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My Fax to the McCain Campaign (UPDATED)

Silly or not, it's out there ...

By: Martin Knight (Diary)  |  October 4th, 2008 at 06:53 PM  | 

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UPDATE: I faxed this to the McCain campaign’s headquarters this morning. I humbly request all who can to help me reinforce the message. The numbers (Fax) are;
      (703)752 2515 : (McCain/Palin HQ)
            NOTE: This was the number during the primaries – it may not be the same now.
      (202)228 2862 : (McCain’s office in the Senate)

Go to this page for fax numbers to the RNC. eg;
       (202) 863 8820 : (RNC Chairman – Mike Duncan)

If you have any numbers, e-mail addresses or any other way to contact members of the McCain/Palin team, especially any of the higher-ups, please don’t hesitate to use them. Money is not the only way to contribute to a campaign; an idea you have that you share may make all the difference. Keep in mind that just a few tweaks can make even a phenomenally bad idea a brilliant one, and brilliant idea even better.

TO:              Steve Schmidt – McCain/Palin 2008

CC:              Robert “Mike” Duncan – Republican National Committee

SUBJECT:      FANNIE MAE & FREDDIE MAC

Sir,

Congratulations on the successful launch of the first step of the McCain/Palin effort to properly hold Senator Obama and the rest of his fellow Democrats accountable for their protection Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their role in jeopardizing the American economy. Again note that I am referring to it as only a first step.

To make this truly effective, Senator McCain, Governor Palin, the rest of McCain/Palin campaign and the RNC must follow-through, starting tonight at the debate in Nashville. The following are my suggestions.

  1. Senator McCain should bring up the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac matter repeatedly (don’t wait for someone else to bring it up) and hit Obama (and his fellow Democrats) hard during today’s debate and the debate afterward. Tell of the contributions, and of his work for ACORN suing Citibank for rightfully not giving loans to people who could not pay them back, i.e. Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Fed. Sav. Bank Fair Housing/Lending/Insurance#1 Attach his name to Fannie Mae CEOs Jim Johnson (who he gave the task of picking his VP) and Franklin Raines (his self-admitted adviser on housing issues, according to the Washington Post). Tell the whole world about the accounting scandals at Fannie and Freddie. About the $122000 hush money he got from Fannie Mae executives, second only to Chris Dodd#2. Rinse and repeat. It will never get old.
         IMPORTANT NOTE: If Obama tomorrow tries the “same as Bush on the economy” canard at any point in time, pointedly remind him that the Bush Administration issued warnings on the need to deal with the risks posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac every year from 2001 to 2007,#3 and tried to bring Fannie and Freddie under control under a new Agency in the HUD in 2003#4 but Senate Democrats blocked it.
  2. Be prepared for the “Rick Davis” dodge from Obama during any debate where McCain brings Fannie Mae up. The proper response is for Senator McCain is to focus on Obama’s friends, Jim Johnson (who he put in charge of his VP selection committee) and Franklin Raines (who the Washington Post reported before the crisis as one of Obama’s advisers – isn’t it convenient that Obama is denying him now?), who were the CEOs of Fannie Mae, the architects in charge of the sub-prime disaster who were funneling money to Democrats in Congress to continue keeping them free of proper regulatory oversight. McCain should literally ask if Obama is really going to “insult the intelligence of the American people” by trying to draw an equivalence in culpabilty between Rick Davis, a hired advocate, and Jim Johnson/Franklin Raines?
         IMPORTANT NOTE: John McCain should not forget to highlight the fact that it is on record that he sponsored, along with his fellow Republicans, Senators Dole, Sununu and Hagel, legislation to bring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under control in 2005 – and while every Republican on the Senate Banking Committee when it came up voted for it, every single Democrat on the Committee voted against it.#5
  3. Not one single McCain/Palin surrogate should fail to mention the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac issue on the talk shows and on the stump from now until Election Day. Even if the talk show hosts don’t bring it up, let them do so unbidden. Democrats are as close to a 100% responsible for this mess as it gets. The talking point to counter their “deregulation” nonsense is that, strangely enough, the Democrats actively prevented Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from being properly regulated even after it was revealed that they were cooking the books in multiple investigations. Why? Because they were essentially being paid off i.e Chris Dodd, Barney “Roll the Dice” Frank et al.
         IMPORTANT NOTE: Unleash Sarah Palin on this – at rallies, Press Conferences and any further interviews. Make up for not letting her injure Joe Biden with this issue during the debate.
  4. Ads; the McCain campaign and the RNC (what’s all that money for, anyway?) should blanket the air waves with them – that’s the only way to beat back the conventional wisdom being pushed by the Democrats and their friends in the Press blaming Republicans for this mess. You need not have multiple Congressional Democrats in one ad. It’s even better if you can have one for each (just to draw it out and emphasize how deep the corruption went), with the money he/she got from Fannie Mae and his/her ‘D’ highlighted and enlarged for all to see. Jim Johnson proudly calling the Democrats/Obama Campaign “family” appearing in each ad would be great – call the series “Family Business … You’re Paying For It.”
         Intersperse all this with detailing the Bush Administration’s 2003 effort to rein the GSEs in and the Hagel-McCain-Sununu-Dole 2005 effort to bring Fannie and Freddie to order. All blocked/filibustered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Democratic Congressional protectors. Run Senator McCain’s speech on the Senate floor on behalf of this legislation. Run these all through to Election Day – this will do wonders for down-ticket races.
  5. Make sure to pound out a daily message of how a McCain Administration will never allow anything like this to happen again. Announce plans to reform, restructure and even shut down the GSEs if necessary. Announce modifications a McCain Administration would push going forward to make the $700 billion rescue bill less of a burden on the taxpayer. Announce that win or lose, Senator McCain will push for the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate into what happened and how come Dodd and co. could always be counted on to shield Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from necessary scrutiny.

