David Brooks: "Lipstick stuff" was "stupidity on stilts"
By: Lowell
Published On: 9/13/2008 9:11:56 AM
On last night's PBS NewsHour (pet peeve note: it's NOT Macneil/Lehrer and hasn't been for about 13 years now), David Brooks (Republican) and Mark Shields (Democrat) each eviscerated the McCain campaign for its lies and idiocy. First, Mark Shields on John McCain's ad claiming that Barack Obama (supposedly) wants to teach kindergartners about SEX (actually, he wants to teach them how to protect themselves against adults sexual predators, but whatever):
The kindergarten ad is outrageous. That is warmed-over -- that is a left over from Alan Keyes' campaign in 2004... which was embarrassing at the time.
It is a charge that Obama voted for, which he did, a bill in the Illinois state legislature that would -- for age-appropriate sex education for youngsters taught to be -- to warn them about adult sexual predators, and what they could do to avoid and to discourage and to resist those...
Now, here's Shields on the "lipstick on a pig" idiocy:
... it was a total -- just made up by the whole cloth that he -- because he used an expression which John McCain had used, that everybody has used at different times, apparently trying to be folksy -- you got a folksy audience, you want to be folksy -- you know, that that was somehow a slam or a slur on Sarah Palin.
In sum, according to Marc Shields, the McCain campaign has been "dishonest and dishonorable," certainly "not the kind of campaign that one expected from John McCain" (actually, as soon as the Rove people signed on, it was pretty obvious it would be this way).
Now, here's David Brooks on the "sex ed" and "lipstick" ads:
... the McCain campaign has been more egregious than the Obama campaign.
...I would not have run the sex-ed ad. The lipstick stuff was just stupidity on stilts.
In the end, by the way, both Shields and Brooks agree: Obama is still favored to win the election, no matter how many lies McCain spews or how dishonorable (and dishonest) he's willing to be.
Comments
Oh, now that hurts. (Pain - 9/13/2008 9:14:37 AM)
(pet peeve note: it's NOT Macneil/Lehrer and hasn't been for about 13 years now)
I may be old, but I'm still on your team. ;)
Ha, Robert MacNeil was great (Lowell - 9/13/2008 9:18:12 AM)
but he hasn't been on the show since 1995. It's amazing that people still refer to the NewsHour as "MacNeil-Lehrer." What next, the CBS News with Walter Cronkite (or Dan Rather? or "This Week with David Brinkley?") makes its return? :)
Lehrer is still there (Pain - 9/13/2008 7:08:47 PM)
I think you're being rather harsh. I'm hurt.
Pro-predator John McCain (Josh - 9/13/2008 9:53:34 AM)
He's the worst senator in Washington on children's issues, and now he wants to help child sexual predators.
He shouldn't be elected, he should be arrested.
and it's not just child sex predators (Josh - 9/13/2008 2:59:10 PM)
it's also predatory lenders. His campaign staff were the leading lobbyists protecting Fannie/Freddie from oversight.
Slime and Mud work. (thegools - 9/13/2008 3:29:04 PM)
Look att he polls. The one hope I have is that people (those swayable voters) will wise up to the source of this crap and these lies, John McCain.
The polls are beginning to show. (Pain - 9/13/2008 3:36:34 PM)
They are beginning to show McCains bounce has ended. I also heard some talking heads saying that by all indications from the 'internals', the tide is turning and are trending back to Obamas favor. Thats yet to be seen in the numbers, but we'll know in a few days.
I hope you are right. (thegools - 9/13/2008 10:42:39 PM)
That would be a long bounce.
I heard and watched .... (ub40fan - 9/13/2008 10:30:44 PM)
the Jim Lehrer - Shields & Brooks exchange .... and while all of the above McCain bashing is deserved please remember that the Obama campaign is "stupid" according to Marc Shields for running an ad about McCain's Computer skills / challenge.
You want to win votes from rural Mom & Pops that don't follow Drudge .... don't attack McCain on computer illiteracy .... because it is just plumb STUPID.
Possibly, but Obama targets his audiences well. (Pain - 9/14/2008 8:18:41 AM)
I'm curious if that particular ad is running in rural areas. It can be effective in NoVA, and possibly not so much in rural PA, but it may not be running there.
Agreed. (Lowell - 9/14/2008 8:21:17 AM)
That ad was dumb and I hope they didn't show it anywhere.