The Daily Show: Ears EditionMcCain vs. Obama: The 2008 Presidential Election | TDS Time Machine
The Daily Show jumps in our time machine to head back to this day in 2008: it's the month leading up to the 2008 election and Jon Stewart looks at coordinated attacks by the McCain/Palin campaign to instill fear against a possible Obama election. Aasif Mandvi talks about why a voter calling Obama an Arab or Muslim shouldn’t be an insult, and former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer talks about his concerns with Barack Obama and why he likes Sarah Palin.
You're listening to Comedy Central.
October fourteenth, two thousand and eight.
From Comedy Central's World News headquarters in New York.
This is the Daily Show with James Towards.
Why do you go over and welcome for the show?
Why did you shown Stoart?
We are ticking it tonight old school Bush administration.
Ari Fleisher's going to be joining us.
President Bush's first press secretary back when they were still trying to cover up the lies.
Now they don't even care.
They don't even have Dana Barno just goes up there and goes, yeah, you got us. This man was the master speaking of still President Bush. Despite the frothy Turnburger that he is going to be leaving in Washington, the race to succeed him continues, and with the economy dominating voters' minds, you can imagine what the Maverick campaign is talking about.
Who is the real Barack Obama.
Someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pall around with terrorists, who will put our country first. Senator Obama decided to cast a vote to not fund my son when he was serving in.
The living room of a domestic terrorist.
A vote for Senator Obama will leave this country at risk, just once. I would love to hear Barack Obama say he wants America to win.
And why won't he tell us he doesn't molest children? What are we supposed to think?
It's a coordinated attack by the McCain Palin campaign designed to stir up anger and fear.
But will it work?
I'm man, I really man, I'm more scared of an Obama presidency.
My god, he's done it. But see, there's a there's a little bit of a problem here.
Any mad scientists will tell you there's a point where your excitement over the monster you've created coming to life damps down a little bit. It's usually around the time when that monster starts breaking all the in your lab. Hey, Igor, does this have.
An off switch on it?
Is it.
Help?
And there's another complication.
If you've raised the monster to fear and despise fire, it's awfully hard to convince the monster that fire can also be very useful in cooking.
I have to tell you he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared as president of the United States.
Now, I just now, I just now, look.
I.
See I miss smoking.
But the very war first thing about creating a monster has got to be you never know when the monster is going to turn.
I can't trust Obama. I have read about him, and he's not He's not he's a.
He's an Arab.
He is not no no man, no man, He's a He's a He's a decent family man, citizen that I just happened to have disagreements with.
You know what, Give me the Mike Frankenstein. Just give it the Mike, Mike Frankenstein's monster. Did you see him in that club, ma'am? I was with you when you said you couldn't trust him. But the Arab comment, that's not gonna help.
Now.
Austin Monby has been out on the campaign trail covering the rallies.
He joins us. Now, Austin, thanks for joining us. You were at the McCain Palin.
You're at the rally where Senator McCain said that he believed that Barack Obama is not an Arab but a decent family man.
What are your thoughts on that?
Thanks?
John Well, First off to state the obvious, being an Arab and being a decent family man are not mutually exclusive.
It absolutely could happen.
I guess what I'm saying is there's no mathematical reason why someone of Arab descent could not somehow also love his family.
Are you saying, From the sound of what you're saying, you're saying this has never happened.
I don't know of.
Any cases, not in the America I live in. But then again, you know, I wouldn't have thought there could be a two headed total either. And then last week I turned on Animal Planet and boom.
There it is.
Let me start this again, as if uh, okay, you would agree that there exists in the world decent family men plenty, and you would agree there are Arabs. God, yes, you'd agree there are then Arabs who are decent family men.
I'm not following, all right, let me let me all right, let's let's flip this.
Would you agree at least that there are people who are neither Arabs nor decent family men.
Absolutely, They're called Italians.
Wait, okay, listen, listen, listen, let me get back to the issue. There's a lot of levels of crazy here, Okay, okay. One is correcting misconceptions about Senator Obama, right. The other is assigning a negative connotation of those misconceptions. You know, Barack Obama's not an Arab, He's a decent man. What's wrong with being Arab?
Nothing.
I'm just saying I don't want a Muslim Arab terrorist for my president, whether one of them is running or not.
Right, But that's here's my point.
What's happening here is basically it's going Obama equals Arab equals Muslim equals terrorists.
Slow down, Harvard. I'm not a math guy, but see that's.
What I mean.
This is like there is a pride in ignorance, Yes, and don't.
We deserve a voice.
Who the ignorant?
This campaign speaks for us, the people that shouldn't necessarily speak, and and I, for one salute them with a with a hearty.
His thank you very much, anvi a Mondhu back qu as we saw earlier, Senator McCain has tried a variety of techniques to get the straight talk Express back on the highway to victory with enough electoral fuel.
And it's right now he's losing.
Fear card hasn't worked, PW Card, Maverick card, campaign, suspension card, crazy based, Lady Vice President Card not a good hand.
But this weekend idea, