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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 camp mum on Gramm status

Posted: Friday, July 18, 2008 3:52 PM by Mark Murray

From NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
Conservative columnist Bob Novak is reporting that Phil Gramm apologized to McCain for his "nation of whiners" comment, and that Gramm will continue as an adviser and surrogate to the campaign.

Asked for a response to this news, McCain spokesman Brian Rogers told First Read: "No comment. We have nothing to announce on Sen. Gramm."

Last week, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reported that, per GOP sources, McCain wasn't expected to strip Gramm of his "volunteer designation" as co-chair of the McCain campaign, and that the former Texas senator remains a "trusted friend of the campaign." However, they did say that other surrogates and advisers -- like Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Carly Fiorina -- would be driving the campaign's economic policy.

Last Friday, McCain said that he didn't agree with Gramm's comments to the Washington Times last week that the United States was only in a "mental recession" and had become a "nation of whiners."

"Phil Gramm does not speak for me; I speak for me," McCain said. 

And when asked whether Gramm would possibly serve as Treasury secretary in a McCain Administration, the presumptive GOP nominee replied, "I think Sen. Gramm would be in serious consideration for ambassador to Belarus, although I'm not sure that citizens of Minsk would welcome to that."

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Yet, he has rejoined the campaign as reported by the Huffington Post.

More lies from a once repectable American.
MCCAIN=LIES

HE CLOAKS HIS DECEPTION WITH THE FLAG OF HIS POW YEARS.

STOP GIVING HIM A FREE RIDE!

HE MUST BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS INDECISIVENESS AND "HILLARY LIKE" CAMPAIGN MIS-MANAGEMENT!

HE HAS NOT PROVEN TO ANYONE WITH A BRAIN CELL THAT HE HAS THE CAPACITY TO GIVE "STRAIGHT TALK"

THIS IS OUR COUNTRY AT STAKE, FR, TELL THE TRUTH!

WE DON'T NEED THE SHEEPEOPLE TO BUY INTO ANOTHER 4 YEARS OF LYING, WAR MONGERING POLITICIANS!!!
"Back" implies he went somewhere. We know better.

They didn't even let a month go by before bringing him "back". Can't talk economy with Gramm, right?
Speaking at a General Motors facility in Warren, Michigan, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate said: "I predict that they will make an attempt as we get in to the election season to make more of these spectacular kinds of attacks which they're still capable of doing," he said. "The suicide bombers, et cetera, would not surprise me and we've already found out that they're going to try and step up their attacks and try and do things in a more spectacular fashion so that they can erode the support of the Maliki government."
.................................................

Same comment Charlie Black made that caused such uproar.  Was in the news for days.

He is predicting a terrorist attack on Americans. This is fear mongering at it worst.

Where is your reporting of the comment?  Is it not newsworthy? Where is the moral outrage?  Most importantly, where is your journalistic integrity?
So grim Phil Gramm apologized to McCain.  That's nice.  Where is his apology to the hard working Americans who are called whiners?  This reconcillation is as predictable as rain falling down.  Why?  McCain does not want people to know how uninformed he is on economics and he needs Gramm to be his "answer man." The trouble is the "answer man" is the guy who helped create the energy and housing mess we are now in. Gramm is the last person anybody should go to to get economic information.  None of this helps McOLD.  In McCain's case the light at the end of the tunnel is a TRAIN.
Candidates have to be all 'Politically Correct' and not offend anybody. But a facts a fact. There are a lot of whiny people, and mostly on the left. We are not in a recesssion, are not going to be in a recession (unless Obama wins), and we'll get through this slowing of the economy just like we always have in the past. Nobody likes whiners and people that are not optimistic - hence liberals don't have many conservative friends. Liberals like the misery of like minded whiners.
I always enjoy coming to this blog. It's all postitive stories for Obama, all of the time. I like to be sheltered from reality, and this blog fits the bill for me. It's the same reason I like to watch Keith Olbermann.
Its a continuation of the sad slide away from what made McCain McCain - as in his straight-talking party maverick reputation. Now he's becoming just another Republican.