I believe you certainly do not need me to inform you that this is no time for half-measures.

Good luck, Sir.

Sincerely,
Martin A. Knight

1. http://www.mediacircus.com/2008/10/obama-sued-citibank-under-cra-to-force-it-to-make-bad-loans/
2. http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/09/update-fannie-mae-and-freddie.html
3. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080919-15.html
4. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
4. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122212948811465427.html

ORIGINAL POST BELOW THE FOLD.

I faxed this to the McCain campaign’s headquarters today.

TO:        Steve Schmidt – McCain/Palin 2008

SUBJECT:    Effectively Combating the Obamaphile News Media

You are obviously a very busy man right now so I will get to the point. The following is an idea I hope you may find useful over the coming few weeks. I desire neither credit, recognition, reward nor acknowledgement for it, only that you give it your consideration for what it could do for your candidate’s campaign. As we have already seen, you have recognized the New York Times for the partisan pro-Obama advocacy organization it has become – I submit that it is time to openly acknowledge the fact that this sell-out of journalistic principles is not just limited to the NYT but to most of the news media today, including the big three networks.

The idea: A web based daily “news review” show openly challenging and refuting the “facts” presented to the American people by the liberal news media from now up until Election Day. Each show/episode to be uploaded daily to YouTube, LiveLeak, GoogleVideo, etc. Downloadable versions in all audiovisual formats (mpg, mp4, avi, wmv, etc.) should be made available on johnmccain.com and selected mirror sites.

The concept is simple; every day for the next three to four weeks, two “anchors” at a news desk (I would heartily recommend former MD Lt. Governor Michael Steele as one of them) would present “Setting the Record Straight” – a twenty to thirty minute show in which they would turn a brutally critical eye on the news media’s campaign-related reportage and the commentary that went on in the past twenty four hours (and beyond where necessary), naming names and issuing forceful corrections/refutations on a daily basis.

For source material; every single day, conservative bloggers from all over the United States do amazing work examining, researching and refuting the corrupted information being put out every day by the media in the hopes of getting Barack Obama into the Oval Office. All the campaign need do is to tap daily into this rich source of information. I am referring to websites and blogs like; Instapundit #1, Ace of Spades #2, Power Line #3, Patterico #4, Redstate.com #5, The Anchoress Online #6, etc.

Without spending much more than what it would cost for a set of cameras, a teleprompter, a fast internet connection and video/graphics editing software, and, at most, a few additional campaign (if even required) staff, “Setting the Record Straight” would be one effective way to combat/neutralize the daily barrage of slime being thrown on Senator McCain and Governor Palin by Barack Obama’s legions of supporters in the news media.

