the “dean scream” is back
by David Clark
Published: February 28, 2008
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the Republicans were trying to lose this election. Is it possible that the Grand Old Party has already thrown in the towel in its quest for the presidency? If not, then how do you explain the neo-con’s nomination of a candidate who favors a liberal-like opposition to tax cuts, amnesty for illegal aliens and self-imposed, economically damaging environmental restrictions on American corporations? It doesn’t make sense, but that’s what is promised by current Republican frontrunner John McCain - that and a loss in November.
McCain, having already alienated the conservative base, has moved beyond attempting to appease Republicans and is setting his sights on the all-important Independent vote. However, his inattention to the short list of things not to say on the campaign trail may render irrelevant his ability to sway the undecided. Senator McCain’s most recent assertion of, “I’ll lose [the general election],” combined with his now infamous, shudder-inducing declaration, “Make it 100!” and the promise that jobs lost overseas can never be regained, must leave conservative-leaning voters wondering if McCain’s presidential campaign is for real or an episode of Candid Camera. Personally, I believe the only thing left undone by the McCain camp is the release of a YouTube video wherein their candidate cheers the rise of oil futures into triple digits.
If you don’t already know, the McCain “one hundred” blunder, which some critics compare to the Dean Scream, was McCain’s response to a question regarding how many years we ought to remain in Iraq. Prior to New Hampshire’s primary in early January, a concerned audience member at an open forum lobbed what was seemingly a softball question to McCain. Instead of hitting it out of the park, he did nothing to reassure the crowd that he would even attempt to bring an end to the war. Instead he doubled the amount of time that President Bush has proposed troops might remain in Iraq. I’m no campaign manager, but it’s probably not wise to advocate staying in Iraq for a number of years that is more than triple Bush’s approval rating.
The senator’s reasoning? “It’s fine by me, as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed and wounded or killed.” Either McCain has stopped recognizing soldiers as “Americans,” or he is even more delusional about the consequences of war than Mike Huckabee is about the feasibility of doming-in a gigantic igloo capitol building.
Upon hearing this, the New Hampshire crowd fell silent, disbelieving eyes grew wide and jaws dropped to floor. Senator McCain, though, who has been the strongest proponent of America’s imperialistic foreign policy, stood his ground and remained there - up until now.
As John McCain all but secures the Republican nomination, his rhetoric has softened, but not before he made a potential second blunder on the issue of Iraq. While assessing the importance that this war will have in influencing voters come November, McCain said that if he can’t convince Americans that we are winning the war, “… then I lose. I lose.” Perhaps he is not aware of what cost Republicans the election in 2006 (Iraq), but after eyebrows were raised over this remark he decided to recant his statement, saying, “If I may, I’d like to retract ‘I’ll lose.’”
He can retract the statement, but he cannot ignore the fact that the majority of Americans are heading into this election year wanting to end the war. McCain, who in another previous statement guaranteed voters fewer jobs and more wars, has finally decided that this might not be the most popular message. He recently offered this backwards message of hope saying, “The war will be over soon, the war for all intents and purposes, although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years.” How’s that for inspiring?
The Republicans may have found their guy, but they’ve lost the election.
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