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February 26, 2008
"Lemme not put it that stark"
McCain's Straight Talk Goes Off Message
Asked what will happen if he can't convince the American public that the war in Iraq is succeeding, he said "Then I lose."It took just six seconds on the back of his Straight Talk Express for McCain to realize that he might not want to say that quite so directly to a half-dozen reporters for national news organizations.
"Lemme not put it that stark," he said, prompting laughter from the reporters. "Lemme just put it this way: Americans will judge my candidacy on how, first and foremost, on how they believe I can lead the country both from our economy and for national security."
That was clearly much more "on message" and seemed to please chief aide Mark Salter, who was perched on the side of a couch, listening.
But McCain -- as is his tendency -- just kept talking.
"Okay. Obviously, Iraq will play a role in their judgment of my ability to handle national security. Okay. I retract -- if I may, I'd like to retract, 'I'll lose,'" McCain continued. "But I don't think there's any doubt that how they judge Iraq will have a direct relation to their judgment of me. My support of the surge. Clearly, I am tied to it to a large degree."
Posted by Mike at 12:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
February 19, 2008
Plagiarize This
We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. And they will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come.
We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.
It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.
Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.
And so, tomorrow, as we take the campaign south and west, as we learn that the struggles of the textile workers in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas, that the hopes of the little girl who goes to the crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of L.A., we will remember that there is something happening in America, that we are not as divided as our politics suggest, that we are one people, we are one nation.
And, together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story, with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: Yes, we can.
Posted by Mike at 05:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)