I guarantee you, Sir, that there would be millions of views within hours of the first broadcast being uploaded to YouTube, and millions more day by day, and I submit to you that the potential upside, especially when you add the viral effect of word-of-mouth, would far outstrip any potential downside.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Martin A. Knight

  1. http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/
  2. http://www.ace.mu.nu
  3. http://www.powerlineblog.com
  4. http://www.patterico.com
  5. http://www.redstate.com
  6. http://www.theanchoressonline.com
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COMMENTS

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  • Tim_Schieferecke

    How about an animated daily skit about 2-3 minutes long that shows a day in the life of President Obama? They could show him drinking tea with Mahmoud while someone behind him is making a dunce cap or people standing in bread lines Soviet style. There are a lot of talented cartoonists out there that do computer animation. As long as it was kept funny, people would search for it everyday.

  • mbecker908

    .

    • Martin_A_Knight

      … 703-752-2515 or 202-228-2862?

      • jsteele

        Fxed to both numbers along with my personal recommendation

        Excellent idea.

  • GregInFla

    Have you heard Glenn’s Battle of the Headlines? Usually halway thru first or second hour of the show. Of course, he picks then worst real headlines for McCain, and the most lovey-dovey real ones for Obama. The differences are amazing.

    Heck, I heard Fox News Radio news report way that Obama was “acquainted” with William Ayres. Acquainted?? Hello?? He announced his candidacy for POTUS at AYres’ house!! So much for fair and balanced.

  • gamecock

    5

  • speciallist

    n/p

  • Joe_Cor

    Assuming the McCain campaign ignores this, how about reviving the idea after the election as a permanent counter media website? Probably, there would be a lot of contributers to it, and maybe/probably it would be a money maker.

  • scottbomb

    • Flagstaff

      Obama was “acquainted” with William Ayres. Acquainted?? Hello?? He announced his candidacy for POTUS at AYres’ house!!

      Started his political career there, not Presidency run.

    • Flagstaff

      I think this is the first time I have ever disagreed with you, but maybe it’s a question of degree rather than direction.

      On a positive note, I see nothing wrong with the idea of a web-based show such as you describe. I just don’t think it would get the viewers you anticipate, nor would it do that much good.

      Is there really a reservoir of 30 million undecided voters out there who would look for a half-hour internet show at all, let alone would a million of them watch each day (a different million each day, we might hope)? I can’t even believe that any undecided voters are watching that 18-minute Obamanation lying about McCain and Keating.

      But it would be a good thing to have for the curious, I agree.

      Here’s the deal: The folks who are still undecided are either air-heads or basically not very interested in the whole thing. We need to get our message where they can’t miss it, not put it someplace where they have to hunt to find it. That’s why the Democrats have such a big advantage with the NYT, et al, in their pockets. They can get anything they want on the front page with a simple phone call. And the bigger advantage is that the people reading the story think it is straight news from an impartial source, so they believe every word of it. Which is why we need to refute them, of course, but our refutations are biased because they come from us, so they carry much less weight.

      The same is true with feature stories on MS/NBC and the alphabet networks. While Jane and John Doe are eating breakfast and watching the Today show, they get a heaping helping of left-wing ideology as well, slipped to them so deftly they don’t even realize it. Next thing you know, they’re exclaiming, “Golly, that Barack Osama is certainly a clean and articulate young man, isn’t he? And that nice Joe Biden reminds me so much of Uncle Henry after he had his stroke. I know who I’m voting for!“

      The only way McCain can get that coverage is by being forceful and direct and saying newsworthy things while he attacks Obama. The attacks will get reported, so he has to make them count. Whatever he has to say about taxes, Iraq, or education will be swept under the rug as “dull, dull, dull.”

      Your webcast could work if they could figure out a way to slip it into everybody’s day without the need to look for it. I’d suggest a thirty- to sixty-second spot covering only one item, but have lots of different spots, on TV and radio. But that’s called advertising, isn’t it?

  • JoeSixpackAmerican

    We all know that the GOP has names, dirt on the Dems that need exposing to the heartland. If the GOP leaked that intel to the bloggers…then sites like Drudge pick it up…tide could turn very quick with the dirty laundry aired.

    Blogosphere is the medium of the people, by the people, for the people.

    JoeSixpackAmerican.com

  • Sinixstar

    The problem is fannie and freddie are two pieces of a much larger puzzle.

    Pushing the fannie/freddie angle too heavily – and it can easily be turned against you.

    Let me give you an example

    BO : “This is just another example of how out of touch John McCain is on economic issues. He thinks that this whole crisis boils down to two institutions that when put in the context of the global economy, are mere bit players.”

