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McCain Campaign Offers Rewards For Turn-Key Comments
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Aug 07, 2008 04:00 PM
from the free-booze-for-edgar-allen-poe dept.
from the free-booze-for-edgar-allen-poe dept.
According to a story at the Washington Post, John McCain's presidential campaign is offering more than moral suasion to fire people up for a McCain presidency; they're also offering ready-made snippets of rhetoric for interested supporters to supply under their own names in public comments to online news sources and forums. Such pre-written commentary by itself is neither new nor necessarily nefarious, but it seems a bit off-kilter that prolific commenters are eligible for rewards — not just campaign swag like hats and stickers, but higher-ticket items like a ride with McCain on his campaign bus. Probably a script could be whipped up to compare the canned suggestions on the site with "grassroots" comments on political news sites around the web.
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This is going to end badly (Score:5, Insightful)
As per the subject line, this is going to end badly.
I do, however, find it interesting that this astroturfing is being done so publicly. Before the sources were always hidden, as if the originators seemed ashamed of it.
Now they're acting as if it seems to be business as usual.
Are party supporters allowed to have their own opinion these days? Anecodatal evidence suggests that there is a hive mind forming.
Re:This is going to end badly (Score:5, Funny)
Anecodatal evidence suggests that there is a hive mind forming.
The correct term is groupthink. You need to get on the same page as everybody else.
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Re:This is going to end badly (Score:5, Funny)
I believe the au courant technical term for this is "cloud computing".
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Re:This is going to end badly (Score:5, Funny)
End badly?
I recognize there are serious issues at stake in this election, and serious differences between the candidates. And we will argue about them, as we should.
But it should remain an argument among friends; each of us struggling to hear our conscience, and heed its demands; each of us, despite our differences, united in our great cause, and respectful of the goodness in each other.
How that can end badly? Especially since John McCain has a comprehensive economic plan that will create millions of good American jobs, ensure our nation's energy security, get the government's budget and spending practices in order, and bring relief to American consumers.
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It seems to me (Score:5, Interesting)
that the McCain campaign hasn't quite adapted to the changes technology has made in politics.
It isn't so much that his campaign lags in exploiting social networking techniques to its advantage. It's more that they haven't grasped the full implications of things like YouTube.
Politicians have always tuned their message to their audience, but in a world of cell phone video cameras and YouTube, your audience is always potentially much greater than the people sitting in front of you. It's important not to actually contradict yourself, and when you get caught contradicting yourself the worst thing you can do is to deny it. The assertion, contradiction and denial make a nice little YouTube vignette. Especially if all three bits are delivered in your trademarked blunt, plainspoken style.
This is probably why the campaign has changed its policy on access. McCain has always be famously accessible to reporters, taking questions for as long as anybody could think of any, spending lot of one on one time. This week they've switched, and now he's only giving scripted statements.
This is more of the same. They're trying to feed their blogosphere partisans the way they feed their mainstream media henchmen, even though (ironically) you have to be a lot more discreet with that sort of thing in the blogosphere.
I'm not saying McCain is necessarily worse than any other politician. Possibly Obama's just a slicker liar. Obama reminds me of Eisenhower, who had the gift of redirecting pointed questions in the direction he wanted the be questioned. For some reason, the television camera simply adores Obama; he's more relaxed and comfortable on camera than Phil Donahue.
But whether or not Obama's the real thing, or the slickest phony in a generation of politicians, McCain has definitely let his ... shall we say strategically tailored representations of the the truth ... show plainly for all to see. This is stuff that would have gone unnoticed ten years ago, or it it was noticed, reported in words rather than shown issuing from the candidate's mouth.
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Re:It seems to me (Score:5, Interesting)
It's more that they haven't grasped the full implications of things like YouTube.
I think they're getting it now -- according to the Washington Times, McCain's YouTube channel has beaten Obama's 11 of the last 14 days. [washtimes.com]
Even if he's just paying people to set around all day and click on his videos, it still makes for a nice statistic. Even if Paris Hilton crushes both of them.
