Formula to Defeat the Man of Teflon

I am convinced that John McCain is coated in teflon. How else do we explain the soft treatment that he receives from the press? His consistent gaffes and constant demonstrations of gross misunderstanding of national and international affairs would have spawned a new network by now if his name was Barack Obama, or just about any Democrat for that matter.

Instead, McCain on a daily basis misquotes facts and statistics, If you're a betting man or woman, put your money on at least one large misstatement per day. His handlers, many from the Bush/Cheney regime and dozens of professional lobbyists, must all be pretty much bald by now from pulling their hair out of their heads. If I were a supporter of McCain, I think I'd watch him with one hand over my eyes and the other attempting to keep my ears covered as much as I could.

There are so many articles written about this issue, and this one is as good as any .http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/opinion/26herbert.html?ex=1217736000&en=d5d49dd878b1adb0&ei=5070&emc=eta1.

But the mainstream corporate media takes a hands-off approach. Last night on Larry King and on numerous other broadcasts, McCain listens to the questions and provides his pre-prepared messages without challenge. It is a rare occasion that his provocative attacks of Obama or his outright mistakes are even mentioned when he makes them. There are still some news people that have the ability to know what actual reality is, but they either choose to simply allow McCain to get his canned message out or they have been told to leave the man alone.

Barack Obama has no such restriction. It is time to peel the teflon coating off of John McCain. The McCain supporters and surrogates will attempt to reapply a brand new coat, temporarily protecting McCain from a good public scouring, but he must once and for all be finally scrubbed clean.

Let's face facts. McCain has learned very quickly. His attacks on Obama stick. The lies that he's very good at spouting out, no matter how meritless and despite a pledge not to run a campaign this way, have scored points on his opponent. The only way to combat these mean-spirited and unfounded attacks is to counter-punch, but in an intelligent and specific manner.

Just like Hillary Clinton, whose supporters cried foul when Obama even looked at her funny, McCain spokespeople are just ready to scream if their man is somehow characterized in any way but as a caring elder statesman whose long service to this country allows him to be given a pass no matter how severely he screws up or demonstrates his ignorance on a whole host of issues.

No, this is a tough nut to crack, but it must be done. And quickly! The American public, particularly the younger sectors, are tiring of this topic. And why shouldn't they at this point? It seems like it's been going on for two years now. Oh, it has? It is imperative that Barack stir the pot and in a very subtle but pointed way bring up issues where McCain is vulnerable. In other words, McCain must be pressed every day until the Republican National Convention with questions that are put forward by either Obama or one of his spokespeople.

It is time to expose John McCain to the rest of America. We all know about him already, but people don't believe something unless they see it on TV, and these challenges to McCain's status quo must be coming out of the mouths of Katie Couric and George Stephanopolous as much as they consistently come out of Keith Olbermann's and Rachel Maddow's.

I can't express enough admiration and respect for the way that Barack Obama has run his campaign, always taking the high road, respectfully letting McCain's daily attacks roll off his back, just pointing out that McCain's choice of words is unfortunate or surprising, but with less than 100 days until the November election, it is now time to rachet up several notches on the "here's the truth" scale and let McCain have it.

I don't want to live through another four years of George Bush. I can't watch two or three new Supreme Court justices turn the Court too far right for generations. This country cannot survive economically, both domestically and internationally, with a McCain at the helm. There are about two dozen issues just off the top of my head that need immediate attention, and only a President Obama will even attempt to tackle these outrageiously vital issues.