Frankenstein
If he and his campaign hadn't brought it upon themselves, this would be pretty admirable:
After days of watching in silence, McCain calms the crowd at his Minnesota town meeting.“I want everyone to be respectful. And let’s make sure we are, because that’s the way politics is done in America.”
Tells one supporter who says he’s scared of an Obama presidency: “I have to tell you, he is a decent person, a person that you do not have to be scared [of] as president of the United States.”
After a woman calls Obama “an Arab,” McCain interrupts to say: “No, ma’am. He is a decent family man, citizen.”
Of course, implied in his response is the idea that there are no Arab citizens or family men in America. But John McCain is still a Republican, so this is hardly a surprise.
And, of course, his efforts to calm the mob was loudly booed.
UPDATE: The Halperin post above now reads:
After a woman calls Obama “an Arab terrorist” McCain interrupts to say: “No, ma’am. He is a decent family man with whom I happen to have some disagreements.”
Note the addition of the word "terrorist" and the omission of the word "citizen". Clearly at odds with what actually transpired.
Somebody ought to ask Time or Mark Halperin why they changed it.
Comments
It was somewhat predictable that McCain's nerve would fail.
That is what the NRO types mean when they say he is not a "real conservative".
Seriously, when a Party has spent a couple of generations telling people behind its hand that if they only just vote it *enough* power, then it will place them above the law, you can't walk them back. That card, once played, cannot be taken off the table. All you can do is escalate.
That is the corner (or Corner) that the Republican Party has painted itself into and why there is no incremental way for it to morph into an organization that respects the rule of law.
I think he is quoting Ana Marie Cox, who blogged from the rally.
The day before John F. Kennedy's visit to Dallas on November 22, 1963, "Wanted for Treason" posters, featuring a picture of Kennedy, were circulated on Dallas streets.
McCain may have some inkling of the forces he could be unleashing here. Palin is too ignorant to have any idea. She just loves the adulation.
The Halperin post no longer misquotes the woman from the audience; that post now has her quoted as saying "an Arab" and not "an Arab terrorist."
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