I have been really frustrated by the failure of the McCain campaign to effectively tell the history of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown to voters. With the Bush administration and McCain warning for years of the problem and warning of catastrophic consequences of continuing on the reckless path we were on, and Democrats fighting them every step of the way, this is the issue that should have led McCain to an easy victory, rather than the issue that has so far caused him to sink in the polls from a small lead just prior to the meltdown to now being 4.9 points down in the most recent Real Clear Politics national average.
In my opinion, if McCain does lose it will be because of the way he chose to be Mr. Bipartisan the week the market tanked, rather than to explain to voters what had just happened and why. McCain let Barack Obama get away with blaming the mess on Bush policies and to claim he is the one who warned of the coming disaster, even though his “warning” came well after the problem was evident to all and his “warning” consisted of (as one Obama supporter who reads Wizbang even put it) “urgently writing letters.” McCain is the candidate who sponsored legislation three years ago to address the problems and Democrats in congress are the ones who killed it. That is a pretty darn simple thing to explain and not only is there written evidence that is what took place, there is embarrassing video of the likes of Barney Frank and other prominent Dems on record poo-pooing Republicans for even suggesting there was any problem with Fannie/Freddie and advocating making even more loans to people who could not afford them.
For those who disagree or question that presenting this information to voters would make a difference, talk to some of the people you know who vote, but who don’t follow politics like most political blog readers. Ask them if they are aware that McCain sponsored legislation three years ago that might have prevented the meltdown, but that Dems in Congress killed it. I have asked about a half dozen people I know who fall into this category and not one of them knew it, and all seemed shocked that McCain had not made that the centerpiece of his campaign.
The numbers are not good for McCain, but just about the time I think the race is too far gone, I see something that makes me think there is still hope. That came this weekend when I looked at the latest national polls to see that they are continuing to move McCain’s direction. (As I noted above, the RealClearPolitics national average is now showing a 4.9 Obama lead. Earlier this weekend it showed a 6.9 Obama lead.) Polls in a few battleground states are starting to follow suit, although Obama still holds a sizable lead in several states McCain has to have for a win.
McCain supporters should continue to get the word out to voters they know about the facts the media absolutely refuses to tell — such as facts about the origins of the Fannie/Freddie failure and the sub-prime loan mess. While those in the mainstream media ignore facts like those and facts about Obama’s backdoor talks to Iraqi officials that could have delayed our troops from withdrawing from that country, or facts about the way he got his sweetheart home deal with the help of Tony Rezko, we have to do whatever we can to inform voters.
Journalism in this country is truly dead in the mainstream media. When reporters from the New York Times are trolling Facebook trying to talk 16-year-old girls into dishing dirt on Cindy McCain, while at the same time refusing to report on substantive matters that would reflect negatively on their guy, Obama, you know there are serious problems. When the mainstream media plants a satellite truck in front of a citizen’s house and digs through his personal records more fervently than they do those of the candidate for President of the United States just because he had the nerve to ask a question of the candidate who came to his neighborhood looking for votes, you know there is something seriously wrong with the media today. When they send dozens of reporters digging through trash in Alaska, but won’t seriously investigate Barack Obama’s ties to Ayers, Rezko, Jim Johnson, ACORN, etc., you know there is a problem. When the Democrat Vice Presidential candidate from a recent election endorsing the Republican nominee gets a yawn, but the anticipated endorsement of RINO Colin Powell gets a huge build up, you can easily see where the media’s affections lie.
It may be too late to make the case now, although ads like the one below are something I think could still be effective, but I think the case needs to be made. I wish John McCain would do it himself, but if he won’t I guess it is up to us. Try the experiment I mentioned above. Ask your friends if they are aware of some of the information the media is hiding from them. Ask them to share the information with their friends. Two weeks is an eternity in politics, even when you are significantly behind. By the time election day rolls around, if polls continue to narrow, McCain might just be close enough to pull it out.
In addition to the efforts of Republicans in Congress when Bill Clinton was President, there were over a dozen attempts of President Bush and Republicans in Congress to do something, but they were thwarted by congressional Democrats. If the media were doing their jobs, the voters would know this, but since they cannot be bothered to give voters the facts on the big issue in this election, we will have to do it, as best we can. Ace has been yelling this at the top of his lungs — the rest of us who think voters should have the fact should follow suit.
Here is an ad that Ace posted. If ads like this got more airtime it would not only help McCain, but would help GOP congressional candidates.
Update: I know I could list thousands of examples of media bias from the past week alone, but this one jumped out at me in an article about Joe Wurzelbacher’s appearance on Huckabee. From the Toledo Blade: “In the days since the debate, it became known Mr. Wurzelbacher is not a licensed plumber, is not buying a business that makes enough to be taxed more under Mr. Obama’s tax proposals, and has some tax liens against him.
On Friday, the East Valley/Scottsdale Tribune in Arizona reported that Mr. Wurzelbacher’s Arizona driver’s license was suspended in May, 2000, following nonpayment of a court-imposed fine for civil traffic violations. He lived in Arizona from 1997-2000.”
Wurzelbacher never claimed to have any particular license. He said he was a plumber. I guess that working on plumbing doesn’t make you a plumber — just like being allowed to write for a newspaper doesn’t make you a real journalist. Joe said he hoped to buy a business and to one day make $250,000. He never claimed he made that much now. His point was that once he got to that point his taxes would increase, but evidently the “Blade Staff” reporters didn’t actually listen to what Joe said. As for traffic offenses or unpaid taxes, that kind of stuff has nothing to do with Obama’s comment that he when you “spread the wealth around” it helps everybody.
The American media in a nutshell: Tony Rezko, Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Jim Johnson — move along nothing to see. Congressional Dems destroy the U.S. economy by refusing to heed warnings of coming sub-prime mortgage problems — it’s all Bush’s fault. Barack Obama admits his tax policy is one that would redistribute wealth — Joe the Plumber doesn’t have a license and he has a tax lien against him. Oh, and my favorite, his name isn’t really Joe, it is Samuel Joseph.
Is there really any question? Journalism is dead.
