How can you vote for McCain? He doesn't send emails!

[bigred]

NEW YORK — John McCain is mocked as an out-of-touch, out-of-date computer illiterate in a television commercial out Friday from Barack Obama as the Democrat begins his sharpest barrage yet on McCain’s long Washington career.

The ad includes unflattering footage of McCain at a hearing in the early ’80s, wearing giant glasses and an out-of-style suit, interspersed with shots of a disco ball, a clunky phone, an outdated computer and a Rubix Cube.

“Today is the first day of the rest of the campaign,” Obama campaign manager David Plouffe says in a campaign strategy memo. “We will respond with speed and ferocity to John McCain’s attacks and we will take the fight to him, but we will do it on the big issues that matter to the American people.”
Yeah - like whether McCain uses email or not. :rolleyes: I half expect to see Obama doing a rap video any day now. Vote for him - he's hip, and by golly that's what matters!

[Drudgewire]

Someone should point out to Obama if the internet had any bearing on the electoral process we'd be looking forward to four years of President Paul. :p

[bigred]

Don't you mean President Gore? He should have won in a landslide......

[pgwenthold]

I think there is something to be said about whether a president is in touch with modern times and modern issues. Do we really want to use 1980s-type solutions to solve 2010s problems?

Would you trust a doctor who was still practicing the same medicine that was being done in the 1980s? You shouldn't. (and the AMA knows this - that's why they require doctors to continue their education, to stay on top of modern methods and practices)

[geni]

Someone should point out to Obama if the internet had any bearing on the electoral process we'd be looking forward to four years of President Paul. :p

I think obama has pulled more money from the net than Paul.

[liverleef]

Abraham Lincoln didn't even own a computer and look what a great president he was.

[bigred]

Exactly. I hear he didn't even own a car for pete's sake.

[Gurdur]

Exactly. I hear he didn't even own a car for pete's sake.

Or even a microphone.

Hellooooooo, this is all irrelevant.

[bigred]

Dinosaur.

[geni]

Exactly. I hear he didn't even own a car for pete's sake.

No but you might have beebn worried if he had never used a train.

[69dodge]

Abraham Lincoln didn't even own a computer and look what a great president he was.

The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation (http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/)

[Newtons Bit]

McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He's an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can't raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.


http://graphics.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/McCain_character_loyal_to_a_fault+.shtml

n certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate's savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. "She's a whiz on the keyboard, and I'm so laborious," McCain admits.

http://www.forbes.com/asap/2000/0529/053_print.html

Apparently the entire Obama campaign doesn't know how to use google before launching a new campaign ad.

[kallsop]

Apparently the entire Obama campaign doesn't know how to use google before launching a new campaign ad.


It makes you wonder what his 300 minders are getting paid for. Looking on the bright side though, perhaps Obama has moved on from trying to make his executive experience look almost as good as Sarah Palin's.

[Newtons Bit]

It makes you wonder what his 300 minders are getting paid for. Looking on the bright side though, perhaps Obama has moved on from trying to make his executive experience look almost as good as Sarah Palin's.

I have serious reservations about a man's leadership ability when he can't put together a team that can fact check something that is in the public domain.

[Cain]

Haha, McCain is old.

The Lincoln comparisons are invalid, by the way. Nobody contends that Lincoln needed a computer or an automobile to competently attend to the business of his day. There are evolving standards... unless you think Bush II has been adequate.

Also, the description of the ad in the parent posts sounds worse than it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ae409tJEI

[bigred]

racist.

[Oliver]

racist.


:confused:

[Just thinking]

Basically the ad has been debunked ... let's see how much longer it runs. To me that's the better litmus test.

[Darat]

How has the advert been "debunked"?

[Oliver]

How has the advert been "debunked"?


Well, maybe the Republicans just chose to ignore it. End of story. ;)

[Undesired Walrus]

It's just part of september's political diversions, demonstrated by 'lippygate'. Don't let it sway you either way.

[UserGoogol]

Even if he does have a perfectly valid excuse, (and I dunno, it's hard to judge these things from afar) people are really not giving the Internet the respect it deserves. The Internet allows for the dissemination of information in greatly expanded ways, and will influence society in unprecedented ways. (Although granted, modern sanitation was nice too.) Therefore, not being able to use the Internet is a minus (although not really a dealbreaker in of itself) regardless of whether he has a valid excuse.

Also, the description of the ad in the parent posts sounds worse than it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-ae409tJEI

Yeah, him not knowing how to use a computer does seem like it's put on the some level as him wearing stupid glasses in 1982, more a rhetorical flourish than really the meat of the ad.

