McCain speech at motorcycle gathering (merger) - Page 3 - U.S. Politics Online: A Political Discussion Forum

chassisman · #31 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angry American

Oh, don't get me wrong, I really don't see anything wrong with McCain speaking at Sturgis. I wish more politicians would have the balls to show up at events like Sturgis--damn the consequences. And as opposed to Obama's Berlin event, at least the crowd at Sturgis will be full of voters. I really only brought this up as a tongue-in-cheek juxtaposition to critics of Obama's speech, claiming that the crowds came for free beer or music or some other reason than to hear him speak.

I'm sure McCain will find many sympathetic ears today, let's just hope he keeps his senior moments to a minimum.

I'd like to see Obama speak at Sturgis.

Steve · #32 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by chassisman

I'd like to see Obama speak at Sturgis.

Hehehehehehe... that would be funny...

TheLastBoyScout · #33 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angry American

Now if this ain't the icing on the cake, John McCain will give a speech at Sturgis today. This is probably the only time McCain will be speaking in front of a large crowd. I guess if you're gonna upstage Obama, this is certainly gonna do it.

What's next a hookers ball?

Hmm.... mass public drunkenness, women flashing their boobs at random .....

I've known people that have gone and Surgis sounds like a good time, but it's probably inappropriate for a president or presidential candidate to go. Not exactly a family values venue.

It kind of fits McNasty's style, though. Perhaps this is what Carol McCain meant when she said John just wanted to be 25 instead of 40.... Now, it would seem he wants to be 25 instead of 72.

chassisman · #34 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheLastBoyScout

Hmm.... mass public drunkenness, women flashing their boobs at random .....

I've known people that have gone and Surgis sounds like a good time, but it's probably inappropriate for a president or presidential candidate to go. Not exactly a family values venue.

It kind of fits McNasty's style, though. Perhaps this is what Carol McCain meant when she said John just wanted to be 25 instead of 40.... Now, it would seem he wants to be 25 instead of 72.

Yeah, those people are just trash! Bad idea, like deciding to speak to those horrible ghetto people or the undereducated............

AjaxPress · #35 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by chassisman

Yeah, those people are just trash!

Why do conservatives hate Americans? It sounds like a place to have a good time. It's like going to a strip club to have some fun.

TheLastBoyScout · #36 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by chassisman

Yeah, those people are just trash! Bad idea, like deciding to speak to those horrible ghetto people or the undereducated............

Were McCain not running for president, he might fit right into that crowd.

He could be another balding old dude who paid $20,000 for a motorcycle so that he feel look cool and get teased by young loose women.

Nothing wrong with that. People can do what they want. I never said it makes them undereducated or ghetto. A lot of people who go to Sturgis are businessmen who are highly educated who live in $500,000 houses. I know of few of them... They just like the "Stays in Vegas" lifestyle.... or at least the idea and appearance of it.

I just think this kind of thing would not sit well for "Values" voters or the Christian Right. But perhaps moral standards are selective.

Traveler · #37 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by AjaxPress

Why do conservatives hate Americans? It sounds like a place to have a good time. It's like going to a strip club to have some fun.

Which conservative have you seen who has bashed him for going?

Tim · #38 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angry American

Now if this ain't the icing on the cake, John McCain will give a speech at Sturgis today. This is probably the only time McCain will be speaking in front of a large crowd. I guess if you're gonna upstage Obama, this is certainly gonna do it.

:

What a strange thread.

This is campaign season. Both candidates - all candidates - have to make contact with potential voters in every state, as often as they can. They all do it. They don't have much of a choice.

This sort of snooty "those people are just scum" routine is left-wing arrogance at its most repulsive, also at its most self-destructive. However, I think Obama himself is smarter than that. He knows he has to win over many people who are not quite upper-crust if he is going to win. They both know that.

TheLastBoyScout · #39 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim

What a strange thread.

This is campaign season. Both candidates - all candidates - have to make contact with potential voters in every state, as often as they can. They all do it. They don't have much of a choice.

