10 years) or that Obama will raise all of your taxes (FACT: 90% of the American people will see no taxes raised and some will see lower taxes) this country could see things only get worse if they vote McCain into office.

To your question, God, I hope not….

It will not help. It is a desperate measure that shows that Senator McCain can not be trusted on any of his promises. What happened to the “I will run a clean campaign” assurances from Senator McCain?

Going negative will help McCain if Senator Obama does not respond to all the lie and distortion that McCain, will the help Bush are spreading all over. Lies become truth if not aswer. senator Kerry is a prime example. He was swiftboated and took him two weeks to answer.

It’s worked in every political campaign in US history, so why not now? It will probably work even better on Obama. His resume is so thin, there’s no record to disprove the claims. When you have a blank slate, it’s easy to fill in the blanks with whatever you want. If Hillary had gone on the attack sooner, she would have won the nomination.

It might help him, it might not, but it’s all he’s got. Obama has become “bigger than life” and the only way McCain can have a shot in this election is to “knee cap” him. This tactic worked quite well against Kerry, but I think it will fail this time around. After all, Hillary employed the same tactic that McCain is using now and went down in flames. The American people are demanding change, and Obama is the one that successfully tapped into it.

Jack, I think it’s a loosing strategy for McCain. His base is not behind him and the independents whose votes are required to win the election, are completely turned off by what he is doing. For me, it is very disappointing to see John McCain indulge in this kind of filth.

john mccain has nothing else to talk about. The only ideas he has are to continue bush’s policies and to excersise even more executive power. The only way for mcsame to beat Obama is to show him through a prisim of negativity. The only thing republicans understand is fear and how to spread it.

Aaron in Carolina Beach

I have seen very little that is negative. Mr. Obama is still ducking issues. All of the McCain adds are pointing out differences of issues. Obama keeps talking race and fluff even over seas he used the same line “I don’t look like all the rest.” Mrs. Clinton could have used that line as well. I don’t care for either candidate but I can say McCain is taking shots at Obama on issues. I love my freedoms and government should get out of the peoples way. I have parents and I don’t need the government as another set.

Going negative certainly will help him… help him to lose.

He keeps asking the question, “Is Obama ready to lead?”

This is a dangerous thing to ask for McCain, because if you ask many Americans, the answer is yes.

Negative strategy always works when you don’t have something better to offer and John McCain is trying to put a new saddle on an old horse and pass it of as a thoroughbred.

It appears that McCain doesn’t think he can win — SO… the next best thing he can do is to try to make Obama lose.

Jack,
Going negative will probably help McCain about as much as it helped Hillary. We have enough negative buffoons in Washington already don’t we at least deserve a few positive ones?
Judie
St. Augustine, Fl

McCain is the best thing going for Obama right now, but guess when you don’t have anything positive that you can talk about, going negative is the only way to go. He’s caught between a rock, and another rock. If he sounds positive he would sound more like a Democrat, then he will lose all of his Republican’s support, and if he sounds negative he will lose even more support, so guess McCain will just have to get back on his -”stright-talk-express”, and skew everything that he says in hopes of not being defeated in a landslide.

You can tell when someone is LOSING - that’s when the ATTACK ADS come out! What happened to, “CLEAN CAMPAIGN!”

Note To McCain: Hillary tried it and you see what happened to her!

Jack:

It isn’t good for either one. It has the appearance that he is attempting to distract voter from the real issues. Opinions vary and I or anyone else for that matter may not care wht John McCains opinion is about Barak Obama. What I care about is how he intends to fix what is broken with our economy. If he cannot tell me that. He can get off the bus right now. I will not vote for either one of them!!

Ron San Diego

It hurts McCain tremendously because it does not represent the message of him taking the high road he gave during the primary. It shows that McCain does not have the last word in his own campaign and if he can’t control things now, who’s going to be in control if somehow gets elected? Most likely, not McCain.

Jack going negative will help McCain with people that can’t think for themselves and want to believe stereotypes racial or otherwise. But people that can think rationally and find out what each candidate stands for won’t fall for it.

