Media Transforms McCain-Palin Crowds Into "Ugly Mobs" Filled With "Insane Rage"

A handful of people say stupid things at a McCain rally and the next thing you know the media has turned every McCain-Palin crowd into a surly, hate-filled racist mob. Look at how the NY Times' Frank Rich describes it:

What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.

By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today....

But we’re not at Election Day yet, and if voters are to have their final say, both America and Obama have to get there safely. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder. The onus is on the man who says he puts his country first to call off the dogs, pit bulls and otherwise.

And of course, McCain complies and chastises his followers, compliments Obama as "someone we don't need to be afraid of as president", and generally caves in to the media pressure.

In my view John McCain has decided it would be preferable to have an honorable defeat than an ugly win. I disagree. This is politics and while you can't say the end justifies every means, a few dumb words from a handful of supporters should not hamstring McCain's campaign. In politics if the other guy kicks you in the knee, you kick him in the groin. If he pulls a knife, you pull a gun and shoot him right between the eyes. McCain refuses to play the game at the same level the Dems play it, and he'll lose.

McCain should have responded to the media complaints about his crowd this way: "Yes, some of the people that come our rallies are angry, and rightfully so. They're angry about the direction that Sen. Obama will take our country and they're angry at the media's refusal to investigate Sen. Obama with the same intensity they've applied to Gov. Palin. They're angry that the will of the voters is being subverted by massive voter fraud from Obama front group ACORN in battleground states all around the country. When a Code Pink member and fundraiser for Sen. Obama charged the stage during Gov. Palin's acceptance speech in St. Paul, did the media demand that Sen. Obama tell his supporters to calm down? Did anyone describe her rants as "hate-filled"? No. It's no surprise then that our supporters are angry."

But that's not the way McCain wants to play. When Rep. John Lewis compared McCain to segregationist George Wallace, what did campaign manager Rick Davis do? He went on Fox and demanded an apology. First rule of politics - the guy who demands an apology loses. They should have gone on the offensive and denounced Lewis and his comments as race-baiting drivel. There's no more time in this campaign for Mr. Nice Guy.

McCain has a history of being harder on his allies and supporters than he his on his political adversaries. That's a guaranteed way to lose.