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Re:It seems to me (Score:5, Informative)
They should've learned this lesson two years ago. In 2005, Virginia Senator George Allen was the presumptive presidential front runner for the 2008 election. All it took was one viral video of him saying Macacca to tip his reelection bid to Jim Webb. One video cost him his senate seat, as well as a stab at the White House.
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Re:It seems to me (Score:5, Interesting)
Maybe the reason is that he actually is more relaxed and comfortable.
Agreed, by I'm not a jump on the bandwagon type; I like to keep one foot firmly grounded in skepticism.
I think that Obama is rare, dually gifted individual. He's got the intellect to be a professor of Constitutional law, but he also has really strong people skills. Of course he's comfortable. Anybody'd be comfortable if their life experience told them they'd be able to outdebate or persuade most people they deal with. People gifted in only one of these ways aren't uncommon, but there's often a gnawing canker of doubt about whether they're on the right track, or can persuade others that they are.
It doesn't make him "qualified" to be president, but those talents will stand him in good stead if he makes it.
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Re:This is going to end badly (Score:5, Funny)
I do, however, find it interesting that this astroturfing is being done so publicly. Before the sources were always hidden, as if the originators seemed ashamed of it.
Yet another example of McCain's openness and honesty. ;-)
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Re:This is going to end badly (Score:5, Insightful)
Are the bulk of McCain supporters intelligent and informed enough to make an actual contribution to a political discussion without help? Apparently, John McCain doesn't think so. This is tantamount to telling his supporters "You are too stupid to discuss my campaign without help."
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Re:This is going to end badly (Score:5, Insightful)
My problem with it is that sound-bites (or the text equivalent) are not political discussion, they are advertising. By adding more advertising noise into the forums where discussion should be taking place, this approach is dumbing down the voter's actual political awareness even more. By instructing and encouraging such a focused forum spam campaign, this distorts any possible consensus coming out a discussion on those selected forums. By contrast, here on Slashdot it frequently happens that someone makes a point that is embraced by the community, but is quite different from the stance of big media or the press release.
If the "Spread the Word" program has no other effect than to get a supporter to calm down long enough to think before they speak, it's probably worthwhile. A well-considered argument or phrase - even if the considering was done by someone else
That is what I mean about McCain insinuating that his supporters are stupid, this "talking points" thing is most effective when the best the supporter can come up with on their own is "a knee-jerk response".
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Re:This is going to end badly (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:This is going to end badly (Score:5, Insightful)
For the record I am not a Democrat or a Republican because both parties have precious few differences and have fucked the ever living hell out of this country and do a bang up job of dividing people into Red Dumbasses and Blue Dumbasses with their typical rhetoric.
Also, I saw a physical copy of said survey, I have no idea where it would be online if it even is. I imagine the Democratic survey is about the same. The most mindboggling thing here is that you couldn't be bothered to go look them up yourself and assumed we had links to them. Then you turned it into some kind of anti Republican rant when you weren't provided a link so you could avoid looking for something to "think for yourself". Congratulations you have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt why the modern Democrats are even more worthless than the modern Republican. Like voting in telcom immunity with a Democratic majority. So they support bad Republican ideas and then cry and blame the Republicans for it. Pathetic. I half expect Cheney to walk into the room and shout "Boo" and watch all of the Democrats hide under their desks. I loathe saying this since I hate most of what the Republicans have been up to, but I respect people who take action on their beliefs regardless of how wrong I think they are WAY more than people who just cower, talk a big game, and then cave at the first sign of opposition.
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The Issue: Jobs for America (Score:5, Funny)
John McCain has a comprehensive economic plan that will destroy millions of good American jobs, ensure our neighboring nation's energy security, get the government's budget and spending practices continuing on their existing successful path, and bring relief to Chinese consumers. Click to learn how the McCain Economic Plan will help bring reform, prosperity and peace to America. Read More... [barackobama.com]
Re:The Issue: Jobs for America (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:The Issue: Jobs for America (Score:5, Insightful)
I am dismayed at the overwhelming liberalism present on this site. I had hoped that fellow geeks would have more sense than this. Conservatism, capitalism...that is what our country was founded on. McCain is not the poster child for the conservative movement by any means, but he is far superior to the socialist ideas put forth by Obama and fellow liberals, such as Nancy Pelosi. Please, PLEASE, take some time to understand the issues prior to repeating the nonsense so abundant in our media.