    Fact is – I would tend to agree with that assertion. History has shown that fannie and freddie were NOT the ones pushing sub-prime mortgages initially. In fact, they were losing significant marketshare to the investment banks as a result of their guidelines that prevented them from getting involved in that mess. It was only after their position in the markets were at risk that they began to get involved. Even if you want to push the whole 2005 reform angle, by 2005 it was too late – we were already well down the sub-prime rabbit hole.

    Also a side note – that bill was NOT blocked by democrats, but in fact never made it out of the republican controlled committee.

    Had that not been the case, i seriously doubt it would have passed to begin with. If you look at the bill – it establishes an oversight body, however it removes requirements for those federal lending institutions to actually report their activity. It is in essence, useless – and would actually open up the door for all sorts of abuse.

    In the grand scheme of things – most of what i’ve said is fairly pointless. The bigger point i’m trying to make, is that following that line of attack simply keeps the focus on a tit-for-tat argument about who did what when and why, and by and large that does not look to be a winning strategy for the GOP this time around.
    Over the next 4 years, people will call for blood – but in the meantime, they want somebody who has answers, not accusations. Pointing the finger now reeks of desperation – and since most of this is over the head of the average person – it’s going to be very difficult to prove, and easy for Obama to dismiss or discredit.

    not the right line of attack.

    • Martin_A_Knight

      I usually don’t think much of comments made in bad faith, but since you made such an effort at writing all that BS, I think I’ll take the time to respond.

      You see, I notice that the same argument, that the subject is too complicated, that it would sail over the public’s heads, could have been made against the Democrats pointing the finger at Republicans and blaming “deregulation” for the crisis.

      In fact, come to think of it, not one serious economist (Paul Krugman long ago stopped being one) has failed to scoff at the idea that “deregulation” played any way near as big a role as the mismanagement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (and the Democrats who protected them), who owned/guaranteed up to a full half of the US mortgage market – making those two institutions more than just “bit players.“

      And yet … I notice that the Democrats’ patently dishonest “deregulation” gambit has worked. So why can’t identifying the real cause of the crisis to the public work in the same manner? Because some talking head with an urbane air opines that it wouldn’t?

      Second, every Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee voted against the bill, while every Republican voted for it. Which, in the “collegial” world of the US Senate, meant that the chances of the bill making it into law was essentially moot – Democrats had sent a clear message that this was something that would require 60 votes at some point before it gets to the President’s desk.

      And finally, the time has come to rid ourselves of the notion that there is ever a time when the American electorate is strictly “looking for solutions” to problems and is therefore uninterested in the “blame game.” That’s as false as the talking heads’ perennial claim that negative campaigns turn voters off (the reason why politicians always use it is because it works), or that partisan divisions in politics (as if anywhere near 30% of the voting public is even aware of what goes in the nations’ capitals and city halls) is the cause of voter apathy.

      This is the sort of conventional wisdom that predominates the rarified air inside-the-beltway pundits circulate in – long on convention and short on wisdom … but then, it sounds “nice” so it’s unthinkingly accepted. The American electorate, especially the abysmally ignorant (this doesn’t mean unintelligent) “middle” always seeks someone to blame during any crisis. The side that presents the most convincing (not necessarily true) case placing the blame on the other side tends to be the side that wins.

      • bantamwait

        What, are you crazy?

        • bantamwait
      • repub78465

        I gotta say, I think the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac line of attack is a non-starter for McCain. The reason is that quite a few of his campaign staffers have been lobbyists for Fannie and Freddie, and it’s too easy for Obama to turn this argument around on him. Which he did, last night. McCain’s not helping himself with this.

        • shooflyguy68

          1985 called. They want their techonology back.

          • Flagstaff

            John needed you there to remind him last night.

          • asleep06

            nt

          • Neil_Stevens

            Blam.

          • Tatham

            Nothing people love more on Youtube than thirty minute shows hosted by Lt. Governors.

          • Martin_A_Knight

            The reason is that quite a few of his campaign staffers have been lobbyists for Fannie and Freddie …

            You mean to say one of McCain’s campaign staffers was a lobbyist for Fannie Mae. You obviously didn’t read your instructions well, Moby.

            That said, please don’t try to insult anyone’s intelligence here with the silly argument that Rick Davis’ work on behalf of Fannie Mae is equivalent to Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines who were the CEOs of Fannie Mae.

            If Barack had brought Rick Davis up, McCain would have eviscerated him.

            PS: If I were you I’d get on my knees and thank G … {ahem} Obama, that McCain stupidly decided to let him off the hook.