I like to believe that the American public is smart enough to see through the disgraceful attacks and cast their votes based on policies and character, not on who slings the most mud. Anytime a politician deviates from focusing on how he can improve America, and instead focuses on smearing his opponent, the American people suffer.

Jack, the silly negative attacks by Sen. McCain and his pinions are the least of Obama’s problems. Being the first Afro-American to be nominated by his party and having to overcome hundreds of years of bigotry will be alot bigger barrier to overcome than all the negative adds that even Karl Rove could dream up.

Kenneth Chadbourn, N,C.

All this has done for him is mirror what an exact clone of Bush he truly is.

What else can he do beside go negative? He doesn’t have anything positive to offer and there hasn’t been a fresh idea out the McCain league since the beginning.

NO WAY Jack! Nothing Can Stand in The Way of Millions of Voices Calling for Change!

I think that it is still to early to tell. The conventions have not yet occurred, and it is a long hall to get to November. But it does appear that McCain is showing his true colors. Yet I am massively confused as to how anyone can vote republican at this juncture. After the corruption of the past 71/2 years, after the war crimes, high oil costs, the housing sham, the fact that

Jack
going negative is a desperation tactic, McCains campaign is in trouble and it appears they will do anything to attempt to get back in the ball game. Barack Obama is clearly ahead.

It is this negativity that has turned me from being a die hard republican of 44 yrs to hiding my face in shame. But I can stand tall and proud now because I am eagerly and excitedly voting for Obama. This country has suffered enough negativity and I am now craving the positive which I can no longer get from my former party.

Only if the American people have gotten more stupid the past 8 years.

It doesn’t really matter what John McCain does. If there aren’t enough people in this country that have finally realized what the Bush administration is all about and that a McCain Presidency would mean more of the same, then there’s nothing to be done. If that happens I think I will move to Italy, where I lived for four years.

I dunno Jack, this might be all McCain has to stand on. That’s not saying much about him but this is the only way he gets his name in the news for a decent amount of time. Personally I think these ads show more about who McCain is than Obama.

It’s really his only plausible strategy. You see, John McCain would rather win an election than honor his country by running a decent campaign.

Jack - McCain needs a ‘time out’.

Any parent that has found themselves frustrated with a child that uses diversionary tactics as a way to avoid taking personal responsibility for a misdeed ought to recognize the same emotional maturity of a 13 year old in McCain and his advisers. They have no intention on representing themselves honestly, no intention of owning up to their history of errors, have nothing new to add to the conversation, and so, just as a person with the emotional maturity of a 13 year old, they seek to divert our attention away from the facts and beliddle another person, in this case, Obama.

Grandma M, N. Olmsted Ohio

truth is not being negative!

McCain/Romney ‘08!

The GOP represent the rich. You can’t win a majority of votes by telling the people how you’re going to make the oil companies and the HMOs richer. When your party represents and only cares about the richest 2% of the country, you either have to lie about what you’ll do in the White House or smear your opponent. In the Grand Old Tradition of the Republican Party, McCain is doing both. As a famous Republican once said, “You can fool some of the people all of the time”. I just hope this time it’s not enough for the GOP to sleaze their way into the White House. cy gardner arlington va

Jack, my answer is ABSOLUTELY! Negative campaigning serves no useful purpose, especially when many Americans are suffering from the state of the economy– the price of gasoline, food, schooling, and health care. Senator McCain is displaying an “elephant-on-the-shoulder syndrome” that hopes to avoid the vacancy of his message; that is “when people look at the elephant, they’ll disregard how large his problems are in addressing the real issues.

Not at all but if the American people still vote for the GOP, then they deserve what they got and should no longer complain and whine for the next 8 years.

Look what happened when most Americans voted for a President who excelled at negative attack ads……….8 years of what?

And McCain is following in Bush’s footsteps…..attack, attack, attack. So much for a campaign of respect. The more McCain attacks, the more he looks like Bush.

Does attacking the other candidate address key issues? Of course not, after all, McCain even has the nerve to slam Canadians by stating twice during the primaries that our public healthcare system doesn’t work well!