I guess the party pressures were too great on a presidential nominee. He and other senators withstood those pressures from Capitol Hill, but I guess the party's ability to corrupt is amplified when you're running a national campaign as its standard bearer.
McCain Surrogate: Muslims are "going to kill us"

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16245.html#more-16245

Guess we don't have to wonder how Sen. McCain will use his time while Sen. Obama is abroad anymore - he's going to be hoping no one notices he and his surrogates stumbling all over themselves - a preview of a McCain Administration?

Scary.
It is too bad he didn't implement these evasive maneuvers when he got shot down in Vietnam.  It would have saved him a lot of foxhole trauma.

More priceless even than his comments were Carly Fiorina's on MTP, "I think Senator McCain has been VERY clear about Senator Gramm".  Denigrating another country with a lame joke is not being clear.  He's either IN or he's OUT.  No shades of gray.  State your position, for the record.

Yeah, whatever.
OMG - more deceit from a deceitful party.

No way - No way ....No way ...can’t I say it enough...no way - he comes even close to winning this Presidential election.  

No way. Liars - nothing but Liars ...it's would be unbelievable in any other circumstance.  But - with the Bush/Cheney party....I am not surprise.

Thank you and GOD BLESS AMERICA
Keep him right where he is; that way we can squeeze them all until their political heads explode.....then he can be ambassador to Czechoslovakia.
The world is certainly a scary place for liberals.
....Texas senator remains a "trusted friend of the campaign."


LOL! What a joke!!!!


Obama/Biden '08
phil gramm has apologized to mccain but wont apologize for his statements.  he need to be apologizing to Americans for call us whiners and mentally stupid

mccain not disavowing comments about muslims
http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/guess-whos-surrogate-said-the-muslims-are-going-to-kill-us/
or
http://sensico2.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-blogs.html
Me too, Lenny, I pretend Obama is ahead in the polls, and got over $50million last month. Then I tell the clouds that the person who designed McCain's economic policy called Americans whiners for complaining about $4 dollar gas during an economic downturn accompanied by record high foreclosures. Ahhh...nice. Now I'm picturing Obama being hailed like JFK in Germany. Who needs weed, when there's FirstRead. (Should be their new slogan)
And when asked whether Gramm would possibly serve as Treasury secretary in a McCain Administration, the presumptive GOP nominee replied, "I think Sen. Gramm would be in serious consideration for ambassador to Belarus, although I'm not sure that citizens of Minsk would welcome to that."

----------------------------------------------

I don't get it...was this supposed to be funny?

Better question...

Does Uncle Fluffy even know where Belarus is?
Good Lord, I just lost my job! Pink slipped on a Friday. Something about spending to much too much time on blogs. Now I'm voting for Obama.
As reported by the Huffington Post:

Bud Day, a McCain surrogate and member of Swifboaters for Truth,
defended the war in Iraq, saying, "The Muslims have said either we kneel or they're going to kill us.''
…………………………………………………………………..

No coverage by First Read.   Not even a mention.  

McCain did not even distance himself from them.  

How could he?   He made similar remarks a few minutes ago.

What does it take for FR to post for comment some of the most outrageous, inflammatory, racist comments made in this campaign
Obviously he's part of the campaign....McSame campaing is a mess, they have a bunch olf OLD idiots around the main village idiot Mcsame. How sad for the republicians, they must be embarassed
Wonder if McSame will help Gramm producer some more porn? Or invest in UBS?
I agree with JessicaElaine above. "Back" implies he went somewhere. Maybe under a rock for a month, but that's it. Phil Gramm is responsible for the mortgage crisis people face today......you want THIS man to come anywhere NEAR the current failing economy? Obama '08!
McCain the insane - Mcsane the McBlame - McBlame with not shame.

John McCain - thinks that his POW status is going to help win him the election - or help him steal it.

NOT THIS TIME - I see John McCain has a negative AD OUT also.

Time for moveon.org to do a swiftboat attack on his Military Service and bury him.  