The reason this site is 'overwhelmingly liberal' is that /. has a global audience. Not just Alabama. It's easy to be a liberal when you're compared with, say, FOX, or the Republican Party. Hell, even the Democrats are pretty damned conservative on some things, particularly the red-state ones. This is roughly the same line of reasoning involved in creating Conservapedia - this thing is more liberal than me, therefore it must be horribly biased, and I must create my own with a correct view!
When you hear people talk about the 'far left' attacking Obama for being too conservative, consider that a large number of people (many not in America) consider your politics to be less about 'liberal vs. conservative' and more 'conservative vs. extremist'. You have mainstream politicians who haven't the slightest concern for the rights of women or gays, and in America a smear campaign involves calling the other guy a Muslim. That should be right up there with saying he's a Jew or a Catholic, but in America it's still just fine.
Everybody's a centrist in their own mind (or alternatively, thinks that there's a 'right' and a 'wrong' side of the center.) If 90% of the people you see are more liberal than you, then congratulations, you're atypically conservative.
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Re:The Issue: Jobs for America (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Not Offtopic (Score:5, Insightful)
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What's "higher-ticket" mean? (Score:5, Funny)
Huh? I'd sure rather have a hat or a sticker than ride in the same vehicle as some old guy. Have you smelled an old person? It's not pretty; like a combination of mothballs, fried bacon, a Catholic church, talcum powder, and the dust underneath the couch
Re:What's "higher-ticket" mean? (Score:5, Funny)
It said you'd get a ride on the bus, not which McCain you'd be riding [google.com].
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Yeah? Well... (Score:5, Funny)
Really. You think a 20-year-old bricklayer smells BETTER at the end of the day than talcum powder? Man, you live a sheltered life.
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Yeah.. well worth it. (Score:5, Funny)
If there's anything that will swing my vote at an election it's a comment posted on someone's blog. Policies schmolicies, I want to see what the public think!
*goes to look at what the public think*
Ok, I saw what the public think, and now I want the winner of America's Got Talent to be president.
Re:Yeah.. well worth it. (Score:4, Insightful)
No one ever went broke underestimating american taste, and no one ever got modded down for overstating american stupidity.
People are far more interested in this campaign than america's got talent. I mean, some age groups yes, are more interested in that, but not MOST of the voting age and above.
On a completely unrelated note, there needs to be a mod option of "-1 trite cynicism." If you like that type of thing you could change it to score +1 instead.
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Re:Yeah.. well worth it. (Score:5, Funny)
Why not? The Constitution is really more like guidelines than actual rules and stuff.
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Am I missing something? (Score:4, Informative)
I don't see the "canned suggestions." There's a position paper, but it looks like the McCain campaign is just encouraging people to make comments and discuss issues on blog sites, not telling them what to say.
Re:Am I missing something? (Score:5, Informative)
Did you miss the Today's Talking Points links? Or did you actively ignore them?
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It's not about copy-paste (Score:5, Informative)
I think you're right that McCain's site isn't suggesting they copy and paste the comments. The issue here is the rewards system, and perhaps the blog-targetting (specific blogs are listed for users to comment in).
The WP article has some good feedback from politicos on the problems with this approach and possible solutions. In particular that the bloggers should be advised to use full disclosure ("I am a McCain action alert participant") and make sure their posts are relevant to the conversation.
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Oh man, too easy... (Score:5, Interesting)
The trolls just write themselves...I'll attempt to rise above.
Still, it's pretty damn pathetic when you can't trust your supporters to express their own opinions to the point where you have to give them your opinions to reprint.
