Jay began writing politically themed commentary and founded his blog, Swimming Freestyle, in October 2007. Here he'll write about politics from a progressive perspective.

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Showing entries for Category: Republicans

Shameful outbursts now common at McCain/Palin rallies

16 comments

October 7, 1:24 PM

by Jay McDonough, Progressive Politics Examiner

Partisan loyalty is normal. Folks don't typically go to campaign rallies unless they support the candidate and some will, obviously, have extreme loyalty to that candidate. But at what point does that partisan loyalty become a blinding hate of the opponent? At what point do the candidates have a responsibility to denounce hatred and villification of the opponent?

There have been a couple of disturbing events at recent campaign rallies for Senator McCain and Governor Palin. Even more of a concern than the outbursts is the lack of response from McCain and Palin.

At a Palin rally in Jacksonville, Florida, as Governor Palin was denouncing Barack Obama for what she claimed were comments denigrating U.S. actions in Afghanistan, a crowd member yelled out "Treason". The video is here.

At another rally yesterday, John McCain was speaking in New Mexico, attacking Barack Obama's character as usual and rhetorically asks the crowd "Who is the real Barack Obama". Someone from the crowd calls out "Terrorist". The Senator pauses, the crowd laughs and, without a reaction, McCain continues his speech.

At another rally Monday, a Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound technician for one of the television networks and told him "Sit down boy".

And yesterday, at a Sarah Palin rally, a crowd member can be heard yelling "Kill him" when Barack Obama is mentioned.

It's continuing today. At Governor Palin's rally today, a crowd member calls out "Treason" to describe Barack Obama. Video is here. No response from the Governor; she continues her speech. It's business as usual.

The McCain campaign is making a choice here. The Dow just fell another 500 points today. The McCain campaign, with Sarah Palin has chosen, rather than doing whatever they can to reassure Americans the economy is not in complete freefall, to spend all their campaign time demonizing their opponent. And, by following that course, encouraging exactly the kind of outbursts that are now becoming commonplace at their campaign rallies. And doing nothing to discourage it. And it will continue. In fact, it will get worse.

This is now the Republican Party. And the truly sad part; they're not ashamed.

Topics: Republicans , McCain , Palin

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12 Republicans switched their bailout vote because their feelings were hurt

5 comments

September 29, 2:38 PM

Whether you supported or opposed the big bailout proposal rejected by the House of Representatives today, one news item is particularly unsettling. Some 12 House Republicans (according to House leaders Boehner, Blunt and Cantor) decided to vote... Read More
Topics: Republicans , nonsense , Bailout bill

Democrats manage the economy better than Republicans

5 comments

September 18, 4:59 PM

Shocked? Well, of course you are. We've all been beaten over the head with the theory that Republicans, with all their talk about small government, pro-business policies, and low tax rates result in prosperity for the country. One can... Read More
Topics: Republicans , Economy , Democrats

"Here's Your Coat, What's Your Hurry?"

1 comment

July 5, 10:44 AM

How will the Republicans treat President Bush at the Party convention in September? There's some hand wringing within the Republican Party about how, on the one hand, to honor the Presidents service and, on the other hand, pretend they have no... Read More
Topics: Republicans , Bush , Convention

Republicans and the National Debt

1 comment

July 2, 8:55 AM

Yesterday, I wrote a short piece on the President signing the new war funding bill and expressed dismay that there was absolutely no mention of how the $165B was going to be paid. The thinking in Washington was, apparently, just borrow it...spend... Read More
Topics: Republicans , National debt , Deficit spending

The Genius of Karl Rove

8 comments

June 9, 9:38 AM

Rasmussen tracks party affiliation on an ongoing basis. The chart at left represents voters identifying themselves as Democrats, Republicans and Others (independents) from 2004 to present.Karl Rove, the "architect" of the "permanent"... Read More
Topics: Republicans , Rove

Old Dogs, Old Tricks

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May 14, 6:36 PM

Republican candidates have recently lost hold of solidly Republican seats in Illinois, Louisiana and, yesterday, Mississippi. Despite these results, the GOP strategy is to just continue to use the same strategy going forward:On a conference call... Read More
Topics: Republicans

The Bigger Story

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May 14, 8:36 AM

As noted, the Democratic primary last night in West Virginia was predictable. The bigger story was the runoff election between Democrat Travis Childers and Republican Greg Davis for Senator Roger Wicker's former House seat in Mississippi. (After... Read More
Topics: Republicans , Childers , Mississippi

The Republican Revolt

1 comment

May 12, 9:27 AM

Things aren't going well for the Republican party. The President seems to be flirting with the record for the worst polled presidential performance rating, historically Republican House districts have recently fallen to Democrats in Illinois and... Read More
Topics: Republicans , McCain , Paul , Barr

Can McCain Close the Deal?

3 comments

May 9, 1:07 PM

John McCain, presumptive Republican nominee, has some rough sailing ahead. In the last three Republican primaries, a quarter of the vote went to other candidates. Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee got a combined 27 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania... Read More
Topics: General Election , Republicans , McCain