Fight dirt with dirt....you are going down ..again

John McCain
McCain has proven once again he is losing it.

Predicting that terrorists attacks will increase during this campaign is quite an ignorant statement if he is trying to use the same to increase his support for President. If anything his stance should be that there will be few if any terrorists attacks here in the U.S. or even Iraq because the terrorists know that such attacks would increase his support and decrease Obama's. Therefore, the terrorists will chill until Obama is elected and then all hell will break loose because they see him as weak compared to Mccain who is a war hero and who knows how to win wars. By predicting that terrorists activities will increase during the campaign is counterproductive to McCain's claim that the terrorists support Obama. If he wants the Amercian people to think that the terrorists want Obama to win the election then why in the world would they increase their terrorists attacks that would most likely then increase support for McCain's candidacy. Am I missing something here?
Check out the prize Gramm was awarded today by BuzzFlash for his economic hypocrisy: http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/honors/063
Isn't Gramm the Congressional point man for USB, the bank of United States of America's tax evaders?
Ira, Freehold, NJ (Sent Friday, July 18, 2008 4:19 PM)

It's because Tim Russert, GRHS, is no longer at the helm.  Chuck Todd's wife works for McCain campaign, and therefore slants that way....with no one to check him or this group.  MSNBC is as bad as FOX.
Phil Gramm said what McCain and his supporters all believe, only he said it out loud during a campaign.  Because McCain is campaigning, he only says what is required to mislead the gullible into voting for him, all the while never intending to actually do anything he says he'll do.  Of course Gramm is "back", he epitomizes current Republican power structure attitude, philosphy, policy intent.  Why should he care about regular folks, when elected office is most useful for enriching one's self and cronies ?
Obama is just another democrat, will say anything to win.  Phil Gramm was right, we have become a nation of whiners, especially the younger people (20 to 35 yrs of age) who think the government owes them everything.  When will the liberals see that light and realize thatlarge government is not the answer but the problem.  Remember what JFK said, "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Pete, it's next to Czechoslovakia!
Another McFlip ... is it actually a flip-flop if you just cannot remember what you said a few days ago ? It's kind of new to McCain. We have to be fair.
So he's going to run his economic policies, just not on TV. Brilliant!

Carly Fiorina, who has, let's be honest, played fast and loose with the facts, tried to sell the story on Meet the Press that Gramm was gone with impunity, never to return. This campaign is derailing right in front of us.
Gramm spearheaded efforts to pass banking reform laws, including the landmark Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999, which modernized Depression-era laws separating banking, insurance and brokerage activities. Between 1995 and 2000 Gramm, who was the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, received $1,000,914 in campaign contributions from the Securities & Investment industry.

Gramm was one of five co-sponsors of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which critics blame for permitting the Enron scandal to occur.

At the time, Gramm's wife was on Enron's board of directors.

In December 2002, Gramm left his Senate seat a few weeks before the expiration of his term so that his successor, fellow Republican John Cornyn, could gain seniority over other newly-elected senators.

He is the most senior economic adviser to John McCain's presidential campaign and has been since summer 2007.

Gramm Quotes:

"Has anyone ever noticed that we live in the only country in the world where all the poor people are fat?" — During his first Senate Campaign against Democrat Lloyd Doggett.

"Most people don't have the luxury of living to be 80 years old, so it's hard for me to feel sorry for them." - In response to a claim that a Social Security proposal would hurt people over 80.

"We're going to keep on building the party (the Texas Republican Party) until we're hunting Democrats with dogs." — As quoted in Mother Jones, August'95

"If you are willing to tackle the tough issues, you don’t need to worry about stepping on anyone’s toes; they will stand aside and shove you to the front.” — As quoted by former Gramm staffer Wayne A. Abernathy September 12, 2002, before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

"I have as many guns as I need, but I don't have as many guns as I want."

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he said. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy."

This is one of many similar minds that McCain listens to. Now, mind you, I'm not saying McCain *remembers* what they say, but Gramm is a spokesperson for McCain, despite his denial of such.