Of course the negative attack ads will work just like the idea of off shore drilling for oil was bought hook line and sinker by the public.

Too many people know too little about the issues and the facts which of course is the main downfall of Democracy. If you need any further proof just look at what you ended up with for the past 8 years.

I think it shows how desprite the republicans feel. It also demostrates just how little “change” will really come from this election . Both sides are playing politics as usual …. Any hope I had for a real and mature debate of where this country is headed has been lost now ….

Jack,

Please ask your legal team whether the girls have the right to bring McCain campaign to court for tarnish their reputation by abusing their images without their consent?

Some people are willing to believe anything that is spoon fed them, so maybe it might help with those voters. For me, I NEVER want the candidates that I support to go negative. If a candidate cannot win on the merit of his own campaign and has to resort to slinging mud, I will not vote for him.

The Karl Rove play book won’t work this election cycle, Jack. The Dems have learned their lessons from the John Kerry Swift Boaters. I like the way Obama came out with an opposing add, making McSame look small and childish, and Obama like the real adult.
If all McSame has is these petty attacks against Senator Obama, he just as well go back to the Senate, it will be an Obama land slide.

OBAMA 08. Change we can TRULY believe in.

I haven’t yet seen the ad, living as I do in GWB territory that is considered safe ground for McCain 9 (and which may surprise him come November). However, this is yet another example of McCain saying one thing, and doing another. How many more inconsistencies and stupid gaffes will it take for die-hard GOPs to realize that their “dark horse” candidate is more like a jackass. Oh, wait…I don’t want to insult the Democratic party emblem!

Given how I have friends who still insist that the Swift Boat ads were accurate, I’d say…it will help with some.

But it is also going to energize Obama’s supporters like nothing Obama himself could ever do.

We’re sick of Bush and Bush tactics.

Bush III indeed.

Not if the media starts giving his gaffs and flip flops equal time, instead of constantly running his negative ads as news! So much for the “straight talk express”. He said he wasn’t going to run that kind of campaign, he was going to talk about the issues! Get real! Does Obama look like a dumb blonde to you? McCain would fit that description better than Obama

He has no choice but to go negative. He can’t speak on the issues because, he doesn’t remember his position from day to day. I am guessing that got kind of embarrassing for the campaign, since he is not allowed to speak for it. So, since he has got to be out there, getting ugly is the easiest thing for the grumpy old dude to do.

Jack, my answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT! Negative campaigning serves no useful purpose, especially when many Americans are suffering from the state of the economy– the price of gasoline, food, schooling, and health care. Senator McCain is displaying an “elephant-on-the-shoulder syndrome” that hopes to avoid the vacancy of his message; that is “when people look at the elephant, they’ll disregard how large his problems are in addressing the real issues.

It depend on what one means by “going negative”.

If McCain points out Obama’s obvious lack of experience, lack of knowledge, lack of support for the USA, “flip-flopping”, etc., I do not consider this negative campaigning because it’s factual.

If Obama points out McClain’s age, his support for the war, “flip-flopping”, etc., I do not consider this negative campaigning either, because it’s factual.

It is up to the candidates and their supporters to expose truths about the opposition, much like Hillary did about Obama. That’s one way to learn about each candidate’s stance on issues.

Advertising that’s not truthful, or that blatantly stretches the truth, is what I dislike.

I doubt any strategy for McCain is a winning one. But he has been doing much better than I would have thought so far. Go negative, Flip-Flop as much as needed appears to be keeping McCain in the ballgame. Hey maybe he’ll even start calling for Bush’s and Cheney’s impeachment just before the election, you know so its to late to really get em out of office before the next president takes office.

Again, this shows that McCain is a brilliant idiot! He can’t even read the script when he gives speeches….I am a republican but McCain won’t get my vote.

