Charlie Black says that another terror attack would help McCain

[Trueblue]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/23/mccain-adviser-another-attack-on-the-us-would-be-a-big-advantage-for-mccain/

Earlier this year, after former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was tragically assassinated, pundits speculated that the shocking attack may have benefited Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) politically. Now, McCain’s chief strategist, Charlie Black, tells Fortune that the “unfortunate event” of Bhutto’s death “helped us.” Asked if another terrorist attack on U.S. soil would help McCain as well, Black told Fortune that it would be “a big advantage to him“:

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December was an “unfortunate event,” says Black. “But his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who’s ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.” As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. “Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,” says Black.

[Saguaro]

Only if it took out democrats

[wvpeach]

You can look for another staged terror attack soon. That is the only way they can get the cowards in America to back a war with Iran.

[Yellowdogtexan]

mc :cane has backed off of this position. http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/23/mccain-rejects-advisers-claim-that-another-terrorist-attack-would-be-a-big-advantage-for-his-campaign/Earlier today, Fortune released an article on Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in which McCain’s chief strategist, Charlie Black, said that another terrorist attack on U.S. soil “would be a big advantage” for McCain. Asked to respond to Black’s quote during a press conference in Fresno, CA, McCain rejected it: “If he said that, and I do not know the context, I strenuously disagree.”

Update In a statement to TPM, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Black "deeply regrets his comments," adding that they were "inappropriate."

[Yellowdogtexan]

Here is the response from the Obama campaign http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/obama_campaign_mccain_advisers.phpThe Obama campaign is aggressively going after the McCain camp over top adviser Charlie Black's claim that a terror attack on U.S. soil would help McCain politically.

Here's the statement from Obama campaign spokesperson Bill Burton:"Barack Obama welcomes a debate about terrorism with John McCain, who has fully supported the Bush policies that have taken our eye off of al Qaeda, failed to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, and made us less safe. The fact that John McCain's top advisor says that a terrorist attack on American soil would be a 'big advantage' for their political campaign is a complete disgrace, and is exactly the kind of politics that needs to change. Barack Obama will turn the page on these failed policies and this cynical and divisive brand of politics so that we can unite this nation around a common purpose to finish the fight against al Qaeda."Note the line about how Obama "welcomes a debate about terrorism" with McCain. That Obama wants to have a debate about national security is fast becoming an Obama campaign refrain.

Which is good, because as I've noted before, McCain's attacks on Obama as soft on terror are all about persuading people that the McCain campaign is the one on offense. For Obama to keep saying that this is a debate he wants and will win can only be helpful in preventing that meme from developing.

[Matt]

Interesting that his chief strategist would make such a statement.
It's good to have it out in the open because I think many of us have feared that there would be some kind of attack during those last weeks.
Or at least a red alert.

The only red alert that I have is the fear that the pubs will come up with another way to disenfranchise voters.
I hope many of the Dems and Independents vote early before the usually fear, smear and swiftboating techniques hit the airways.

[AYFR]

Everytime I see this thread I think it says Charlie Brown says that another terror attack would help McCain

[Trueblue]

Everytime I see this thread I think it says Charlie Brown says that another terror attack would help McCain

:snicker

[Yellowdogtexan]

Here is a good piece from Countdown. This disclosure fits the classic definition of a gaffe which is someone telling the truth by accident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7lSvYtC00c

[Yellowdogtexan]

The classic definition of a gaffe is when someone tells the truth by accident. It is clear that the mc :cane campaign is using the Rove playbook and is relying on fear. It is amusing that despite mc :cane's protests today, Dana Bash of CNN remembers mc :cane telling her that the assasination in Pakistan would help his campaign and that he was relying on fear to win in New Hampshire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3T6DpPRPMY Charlie Black is a lobbyists and a dumb one who got caught telling the truth. He needs to be fired if mc :cane wants to try pretending that the mc :cane campaign is not based on the politics of fear.

[Wabash]

Interesting that his chief strategist would make such a statement.
It's good to have it out in the open because I think many of us have feared that there would be some kind of attack during those last weeks.
Or at least a red alert.

The only red alert that I have is the fear that the pubs will come up with another way to disenfranchise voters.
I hope many of the Dems and Independents vote early before the usually fear, smear and swiftboating techniques hit the airways.
Better sooner than later! The UN is irrelevant, sanctions from anyone will not work. Look for a strike after the election if Obie wins.
The possibility of a Demo controlled WH and Congress, have many worried and my classes have increased still again...I'll be doing some strategic advertising later in the summer to encourage this.

A weak US will be a Green Light to terrorists worldwide! If Obie wins, it will be a BIG Green light for them!

