I See Bush People! It Does Not Take a Sixth Sense to Know That McCain is Four More Years of Bush

The first debate showed two starkly different visions of America. Barack Obama is looking to the future. The Illinois Senator chose his words carefully, made salient debating points, and was overall a man of grace and reason. He exhibited a calm, reasonable temperament and he has a record of good judgment.

McCain offered more of the same old bromides, the same old people, the same old ways of thinking, all in a herky-jerky, angry style. He lacks the proper temperament and has too poor a record of judgment to be the president of the United States.

McCain is looking to the past, locked in his own ancient memories, and he will give us four more years of the last eight years. After all, when I look at his top campaign staff, I see Bush people. And that should scare any thinking American.

All the proof you need that electing John McCain will continue the Bush White House is that he is surrounded by Bush people in his campaign. Indeed, without the Bush-Cheney soldiers and the ever-present lobbyists, McCain would have no campaign staff. It tells you what a McCain White House would be like – a continuation of the Bush-Cheney White House.

Contrary to the lying ads and cleverly crafted propaganda for the erroneous "McCain is still a 'maverick' idea", the Bush veterans at the core of McCain’s presidential campaign tell the true story. Far from being a group of outsiders to the Republican Party power structure, it is now run largely by skilled operatives who learned their crafts in successive Bush campaigns and various jobs across the Bush government over the past eight years. They know how to get elected (by hook and mostly crook), BUT THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO GOVERN!

Heading up day to day campaign operations is Karl Rove-disciple Steve Schmidt. Here is what he did in the Bush-Cheney administration:Spokesman for the Republican National Congressional Campaign Committee; Chief strategist in charge of Supreme Court nominations of Samuel A. Alito, Jr. and Chief Justice John Roberts; Counselor and spokesman for Vice President Dick Cheney; and a key member of the exclusive "breakfast club" led by top White House adviser Karl Rove that ran President Bush's re-election campaign. (2004).

Also from Bush-Cheney: Senior Advisor Nicolle Wallace, former Bush Communications Director; Senior Advisor Matt McDonald, former Associate Communications Director in Bush White House; Senior Advisor W. Taylpr Griffin, Deputy Communications Director, Bush-Cheney ’04; E-Campaign Director, Micheal Palmer, E Campaign, Bush-Cheney ‘O4; Senior Economic Adviser Gerald Parsky, co-Chair Bush-Cheney; Director of Messaging Brett O’Donnell, debate preparation, Bush ’04. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there are many more.

And the Palin part of the campaign is also overrun by Bush people. According to the New York Times, advising Sarah Palin are a multitude of Bush people, from Mark Wallace, a Bush appointee to the United Nations, to Tucker Eskew, who ran strategic communications for the Bush White House, to Greg Jenkins, who served as the deputy assistant to Bush in his first term and was executive director of the 2004 inauguration. According to the Washington Post, Palin was surrounded on the recent trip home to Alaska recently by operatives deeply rooted in the Bush administration.

Sarah the Barracuda is surrounded by a cast of Bush advisers. Since she's been selected, every single one of the senior aides that she's brought on board had prominent roles in Bush's White House or on his campaigns, or both.

The ranks of the McCain-Palin team are now full of those Bush-Chemey veterans. Nicolle Wallace, Mark Wallace's wife, was communications director at the White House and is now offering senior-level communications expertise to both McCain and Palin (and joined Palin on her Alaska trip). Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who served as chief economist for Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, is now McCain's domestic policy adviser (and accompanied Palin to Alaska as well). Bush confidant Mark McKinnon stopped formally advising McCain once Obama became the Democratic nominee -- but he, too, is continuing to advise the group and crafted Cindy McCain's convention speech. A former Bush speechwriter, Matthew Scully, wrote Palin's convention speech.

Some of those now working for McCain-Palin have overcome past political conflicts to join the team. In one of the strangest tales of the campaign, McCain has embraced Eskew, who was once reviled by McCain loyalists for his role running Bush's especially nasty 2000 primary campaign in South Carolina, where they LIED about McCain in order to win. But now we see that Eskew not only joined Palin on her trip home to Alaska, but also he is serving as one of her closest aides. Stephen E. Biegun, a former member of Bush's National Security Council, was on the trip, too; he is helping give Palin foreign policy briefings.

Palin spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt worked on the Bush campaigns and, more recently, at the Republican National Committee. Two other Palin press officers, Maria Comella and Ben Porritt, worked on Bush's 2004 reelection campaign. W. Taylor Griffin, who worked on the 2004 campaign, is helping manage Palin's communications effort in Alaska. Another Bush advance pro, Chris Edwards, is helping to stage-manage Palin's appearances around the country.

Judge for yourself. But don’t be fooled by the packaging. If you like what Bush/Cheney has brought us, you might be happy to pull that filthy Republican lever again. But if you think the country is on the wrong track, you must THINK long and hard about voting another way.

If you cannot vote for Obama, who is clearly the most honest, careful, compassionate candidate, then vote for Bob Barr, a decent man not surrounded by Bushites. But for the nation’s sake, do not vote for McCain -- it will just be four more years of the last eight years.