The DNC unveils a new feature, the “McCain vs. McCain debates,” featuring some strikingly abbreviated and clipped quotes from the Republican candidate. That noted voice of the vast right-wing conspiracy, CBS News, finds it wanting, declaring it “provides little-to-no context.” The RNC shoots back with a fact sheet.
The really revealing thing about this is the DNC’s belief that they’ll knock down McCain’s currently surging poll numbers by charging that he’s flip-flopper.
Is McCain a flip-flopper? Well, if he says, “I voted for it before I voted against it” or something in that vein, the charge may gain traction. But the label doesn’t fit with what the public already knows about him. Do you know many indecisive mavericks? (Right now disgruntled conservatives are grumbling, “No, he was always very resolute when he shot us in the back.”)
Patrick Hynes, a strategist on McCain’s campaign, is incredulous. “We dealt with nine months of a media narrative of ‘McCain’s campaign hit bottom and nearly died because of his stubborn, unchanging, intractable support of the Iraq War,’ and now the DNC is trying to sell the narrative that he’s the exact opposite… Looks like the DNC put as much thought into this website as they did their primary calendar.”