'JV Squad' left to cover McCain

Posted By Blake Hounshell Wednesday, July 23, 2008 - 11:42 AM Share

The McCain campaign has taken to mocking the press corps left behind to cover the Arizona senator while Barack Obama is overseas, Hotline reports. Here are the luggage tags McCain staffers jokingly put on reporters' bags yesterday:

Chuck Todd and company at MSNBC's First Read comment, "Why does McCain think belittling his own press corps is a good idea?" Good question.

EXPLORE:NORTH AMERICA, DECISION '08, MEDIA

(6)

HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE

TEODORO

11:30 AM ET

July 23, 2008

McCain gives up

I think McCain has given up. Probably because he saw recent poll numbers that every major news org (e.g. http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/9326) are reporting and decided there's no way he can win in November against the Obamaslide. Oh, wait. Those are useless, time-wasting polls of foreign residents and citizens who have ABSOLUTELY no effective impact (except the weight irresponsable journalism gives them in the eyes of the american people) on the election of an American president.

CIGRAINGER

2:06 PM ET

July 23, 2008

Time-wasting? It doesn't

Time-wasting? It doesn't matter what our closest allies think? Interesting.

While many Americans I know are not outward looking at all, I'll tell you that the election of the American President is exceedingly important in the eyes of Europeans (and I should know because I live in both Europe and the US). And to be frank, the election of European heads of state should be just as important in our eyes. Transatlantic relations, no matter how far damaged by the Bush administration, are the most important even in a post-Cold War world. Even moreso in a post-9/11 world.

HIFFY

2:55 PM ET

July 23, 2008

S'called globalisation

and y'all folks won't be on top forevers, now. Might as well get started, as unpalatable as foreigners can be.

TEODORO

3:58 PM ET

July 23, 2008

No, who WE vote for

No, who WE vote for president doesn't depend on what our foreign allies think. The question/issue: Does he have foreign policy experience and expertise? DOES not depend on who "likes us" or thinks is "best for us". It's not an isolationist stance, just a pro-US one. You still acknowledge the right of US citizens to be pro-US, right?

CIGRAINGER

5:52 PM ET

July 23, 2008

Who WE vote for tends not to

Who WE vote for tends not to depend on much. People who have done election research will tell you that in Western 'democratic' countries, elections can be won or lost based on weather. Most Americans are less informed and have less justification for their political stances than you give them credit for.

Regardless, I was not saying his foreign policy experience and expertise depends upon public opinion, as we all know McCain has zero to no foreign policy experience and yet is viewed as an old pro based on being a POW (can someone please tell me how that makes sense?). I was simply saying that yes, foreign opinion does matter in the selection of the next US president because transatlantic relations matter. If we keep disillusioning our allies, they will cease to be our allies. Tell me if wanting to maintain a strong relationship with Europe is 'anti-American'.

This from a guy who is not a fan of NATO or the UN -- I think our relationship needs to be strong, but not entangling as Mr. Washington made clear. Knowing what the people in those countries think is obviously important for this, but no one is making the case for it to be the ONLY factor in the way in which you vote. The polls are no more of a waste of time than any other polls taken at this point in the race, from anywhere in the world. Knowledge is valuable.

Being pro-US means voting for what is best for the country. A continuation of the policies of the past eight years and a continuing alienation of our closest allies is pretty much as anti-American as you can get, regardless of the specious flag-waving.

ABIDER

1:45 PM ET

July 24, 2008

Who knows?

McCain looking so much as JWB2 doesn't have much change among progressive Americans, but it's possible that many will prefer him because of gender and his religious background. [link]http://ConflictingViews.com[/link]

Passport, FP’s flagship blog, brings you news and hidden angles on the biggest stories of the day, as well as insights and under-the-radar gems from around the world.