[Newtons Bit]

I think it's pretty clear that McCain isn't a computer illiterate by choice. The Forbes article I posted above from 8 years ago shows that he was using email, just not himself. He understands the tools of computers and the internet. He was using them in the 2000 election effectively.

What this really boils down to is the Obama campaign saying that he can't use computers and blackberries and other gadgets. Well, yea. His fingers can't do it. You know, because of all that torture he suffered?

[Oliver]

I think it's pretty clear that McCain isn't a computer illiterate by choice. The Forbes article I posted above from 8 years ago shows that he was using email, just not himself. He understands the tools of computers and the internet. He was using them in the 2000 election effectively.

What this really boils down to is the Obama campaign saying that he can't use computers and blackberries and other gadgets. Well, yea. His fingers can't do it. You know, because of all that torture he suffered?


Nope, because he broke his arms several times while being ejected out
of his cockpit. Nevertheless: Who wants to have a candidate who doesn't
understand economics and todays technical world we're living in? - Someone?

[Newtons Bit]

Nope, because he broke his arms several times while being ejected out
of his cockpit. Nevertheless: Who wants to have a candidate who doesn't
understand economics and todays technical world we're living in? - Someone?

So after an enemy ejects you think it's NOT torture to stab them with a bayonet, crush their shoulder with the butt of a rifle, leave them tied up for days on end without giving them any medical care? HUH??!? :confused::confused::confused:

As far as economics, I can't find the Boston Globe article that the Obama ad is talking about. Perhaps it's an op-ed piece.

[Oliver]

So after an enemy ejects you think it's NOT torture to stab them with a bayonet, crush their shoulder with the butt of a rifle, leave them tied up for days on end without giving them any medical care? HUH??!? :confused::confused::confused:

As far as economics, I can't find the Boston Globe article that the Obama ad is talking about. Perhaps it's an op-ed piece.


I honestly think that McCains health issues regarding his arms are
primarily an issue of patriotically entering a cockpit in the first place.
And yes, I understand that the Vietnamese didn't treated those
injuries very well. That's what you should imagine going to happen
if you enter a cockpit and flying into a war zone.

I don't know what the BG claims since you didn't post a link to
that particular article - but taking McCains own words into account,
namely "I don't understand economics", says a lot about someone
seriously running for president. He surely had enough time to
prepare, didn't he?`

[UserGoogol]

I think it's pretty clear that McCain isn't a computer illiterate by choice. The Forbes article I posted above from 8 years ago shows that he was using email, just not himself. He understands the tools of computers and the internet. He was using them in the 2000 election effectively.

What this really boils down to is the Obama campaign saying that he can't use computers and blackberries and other gadgets. Well, yea. His fingers can't do it. You know, because of all that torture he suffered?

The Internet is not a mere "gadget." The Internet It is the most important institution of our era, redefining how people live and learn by allowing a global internetwork of information transfer. Being incapable of using the Internet is a severe disability comparable to being blind, cutting yourself off from a major part of the world. Of course, just as David Paterson has been able to be a somewhat decent governor of New York, it's quite possible that John McCain could also work beyond his disabilities (as he has shown himself capable of doing in other areas where his torture has effected him) but I cannot understand how you can treat the Internet with such disrespect.

[Brainster]

The Internet is not a mere "gadget." The Internet It is the most important institution of our era, redefining how people live and learn by allowing a global internetwork of information transfer. Being incapable of using the Internet is a severe disability comparable to being blind, cutting yourself off from a major part of the world. Of course, just as David Paterson has been able to be a somewhat decent governor of New York, it's quite possible that John McCain could also work beyond his disabilities (as he has shown himself capable of doing in other areas where his torture has effected him) but I cannot understand how you can treat the Internet with such disrespect.

Read what he wrote again:

What this really boils down to is the Obama campaign saying that he can't use computers and blackberries and other gadgets. Well, yea. His fingers can't do it. You know, because of all that torture he suffered?

[Newtons Bit]

The Internet is not a mere "gadget." The Internet It is the most important institution of our era, redefining how people live and learn by allowing a global internetwork of information transfer. Being incapable of using the Internet is a severe disability comparable to being blind, cutting yourself off from a major part of the world. Of course, just as David Paterson has been able to be a somewhat decent governor of New York, it's quite possible that John McCain could also work beyond his disabilities (as he has shown himself capable of doing in other areas where his torture has effected him) but I cannot understand how you can treat the Internet with such disrespect.

...

He's been using the internet in his campaigns since 2000. I think he knows what it is. His fingers can't use the gadgets that access the internet. There's a huge difference. Obama can't figure that out though.