Ah fuck it. Lets burn some karma..."I guess all his supporters are too senile to remember what he stands for?" or maybe "He flip-flops so often that it's safer if they just cut and paste?" Maybe "Since most of his supporters are illiterate, it's the only way they can meaningfully contribute. Coming next month, a McDonalds-style interface with pictures of common attack points (a flat tire, little back guy in diapers, a black playing card, etc)."
I am so sick of "talking points." It just reeks of brand advertising.
Re:Oh man, too easy... (Score:5, Insightful)
I am so sick of "talking points." It just reeks of brand advertising.
Modern politics is all about brand advertising. Nobody really wants a serious discussion of the issues, least of all the candidates. You tell your base what they want to hear, you demonize your opponent in hopes of demoralizing his base, and you get your people to drive your supporters to the polls while trying to disenfranchise your opponent's supporters. If all else fails, you throw some ballot boxes into a river.
The whole idea is doing whatever is necessary to get more people to vote for you than for the other guy. Glitzy advertising that paints you as a hero of the working man and your opponent as a clown (or demon) who will single-handedly destroy the country is a key part of the package. Serious discourse has no place in such an environment.
On top of that, now you have the Internet to deal with. In this case, the more parrots you have mindlessly regurgitating your talking points on blogs and various forums, the better. It's like the hot chicks at the bar that invite you to hang out with them and offer you some expensive name brand liquor. It's viral advertising, and if it can be used to sell booze, why can't it be used to sell candidates?
Sure, the whole thing is sleazy, but that's politics for you.
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Re:Oh man, too easy... (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think it's quite so simple.
People aren't sheep or parrots, but they do have possess cognitive biases and flaws -- bugs in the epistemological software if you will. One of which is that if you hear the same thing from multiple, apparently independent sources, you will tend to believe it provided you have no prior opinion or more credible source of information to the contrary.
But even though that is a timeworn strategy, it isn't sure fire.
Look at the McCain's forays into attack ads. In part, they've been poorly conceived and timed. The Paris Hilton thing might have worked as the final smack down in a long patient campaign to cut him down to size. But it was over the top. People know campaigns say bad things about the other guy, so you've got to start smaller.
Another factor is who you have to work against. People don't pay much attention to politics until it gets close to the time to vote. Nature abhors a vacuum, and you fill that vacuum with beliefs about the other guy. It worked with Gore and Kerry, but not with Clinton because of Clinton's charismatic personality. As a liberal Democrat, I'm lukewarm on Bill Clinton, in theory at least. Still I remember seeing him interviewed on TV a few years after he was out of office, and being amazed at his almost mesmeric powers of communication.
Reagan was like that too; maybe even more so. You had to really detest the man to be immune to his charm.
Time will tell, but I have an inkling Obama might be another politician of this sort. The McCain campaign is trying to define him, and the pundits are trying to turn him into a cipher, but if you watch him, what comes across is that he is completely comfortable with and utterly sure of who he is. Which doesn't preclude him being a cipher, of course, but that's not the same as being vacuum.
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Re:Oh man, too easy... (Score:5, Insightful)
At the end of the day, the thing that is broken about contemporary America is precisely this "do whatever is necessary" meme. Why is winning better than sportsmanship? Why should conservatives vote Republican even if the Republicans plan to destroy the economy? Shouldn't civilised people prefer to be able to sleep at night? Ultimately, isn't that what civilisation is?
It makes no sense, but nobody wants to admit it.
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My God, this country is completely screwed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:My God, this country is completely screwed (Score:5, Insightful)
I take it you aren't familiar with the history of our Presidential elections. If you were, you'd realize that while it's sad we are still stuck in the same muck raking environment that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson slandered each other under, it's obviously nothing new.
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Republican supporters vs. Democrat Supporters (Score:5, Insightful)
The reason for them doing this is because Democratic supporters tend to be a lot more vocal about their support compared to Republican supporters. This may be anecdotal, but for the sites I view, I see way more Obama supporters spouting out campaign rhetoric compared to McCain supporters. At the same time, all the national polls I see have the two in a virtual dead heat. Why are we seeing more people screaming their support for Obama? The RNC has noticed this, and is trying to light a fire under the Republican supporters in order to get them screaming just as loudly for McCain.