          • Flagstaff

            I’ve been ranting that McCain needs to get his message on the news every day in a positive way, but I kept coming up empty on a reliable way to do it.

            Here’s the way. John and Sarah should take turns each day hitting on one topic especially hard in their speeches. Then, hold a short press conference afterwards.

            The press have been btchn that Sarah doesn’t talk to them. Well, let her talk to them in short press conference Q and A sessions daily, maybe alternating with John, and they’ll report it on the evening news. Make it formal, though–podium and everything. Same thing with John.

            Even if they ask the same questions every day about “troopergate,” answer them anyway. They’ll get tired of “gotchas” and
            start to get serious, and it will engender a bit of good will. Plus, they won’t be able to complain that McCain is hiding Sarah.

            It struck me that although the press complain daily about not getting to interview Sarah, I haven’t seen an Obama or Biden presser in a long time, if ever.

            John and Sarah could fill that information gap with good stuff every day.

          • basava

            Mccain has a plan, simple but easily debunked in Vp debate.

            Need to express the vision of health care in US in the next 10 years. 1. Reform: to transfer the responsiblilty for decision making to Family from Insurance companies. 2. Empower communities for the quality of health care, and empower Hospitals and other providers to establish health care models like Mayo clinic/ Kaiser pernanate. Medicare/Medicaid dollars to flow into these organization, as block grants rather than individual service ( Cost containment has exploded the cost of care) by empowering Health care providers ( with profit motive) will reduce cost, more efficient and better , health citizen ( not costly health care, often unnecessary surgeries, and procedures, medications) 3. Attack Lawyers as damaging health care. Example. by suing hospitals and Nursing home for patient falss -(unavoidable)Nursing home will do is keep patients in bed not get out , will lead to more pneumonia, developing blood clots and bed sores. ultimately poor care.

            Just saying Health insurance credit will not work. He needs alternative vision than the populist socialized or government controlled and rationed health care.

          • JSobieski

            It decouples insurance from your employer (e.g. portabiity)

            It gives the individual control over their coverage

            It allows individuals to cross state lines

            The best way to keep prices low is to foster competition

            This is McCain’s best policy initiative

          • woodsman

            It is my belief (I may be wrong) that the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac issues could have been the dry fuel waiting for a spark. The tipping point in this house of cards in my opinion was the fast run-up in fuel prices. One fed off of the other.

            The fuel prices are the intended secondary issues I think as this is the additional factor which the liberals absolutely hate. You know, no drilling allowed.

            Therefore, if a picture is painted of these as a meltdown of sorts (and the contributing party), you have a lot of ammunition to use for precision strikes.

  • David_Hinz

    I just have to find a fax machine and I will add MY copy to the list.

  • mbecker908

    .

  • Martin_A_Knight

    That is; if you think this is a good idea. Just alter as appropriate and send. And do send your own ideas (I’m talking to you Tim) as well.

    In 2006, I had all sorts of ideas … but I thought the “experts” had it covered. Unfortunately, as it turned out, they didn’t – what they had was; “Turn Out!!!”.

    This time, I’ve decided to shoot first and ask questions later. An idea could be intensely stupid or brilliant. Whichever, keeping it to one’s self does no help to anyone. If stupid, just a little tweaking could make it brilliant. If brilliant … even better.

    Either way, sending them to where they can do good is always a good idea.

  • Dan_McLaughlin

    I have been pushing the idea of a YouTube message of the day for a long time now (so long I forget whose idea it was originally, it may have been yours). Somebody should run with it.

  • Martin_A_Knight

    Means a lot coming from you.

  • praiseyourwife

    I hope someone hears it. I did my part and sent it to a few different folks at the McCain campaign headquarters. I’ll follow up with phone calls, most likely to Sarah Simmons, head of strategy and media.
    http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2008/mccain/mccainorga.html

    Here’s the McCain campaign main phone number: 703 418 2008.

  • mikeh106
    • for us Democrats! There are none so blind as those who will not see. That describes you folks perfectly. This is a serious election – not one where the usual Republican smears are going to work at all. Please, keep up the canards and mudslinging. Keep harping on your phony “issues”. Come NOV 4, the American people are going to roll right over you. They recognize quality when they see it – and nasty lies when they hear them. Final tally – Obama 370, McCain 168. Popular vote Obama 53%, McCain 42%. House 20+ seats for Democrats. Senate +9 to 11 seats for Democrats. GO OBAMA!