Like it or not, negative campaigns always work. However, this might be the exception because it is being done in such a poor manner, it makes McCain look like a whiney little kid. His attack ads don’t have any meat to them, there is no substance. Half of them don’t even make sense. The comparision to Britney Spears is so far out of left field no one can relate. They sound more like something you would hear on a school playground with a chorus of nah-nah-nah’s afterwards. I’m sure the Obama campaign welcomes them. The more ridiculous McCain sounds, the better.

Jack

I hope it is not a winning strategy for McCain because it shows just how out of touch he really is with his own campaign. He is merely a figurehead with a name out on the campaign trail extolling the virtues of the surge and the Bush tax cuts. Meanwhile the people really in control are running things back at the campaign and are using the only tactic they know will work: smear Obama at all costs. It’s a sad state of affairs that seems an awful lot like our current White House doesn’t it?

I think going negative will definitely help McCain, Jack. He’ll focus so much on the negative crap, it’ll help him in making Obama talk about issues that the American people really care about (like gas prices, forclosures, the economy and the war), thus making his candidacy what it truly is…a joke!

worked for hillary,didnt it?and how about romney?now,mccain?i dont think it will work,anymore.thank GOD republicans won’t realize it until sometime next year.a little slow?

Negative McCain ads plus backup from Bush like shortening army tours and surprise October capture of Bin Laden will be hard to beat. Negative works. Obama needs to counterpunch creatively. For example, wouldn’t it be fun to see Paris and Brittany ads endorsing McCain?

No coincidence about the oil companies now funding another Republican candidate.

And what do we see today? more record profits for Exxon, or shall we say, more money for McCain’s negative attack campaign on Obama. You know McCain is celebrating Exxon’s news today!

For someone promising a clean campaign, he has not lived up to that promise. He has flip-flopped on taxes, Iraq and energy, so all he has left is to question Obama’s credentials. If he had anything to offer, he would be selling that and not questioning his opponents positions that he now seems to be agreeing with.

The McCain of 2000 would be seriously disappointed in the McCain of 2008. He wouldn’t be alone in that disappointment either.

This is a prime example of “What you were yesterday is not what you are today.”

“I promise I’ll run and honest and respectful campaign.” - John McCain

His honesty is shattered by allowing completely false campaign ads against Obama and his desire to gain the respect of the majority of American voters is getting self-flushed down the toilet.

This should be embarrasing to this man but, “Hey… winning the Whitehouse is what’s important, right?”

disgusting…

It did not work for Hillary and she is younger and smarter, so how can it help McCain. Mr. I am going to run a clean Campaign, forgot what he said. Surprised, NO! he seems to forget a lot lately. Maybe someone should remind him what he said about this. He was such a war hero and great patriot , now he is just a dirty politician, how the mighty have fallen!!!!!!

With all the gum flapping about the success of the “surge”, has anyone giving consideration to the fact that the insurgents may be smart enough to back off, so the American troops will leave. Once the troops leave (whenever) the country is theirs.

Jack

For Mcsame to go negative is only a clue to what he has to offer us. But then again Mcsame spokeperson said Mcsame doesn’t speak for Mcsame. But he approves the adds.

The attack ads in themselves won’t translate into a win for McCain but the news medias penchant for playing them over and over again might get the job done.

The only way to balance this out would be if the news medias gave McCain’s blunders and silly remarks the same amount of air time although this would take up most of the time allotted the Situation Room almost every day.

About all McCain will acomplish with the celeb ad, is make a lot of teenage girls mad.

Ray Kinserlow
Lubbock, Texas

He will do anything he can to get into the white house and keep it away from Obama. If we are stupid enough to put this man into the highest office we are doomed. He been in washington for too many years to fix the problem because he sees it all as normal and its not. Obama’s going to shake things up.

Taking the high road? Having a clean race? “Straight Talk”? People can’t seriously believe these thing’s the McCain campaign want to make themselves out to be.

Wait, what am I thinking. These are the same people that fell for it twice before. I hope some of us have learned not to underestimate Americans’ gullibility, expectantly towards the GOPhers.

What choice does John McBush have every time he gets his hand in the door someone always smashes his fingers.Obama though in a close race is the one who does the smashing.Go Obama!!!

