McCain advisor Alex Castellanos: Sometimes it's accurate to call a woman a bitch

Less than two weeks ago, Cindy McCain pledged that McCain 2008 would not stoop to negative campaigning:

Mrs. McCain said that the upcoming campaign against either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton would not engage in negative tactics.

“We'd rather not win than to have to do that,” Mrs. McCain said. “That's not worth winning for. This is about being a leader and a person that can be a good example for our children, and a good role model. There's many, many, many more things to this job than just being the president. You are an example. You have to — you have to be better than that. You have to be.” [MSNBC]

Here's what McCain adviser Alex Castellanos said when CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin broached the issue of anti-Clinton misogyny, using a joke reprinted in the New York Times to illustrate the point. (The punchline of the joke labeled Hillary Clinton a "white bitch."):

"And some women, by the way, are named that and it's accurate," adding of Clinton, "[S]he is a tough -- that tough lady, tough in politics, that's been her great strength. But let's face it, she can be a very abrasive, aggressive, irritating person, and a lot of voters, I think, see her that way." [MediaMatters]

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In light of Cindy McCain's pledge to refrain from negative campaigning, you might be surprised to learn that Castellanos advises the McCain team on advertising. Castellanos, the father of the modern campaign attack ad, is shaping the public face of McCain 2008--when he isn't going on CNN as a contributor.

Castellanos is known for deploying the infamous "White Hands" spot against Jesse Helms' black opponent and for Bob Taft ads so misleading they were illegal. Another Castellanos claim to fame: Getting fired by Jeb Bush for negative advertising.

Castellanos an odd choice for John McCain, considering his previous claim that negative ads don't work. (And he should know.) I fully expect McCain to denounce Castellanos and fire him.
 

Comments

[vox]

LMAO !! sorry, that's all I have to offer but 'rather not win' WHO THE HELL does she think she is KIDDING??

LMAO !!
Cindy ... thanks, man. That's the best laugh I've had all day, Mrs. McRich Bitch.

[TB]

Yeah, you know what else is accurate Castellanos?

Saying that John McCain is a racist (called Vietnamese gooks in his book) who napalmed villages.

[The Phantom]

--Saying that John McCain is a racist--

Use that line of argument. See how far it gets you. Sensing a whiff of desperation that is most unbecoming!

[cfrost]

Alex Castellanos huh?
We'll see if Mr. Straight Talker can pull off the trick of lying down with dogs and not getting up with fleas.

[Margalis]

Calling Clinton a bitch is fair game but calling McCain a racist for being racist?

Low blow!

[parse]

vox, is the irony intentional, or did you miss the part of the post that suggests the calling a woman a bitch is a sign of misogyny?

[The Phantom]

Margalis

You may want to speak to some actual Vietnamese people. They actually have quite a high opinion of McCain.

The war was a terrible thing, and the Americans and others did what their country told them to do.

What they tend to remember is that after five years and more of being tortured in Hanoi, he didn't nurse his resentments. He was the key player, along with President Clinton, in the reconciliation with the Vietnamese nation.

He didn't have to do that, but he did.

Now, to call those the actions of a "racist" defies all logic.

If he is, we could use a few more just like him.

Y'all may need some new talking points.

[Autumnal Harvest]

You may want to speak to some actual Vietnamese people. They actually have quite a high opinion of McCain.

Really? All Vietnamese people? As always, I'm impressed by your ability to make sweeping generalizations about racial and religious groups. I don't actually think that McCain is a racist (or at least, I haven't seen any convincing evidence), but seriously, WTF is this? This is on par with "I'm not a racist, some of my best friends are black."

[The Phantom]

I've read widely on McCain, and on Ho Chi Minh and on the Vietnam War, and I've been to Vietnam, where I did have some good discussions with the people there. They spoke of McCain with respect.

The only times I've heard him called a "racist" were when some get-a-life types did so on this thread!

[cfrost]

With Obama being his presumptive opponent, McCain now has the opportunity to prove that he is not a racist. Will he rein in those on his team who will encourage him to blow the tried-and-true, GOP “Southern strategy” dog whistle to bring the flotsam of the Confederacy crawling out of the hollers, revival tents, and trailer parks to the polls?

[The Phantom]

cfrost

Have you been to the South recently?

I mean I know this is how many liberals/Dems view the South, but there's a bit more to the place than that....

[cfrost]

How did the black candidate just do in W. Virginia & Kentucky? The white candidate cleaned his clock. The South is not that exceptional, In the Pacific Northwest where I live, rural areas are basically the same, Obama’s Oregon win and the 75000 people rally in Portland notwithstanding. Black people in the rural areas here are not loathed to the same extent as in the South, owing to there just not being any around, but Latinos sure as hell are. If a presidential candidate with a name like Guerrero or Martinez toured the rural Northwest, his Secret Service detail would have its hands full. Racism is still very much alive in the USA, which is why McCain’s chances among certain crucial voting blocks are very good.

Which is not to say that McCain himself is a racist, but millions of white Americans will never vote for anyone black for president under any circumstance, and McCain can count on that.

[The Phantom]

Well, I think that the "black candidate" --which is not what Obama just wants to be known as--did a lot better with the whites in those two states than Hillary did in winning black votes in those or in other states.

And the KY and WV primaries came after Obama made the rookie error of insulting "bitter" people in small towns who "cling" to religion and firearms, in front of an auditorium filled with San Francisco smart alecks. You don't think that the people in WV/KY heard about that?

Damn that Fox news for reporting such things

[cfrost]

A rookie error it was, though with enough truth that it cut rather too close to the bone, which is why it caused such a dust up.

