Obtuse Talk from John McCain, My Friends

No doubt, according to the polls, John McCain will wrap up the GOP nomination for president by late tonight. The 'straight talker' will then be on the road to sell himself to the American public. His greatest challenge will be himself: who will buy his moronic ideas.

Two weeks ago he promised the group gathered to hear him that 'there will be wars and more wars.' I'm sure that will resonate well with the electorate who wonders when the Bush War will end.

Yesterday, pandering to the very base of the GOP, he patted [symbolically] George Bush on the back and said, "You have to give George Bush credit: there have been no more attacks on America."

Now I'm not a politician, but it seems to me one need not be too clever to take that statement and throw it back in the face of McCain. Should he use it again in a debate with Democratic nominee, that person might say, "The other 42 presidents in the 224 years that they were in office kept us safe, but George Bush didn't." Is that too simple? I'm sure a word-meister could fine tune that message.

Of course, Senator McCain will tout his military experience against the Democrat, neither of whom have a service record. Yet, his continuing support and cheer leading of the Bush War might easily be spun into a negative.

Further, as the 'next' attack on America will no doubt be from a small terrorist cell, his 'grand army' scenario is clearly out of touch with reality. "Keeping us safe here by fighting 'them' in Iraq" is dopey at best.

Clearly, his 1960's military thinking is hardly an asset to him in this November's election. If he hopes to have any chance of keeping the White House in Republican hands, he needs to find a new message, one that will not be laughed at by the citizens who have been watching the Bush tragedy unfold for 7 long years.