{"id":4720,"date":"2008-08-28T11:03:10","date_gmt":"2008-08-28T18:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/archives\/2008\/08\/28\/theres-a-reason-his-nicknames-mcnasty-folks\/"},"modified":"2008-08-28T11:03:10","modified_gmt":"2008-08-28T18:22:58","slug":"theres-a-reason-his-nicknames-mcnasty-folks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=4720","title":{"rendered":"There's a Reason His Nickname's McNasty, Folks"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know, it’s funny: when you throw away everything you’ve ever claimed to stand for in a bid to tear down your opponent and secure the presidency, and you get called on it, it sorta stings. Doesn’t it, John<\/a>?<\/p>\n

What do you want voters to know coming out of the Republican Convention \u2014 about you, about your candidacy?<\/strong>
\nI’m prepared to be President of the United States, and I’ll put my country first.<\/p>\n

There’s a theme that recurs in your books and your speeches, both about putting country first but also about honor. I wonder if you could define honor<\/span> for us?<\/strong>
\nRead it in my books.<\/p>\n

I’ve read your books.<\/strong>
\nNo, I’m not going to define it.<\/p>\n

But honor in politics?<\/strong>
\nI defined it in five books. Read my books.<\/p>\n

[Your] campaign today is more disciplined, more traditional, more aggressive. From your point of view, why the change?<\/strong>
\nI will do as much as we possibly can do to provide as much access to the press as possible.<\/p>\n

But beyond the press, sir, just in terms of …<\/strong>
\nI think we’re running a fine campaign, and this is where we are.<\/p>\n

Do you miss the old way of doing it?<\/strong>
\nI don’t know what you’re talking about.<\/p>\n

Really? Come on, Senator.<\/strong>
\nI’ll provide as much access as possible …<\/p>\n

In 2000, after the primaries, you went back to South Carolina to talk about what you felt was a mistake you had made on the Confederate flag. Is there anything so far about this campaign that you wish you could take back or you might revisit when it’s over?<\/strong>
\n[Does not answer.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Do I know you? [Says with a laugh.]<\/em><\/strong>
\n[Long pause.]<\/em> I’m very happy with the way our campaign has been conducted, and I am very pleased and humbled to have the nomination of the Republican Party.<\/p>\n

You do acknowledge there was a change in the campaign, in the way you had run the campaign?<\/strong>
\n[Shakes his head.]<\/em><\/p>\n

You don’t acknowledge that? O.K., when your aides came to you and you decided, having been attacked by Barack Obama, to run some of those ads, was there a debate?<\/strong>
\nThe campaign responded as planned.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So yeah, remember the mythical “John McCain” of 2000? The gregarious, open, honorable guy fighting for his country? Yeah, he’s not here anymore. In his place is John McCain, a nasty, snippy, petulant jerk, one who is more than willing to go as negative as possible, to tear down his opponent, to harm his country if it will get him to the White House. It’s a damn shame, and really, it makes you wonder which McCain is the fake one. And whether, in the end, it matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know, it’s funny: when you throw away everything you’ve ever claimed to stand for in a bid to tear down your opponent and secure the presidency, and you get called on it, it sorta stings. Doesn’t it, John? What … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elections-and-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}