[Jekyll]

...

He's been using the internet in his campaigns since 2000. I think he knows what it is. His fingers can't use the gadgets that access the internet. There's a huge difference. Obama can't figure that out though.

You could be right, let's look at some primary sources to see what McCain said way back when...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/johnmccain/2403704/John-McCain-technology-illiterate-doesnt-email-or-use-internet.html

When asked if he went online himself, the Arizona senator responded: "They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself.

After Mr McCain conceded that he did not use a BlackBerry or email, Mr Salter butted in to say: "He uses a BlackBerry, just ours." Mr McCain said: "I use the Blackberry, but I don't e-mail, I've never felt the particular need to e-mail.

So this is all new, and McCain used to claim that he could use a BlackBerry and he just didn't want to and that he would (soon) be able to use the internet by himself.

He was either lying then to cover up his ill-health or he's technologically illiterate.

[Whiplash]

No but you might have beebn worried if he had never used a train.

Only if you were a Democrat.

[Dragoonster]

The Internet is not a mere "gadget." The Internet It is the most important institution of our era, redefining how people live and learn by allowing a global internetwork of information transfer. Being incapable of using the Internet is a severe disability comparable to being blind, cutting yourself off from a major part of the world. Of course, just as David Paterson has been able to be a somewhat decent governor of New York, it's quite possible that John McCain could also work beyond his disabilities (as he has shown himself capable of doing in other areas where his torture has effected him) but I cannot understand how you can treat the Internet with such disrespect.

Knowledge of the Internet is not a requirement or even much of an aid for any executive. Presidents can appoint other skilled people to gather information and present it to him in reports. He doesn't need to read every paper, or watch CNN, or do Google source-checks himself. Doing so would actually be inefficient time management when he could easily delegate others to do this.

Exactly what internet skills are you seeing vital for a Prez to govern well? You paint a broad brush of how great it is, and it is great, but I really don't see the connection between 'net knowledge and governing as an executive with a huge staff.

The only validity would be that lack of knowledge is a telling symptom of being "behind-the-times". But you seem to be claiming a lot more than that.

Anyway, to the ad--it doesn't seem very inflammatory/smearish to me, but neither is its point very clear or well-presented. Kind of a "meh" from me. Hopefully though it's an indication the Obama camp is going to start getting tougher and finally step into the trenches.

[Just thinking]

How has the advert been "debunked"?

He has his wife send the e-mails for him as it's too cumbersome for him to type. So he certainly knows what they are and how to respond.

[Just thinking]

Well, maybe the Republicans just chose to ignore it. End of story. ;)

Or maybe he knows that having someone with much better dexterity do it for him is the best solution. It's much more efficient, no?

[Just thinking]

Hey wait ... can Obama fly an airplane? I mean, that technology's been around for, what ... a hundred years or so? Is Obama that far behind the times?

[Cain]

Yeah, him not knowing how to use a computer does seem like it's put on the some level as him wearing stupid glasses in 1982, more a rhetorical flourish than really the meat of the ad.

Yeah, the article makes it sound like they drudged up some picture of him looking like a fuddy-duddy, posing for the camera in a door way, giving the thumbs up.

As for using the Internet, I think John McCain already has people feeding him Wikipedia entries, so it's no big deal. Besides, I don't recall seeing President Bartlett on the computer too often.

I wonder if in 30 years we can expect people to find nominees' old Myspace pages. That will be so *********** awesome. S/he'll be posing in a dorm room with alcohol, throwin' up either the finger or gang signs while wearing sunglasses. The headline/quote for the page will read "Tha original mutha****a." His favorite book will probably be Rich Dad, Poor Dad and for favorite movies we can expect the latest Bruckheimer suckfest, Fight Club and 300.

[UserGoogol]

...

He's been using the internet in his campaigns since 2000. I think he knows what it is. His fingers can't use the gadgets that access the internet. There's a huge difference. Obama can't figure that out though.

There's a difference between leveraging the Internet in campaigns and accessing it directly. But still, I have to admit I got a bit worked up seeing you mock the Internet and computers like that, (I feel similar emotions to seeing people mock the Internet that a normal person might feel if their country was being mocked) and as such I might've been a bit over the top.

[Newtons Bit]

There's a difference between leveraging the Internet in campaigns and accessing it directly. But still, I have to admit I got a bit worked up seeing you mock the Internet and computers like that, (I feel similar emotions to seeing people mock the Internet that a normal person might feel if their country was being mocked) and as such I might've been a bit over the top.

I mocked the internet? WTF?