It's probably about the demographic. Republicans tend to be older, quiet, "don't rock the boat" types who don't give a shit about anything that doesn't concern them. Democrats tend to be young, vocal, "Change NOW!" types who feel that society as a whole needs to better function. It makes sense.
Re:Republican supporters vs. Democrat Supporters (Score:5, Insightful)
Republicans do tend to just want to be left alone
Explain "social conservatives" then (aka the Republican base). Or is it that they want to be left alone, but they still want to control everyone else?
I think most of the people that truly just want to be left alone call themselves Libertarians these days.
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And we should vote for him over the other guy why? (Score:5, Interesting)
Considering one of McCain's selling point is supposed to be experience, why does his campaign keep making rookie mistakes?
He repeatedly mentions his opponent by name in speeches and on his web site (why give the other guy free publicity?), he refers to the border between two countries which don't border each other, and now this.
It's not stupid because it isn't done, it's stupid because people will do it anyway. Supporters (not just McCain's) will cut-and-paste talking points from the candidate on their own. A program like this just makes them, and him, look like idiots.
Neither of Them Deserve to Be President (Score:5, Insightful)
The simple fact of the matter is that Some Americans will no longer be able to afford to own and operate an automobile. That process has already started. People are on the news saying "I can't afford to put gas in my car to commute to work." It's only going to get worse as gasoline gets more expensive. We might see the price of a gallon of gas bump down a little over the coming years, but the general trend is going to be up. If you're having trouble paying for gas now, you should start planning to not own an automobile in the future. America needs better public transit options and tighter knit communities, because a lot more of us are not going to be driving in the future.
Of course Obama and McCain won't say that. It'd be political suicide. Unfortunately we don't need political grandstanding right now. We need sensible planning for a future where Americans are less affluent and have lower expectations than they did in the past.
So what? (Score:5, Insightful)
Most Americans are better off than they were 50 years ago. Just most Americans have forgotten how to be frugal and now impulse buy all kinds of crap on credit cards then wonder why they're screwed when the credit card bills roll in.
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Close, but... (Score:5, Interesting)
The simple fact of the matter is that Some Americans will no longer be able to afford to own and operate an Internal Combustion Engine powered automobile.
Fixed. There is a finite amount of all resources on this planet, so you are correct that at some point, not everyone is going to be able to do everything they currently take for granted. And transportation is going to go through some 'exciting' times in the near future. But the immediate impact is not going to dramatically change the life style of the vast majority of Americans.
-Rick
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Obama is smart enough to not tell the truth.. (Score:5, Insightful)
As you point out, to tell the truth would virtually guarantee the truth teller a loss in the election. The American people don't want to be told that things will get worse. They want to be lied to about how they can have cheap gas, low taxes, universal (but not zomg socialized!) health care, and a socially secured retirement at no cost. Whenever anything goes wrong, tell everyone they can blame it on "Washington Insiders", "Evil Corporations", or "Foreigners".
Obama knows that none of this is possible. He's a successful politician, and successful politicians get where they are by lying to people. Obama is smart enough to know when to avoid telling the truth and/or lie.
McCain is a liar too, as he is also a successful politician. They are more alike than you think. Obama is much smarter than McCain, however. So if you have to pick one of these two to be President, Obama is the better choice as he will screw up less once he is elected. Hint: Morons don't make good presidents.
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ooh! I know! (Score:5, Insightful)
"Are you better off now than you were 8 years ago?"
JOHN MCCAIN
(picture of him embracing George Bush) http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/mccain%20bush%20hug%20twn.jpg [thewashingtonnote.com]
"Four more years!"
I'm not saying McCain's out of touch.... (Score:5, Funny)
Yes! (Score:4, Funny)
I could REALLY use one of those tire gauges!
Here goes (Stephen Colbert style):
McCain - he's hip! (at least none broken yet)
McCain - he's got the energy to fix this country! (who better than the Maverick who had a hand in breaking things, but I'm sure it was all under protest.)