It didn’t help Clinton.

No Jack,
McCain’s just has a case of Obama envy!

Jack, I am a Republican that supported McCain in 2000. I have lost all faith in the “Maverick” and now see him as a Bush clone. These latest attacks make me even more sure that my support of Obama is the correct choice. The fact that McCain hired a Carl Rove clone and is now using the Carl Rove playbook, that destroyed his candidacy in 2000, shows the hypocrasy of everything he has said up until now.

Nope, being desperate is not attractive in any spheres of life. At least the masks are falling now, and the “McCain = Bush” equation is emerging. Let him also select Romney for VP, just to deter any reasonable independents that might still think that McCain is a “happy warrior”. He’s lately sadly become a “Grumpy Old Man” rather (pun intended).

Probably not but look at all the media attention it has gotten him for free. Your network is not only talking about it on your show but about 3 times per hour on the CNN news and every other news outlet including talk shows.
I would say he played his cards exactly right. Maybe next time a politician says something to provoke a prescribed response you guys won’t fall for it.

Jack,
He is old. He just wants to beat Obama to the punch. After all the mud slinging that he and Hillary did; you don’t really think that Obama has turned over a new leaf ? He is just waiting for the most opportune timing. McCain moves slower and can’t react as well as his younger and more nimble opponent.

No it will not. If McCain didn’t not learned from the Hillary-Obama primaries about negative campaigning, then he is lost….his campaign is inept and in enough problems. Continuing with negative campaigning is just going to add more insult to injury. Americans dispisue candidates with “acid tongues.”

No, McCain should be ashamed of himself and the Republicans for going down this road. What McCain and his campaign did with the ad was an insult to the people of Germany. This proves that McCain belongs in the retirement home in Arizona and not in the White House. Obama in 08.

Jack, what else does McCain really have? He complained about Obama not going to Iraq and when he did, McCain slams him for it. McCain has nothing more to offer than more of the same in energy policy, economic policy, Iraq, and fear mongering, so instead of a candid discussion, we get negativity.

Jack, being the Republican Candidate, he may feel getting dirty is his only hand to play; I am sure we will hear negativity from the Democrats as well. The irony is most of the negativity against Obama is due to who he is and his own actions. I can’t wait for November.

Jack,

His campaign has turned into the Low-Rent-Express. And now today he and Liberman and Grahmm are proud of this? And McCain accuses Obama of playing the race card. Please……

The Republican’s can not possibly think that this is going to work this year? Or do they? If they do, they are even stupider than I though.

Not this time. It want work THIS TIME! We were fooled once by the GOP negative attacks and we want be FOOLED again. It was the Carl Rove brand of attacks that got us into this mess and we have learned from our mistakes. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

For me going negative is a turnoff. It saddens me that there are millions of Americans who buy into these lies and inuendos. The change the Dems are talking about is not so new. Remember a time when there was a more respectful balance between laborer and corporations? Remember the respect and helpful hand we give to people having hard times in the 50s, 60s and 70s? — under both conservative and liberal administrations. McCain’s negative ads are a smoke screen (a stupid one at that) appealing to the fears of an abused and powerless electorate. Most who buy into the negative ads could use some respect and an occasional helping hand. Why do they keep screwing themselves by voting for the powerful who will say anything to get their votes and then, at best forget them, and worst, even abuse them? I just don’t get it!

Screaming Out Loud Nicole

C’mon Jack, not the Double-Talk…I mean Straight-Talk Express?

Jack,

Unless he is talking about Obama, his supporters are not listening. He’s jealous and feeling left out. Obama is the most exciting topic going for him right now. Just watch him the next time he’s starts talking about Obama, how excited he becomes; therefore, this going negative will definitely not hurt him.

Dear Jack,

John McCain going negative is going to completely backfire on him. Did you see that attack ad on Barack Obama…the one with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? Those two chicks are SO HOT! Now that every Valley Girl and red-blooded male with hormones a blazing has seen that ad, expect the entire MTV Nation to flock to the polls en-masse to vote for Obama. Barack by a landslide!

