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First Read is an analysis of the day's political news, from the NBC News political unit. First Read is updated throughout the day, so check back often.

Chuck Todd, NBC Political Director

Mark Murray, NBC Deputy Political Director

Domenico Montanaro, NBC News Political Reporter



McCain: Obama means 2nd Carter term

Posted: Monday, June 09, 2008 6:08 PM by Mark Murray

From NBC's Mark Murray
In an interview to air later tonight on Nightly News, McCain tells NBC's Brian Williams that while Obama might criticize him for representing a third Bush term, Obama seems to be running for a second Carter term. Part of the transcript...

Williams: Is it going to be tough to run with an incumbent party for the White House, given this economic backdrop? 

McCain: I-- I think it's-- it's tough. But I think the American didn't, people didn't get to know me yesterday. They know me. They know that I have fought for restraining spending, which Senator Obama has been a big part of, with earmarking (UNINTEL) projects.  They know that I have been a strong fiscal conservative, and they know I understand the challenges that they face.

They need a little break from-- from their gasoline taxes, and they -- and they know that -- we've got to get spending under control. And we've got to become independent of foreign oil. Sen. Obama says that I'm running for a Bush's third terms.  It seems to me he's running for Jimmy Carter's second. (LAUGHTER) 

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I'm surprised it took them that long to pick up one of the favorites from the web, lol.

The problem is Iraq. John McCain can run as fast and as hard as he wants to but at the end of the day he is going to be on the same page as George Bush on the issues facing us today.

Our candidate is starting to show his weakness. As the press still slams HRC. The 75% off Clinton Merchandise is really a newsworthy story guys? WAKE UP AND SMELL THAT COOLAID YOU'RE DRINKING!!!!
Yeah, again he laughs "out of turn", "out of place", and "out of luck"...someone needs to explain to the Old Guy, the Americans are P.O'd...McCain had better come up with something concrete soon, or my guess is that the Republicans will take the nomination away from him at the convention!!

They would be better off running "no one"!!
We have got to end the war in Iraq!!! Pure and simple. Until we do, Americans are going to die and we won't be able to help those that need help.

For some reason, Iraq doesn't seem to be on McCain's radar. We're running around fighting a war where the world's oil comes from and these idiots (Republicans) are talking how high the cost is going and we have to fix the economy. Have they lost their minds? They have put us in the position where we have to choose the Democrat to be fiscally conservative.  
Nice try, McCain, but I'm not buyin'.

I'd rather vote for Obama than "Mr. Bomb them all and let God sort em out".  

Now go find your bearings, show some transparency, stop denying you said things you said, stop back-peddling and stop throwing insults that make no sense.  You're right - you're not a Bush third term - you're probably worse.
McCain has no clue how or why he is running for President in 2008.  He is so out-of-touch even this superficial reference doesn't make any sense.
The way Obama is showing his cards and wanting to add misery to all Americans reminds me a lot of Jimmy Carter, the WORST president in American history.  His policies drove us to the brink of total disaster and it took a man like Ronald Reagan to bring us out of it.

It's probably a good thing to let goofy democrats try to run the country for awhile, they only last one term anyway.  Obama, I predict will make Jimmy Carter look like god with his goofy and ill advised polcies to try and hurt the American middle class.
a LITTLE break!!!!????? Man, McCain sure sounds like a conservative elitist.

A major change in the basic role of the federal government's oversight of large corporations is needed.
That ole McComa's a sharp wit -

He doesn't realize Obama's supporters hardly remember Carter. He's probably still fawning over new push button telephones.........

Can't wait to see these guys debate...

McLame is going down like nap-time
I really think McCain is grasping at this point.  Obama has already shown a level of savvy that Carter lacked.  Chicago is not Georgia.

http://midwestmoms.blogspot.com
McCain, I gotta laugh to keep from crying. This guy has got to be the creepiest guy on the planet and he's runnig for President.

He's so good at being creepy it's scary!!!

John McCreepy

Frank
Chicago
Obama '08
What is with that sneaky snicker?  McCain seems to think it works for him...

