McCain and Terror Attacks

We're going to start out with an acknowledgement that this is a distasteful subject.

Charlie Black's comments to Fortune magazine about the McCain campaign being favored by a terrorist attack in America have stirred some talk. Frank Rich in the NYT isn't so sure. I share some of his thinking. There is one issue that the BushCo have created as a definition of themselves and this is it. They banged it hard in '02, '04, and '06. It played for them in the first two elections, '06 showed real signs that it was getting pretty tired. This time out it looks as though people are more worried about their wallets than much of the rest of issues. There is also the part of this terror card that won't go away by playing it, people are burned out and see themselves as having been burned.

Rudy tried terror as his identity in the Primary, it wasn't near enough to counteract his non-base views, tack to the right as he might. John McCain is thumping of the drum of victory and war hero, his attraction at this time doesn't seem to be gaining ground. He is linked by more than the (R) to the BushCo gang and as he tries to run away from it and keeps getting yanked back by his reality seems to be stuck with it. He can make some 2000 type cases but his clone status since will keep him firmly in that camp and as Democrats make more of it he should begin to suffer from Bush III.

Americans have watched, some closely, most distantly, as BushCo has made the case over and again for its behaviors on keeping us safe. Many Americans are at least somewhat aware that Constitutional questions have arisen from their zeal. Most Americans know Iraq has been sold as a part of the war on terror and a lot of money has been spent and people killed. Almost all Americans will admit they've been told they are safer today because of the (R) brand.

So, the deal is McCain is linked to those who say we're safer thanks to the war on terror they've waged. If the safer part of the equation gets broken against the back drop of "success" in Iraq and all the domestic actions people are likely to say, "Huh?" Obama has spent quite a bit of verbiage on the idea that we are not safer thanks to BushCo and being the 'I told you so' guy isn't exactly disqualifying. John McCain has kept saying I know how to keep you safe, implicitly crediting GWB for it. Two names on the ballot and a disaster fresh in the mind...

If Charlie Black hadn't stated this pretty baldly others have been and would have. It is the kind of thing you talk about with the hope it is never more than talk, leaving one feeling slightly dirty. Fear mongering is not dead, far from it. It will be used in this context and others. It is the final refuge of those with little in the way of reason to bring to the table.