Here in the Gay Left forum I thought it'd be interesting to discuss what people think of the McCain Campaign's (and McCain himself) overuse of the POW history.

After the Faith Forum when it was revealed that John McCain wasn NOT in a cone of silence but rather in his motorcade, his campaign spokesperson Nicolle Wallace retorted : “The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous.”

Does being a former Prisoner of War exempt you from any accusation of cheating, whether true or not?

When the story broke about McCain not knowing how many houses he owns and had to get a staff person get back to the reporter (incidentally with an incorrect answer), his staff said "This is a guy who liked in one house for five and a half years - in prison!"

When McCain was discussing his music tastes, he talked about how he liked Dancing Queen but after being taken prisoner his interest in music stagnated (not realizing of course that Dancing Queen came out AFTER he was released from Vietnam).

How much does being a prisoner of war qualify him for the presidency, or excuse his bad behavior or inability to answer honestly? My opinion is that he's starting to reach the point where he's shaming every prisoner of war who ever suffered for our country, including himself. It's kind of like a widower using his dead wife to get elected to office...and I think it's starting to reach the point of disgusting.

Funny line to bring up, it was a theme behind the movie The American President produced by Aaron Sorkin. Does being a prisoner of war make a candidate special, hmm.....

I would say it works for certain areas and not all around. I remember him using the experience with the Christian message of Christmas. He told the story of being a POW and a gaurd drew a cross in the dirt to show solidarity with McCain as a prisoner of war. I don't know if the event was real or not, but the idea of a man, who may try to apply universal themes and strive to seek hope, is appealing to many voters.

Right now, many people have an unease with both candidates and stories that connect with their background like that could prove to strike enough heart strings to get the extra percentage point in the key states. The prisoner of war stories will not end, but it serves more in his favor than against in terms of political capital. One reason why Obama has been afraid to attack McCain straight on with the POW issue.

Probably. His being of tortured have a little effect on my choice in voting since it matters little to leadership skills. It's just to stir up silly emotions. His military service counts a little more.

I agree. Personally, I think some people put a little too much weight into military service all together. Just because a man was in the military does not mean he would be competent as president. Look at Ulysses S. Grant. He was probably the worst president in US history, and he was a general. I'm looking for a competent leader not a war hero.

I don't know, it is a US tradition to have military men as presidents, which goes back to the Roman-esque idea of the consul serving a term as a military commander.

However, there should be a difference between military command and civilian government or else we will end up with Caesars running around with armies ready to overthrow the civilian government.

Traditionally the American public likes their presidents to have prior military experience because they are the Commander in Chief of our nations armed forces.

A even more fascinating apparition is the need for any president to be religious. So much for that clause in our constitution about the separation of Church and State

Romanesque, perhaps, but its nothing new. American Government has always been run this way, and we have yet to have a "little Caesars" running around. Probably because we also have effective means of Checks and Balances to ensure that doesn't happen.

Anyhow, enough of that and back to the topic at hand. Does John McCain beat his POW status like a dead horse?

Of course he does. That's one of the oldest tricks in the book. It's easy when you can claim to be a victim. "Oh poor me! Vote for me!" Anything that makes people feel more compassion towards the candidate means more votes. That's a trick that many politicians use. They even go as far as to say that attacking the candidate for any reason has absolutely no justification. It's like a shield they have due to their "victim status".

the other day i was watching something where he spoke about being prisoner and one of the guards being a christian that was sometimes nice to the prisoners.

he said that one day the guard drew a cross in the sand and they stood there "as two christians."

after this story i asked myself if i believed it.

And what did you answer?

the jury's still out on it.

So is the jury in general. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/17/15...5629/128/569386

HAHHAA i knew it.

Well, we might not believe it, but the religious conservatives are the one that need to believe the story about the cross in the dirt, hehe!

It's an interesting story, and one that could quite possibly be true. Just because one disagrees with McCain, doesn't mean one should consider everything he has said to be a complete lie.

Regarding McCain's POW status...I believe his experience as a POW is there to do to things: 1) show to America that McCain has been through A LOT, and that he has come out stronger and 2) portray him as a war hero, which often garners sympathy and respect from many Americans.

Personally, it does sound to me like he overuses it, or at least his aides overuse it as an excuse to cover up mistakes. In the case of the motorcade, the aide essentially said that he is a war hero and should not be criticized, which is of course total bullshit. Being a war hero, a president, a foreign dignitary, a messenger of God, or whatever does instantly protect you from criticism over mistakes or "oops"'s.

As far as John McCain himself using it, I think he is entitled to, provided he isn't using it as an excuse to cover something up and therefore slandering POWs everywhere.

In the last 60 days since the original post, he's stopped using it as a tag-line every other sentence. Maybe he realized it wasn't working...

He then just used my friends