No Bush Third Term!
http://nobushthirdterm.com
Phil Gramm and his 'Hollywood values'...


From thenation.com:

'...Gramm's journey into porn began in 1973, when his brother-in-law, George Caton, rushed to tell him about an exciting low-budget soft-core production called "Truck Stop Women." A promo poster for the film boasted of its buxom stars: "No Rig Was Too Big For Them To Handle." Caton, who was in charge of fundraising for the production, asked Gramm to become an investor. To entice his brother-in-law, Caton showed him scenes of Playboy Playmate of the year Claudia Jennings displaying her bare essentials (she is naked throughout much of the film).

These scenes "really got Phil titillated," Caton told journalist John Judis in 1995. Gramm enthusiastically cut Caton a check for $15,000. Because the film was oversold, however, Caton returned his brother-in-law's money, offering him an investment opportunity in an upcoming feature.

The following year, Gramm sent Caton a check for $15,000, this time to finance the production of "Beauty Queens," a soft-core flick about pageant judges having sex with contestants. But at the last moment, the director of "Beauty Queens," Mark Lester, decided to shelve his production to make the sequel to his "Tricia's Wedding," a comedy starring the drag queen troupe, The Cockettes.

Gramm contributed at least $7500 towards the sequel, a satire of the Nixon White House called "White House Madness" that featured the crazed president wandering around the White House in the nude. Gramm never saw that money again. Shot in ten days on a soundstage crudely modeled after the Oval Office, "White House Madness" tanked at the box office.

Like the rest of Gramm's endeavors, his soft-core porn career was a complete disaster....'





;
Has anybody asked McCain or Graham about his bill he put through to get rid of all of the regulations with these banks? Huh? Oh, I forgot, we can't do that. That might hurt Wall Street, and we are learning who is running my country, aren't we? And did I hear that John McCain has hid his service record, just as Bushy did?
....Texas senator remains a "trusted friend of the campaign."


LOL! What a joke!!!!


Obama/Biden '08
Eric, Indiana (Sent Friday, July 18, 2008 4:15 PM)
----------------------------------------------------

He(Graham) may be a trusted friend to the campaign, but he is an economic and moral traitor to the american people.

McCain is bought and paid for by lobbyists and greed.

Obama 08
"Phil Gramm does not speak for me; I speak for me," McCain said.

Gramm is still whining for McCain, though, right?
Typical McCain he talks about responsibilty but does nothing about it.  Phill Gramm is to valuable of an economic advisor to be thrown under the bus.  Besides the press did not make a big deal about those "whinning Americans" so come back Phil and provide more of your insightful comment like the other surrogates ( swiftboaters" muslims should be killed" to McCain is realy prolife though he is not Fiorina.  I am glad you and Bush are backing Obams's proposals for an Iraq withdrawl date and troop build up in Afganistan. You are the me to candidate.  
I want to see a pych evaluation on McCain and by the way folks... the reason the press keeps telling us the polls are close is because it's easier to steal an election thats close than to steal one thats a land slide. The only way to avoid the robbery this time around is to make sure we have a land slide!!! Otherwise McCain will be our next president and the neo cons will be pulling the puppets string...
If most of the whiners are on the Left, who are all these people who come here every day to complain about Liberals?
Perhaps Gramm was right? Then again, whining is routine for the lefties who don't get thier way.
In all fairness to Gramm, when his financial portfolio is making millions by the week from the oil speculation, he really doesn't understand what we are whinning about because of gas prices.  It hasn't hit him Yet, that he is benefiting at the expense of others.  
He will recoginize "our Pain" in November!
In all fairness to Gramm, when his financial portfolio is making millions by the week from the oil speculation, he really doesn't understand what we are whinning about because of gas prices.  It hasn't hit him Yet, that he is benefiting at the expense of others.  
He will recoginize "our Pain" in November!
It's a shame that McCain has sacrificed all of his principles for the sake of the gop nomination.  You are who you hang with - that makes mccain just a really slimey politician - not a maverick.


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