The press spin on McCain's latest "Iran" joke so far is truly laughable.

[ErinBerin84]

They are all whipped up in their defense of "Ah, silly McCain. He is so motherfucking AUTHENTIC!" The trouble is, they use this kind of attitude (the "aww, but he's so endearing!) to excuse him for EVERYTHING, not just awkward jokes- his numerous policy fuck ups and gaffes. I'm not really offended by the joke (even though it is offensive...if that makes sense) as I think it reflects how "out of touch" McCain is, his jokes just make him come off as the hawkish "get off my lawn" stereotype...kind of like the "screw those damn hippies!" ad of his that started airing yesterday. Maybe it plays with older voters, but I feel like it's just not relatable to people who are younger...not very modern.
Here is some of the press spin already. They are pissed that Mike Murphy is not coming back, as they are that the public is not neccesarily falling as in love with their "maverick!" as they are...

Politco- "McCain being McCain".

Jonathan Martin- "
No, it's not terribly PC and perhaps isn't the kind of thing most presidential candidates would utter. But it gets to exactly what people like about McCain -- he's authentic and does tend to behave in ways most presidential candidates wouldn't."
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/McCain_being_McCain.html

MSNBC first read:

"Killing them with laughter: McCain’s statement on Iran also came just hours after he told another joke about Iran, which raised some eyebrows (remember “Bomb, Bomb Iran”?). Talking to reporters at the lunch counter at Primanti Brothers Restaurant and Bar yesterday, NBC/NJ’s Matthew Berger reports, McCain was asked about the increase in US exports to Iran during the Bush Administration, with the largest export being cigarettes. “Maybe that’s a way of killing them,” McCain said, laughing, according to a pool report. “I meant that as a joke, as a person who hasn’t had a cigarette in 28 years.” Cindy McCain then corrected him -- it’s been 29 years. She also poked him in the back. According to the pool report, McCain aide Brooke Buchanan then walked over to senior adviser Mark Salter with a concerned look on her face and repeated the exchange… Some folks in McCain World may be trying to get McCain to stop the jokes, but the old McCain returned. Of course, this is the McCain the public fell in love with over the last few years, though the timing of the Iran news didn't help. Still, if McCain can't be McCain, then he'll lose some of his appeal."

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/


And I didn't watch Morning Joe this morning, but I read here that Chuck Todd similarly repeated the "but that's why people like McCain!" line. It was like his defense of the Charlie Black comment..."But he's such a straight talker, and now maybe that he's getting scrutinized, he won't talk to the press so openly anymore...."

[EV_Ares]

1. Yeah, I think Barack should make some kind of an ad showing McCain

singing "bomb-bomb-bomb Iran" and his joke about killing Iranians with cigarettes. Is this who we want for our President.

What an idiot and yes tht is what Chucky boy said, he usually tries to spin things in McCains favor.

[ClassWarrior]

2. They saw that making the candidate look like a bumbler lowered expectations...

...which allowed them to literally get away with murder. And now they're trying it again. It's a strategy. The big question is, will Progressives fall for it and feed it again? Or will we call out the bullshit this time around?

NGU.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Reminds me of Reagan "joking" about potential botulism in the canned goods

that Randolph Hearst gave away in California in order to negotiate with Cinque of the SLA to release his daughter and their hostage, Patricia Hearst. As Governor of California at the time, his remarks got press.

Here it is:
http://www.trivia-library.com/c/biography-of-us-president-ronald-reagan-part-13-quotes-and-quotations.htm

"It's just too bad we can't have an epidemic of botulism."--In response to the Hearst family's free food giveaway to the poor as partial ransom for their daughter Patricia, Kidnapped by the SLA terrorist group, 1974

[kentuck]

4. I saw Chuck Todd fawning over McCain funny comments ...

It makes you think he is the type of person you would want to have a beer with.....Well, I don't want to have a beer with the next President...

[grantcart]

5. "McCain being McCain" and that sound you hear is the collective groan of the Republican Party

and them taking out their scratch pads to start to plan for 2012

[pdxmom]

6. Yup, I heard them on Morning Joe saying that McSame was someone

the voter wants to have a burger with. Been there, done that. Look where that got us. I think it just reinforces the McSame=Bush theme.

[ErinBerin84]

7. ha, there is always just the quick "aw, shucks", and never the analysis

They can't even throw in a "Well, some people who have doubts about McCain and perceive him as hawkish could see his jokes as contributing to a pattern, so that could lend itself to a perception issue." Just the quick "Uh, move along people, nothing to see here. Pay no attention to the Man Behind the Curtain. He's adorable! Like a little monkey with an organ grinder!"

[Overseas]

8. In which of his seven estates do they want to have a burger with John Sidney McCain III ? //nt

[TwilightGardener]

10. Why, the beautiful ranch at Sedona, where the press whores DID have burgers with him.

[TwilightGardener]

9. McCain was an ass, said a stupid thing, media defends him as "authentic" and "mavericky".

A similar comment by Obama would have resulted in public stoning. Nothing new to see here, people, move it along, keep moving.

[NatBurner]

11. hilarious :/

the man is insane in the membrane

[invictus]

12. McCain is a sick piece of sh!t. n/t

[ErinBerin84]

13. McCain cracks a (Bad) Joke

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/07/09/mccain-cracks-a-bad-joke/

"Among John McCain’s many well-known traits: speaking his mind and making jokes."

[Thrill]

14. The Obama Campaign, should stop letting them getting away with this crap

I would have several surrogates out there on the news shows banging him for it. And a press release asking him to apologize

[ErinBerin84]

15. I don't even really care much about the joke, but the media spin is too funny!

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/associated_press_airbrushes_aw.php


Associated Press Air-Brushes Away McCain's Joke About Killing Iranians
By Greg Sargent - July 9, 2008, 11:59AM


Associated Press Air-Brushes Away McCain's Joke About Killing Iranians
By Greg Sargent - July 9, 2008, 11:59AM
Wow. The Associated Press' fluffing of John McCain is getting almost cartoonish at this point.

Yesterday the AP actually ran a story about a poll the news org did of pet owners, finding that they favor McCain over the "petless" Obama. Now check out how the AP head and subhed read on their reporting today on McCain's "joke" about killing Iranians:



And here's AP's lede...

"Cindy McCain's jab to her husband's back came a second too late Tuesday to keep him from making a wisecrack about the health impact of Iran's main import from the United States: cigarettes.
Right, the news here is that McCain and his wife bantered playfully -- and that McCain made a "wisecrack" about cigarettes. "

Um, AP, the joke was about killing Iranians. Asked about increased exports to Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said: "Maybe thats a way of killing them." The joking about killing was the news here.

Separately, it turns out that the AP's poll findings yesterday that pet-owners prefer Mccain are not only absurd, but thoroughly bogus, too. Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal has the must-read take-down.

Worse and worse.