McCain - Experience to lead, experience where it matters! (He knows how to cover his mistakes, and where others have their sins buried)
McCain - Because Obama would raise taxes on real Americans! (The super rich face such horrible burdens already - they're the realest Americans!)
McCain - He won't compromise our national security! (It's not the damn president's job to negotiate peace with UnAmericans)
McCain - He's earned our respect, he's the leader we deserve now! (Certainly the change we deserve - stay the course! Four more years!)
Ryan Fenton
McCain for President (Score:5, Funny)
I admit it is a bit over the op, but if we are in a world where millions of dollars can be spent comparing a magna cum laude Havard Graduate to Paris Hiton, anything goes.
McCain was not born in the US but is considered a US citizen anyway, unlike many who are born in the US that the republican party wants to consider foreign.
As a proud third generation employee of the government, McCain is uniquely experienced to be president. His third generation military status uniquely places him to find the best government military solutions for every problem, without the distractions of diplomacy or allowing the free market to work. Like the current president, he entered higher education on a legacy, thus putting him in touch with the problems of the elite he represents. Also like the current president, he has a storied military carreer, flying planes around the world. At one point his plane got shot down and he no longer flew planes, but was kept in a POW camp. He was tortured for some time during the captivity. This experience wad apparently not bad enough to make him unconditionally opposed to torture.
He also has a unique perspective on government medical care. As a third generation government employee, he has spent his entire life with free access to the government medical facilities. Although he is 71, and claims to be in good health, he experience has shown him that government medical care is not good enough for the general populous, so is absolutely opposed to it.
Some might think a third generation government employee may not be the best president for a country based on free enterprise, but wait. His second wife, whom he married soon after divorcing his first wife, is the chair of one of the largest beer distributors in the country. As such, McCain has experience with the perks of the corporate life, like luxury corporate jets, which he used to ferry himself between campaign stops during his bid to become president. He understands the compromises that must be made when growing a business, like how many alcohol related teen deaths are acceptable to maintain a certain profit margin.
As we can see McCain is uniquely qualified to understand the needs of the nation. The military can solve all problems. The health care system that has kept him so healthy is not adequate of capable of doing the same for the masses. American Corporations has special problems and must be given significant leeway in their right to earn a profit.
Re:first! (Score:5, Funny)
John McCain has a comprehensive economic plan that will create millions of good American jobs, ensure our nation's energy security, get the government's budget and spending practices in order, and bring relief to American consumers. Read each of the sections below to learn how the McCain Economic Plan will help bring reform, prosperity and peace to America.
GIVE ME MONEY PLEASE!!!! *Sticks out hand*
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Re:first! (Score:5, Funny)
you have enough points for a McCain 2008 bumper sticker, a few more points and you can qualify for a McCain 2008 coffee mug
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Re:first! (Score:5, Funny)
If you can get that message on 100 blog comments, you get to give Cindy McCain a Cleveland Steamer.
See, I've learned how to engage in a political discussion of the issues without getting personal - from the John McCain Campaign.
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Re:first! (Score:5, Funny)
GIVE ME MONEY PLEASE!!!! *Sticks out hand*
Dude, it doesn't work if you include that in your pre-made rhetoric.
Include?!?!
That IS his pre-made rhetoric.
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Re:first! (Score:5, Funny)
first?
I hope for McCain's sake this isn't an example of the ready-made rhetoric. It lacks conviction. Also, it should really have McCain's name in the snippet.
Try something like the following:
McCain first!
See? Much better.
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I don't know... (Score:5, Funny)
His $0.10 titanium tax doesn't go too far enough! Also, how will he guarantee enough brain slugs for everyone? Right now, they barely have enough to keep the Republican party alive! What will they do to guarantee our independence from foreign brain slugs? And they're definitely not doing enough to protect our right to own Doomsday Devices!
I'm mad enough that I might register with the Apathy party, but I can't be bothered. Besides, everyone knows that the Hypnobama will win this election.
All hail the Hypnobama!
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