BLUNDER
Posted at 8:15 a.m. ET
The new Obama ad ridiculing John McCain because McCain doesn't use e-mail is turning out to be more of a blunder than we'd originally thought. At first it seemed just a bit snotty. Now it seems to be a personal, and ugly insult. Jonah Goldberg at NRO explains:
Yep. The day after 9/11, as part of its "get tough" makeover, the Obama campaign is mocking John McCain for not using a computer, without caring why he doesn't use a computer. From the AP story about the computer illiterate ad:
"Our economy wouldn't survive without the Internet, and cyber-security continues to represent one our most serious national security threats," [Obama spokesman Dan] Pfeiffer said. "It's extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn't know how to send an e-mail."
Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by "extraordinary." The reason he doesn't send email is that he can't use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country. From the Boston Globe (March 4, 2000):
McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He's an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can't raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.
Obama serves with John McCain in the U.S. Senate. Didn't he ever know that? What precisely does Obama do in the Senate? Does he ever observe anything, except himself in a mirror?
The McCain people should exploit this. No shame in doing it. Make Obama look like an insensitive dilettante. Why not tell the truth?
Obama is now engaging in what he openly admits is a rougher campaign. The idea is to throw him off, portray him as a blunderer, an ordinary politician, and not the messianic figure sold to us earlier.
September 13, 2008.
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