I had a chance to jump on a blogger only conference call for about thirty minutes this morning with Senator John McCain. The McCain camp has been great about reaching out to bloggers regularly and inviting us to call in and ask questions.
What most impressed me was Senator McCain’s closing comments in which he expressed appreciation for the work bloggers are doing in promoting political discourse – whether in agreement or not. The frank conversation that occurred on the call made it clear that anything could be discussed. Sure, we were all bloggers from the right, but believe me, just because we’re all on the same team does not mean that we all agree – especially when it comes to strategy, tactics and message.
This was evident in the conversation that was revisited and then revisited again and again regarding Senator McCain’s request to the North Carolina GOP to not run an Obama attack ad based on Obama’s longstanding relationship with controversial minister Jeremiah Wright.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72B3tUAqpo4]
It was clear that several bloggers on the call thought that the North Carolina GOP should run the ad.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXxkctYRAZQ]
However, Senator McCain did not waiver in his beliefs, instead he remained steadfastly respectful that it should not run as it distracted from the issues which really deserved focus. He also acknowledged that it was a request on his part, but that the North Carolina Republican Party was free to do what they wanted.
One of the issues Senator McCain felt was more deserving of attention was the empty promises made by the Democrats in 2006. For example this from an email I received the other day:
On the two-year anniversary of Speaker Pelosi’s pledge that “Democrats have a commonsense plan to bring down skyrocketing gas prices,” gas prices have set another new record, with regular unleaded clocking in at $3.556/gal., according to AAA. The average price of gas has gone up $1.25 – more than 50 percent – since the beginning of the 110th Congress.
The warming weather always means an opportunity for families to spend sometime together usually on a road trip. Unfortunately, the prices at the pump may put that time honored family tradition out of reach for many Americans. Senator McCain has proposed a rather simple solution, a tax holiday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. However, Senator Obama, once again proving he is out of touch with regular Americans, is opposing this tax holiday.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BKLr4eUWKY]
This is not something that benefits the rich, since they are more likely to fly to their vacation destination. Instead, this is a direct affront to the working American families. Those who are going to feel the crunch at the pump the most. It looks like Senator Obama is committed to giving working Americans in small towns across the country a reason to be bitter.