I think it's creepy.

http://midwestmoms.blogspot.com
AND WHAT DOES MCCAIN BASE THE  CARTER REMARK ON? THE AMERICAN PUBLIC JUST HAS TO LOOK AT MCCAINS VOTING RECORD TO KNOW THAT HE AGREES WITH BUSH 95% OF THE TIME.
dusual tx : ‘…Yes, the economy is in trouble and will get worse if we lose in Iraq.  John McCain is a real navy man and will never ever surrender …

NOT IN A 100 YEARS !!
Right, dusual ?
McCain would stay in Iraq his whole term !!
Do you want to bomb Iran, too ?


If you liked George Bush  (and I think you DID, dusual) ………
                                  … you’ll LOVE John McCain !!

John McCain, more of the same
John McCain, Endless War
John McCain, there’s NO FOOL like an OLD FOOL

Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
Because her father is Janet Reno."
- Senator John McCain speaking at a Republican dinner in June 1998

http://www.salon.com/news/1998/06/25newsb.html





The Truth: '...The President has nothing to do with the economy...'

RIGHT !
The President just gets us into wars and tramples on the Constitution

The President is supposed to illegally wire tap Americans and approve the torture of prisoners

The President has to explain to Americans that the Geneva Convention is 'quaint' and 'archaic' and doesn't really apply to American prisoners

The President also directs the Jsutice Dept to prosecute members of the opposing political party and cover up for the members of his own party

The President is supposed to leak the names of CIA agents whose husbands 'don't play ball' with his administration....

Does that sum up the President's duties, Truth (sic) ?




SURPRISE !!
Who’d a thunk it ?
Latinos are apparently too smart to vote for a war-monger….

Maybe we’re smarter than ‘bitter’ (but ‘hard working’) white people

From CNN.com:

Commentary: Latinos will vote for ObamaStory Highlights
New surveys show Obama beating McCain with Latino voters 62-29 percent


By Ruben Navarrette Jr.

A new Gallup Poll summary of surveys taken in May shows Obama winning 62 percent of Latino voters nationwide, compared with 29 percent for McCain. The pro-Democratic group Democracy Corps compiled surveys from March through May that showed Obama with a 19-point lead among Latinos. And a Los Angeles Times poll last month showed Obama leading McCain by 14 points among Latinos in California.

I'm not surprised. As I have been writing for months, Latinos haven't been voting against Barack Obama as much as they've been voting for Hillary Clinton. Give the senator from New York credit. She took full advantage of Obama's late start in courting Latino voters, and she had the benefit of what remains a popular brand with Latinos: Clinton, Inc....'


I knew that was coming.

Fact, even McSame's surrogate Carli Fiorino said latest studies show only 60% of a Gas tax holiday would be passed on.

That $30 would only be $18 or $6/month

I rather have good roads & 4000 jobs, thanks.
Earth to Senator McCain -- Given the events of the past eight years, there are a lot of us who prefer having President Carter back rather than four more years of McSame.  And when George Bush wins the Nobel Peace Prize, come on back and we'll talk about it.  Sheesh.  

The more things change, the more they remain McSame.

Obama/Webb 08
How do you have the gall to claim being the one who is for "restraining" spending when you voted for and are wedded to the biggest fiscal blunder ever? One that is plummeting our country into destitution with billions being spent every day to take the lives of our young and deplete the coffers of the "regular" folk (not your corporate/lobbyist buddies) here at home all for the love of oil or the control of it and the profits that control brings? You know that which is being spelled out by one Scott McClellan? And as an added bonus we also get this spiel form the man wedded to a multi-million dollar beer heiress who no doubt profits from his "restraint" aka tax breaks that allow she, he and their family to continue leading a life of comfort and luxury while wagging the finger of irresponsibility in the faces of those voters who were shafted by your economic advisor buddy Graham the head shyster seems in the mortgage meltdown. Puhleeze.
The sad part is that this man is so damned old, he doesn't realize that a large number of people he is talking to, were children when Carter was in office and the reference will be lost on him.  The Baby Boomer and above generations are not going to carry him to the White House.
McCain has the nerve, the gall, to preach about fiscal responsibility when Bush has been the most fiscally irresponsibile President, during my lifetime. He voted 95% with Dubya, his 'huggin cousin'! Obama tied them together at the navel, and rightly so. They share the same deadly, flow that feeds them, and the rest of their fraternity.  

