I've never started a political thread before, but WOW

[TCPluto]

He doesn't type his own e-mails.....so he isn't qualified to be POTUS? Does anyone realize how silly this sounds?

The left doesn't. It's a plank in their platform!

 

[Geoff_M]

Apparently he can use a cell phone just fine, small buttons and all. Although, considering the source of the story & pictures is from the Huffington Post, I'm sure there'll be one person claiming everything was photoshopped.

Ever heard of voice command dialing? Also, are you trying to say that pushing a couple of speed dial buttons is the same, effort wise, as composing your response above?

 

[DISUNC]

Excellent points. It must be a Michigan thing.

With adaptions, he absolutely could key data. But the adaptation could likely be very time intensive. Much easier and faster to have his wife do it.

Maybe Mr & Mrs McCain like 'playing' the whole Boss/Secretary thing!
This may be more of a foreplay issue than an ignorance of the PC issue!

 

[Serena]

The people that approved that ad, just didn't think it through. They should have known better. They should have known that there are many people with different viewpoints, and frankly, since I can see that it was a bad ad, the people he pays to advise him, should have. And since they are the ones Obama has working for him, that is not a good sign.

 

[Serena]

Maybe Mr & Mrs McCain like 'playing' the whole Boss/Secretary thing!
This may be more of a foreplay issue than an ignorance of the PC issue!

Oh thank you, I needed that.

 

[Brianne]

Ever heard of voice command dialing? Also, are you trying to say that pushing a couple of speed dial buttons is the same, effort wise, as composing your response above?

Sure, would you care to discuss my fibromyalgia, the constant pain I'm in, and the mass of medications I must take daily, yet I still manage to type? For me, typing is far easier than using a pen or pencil; anything more than signing my name can cause severe pain in my fingers for the rest of the day.

Don't always assume that the person on the other end is a fully healthy person, eh?

 

[LoraJ]

Everyday, I read a post and think to myself "Now I've heard everything!" and then the next day, I read something even more absurd. It's like frickin Groundhog Day around here. (Wednesday had the Republicans screeching about pigs and lipstick. Thursdays absurdity was some Democrats with their knickers in a twist because some of the stirring words in Sarah Palin's speech about small town were originally written by an anti-Semite.)

I've seen the ad. We see a lot of American ads through Michigan and New York stations. Obama was certainly not poking fun at McCain's disability, but rather showcasing, in McCain's own words, that the Republican candidate is out of touch with most of the American electorate. Technology and internet use and access has changed the face of the world. I see it every day in my profession. People have access to more information and resources. A presidential candidate who does not possess the basic skills to use the internet could be perceived to be old fashioned and out of touch with the lives and interests of the younger voters. The message was simple: "Vote for me because I am young and hip and I understand you. This old fart doesn't even know how to send an email, and he wants to wants to give tax breaks to the rich. He doesn't understand middle income America. Vote for me!"

Some of you are just being deliberately obtuse. It is really hard to scream that Obama is belittling a man for his disability, when he is quoting the man himself.

Couldn't have said it better.
It was a commercial abotu how out of touch McCain is, comparing him to how out of touch Bush is and also took a jab at him saying he doesn't understand the economy.

Maybe people should actually WATCH the commercial before making false assumptions about it.

 

[amyhughes]

Uh, ya... He'll be connected like Bush was connected when the terrorists were crashing planes into buildings. That gives me lots of comfort.

I really don't know if that is a door that you want to open...

 

["Got Disney"]

Couldn't have said it better.
It was a commercial abotu how out of touch McCain is, comparing him to how out of touch Bush is and also took a jab at him saying he doesn't understand the economy.

Maybe people should actually WATCH the commercial before making false assumptions about it.

There are other ways to state that someone is out of touch than by using the examples they did....

 

[TLSnell1981]

The new, "Gaffe King" just can't help himself.

 

[TCPluto]

Maybe Mr & Mrs McCain like 'playing' the whole Boss/Secretary thing!
This may be more of a foreplay issue than an ignorance of the PC issue!

Do you suppose he has her sit on his lap and tak dicktation?

 

[smartestnumber5]

Excellent points. It must be a Michigan thing.

With adaptions, he absolutely could key data. But the adaptation could likely be very time intensive. Much easier and faster to have his wife do it.

Nope not a MI thing as I live there too.

I don't think anyone is pointing out his not doing the typing as being an instance of computer illiteracy. Rather it's when he says this:

He said, ruefully, that he had not mastered how to use the Internet and relied on his wife and aides like Mark Salter, a senior adviser, and Brooke Buchanan, his press secretary, to get him online to read newspapers (though he prefers reading those the old-fashioned way) and political Web sites and blogs.

“They go on for me,” he said. “I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need.”

Asked which blogs he read, he said: “Brooke and Mark show me Drudge, obviously. Everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics.”