I sincerely hope there is NO winning strategy for John McCain. The Republicans have done enough damage to America. It’s time for a change in Washington. His flip-flop on negative campaigning is repgunant and I total reject it.

The sad reality of McCain’s negative ads is that the dreaded polls are showing that they are making an impact. That is the only way you can fully define why the polls are so close right now when the GOP name isn’t worth the paper it is written on. The casual observer is taking some of their lead from this nonsense and it really won’t change until we get closer to the elections and the debates start. At that point, it will be lights out for McCain!!!

What took him so long?

You can’t fully judge the negativity of the McCain campaign until someone on his team explains the difference between the words “arrogant” and “uppity”.

There is no winning strategy for John McCain. The race issue, whether we choose to admit it or not, will keep the election closer than it should be. Other than that, he has nothing to offer but yesterday’s ideas.

Simply put no. Obama has withstood the negative attacks by Hillary, the media and soon as time will tell by McCain’s campaign. He has taken the higher road each and every time.

It sadly shows he has nothing else to discuss or persuade the masses with other than saying what his opponent lacks, what his opponent is inexperienced with. If I were a republican I’d rather hear about what his specific plans were for the recovery of America.

But this is a political tactic used for many years in many campaigns by many people and these campaign managers have not learned from past campaigns what damages a campaign the most. It’s refreshing to see Obama defend himself without resorting to the same tactics.

McCain, his campain managers and the rest of the republican party will see the effect of those ads come November when we’re swearing in our first Black President.

Jack,

It is not only disgraceful but also disappointing that the man I thought was different from every Republican has allowed himself to pull down to this level - What a shame. To worsen the case Sen. McCain was asked today about the ad, gues what his response was - “I am proud of the ad we have run but, I think American people deserve to know what we can do to help them and keep the country safe” Shame, shame.

Nelson, Knoxville, Tenn.

I am not a McCain supporter, however I admire and respect him. Actually I used to admire and respect him. Not anymore. I am saddened that a man of his character and integrity has lowered himself. It is hameful.

Clinton, went Negative and she lost. If McCain goes negative, he will lose. I do not listen to negative ads. I guess I will only hear Obama’s hopful ads, that would be nice.

It didn’t help Hillary win the primary, why should it help McCain…especially since his attempts appear childish and awkward.

Everything points to an Obama victory by at least 10 points…and all the media can do is point out that Obama is not ahead in the polls by more? Above all, the need for ratings seem to rule this campaign.

Actually, the picture of Obama speaking to the huge crowd in Germany ought to help Obama. People are going to wonder what he’s about if he can draw that many people. so maybe Obama ought to call him and thank him.

McCain is campaigning so negatively that I imagine its turning off a whole lot of people. He goes on and on about Obama like my Dad used to lecture on and on about the evils of sex when I was a teenager. Did it work? No, it didn’t.

Surprisingly, going negative will help McCain. it shows that he is technology savvy. Image all the time he spent on tmz and youtube trying to figure out who Britney Spears and Paris Hilton are.

Could we all be missing something here. John McCain’s every move recently has been to prove Barack Obama correct in almost everything. Without wishing to appear frightened of another Republican having to take over the disastrous administration of George W Bush, maybe the GOP really wants a Democrat to win the election - to teach them a lesson, to avoid more embarrassment for the Right and because they don’t know the remedies for the past eight years’ mistakes. Making inane attacks on one’s opponent could be a ‘clever’ smokescreen for appearing to want more Republican years while not really caring if one wins or loses.

Your blog is smart, Jack. No it won’t assist McCain. It puts him into the same category as the current President with the “old, power-abuse club”. McCain is ruining his positive image (that includes “Straight Talk Express”). No, doubt about McCain has already been evoked within the “undecided”. They have figured it out that he ain’t talkin’ straight. I think McCain has made a mistake by not telling the whole truth and pretending to know what young people are about. Obama’s got a much cleaner slate.

Going negative will help McCain if Senator Obama does not defend himself. He has to respond to these lies.