[toxic]

Better sooner than later! The UN is irrelevant, sanctions from anyone will not work. Look for a strike after the election if Obie wins.
The possibility of a Demo controlled WH and Congress, have many worried and my classes have increased still again...I'll be doing some strategic advertising later in the summer to encourage this.

A weak US will be a Green Light to terrorists worldwide! If Obie wins, it will be a BIG Green light for them!


OMG YES!, then about 100 million terrorists will be over-running every small rural town in America and exploding nuclear weapons in each of them.

Try to get a grip Wabby :)

[Yellowdogtexan]

Here is Senator Kerry's response to Black's gaffe or accidential telling of the truth http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=299610 Senator Kerry today released the following statement: “America should have a real debate about whether the Bush-McCain policies have made us safer, and a choice between more of the same or a fresh start with Senator Obama. But the idea that one of John McCain’s closest advisors would game out the assassination of a world leader and a potential terrorist attack for political gain wreaks of the worst of the Rove-Bush fear playbook. It’s a signal that a McCain presidency risks continuing the say anything, do anything, twist any truth, politicization of national security that’s made us less safe and more divided on George Bush’s watch. The contrast is inescapable. Bogged down by George Bush’s failures, John McCain’s advisors are playing a cynical game to try to win an election while Barack Obama is offering plans and leadership to make America safer and stronger. John McCain must address these comments from his political guru, not wave them away.”

[Yellowdogtexan]

The Young Turks make a good point. If Senator Obama or one of his aides made this statement, then the press and the right wingers would be all over him but it is okay for mc :cane to make these statements. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxLGv4OjXHA

[wvpeach]

Truth always finds it way to the light.

These evil men cannot help it what they have done will be exposed.

[Trueblue]

If Bush liked McCain better, he'd dig up some old intell and declare an orange emergency!

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/politics/03intel.html?ex=1249272000&en=e061516bea792668&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt

[John Gault]

While he did it in a poor way he was stating a fact.

Any time the public thinks we are in danger from foreign powers or terrorists, they turn to and elect republicans.

Democrats are perceived as weak in protecting us against those things. That is just a fact or you guys would not gripe so much about it being pointed out.

[John Gault]

You can look for another staged terror attack soon. That is the only way they can get the cowards in America to back a war with Iran.

Tell me , when was the last staged terrorist attack?

[John Gault]

mc :cane has backed off of this position. http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/23/mccain-rejects-advisers-claim-that-another-terrorist-attack-would-be-a-big-advantage-for-his-campaign/

Of course he is gong to say that, he is trying to run a high road campaign. He lets the underlings say such things and then fall on their swords.

[John Gault]

Here is a good piece from Countdown. This disclosure fits the classic definition of a gaffe which is someone telling the truth by accident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7lSvYtC00c

Yes it is the truth, if terrorists attack the US it woul dbe bads for democrats and help republicans because and rightfully so, democrats are seen as weak and ineffective in that area.

[John Gault]

Here is Senator Kerry's response to Black's gaffe or accidential telling of the truth http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=299610

Does anyone really care what this loser has to say?

According to you guys he lost an election he should have one to a stupid and incompetent man. What does that make him?

[John Gault]

The Young Turks make a good point. If Senator Obama or one of his aides made this statement, then the press and the right wingers would be all over him but it is okay for mc :cane to make these statements. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxLGv4OjXHA

That is because it would not be a credible statement if Obama said it.

[Yellowdogtexan]

Richard Clark discusses the politics and fear on Countdown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QknxRK2RakClark is correct in that mc :cane needs to fire Charlie Black or acknowledge that his campaign is based on the rove playbook of using terra and fear to win elections

[Yellowdogtexan]

This is amusing. The Obama campaign caught mc :cane in yet another flip flop here. http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/obama_camp_mccain_flipflopped.phpDid McCain actually flip flop on the question of whether scenes of international violence help him politically? Looks that way.

The Obama campaign is keeping up the pressure on the McCain campaign over top McCain adviser Charlie Black's assertion that a terror attack on U.S. soil would benefit McCain, which McCain subsequently disavowed. On a conference call with reporters moments ago, the Obama camp said it had dug up a quote from McCain back in December when he did in fact say that the specter of attacks helped him.

Black had also said that the Bhutto assassination had helped McCain. And the McCain camp disavowed this, too. But here's what McCain said back when the assassination happened:In an interview with reporters after the event, McCain said, "I would hate for this tragedy to affect anyone's campaign." But he was quick to add that "my theme throughout this campaign has been that I'm the one with the experience, the knowledge, and the judgment. Perhaps it may serve to enhance those credentials."On the call, one of Obama foreign policy advisers drolly noted the inconsistency. "Back in Decmember, he said something very different," he said. "He said that the assassination...would enhance his national security credibility."

