AOL "News" proved again today that it is a totally biased and useless source of political "news", and Politico.com proved itself less useful in real political analysis than, say, this blog.
The AOL Welcome page has a major headline: "McCain Remark Stuns Supporters".
What did McCain do? Did he admit to an affair with Elizabeth Edwards? Nope. He only said what anyone with a brain would have expected him to say: that former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is not disqualified from VP consideration because he is pro-abortion. McCain was ASKED that question, and there was never any chance he, or MOST politicians, would ever say that a position on abortion disqualifies someone from consideration as VP.
Why, then, are conservative "leaders" outraged (according to Politico.com? That is because there is a POWER STRUGGLE going on for the McCain VP choice. Conservative "leaders", and everyone else, realizes that McCain is over 70 and MAY NOT WIN. His VP choice may almost determine the direction in which the Republican Party is headed over the next few years. Conservatives have to do their best to convince McCain he does not dare spurn them. We know why AOL used the biased headline (see below), but we also know that anyone with a brain can figure out that conservative "leaders" HAVE to be "outraged", even though they could not have been surprised at all by McCain's "remark". The idea is to convince McCain NOT to name someone like Tom Ridge as the heir apparent to lead the Republican Party after McCain. It is a power game, as conservatives fight to salvage what they can from the McCain nomination.
Note this headline: "McCain remark stuns supporters". MORE accurate headline: "McCain Again Shows Independence"; or: "McCain Reaches Out to Indpendents"'; or: "McCain Shows "maverick" Streak"; or: "McCain Rejects Conservative Litmus Test". Yep, the way this story is presented merely reflects the BIAS of AOL "News". How could McCain "stun" supporters (conservatives) when we already KNOW he is not one of us. See my AOL blog, "The Maverick Conservative", about how McCain has no love for consrvatives, and is more willing to "reach across the aisle" to DEMOCRATS than he is to real conservatives (more than leftist Obama has EVER "reached across the aisle"). This is just part of the politics of the VP choice, which means a lot to conservatives--hence the attempt to influence McCain.
Yes, the VP choice is important to conservatives. I, for example, will not vote for McCain unless I really like the VP choice. I do NOT "really like" Tom Ridge. Romney MIGHT do it (depending on campaign). Jindal would probably do it. Few others mentioned would keep me from voting for Bob Barr, unless they campaigned in a way I do not expect (Governor of Minnesota, for example).
If you are going to write on politics, you have to do better than to be taken in by people trying to manipulate politics their way. If a person was REALLY "stunned" by McCain's "remark", that person has no business either being in politics or writing about it.
P.S.: It goes without saying that McCain's "remark" had nothing to do with who he will actually name as his VP. He is merely keeping his options open. It has been known for a long time that McCain likes Ridge, but that naming Ridge would "antagonize" conservatives. The "remark" also says nothing about McCain's position on abortion, where McCain has a solid pro-life voting record without having ever shown any passionate conviction.
1 comment:
I agree. I thought the headline was misleading and biased.
Dan
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