This sort of snooty "those people are just scum" routine is left-wing arrogance at its most repulsive, also at its most self-destructive. However, I think Obama himself is smarter than that. He knows he has to win over many people who are not quite upper-crust if he is going to win. They both know that.

That's a bullshit characterization and a strawman.

The OP's clear intent was to sarcastically complain about McCain giving a speech surrounded by bikini contests and music in response to the complaints lodged previously about Obama giving a speech after a rock concert where alcohol was served.

What your line of argument is attempting to do is trade an attack on the activities for an attack on the people. It's like saying "you hate the troops" because someone is opposed to the war. I call bullshit on that one.

O'Sullivan Bere · #40 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008

I think it's smart for McCain to speak to these kinds of crowds just like most others. I'd say the same for Obama too. And quite frankly, both have seemed willing to do it (McCain here, Obama almost sponsoring a NASCAR racer and insistent on speaking and running even in red states, etc) and I'm glad they are.

IMO, for too long, so-called 'white trash'--as chassisman has been parodying--have long been given the 'shut up, buy some respectable clothes and go shower and shave' attitude by politicians and their 'brain trust' for campaigners.

And whilst this is a generalisation, the GOP has long expected and courted them to vote for them, but on a 'vote but not to be seen or heard' attitude. Often times it courts them with low-brow and bumpersticker stuff, expecting them to be 'trash' who are dumb and proud dupes for it. And the Dems often assume the same thing about them and that they aren't worth courting because they are the 'GOP's knee jerk boorish base' if you will, etc.

And by my observations, so-called 'white trash' haven't been given much consideration on their life issues by either party as a result. The smart play is to respect them like any other voting group. If the GOP does it, then it will solidify its presumed advantages with substance and if the Dems do it they can grab inroads through substance.

Angry American · #41 (**permalink**) 08-05-2008

I'm still looking for video and pictures of McCain's visit to Sturgis, or the neighboring concert with KISS, and so far only found this heavily edited clip from FOX News, where McCain looks more like a stand-up comedian, than a Presidential candidate, IMO.

Watching the clip, I was expecting Cindy to take off her shirt to reveal a bikini, now that would have been noteworthy--then again if that had happened, nobody would have remembered John McCain was even there.

McCain rallies bikers at Sturgis

I really wonder why I can't find more reporting on this, if anyone else finds something, please post it here.

Angry American · #42 (**permalink**) 08-05-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim

What a strange thread.

This is campaign season. Both candidates - all candidates - have to make contact with potential voters in every state, as often as they can. They all do it. They don't have much of a choice.

This sort of snooty "those people are just scum" routine is left-wing arrogance at its most repulsive, also at its most self-destructive. However, I think Obama himself is smarter than that. He knows he has to win over many people who are not quite upper-crust if he is going to win. They both know that.

I made no such inference.

But you're more than welcome to argue your own points in your own head, but please do it in your own head; I'm not really interested in your fantasies.

Lost Soul · #43 (**permalink**) 08-05-2008

Quote:

McCain visiting motorcycle rally, nuke power plant By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Mon Aug 4, 10:42 PM ET

STURGIS, S.D. - Thousands of motorcyclists greeted Republican presidential candidate John McCain with an approving roar Monday as he sought blue-collar and heartland support by visiting a giant motorcycle rally.

"As you may know, not long ago a couple hundred thousand Berliners made a lot of noise for my opponent. I'll take the roar of 50,000 Harleys any day," McCain said, referring to Democrat Barack Obama's recent visit to the German capital.

Billed as the largest event of its kind in the world, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has become something of an annual bikers' Woodstock during the past 70 years. It features nine nights of entertainment, with bands including Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd and REO Speedwagon.

McCain played to a crowd that paused for a veterans salute. He criticized Obama for supporting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq while opposing efforts to reduce record-high energy prices.

"My opponent wants to set a date to come home. I want us to come home with victory and honor so we will never go back again," the Arizona senator said.