Yep. Wonder if the big news orgs will note this in their coverage of McCain's "disavowal" of Black's remarks.

Late Update: Just to clarify, this is important because it suggests that McCain really does think what Black inadvertently revealed.mc :cane can not keep to a consistent position on anything. Here is yet another flip flop

[Trueblue]

Does anyone really care what this loser has to say?

According to you guys he lost an election he should have one to a stupid and incompetent man. What does that make him?

We can get into your culpability in this matter some other time.

What politician do you like, John?

[John Gault]

Richard Clark discusses the politics and fear on Countdown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QknxRK2RakClark is correct in that mc :cane needs to fire Charlie Black or acknowledge that his campaign is based on the rove playbook of using terra and fear to win elections

Ooooooo , Richard Clarke, I am not impressed by a man with an 8 year old axe to grind.

[Trueblue]

Ooooooo , Richard Clarke, I am not impressed by a man with an 8 year old axe to grind.

This is what passes for logic with cons.

You allow yourself to reject any disturbing information if you can generate a bad motive for the source of the information.

It's irrational, and it's bad for the country.

[John Gault]

We can get into your culpability in this matter some other time.

What politician do you like, John?

I liked Huckabee. I liked Fred.

In general I don't like any politician of either party. The main reason being that the democrats are socialist leaning so that rules them out for me. The republicans are so chickenshit to actually do anything that is not politically correct they may as well be democrats.

That is why I get a kick out of people caling Bush a right wing conservative. Please, his stance on Illegal immigration and allowing government and spending to grow so much are proof enough that he is not. No condervative president would invite Teddy Kennedy to anything but a jail cell.

Right wing? Hardly.

Who do you like? Kucinch? Bernie Sanders? Peter (the who) Waxman? Maxine (the idiot) Waters?

What politician do you like?

[Trueblue]

I liked Huckabee. I liked Fred.

In general I don't like any politician of either party. The main reason being that the democrats are socialist leaning so that rules them out for me. The republicans are so chickenshit to actually do anything that is not politically correct they may as well be democrats.

That is why I get a kick out of people caling Bush a right wing conservative. Please, his stance on Illegal immigration and allowing government and spending to grow so much are proof enough that he is not. No condervative president would invite Teddy Kennedy to anything but a jail cell.

Right wing? Hardly.

Who do you like? Kucinch? Bernie Sanders? Peter (the who) Waxman? Maxine (the idiot) Waters?

What politician do you like?

Bush is extremely right wing, government control of behavior and commerce, little respect for the American system, and much respect for his own power.

He is no libertarian, no. But he is EXTREMELY CONSERVATIVE.

I can't believe that you like Huckabee. :lol

I like Obama. :) I like Edwards, Gore, Clinton, Clinton, Bredesen, Biden, Richardson, and Waxman very much. I like most Dems. I don't find them perfect, but I like them.

[Yellowdogtexan]

Ooooooo , Richard Clarke, I am not impressed by a man with an 8 year old axe to grind.If the bushies had not ignored Richard Clarke's recommendations for 9 months, the attacks on Sept. 11 may have been prevented. Clarke knows more about security than any republican

[Yellowdogtexan]

Another good democrat has some fun things to say about mc :cane and the policy of terra and fear as campaign tactics. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/obama-camp-hits-mccain-aide-over-terrorism-remark/On a conference call organized by the Obama campaign this morning, Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the Sept. 11 Commission, stopped short of calling for the resignation of Charlie Black, a McCain campaign senior adviser, but accused him of politicizing terrorism.
Mr. Ben-Veniste, a surrogate for Senator Barack Obama and a campaign adviser, said Mr. Black’s comment in an article in Fortune magazine that a terrorist attack on American soil between now and the election would be a “big advantage” for Senator John McCain provided a “very disappointing glimpse into the thinking of one of McCain’s closest advisers.”

But Mr. Ben-Veniste declined to go a step further and suggest that Mr. Black resign or be fired for his statement.

“I don’t think it’s up to us to suggest how Senator McCain staffs his campaign,” Mr. Ben-Veniste said. “I think the remarks were so out of place that they call for some recalibration in the thinking and perhaps a greater adherence to principle here in staying away from the politics of fear.”

He added: “I would suggest it would be a good idea to caution those whose candid thoughts have created this turmoil for Senator McCain.”