McCain's team are desperate for talking points, any talking points, that give them something other than the same old repub, go-to, patented, coffee stained,
rhetoric.

Jimmy Carter. Hah!

They're pouring over the blogs, like crack addicts on their hands, and knees searching the carpet for a fix.
All they found was Jerry's tired posts. In other words, lint.
This guy is already getting desparate!
Those laughters are annoying and scary.

Obama 08!

we dont need a 3rd Bush in the White House, or else 4 years in Ira(q/n)
President Carter??  I was eight years old when Reagan became President so references to Carter mean nothing to me.  McCain needs to remember that many voters are too young to remember Jimmy Carter and I am a 36 year professional and father, not a college student.
Nice comeback Johnny Boy! If that's all you got, I foresee a Democrat in the Whitehouse come January 2009 and that would be a welcome change to the current trajectory the country is on and the one I fear McCain will project.
Given the choice, I'll take a revival of Jimmy Carter with much more charisma over an extension of Bush, only meaner.  I can honestly say Jimmy Carter is a man of faith and his word - which is far more than we've had in the White House recently.  Then again, like most people under 45 I don't have real strong memories of the supposed economic morass of the 70's to make an artificially harsh judgment of Carter, just like I'm young enough to ignore the b.s., artificially glossed over image of the supposed 80's boom under Reagan.  The reality is that the GOP's economic hero spent most of his time governing a country mired in recession, spent wildly and dangerously on defense while crippling social services in ways we are still feeling, drove up the debt and the deficit and engaged in a path of deregulation that almost destroyed our economy (anyone remember the S&L problem?  Or 1987's Black Tuesday?)  Give me another shot at Carter any day.
I just watched the segment...  Which of his advisors told him to smile all the time?  He looks silly!

I would have voted for him in 2000, had he won the nomination, but today I think he's just scarey...  He can't backtrack now, and re-write history...

Goodnight, John...  Have a good life - in retirement.
Nice try Flipper. Every thing the "Mav" fought Bush on he has now adopted. The only thing he's consistant on is not being consistant. He's confused every time he talks about Iraq, he has no clue about the economy, just ask him. Now he's going to get called on all the dumb things he says, now people have to pay attention to him, which is difficult because the guy's B_O_R_I_N_G! His ideas are proven failures - hello MCcBush!
Obama Rocks!!!
McCain - as original as they come isn't he. OK, so how many voters remember the pain from Carter's years versus how many are currently living the pain of Bush? Which is more relevant to this election? How many reckless wars did Carter get us in? How many soldiers died during his watch? Obama is the best and brightest we have this cycle and he will help the less fortunate as President Carter has. McCain could only hope to accomplish as much good as Jimmy Carter has.
mcbush will make us pay $10 a galoon for gas
Given a choice between a third term for Bush and a second term for Carter - there's no question that I'd vote for a third term for Bush. We are still paying for the mistakes Carter made 30 years ago, and he continues to make more every day.
A Carter reference?  Well, he's clearly going after older voters, I guess.

I also like the "fiscal conservative" claim; yeah, that's why you're proposing tax policies that would leave us another 6 trillion in the hole, and put the money in the pockets of billionaires and multinational corporations.  Ladies and Gentlemen, meet John McCain, comedian.
How old is this guy?
McCain is falling into the same trap Clinton fell into to start off.  A schizophrenic message.  He's failing around, trying to find a theme that will stick.

Second Carter term?  That one landed with all the power of "change you can xerox".

Keep trying, McSame...
Hmmm. Bush's 3rd term or Carter's 2nd?

A tough call ...
I just watched that interview. I'm sorry, but McCain is getting old. I love my grandpa, but he shouldn't be president. He was mixing up words in an obvious way multiple times. It was disturbing. His demeanor was slow & fake, like he was mindful to smile, but his responses were like a stand up at a retirement home. Is he getting tired?
"Friend", if you thought Hillary pandered to the voters, wait until McCombover gets started!
bah, old man yells at cloud. Couldn't he come up with something a bit more original?