McCain also criticized Congress for adjourning for a five-week recess without approving a new energy plan.

"Tell em' to come back and get to work," McCain said, yelling into the microphone. "When I'm president of the United States, I'm not going to let them go on vacation. They're gonna become energy independent."

McCain was accompanied by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who has been mentioned as a potential running mate. He had warned the McCain campaign that a politician might receive an unfriendly welcome, but McCain relished the warm embrace.

His wife, Cindy, also paid tribute to the crowd, saying: "I'd like to thank all of you for your support of our troops, and here's why: I'm many things in my life, and one thing I'd like to be is your first lady. But more importantly, I'm Jack McCain's mother and Jimmy McCain's mother, one in the U.S. Navy and another one in the Marine Corps, an Iraqi vet."

Taking back the microphone, McCain joked that he wanted her to enter the beauty contest held at the site, the Buffalo Chip campground on the edge of town.

"I told her with a little luck, she could be the only woman ever to serve as both the first lady and Miss Buffalo Chip," McCain quipped.

Before landing in South Dakota, McCain visited the National Label Co. in Lafayette Hill, Pa. The 97-year-old, family owned business makes labels for products from medicines such as Tylenol to shampoos in the Suave family.

There, McCain focused on energy policy, telling reporters he has outlined an "all-of-the-above" strategy and mocking Obama's suggestion last week for improving automobile mileage, saying: "We're not going to achieve energy independence by inflating our tires."

On Tuesday, McCain aims to underscore his call for expanded nuclear power in the U.S. by touring a nuclear power plant in the battleground state of Michigan. That trip comes a day after Obama laid out his energy vision in a speech, also in Michigan.

McCain visiting motorcycle rally, nuke power plant - Yahoo! News

Glad to see McCain draw a large crowd at a usually rowdy bike rally. Heavy Bikers tend to be more conservative as they are usually older than the rice burners bikers.

jschmidt · #44 (**permalink**) 08-05-2008

Showing up at the Buffalo Chip during Sturgis (to get his biggest crowd ever) is like showing up at Dodger Stadium then claiming they came to see you.

And now, the funny editorial...

Quote:

Roast Pig Anyone? McCain Pimps Out His Wife in Sturgis
Todd Epp - 08/05/2008

I know if I had done this to Mrs./Dr. Epp, my lovely wife of 27 years, I’d be in the doghouse until 2015 or so.

While at the Buffalo Chip Campground near Sturgis for the Sturgis Bike Rally yesterday, putative GOP nominee John McCain essentially pimped out his wife Cindy to the rowdy throng.

Well, MSNBC’s “First Read” actually puts it best:

There is another stage that is also part of the festival, where KISS performed and where they were holding preliminaries for the Ms. Buffalo Chip beauty pageant — an often-nude affair.

That information is relevant, (NBC/NJ’s Adam) Aigner-Treworgy adds, as McCain joked during his remarks that he had encouraged Cindy to participate, so she had a chance at being the only lady to serve as both first lady and Ms. Buffalo Chip.

And as CBS News reported:

“I was looking at the Sturgis schedule and noticed that you have a beauty pageant and so I encouraged Cindy to compete,” McCain said to cheers from the (mostly male) crowd. “With a little luck, she could be on the only woman ever to serve as both the first lady and Miss Buffalo Chip.”

I can see wanting to seem like you’re one of the Peeps. But to offer your own wife to enter an often salacious and nude beauty contest? That’s pretty pig-like like, fellow babies, even to this less than enlightened male. It is particularly undignified for a Presidential candidate.

Can you imagine the uproar if Sen. Barack Obama had done something like this to Michelle?

It’s just ikcy. Roast pig, anyone?...

SD Watch

Lost Soul · #45 (**permalink**) 08-05-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by jschmidt

Showing up at the Buffalo Chip during Sturgis (to get his biggest crowd ever) is like showing up at Dodger Stadium then claiming they came to see you.

Like Obama and the free rock concert in Germany?

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