At that point, Mrs. McCain, who had been intensely engaged with her BlackBerry, looked up and chastised her husband. “Meghan’s blog!” she said, reminding him of their daughter’s blog on his campaign Web site. “Meghan’s blog,” he said sheepishly.

As he answered questions, sipping a cup of coffee with his tie tight around his neck, his aides stared down at their BlackBerries.

As they tapped, Mr. McCain said he did not use a BlackBerry, though he regularly reads messages on those of his aides. “I don’t e-mail, I’ve never felt the particular need to e-mail,” Mr. McCain said.

He doesn't appear to be talking about use of a keyboard/mouse here. Rather it sounds like he is just learning how to use the internet--how to "get the information I need."

That is what the ad seems to be getting at. (And in fact the ad specifically cites this news article when it mentions his computer illiteracy.)


In any case, I notice a lot of the people who think the ad might be offensive are already McCain supporters. It really doesn't matter if the ad offends McCain supporters since they're already not going to vote for him. Offensiveness would only matter if the ads offend the very small group of undecided voters in the swing states or offend people who were going to support him and are now going to change their minds. I doubt anyone who was going to support him is going to change their mind because he criticized McCain for not caring to use 15 year old technology. So really this ad, like every other one is only for the swing voters. (And that is probably no one on this thread.)

 

[Geoff_M]

As for the ad, I'm willing to bet that it was more in response to what McCain stated at the Forum last night in regards to him being divorced from the average person. I do think Obama's campaign should've been a bit more careful with how the ad was set up or shot, especially considering how sensitive people seem to be about things lately.

I'm sure you're right on this, but again, McCain didn't admit that he was "divorced"... he said (emphasis mine): “Listen, mayors have the toughest job, I think, in America. It's easy for me to go to Washington and, frankly, be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have.” In another words, when you're the Mayor you have a tougher job because you are closer to the problems that people are dealing with and those of us here in Washington sometimes are. That's not an admission of "Hey, I really out of touch, you know!"

 

[WonderfulDreamer2]

Sure, would you care to discuss my fibromyalgia, the constant pain I'm in, and the mass of medications I must take daily, yet I still manage to type? For me, typing is far easier than using a pen or pencil; anything more than signing my name can cause severe pain in my fingers for the rest of the day.

Don't always assume that the person on the other end is a fully healthy person, eh?

So you have a hard time with your fibromyalgia. Let's not get into not wanting to, having family obligations, or anything like that. Would you rdiscomfort in using a pen/pencil keep you from running or being president on those factors alone?

 

[FayeW]

[QUOTE="Got Disney";27543981]There are other ways to state that someone is out of touch than by using the examples they did....[/QUOTE]

The only people who would find fault with the examples they used are A) the minority of American voters who do enough research to know that McCain has trouble using a keyboard due to POW injuries (but apparently he can use his index finger to dial a phone) and B) Republicans who weren't going to vote for Obama anyway.

 

[Serena]

I am one of those swing voters. I don't know who I'm voting for yet. I just watch, wait, read and decide when I'm ready.

 

[TCPluto]

Couldn't have said it better.
It was a commercial abotu how out of touch McCain is, comparing him to how out of touch Bush is and also took a jab at him saying he doesn't understand the economy.

Maybe people should actually WATCH the commercial before making false assumptions about it.

Perception is reality. I think BO and his supporters are unhappy with the reality they're creating.

I say keep it up BO. We're doing ok without your help, but we'll take anything you want to offer in assistance!

 

[Carpenters]

I think Paris Hilton said it best. “Hey America, I'm Paris Hilton and I'm a celebrity too. Only I'm not from the olden days and I'm not promising change like the other guy. I'm just hot!”

She adds: “But then that wrinkly white-haired guy used me in his campaign ad, which means I'm running for president. So thanks for the endorsement, white-haired dude, and I want America to know I'm, like, totally ready to lead.”

A narrator, referring to Mr McCain, who turns 72 on August 29, says: “He's the oldest celebrity in the world. Like, super old. Old enough to remember when dancing was a sin, and beer was served in a bucket. But is he ready to lead?”


You people are unbelievable. All of this phony outrage is predictable, but sad. Nervous much about the electoral college?

 

[Geoff_M]

Sure, would you care to discuss my fibromyalgia, the constant pain I'm in, and the mass of medications I must take daily, yet I still manage to type? For me, typing is far easier than using a pen or pencil; anything more than signing my name can cause severe pain in my fingers for the rest of the day.

Don't always assume that the person on the other end is a fully healthy person, eh?

No problem... but I don't recall saying it wasn't possible for McCain to do it either. He's found other work-arounds, but that doesn't make him out of touch. BTW, my wife has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia too, and Raynaud's disease.

 

[TCPluto]

Nope not a MI thing as I live there too.

I would never be so presumptious as to think everyone in Michigan could get it right......