Hell, Carter was in office a good 43 days of my lifetime before handing it over to elect Reagan, like he was even a blip on my radar.

But I know many people, even in a red state of Idaho, who have very fond memories of this Peanut farmer turned president.
EARTH TO CLINTON WOMEN SUPPORTERS:

McCain is trying to pander to you but remember what a McCain supporter said to him about Hillary:  How do we beat the b*#$%?  And McCain laughed!  There were no harsh words.  Were Hillary the nominee, he'd be attacking her furiously and would have no kind and sweet things to say about her.

Here's the video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vs5ryFRBAks
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WLQGWpRVA7o&feature=related
McCain: "If I'm Bush, then you're Carter"

McCain demonstrates his youthful streak by behaving like a 7th grader.

Besides, if nothing else President Carter was a decent, honorable, patriotic man, which I cannot in good conscience conclude about Bush.
Any eligible voter during the Carter years would remember and know very well that this dejavu.... better to call it Carter(ama) version 2.0.  This is the primary reason why Obama is wooing the young voters because they are clueless about this. They are hoping they would be succesfuly in such a way to fill in the void left by the HRC democrats who will be voting for McCain this coming November.
I'll grant him one commonality. Obama wants to get us out of our energy mess. If we as a nation had not blown off Carter's energy recommendations we wouldn't be in half the mess we're in today.
Har-har-har-dee-har-har! McCain is a riot!
I think this is just ANOTHER example of John McCain losing his bearings--call in Lieberman for a checkup!
Actually with the oil crisis and inflation it looks like Bush is vying for Carter's second term.  Maybe Obama will be Reagan.
I'd take Carter over Bush any day!  Not much of an argument there McCain.
Seems to me he is a tad out of time and space sync.

Seems to me he is running for Barrack's first term.

Seems to me he needs to rewind to find his time.
Yeah sure right John...explain to the American people how the massive tax cuts and accompanying massive deficits make our economy stronger...republicans gave up the right to call themselves conservatives when they turned into borrow and spenders...
Is this guy TRYING to highlight how old he is?  
Yeah, but WHICH of the many John McCains we've come to know is the one running for President? For or against torture? For or against illegal wiretaps? Did criticize press coverage, didn't criticize press coverage?

Actually, we know him all too well as the chameleon of convenience. He IS different from Bush, 'cause Bush was at least consistent taking the wrong position.
I like you better quite a few yesterdays ago John... before you got in line with the Republican majority and didn't stand up when it was important. I don't trust you to maneuvre this challenging economy.
How come every time I hear a McCain or Hillary supporter bash Obama (which happens JUST AS MUCH as the opposite), it sounds a lot like homophobes describing their disgust with imagining two men kissing (or doing "worse"). He's not what you make him. Sorry.

You all need to get over your 20th century ideals and step into the new era with the rest of us. News flash: gays aren't threatening your lifestyle. African Americans aren't threatening your lifestyle. Women aren't threatening your lifestyle.

Obama isn't threatening your lifestyle. Hillary isn't threatening your lifestyle. McCain… well, I feel like he'd be threatening a lot if he overturned Roe v. Wade, upheld "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", sent more people to Iraq (and g-d knows where else) to die, and make a few other civil rights violations.

It's funny that you all can't seem to get over a simple thing like race or gender. Preconceived notions are for dumb****s.

I plan on seeing an african american become president.
I plan on seeing a woman becoming president.
I plan on seeing a member of the LGBT community become president.
I plan on seeing an asian become president.
I plan on seeing a latino become president.

Well… maybe it won't all happen. I'll only live so long… but the point is that I don't care what happens first. We're all in this together, and as long as you're putting a fence up around your race, gender, etc. and being a paranoid predjuiced person, you're JUST PLAIN WRONG. Hate is way too easy. Give me the hard road. I don't cringe no matter who I get in the elevator with unless they give me a reason too, and these days, unfortunately, it's uneducated, young white men more than anything else.

If we elect McCain, we might as well shove quarters in our *** because we've played ourselves.


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