No not at all Jack but when McCain see Obama he sees what he want to be and when he see Bush he sees himself that must be a sad thing.

Going negative won’t help McCain! This latest attack makes him look jealous, desperate and non too bright. He is, after all, the one who taunted Obama into the European trip! Why remind everyone of the unprecedented feat of bringing out tens of thousands of Germans waving American flags? Don’t they usually stomp or burn our flag? At any rate, he is starting to remind me of Shrek. Green, grumpy and he stopped being funny about two commericals ago!

Jack,

For a person like myself who never knew anything about politics, couldn’t tell you the difference between a Democrat and Republican, and a person who registered for the first time in his life. After all the profusely negativity and adolescent tactics I now see the Republicans as weak whining children that’s completely out of touch. And I personally don’t want a president who complains, whines and can’t remember a conversation he had 10 minutes ago.

Sen. McCain needs to just go away. We are living in the 21st century, not the 19th. With all the challenges our country faces, fresh leadership and new ideas are paramount, not the same old Republican blah blah blah we have heard for years! We suffered with our mistake for the past 8 years, it is now time to have change we can believe in!!!

Negative campaigning never works with me. I’ll vote for the other guy in a heartbeat.

One can only hope that taking the low road will not get him there. I will be honest, I never had any intention of voting for McCain, but I did respect him. Unfortunately, cannot even say that anymore. His entire campaign so far has been downright sickening.

yes he is that close in th pols. He may not be running for Bush 3rd term but certainly bush 3rd term campaign.

Sen. McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” has turned into the “Flat-out Falsehoods, Flip-Flops and Faux Pas Flatcar.” I certainly hope it doesn’t help him. He continues to sink to new lows in his pursuit of the White House.

Carol
Lompoc, CA

McCain sounds like a grumpy old man. If he was the obvious choice in this election, he would not be going negative this early in the campaign. He is throwing the Hail Mary at the end of the second quarter. American voters can see this…

Jack, if we are stupid to fall for that kind of slander and not look at what Obama stands fore and vote for Mr. Tabloid-McCain then we deserve what we get with Bush 3rd!!! Just the though of having another Bush in the White House makes nauseated!!!

McCain has shown that he has no honor and is a disgrace to all of us veterans. To join up with the swift-boaters and trying to compare Obama to Paris and Britney is beyond disgusting and the lowest of the low. Paris and Britney should sue McCain.

Mccain’s mind is totally absorbed in trying to negatively comment on Obama. It won’t help, unless there is enough knuckle- heads in America who likes this kind of stuff Mccain pulls off. But otherwise there is no way he will win this election!

Yes. Specially with the race card.

Danny - Edmonton - Canada

Going negative is not John McCain’s style, but it certainly is Rick Davis”s style..Negative people rarely win, except when it comes to politics…

It has to help him Jack. It takes his mind off of those aches and pain of old age that he feels everyday now.

He is doing very well in the poll that cant be measured.Iin fact, it is a land slide. People cant see McCain as the future of this country.

Going negative against Obama does not help anybody, much less McCain. McCain needs to find a different strategy, if he plans to take the election.

If people are gullible and don’t look further for the truth, yes they will hurt him. That is how you got your last president. Your last paragraph about McCain’s flip on oil drilling is exellent and I wish the media would cover this as much as the McCain attack ads.

This man has always seemed angry since the beginning of the campaign. Just miserable. Mr. McCain just act your age, please! I one point I thought I could actually vote for him, now that thought is gone. Very unprofessional. Would you like to hang out with my 4 year old?

No… but going negative take America off the real issues …. as Obama camp have to respond sharply without hesitation… taken the high road will not work we learn that almost four years ago.. if he wants to go there I think supporters of Obama must go negative too…. as I do not think Obama will tread in the mud with McCain …. sorry folks I need to hear what they are going to do about America crisis and not McSame crying gee big boys do not cry and old man should know that…

If you need attack your opponent on his popularity and his strong will, then your campaign is in bigger trouble than we thought.

L.A.

