McCain Can’t Shed The Bush Stench

Source: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=440

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Could it be that we are seeing the first signs of panic from McCainville? Today comes news from Politico that a campaign shakeup has put Steve Schmidt in charge of day-to-day operations. Yet somehow, campaign manager Rick Davis still holds that title, and various reports conflict on exactly who is in charge now. This sounds similar to the disarray at the top that helped sink Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Meanwhile, McCain keeps trying to distance himself from the Bush presidency while trying not to enrage conservatives who can’t quite summon the courage to peel their Bush/Cheney 2004 stickers off their SUVs just yet. On Wednesday McCain offered a tacit indictment of Bush by admitting the economy is in “terrible shape,” which doesn’t sound like anything anyone in the Bush administration would be permitted to say publicly.
Yet no matter what McCain says, his actions speak louder than words. He has saturated his campaign hierarchy with operatives who worked in the 2000 and 2004 Bush campaigns or the Bush White House, buddies and cronies of Karl Rove, and of course Washington’s sleaziest lobbyists.

Schmidt is described in the Politico story as “a top communications aide in Bush-Cheney ‘04.” Also mentioned in the story as taking on higher profile roles for McCain are Matt McDonald, another Bush-Cheney campaign veteran; former White House spokeman Taylor Griffin; and Greg Jenkins, “a veteran advance man who ran presidential advance in the Bush White House” and “also an aide on Bush’s 2000 campaign.” Prior to the recent shakeup, McCain’s campaign hired former White House communications director Nicolle Wallace to helping coordinate its message.

As for Rick Davis, his White House ties go back to Ronald Reagan, but back in February Firedoglake.com called him a “uber-lobbyist” and exposed part of his embarassingly sleazy resume. Then we have Charlie Black, another key McCain advisor who recently made headlines for saying a terrorist attack would help his boss win the White House. Like Davis, Black’s ties go back to Reagan, but he also was college buddies with Karl Rove, and was an advisor and surrogate for the 2000 Bush campaign. Oh yes, and he also found time to serve as a key lobbyist for tobacco giant Philip Morris during the 1990s, successfully helping them fend off legislation and regulation.

So there you have it. McCain’s campaign looks, feels and smells like another George W. Bush reelection campaign. McCain can try to distance himself from Bush all he likes, but unless he is able to magically erase the resumes of his key advisors, the stench of Dubya’s failed presidency will keep following him around

– Theo Chen

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