Both Mr. Black and Senator McCain expressed regret over the comments on Monday, but the Obama campaign tried to keep the issue alive today with this call. The notion of another attack benefiting one candidate or another is reminiscent of Republican themes surrounding national security during the 2004 re-election campaign of President Bush and 2006 election cycles. Charlie Black is such a fool that the Obama campaign is hoping that he is not fired. With Black running mc :cane's campaign, the Democrats get to attack mc :cane for being tied to lobbyists and for using rovian tactics of the politics of fear and terra

[Yellowdogtexan]

Charlie Black is just repeating what mc :cane said earlier himself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBIY-VK7VD8 It is funny to watch mc :cane flip flop on nearly every statement he makes

[Yellowdogtexan]

Here is more on the mc :cane flip flop on the use of terra as a campaign tool by the GOP http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/mccain_in_2004_bin_laden_may_h.phpThis is a live one. John McCain said he strenuously disagrees with top adviser Charlie Black's comment that a terror attack on U.S. soil would help McCain's campaign -- but more evidence has just emerged that McCain does believe this, or a variation of it, anyway.

The latest? Back in 2004, as McCain was stumping in Connecticut on behalf of GOP Rep. Chris Shays, McCain said flatly that the recent release of an Osama Bin Laden tape had likely given the GOP a "little boost."

This is courtesy of The Hour, a daily paper in Norwalk, Connecticut, in November of that year (also verified in Nexis)...But as McCain greets two breakfast-eating business partners, one from Stamford and the other from Bridgeport, the topic turns to the presidential race. The two men tell the senator they support President George W. Bush, and to that end, McCain says, "(Osama) Bin Laden may have just given us a little boost. Amazing, huh?"....

The two men, who requested anonymity, nod their heads in agreement. Later, while riding with Shays on an RV to a rally at the Stamford Government Center, McCain further explains, "(The video) is helpful to President Bush because it puts the focus on the war on terrorism."The reference was to a tape of Bin Laden that had emerged a few days earlier. The McCain camp didn't immediately return an email.

Of course, it's perfectly possible that McCain believed that the specter of another terror attack on the U.S. helped the GOP back in 2004, and no longer believes that it would. But clearly, in the past a little light bulb has gone off over McCain's head and he's had the thought that the possibility of an attack would help Republicans. The thought isn't exactly foreign to him.

Black also said that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto had also helped McCain, something the McCain camp also disavowed. But back in December, when the assassination happened, he said it could "serve to enhance" his "credentials."

The point, again, is that McCain does believe, or has believed, what Black said, even if he's now saying he doesn't. After all, he told us so himself -- twice!

[Yellowdogtexan]

It seems that the mc :cane campaign is indeed counting on an October surprise such as the bin Ladin endorsement that help bush win in 2004. mc :cane is resigned to being behind in the polls but thinks that he can come back in the last 48 hours before the election http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-predicts-underdog-win-in-final.html#commentsJohn McCain predicted the general election race would come down to the buzzer Friday, declaring himself the underdog but quipping that he’d ride to victory in the last “48 hours.”

The comment came as new polls show Barack Obama leading nationally and in several key swing states.

McCain may be hoping to reprise his nomination fight, in which he revived his flailing campaign just as primaries began.

“I’m the underdog. I’m behind,” the presumptive GOP nominee told reporters in Ohio

“I’ve got to catch up and get ahead. And I expect to do that about 48 hours before the general election,” he said with a laugh.This worked for bush due to the bin Ladin endorsement that bush got on the Friday before the election. With the Friday bin Ladin tape, Senator Kerry thinks that the polls were moving his way and he was in position to win.

I appears that the mc :cane campaign is counting on some terror event just before the elecition to help him. The trouble with an October surprise is that if you tell people a terror attack is coming then such attack will not be a surprise.

[Ringo]

You can look for another staged terror attack soon. That is the only way they can get the cowards in America to back a war with Iran.

Would we be fortunate enough for it to happen in your area, surrounded by all your far Left Wing Kooks adn the Pink Panty brigade, admiring Obermans little Johnson?? Betcha thought I mellowed out didn't ya Peachy, but I won't until you move to Iran or Venezuela, or wherever your loyalty takes you!!:aliens:sparks:mw

Yes folks its PERSONAL, as she took it that direction a few weeks back, on another Forum!!:aliens

[Trueblue]

Thanks for the clarification.

[Yellowdogtexan]

bush was re-elected due to the tape released on the friday before the election by bin Ladin. Now mc :cane and his campaign has stated that a terrorist incident will help his campaign and that he expects to trail in the polls and only take the lead in the last 48 hours. Those two facts are very telling.

Bin Ladin supported bush because bush let him go at Tora Bora and has allowed bin Ladin to rebuild Al Qaeda. I wonder what mc :cane is offering Al Qaeda