[The Phantom]

And I'm not saying you're entirely wrong on that. Have never understood the whole gun and "Second Amendment" fetish myself.

[TB]

"The war was a terrible thing, and the Americans and others did what their country told them to do."

Yes, yes ... he was only following orders. What a fine moral excuse that is, worked so very very well as a defense at Nuremberg didn't it?

"What they tend to remember is that after five years and more of being tortured in Hanoi, ... "

McCain wasn't tortured, he was subjected to coercive interrogation techniques, the same as the lawful detainees at Guantanamo.

He's racist because he referred to the Vietnamese as gooks. See, that's a racist phrase, like Kike or Wop.

Like this:

Sen. John McCain told reporters, "I hated the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live."

" ... in front of an auditorium filled with San Francisco smart alecks."

In in a house in Marin, dipshit.

Why are you even here?

Why should anyone, at this point in time, pay attention to anyone who says the things you do?

[Numad]

Because he's had conversations with Vietnam?

[The Phantom]

TB

I don't speak to you, whose mind was made up at the age of 5, but will speak to the thinking people who reside here.

I'd never use the term "gook" which I do indeed regard as a racist term as generally used. McCain however has said that his use of the term refers to the North Vietnamese guards, those who had methodically tortured him for five years.

I believe him when he says that this is his understanding of what the word is. I'd counsel him never to use it, because its a vile word, loaded ten times over, but if he were not to take my advice I would give McCain some slack on this, based on his very real and prolonged trauma, which no one here can possibly understand.

TB and all the little TBs out there are liars when they say that McCain is a racist. You've got a whole life's work out there that indicates otherwise, including his family's adoption of a Bangladeshi girl.

But especially as I think that there is a 100% chance it will backfire if you try to make an issue of this, I urge you to do so. Yes, John McCain is a racist, and he is the moral equivalent of those tried at Nuremburg. TB, you live in a parallel and fact-free universe, and I urge you to keep speaking, because you do McCain much potential good when you do.

But you were right on the house thing. Mi scusi.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

If McCain had been tortured by black prison guards, we'd still be shocked if he used the n-word to describe them. I haven't read that passage in his memoir, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe McCain and his ghostwriter Mark Salter were using the term for literary effect (e.g., to convey what was going through McCain's mind at the time). If someone who's being tortured succumbs to racist thoughts in the moment, I'm not going to hold it against them, people who are being tortured are totally unreliable. If McCain still uses the word "gook" unironically today these years later, that's totally inappropriate.

I haven't seen any evidence that McCain is a racist. He's not talking about immigration any more because it upsets his base, but he used to have some relatively cogent things to say about paths to citizenship, etc. By all accounts he's a loving dad to his Bangladeshi daughter Bridgette. He's done some good work on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Of course, McCain also did a lot of shameful stuff on the Indian Affairs Committee when it came to covering up the full extent of the Jack Abramoff scandal and giving Abramoff's lobby shop Greenberg Traurig a free pass--but that was about power and money, not race.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

On the other hand, McCain called this Rod Parsley his spiritual guide and actively sought the endorsement of Pastor "Hitler was just doing God's work" Hagee. I happen to think McCain is more of a hypocrite than a sincere hater of Semitic peoples. He's desperate to pander to the Neanderthal wing of the Republican party.

[TB]

"If McCain had been tortured by black prison guards, ... "

That's just what I was getting ready to point out, Lindsay.

[TB]

But getting back to Lindsay's post ... an advisor calls someone a bitch, McCain called his wife a cunt, McCain also agreed with a questioner who referred to Clinton as a bitch, how many lobbiests does he have working on his campaign? Are there still the two or three that he allows to make lobbying calls from the nominal "Free Talk Express"?

He sees no problem with staying in Iraq for 100 years (or 1000 or 10,000, which he said 4 times, twice and three times each, respectively), and he makes jokes about bombing Iran.

His level of duplicity and working at the behest of lobbying firms like a $20 hooker coupled with his lack of understanding the most basic facts (Sunni/Shia/Al-Qaeda etc.) make him a better candidate for a spot at Fox news than the oval office.

Face it, the only differences between John McCain & Duke Cunningham is that Cunningham was a better aviator and McCain is better at not getting caught in bed with lobbyists.

[voxy]

parse, I'm sorry I missed this. Yes, it was intentional irony.

I have a terrible sense of humor and it shows especially sharp around folks like the mccains.

thanks for asking (i thought the lmao was enough to display my .... BADNESS)

again, thanks for not assuming.

[The Phantom]

TB, you are beyond dishonest

There's no evidence that McCain called his wife anything, other than a Democrat party operative writing his first hit piece book, who won;t reveal his sources

You later quote McCain without context re the 100 years in Iraq bullshit. Here it is
in context. He says that so long as US personnel aren't being harmed, he's OK with a US presence remaining for "100 years", and he cites the US troop presence in Japan and South Korea as examples.

The US presence in Japan and Korea over 50-60 years has cost us little, and has done the world a lot of good. If things in Iraq improve so that we can have such a presence in Iraq for the next 90 years, we should all be happy.

He never said that he supported the current situation continuing for another 100 years. Only a tool would believe that, or repeat that.

[Autumnal Harvest]

The reason people quote the 100 years without the context is because the "context" is bullshit. Only a tool would believe that we could continue to occupy a Middle Eastern country for 100 years without continuing violence. This isn't even remotely similar to Japan, South Korea, or Germany, where we were occupy a friendly foreign nation against a neighboring enemy with distinct borders. Here, we're occupying a country that's both in a civil war, and where the the majority of the population is opposed to our presence, and much of the violence is aimed at removing our presence. Unless McCain is a complete idiot, he can't possibly think that the two situations are analogous in the slightest.