Jack - In the long-term, going negative will not help McCain…it will come back to haunt him back ten-fold. He comes across and old and angry and envious of Obama’s huge appeal. McCain is becoming desperate and will do anything to keep his name in the news. He seems to have only two issues to talk about….how incapable Obama is and how the surge is working.
Give me a break….let’s hear something else for a change.

NO,McCain’s recent attacks are a complete turn off. As an independent who has lived in Arizona for many years, I and many others have seen a huge change in John McCain. Our recent governor stated on NPR radio that McCain has jumped off the straight talk express, and maybe he should get back on. I was undecided for a long time, even though I usually vote Republican, but after watching this bull for too long, I am voting for Obama. At least he talks about his plans while McCain spends 99% of his time talking negatively about Obama. He comes across like a jealous and childish moron.

Yeah, looking like a corpse and moving like a zombie is one thing, but looking like a GROUCHY zombie corpse is another.

As a former admirer of McCain and an independent who once supported him as a maverick, he now reminds me of the movie, “Grumpy Old Men”….only not as lovable as Walter.

Jack,

It will help alittle but McCain doesn’t really have to go negitive everytime Obama opens his mouth he either flip flops or talks out of boths sides of his mouth, Obama is killing himself not McCain

The only thing that will help McCain is good news on the economy! Anything else he says is counter productive for him! Look at what happened with the inclusion of Spears and Hilton to Obama. These young women actually said something profound countering what McCain wanted to convey. Blonds may actually have a brain!

Not only is is hurting him, it’s hurting us becasue we have to listen to it, not to mention that he is not very good at it. John McCain gave his word that he would not run that kind of campaign. Why is he not havin to explain these fact? Not only does it prove his words mean nothing, this act stinks of childish desperation.

Jack,

The entire world got to sympathize and feel sorry for McShame because he is just another “fuddle, fuddy-duddy” person.

God help America and the rest of the world if he gets elected.

From: Toronto, Canada

Jack,
Mc Cain is only showing his true colors. What he was in 2000 is a far cry of what he is and stands for today. He just seems like a grouchy, frustrated old man seeking attention in any way he can get it.. It seems as if Mc Cain is so green with envy of Obama that it has caused McCain to literally lose his mind. If McCain could draw a crowd any where like Obama has done or give a speech that would not bore you to death or put you to sleep we would not be seeing these dreadful negative ads. Simply put McCain has Obama envy and it’s killing him. McCain wishes that he could be more like Obama and that isn’t going to happen he just wants to try to tear him down with lies, distortions and fear tactics. It’s just more of what we had with George Bush.

Lyra
Reading, Pennsylvania

jack, what else can he do ? mcsurge has played out. mcdrill has played
out. mcrockstar is playing out. mcshame should go to mcdonalds, order
a egg mcmuffin, go retire in his mchome, and enjoy the rest of his mclife.

go obama

At this point, there is nothing can help McCain to change the course. Just looking at his speech in today’s Town Hall Meeting, he gave a simple speech without much differences then what he has been talking in the last 6 months, and yet he needed to look at the script. What does that tell you? Something called Al….D…

Unless GOP has a replacement for John McCain before the Convention, Obama is the winner and I am voting for him.

I think the negetivity is a reflection of the the 43% of voters who side with McCain and the 18% that are ‘undecided’.The world is ready for change ,Americans hardly seem to be.

YES. It will help him lose which is what we need to have happen to the Republican party.

McCain is desperate. Various Polls showed that he’s trailing. Publicity by Obama in his Mid-East/Euro trip boosted his morale quite a bit. But we all know media is playing a majority of trick. McCain needs to post his first ever YouTube video himself, oh wait he needs to register for his own account too.

Have a great night, Jack.
AlanP.

McCain’s campaign is starting to look like a junior high girls gossip-fest. Jealousy is never an attractive trait but John says he’s proud of this ad. This after misleading ads on Obama’s policies and trip to Iraq and Europe. I smell desperation and defeat here.

A vote for John McCain is a vote for the insane.
Sounds like the Swift Boaters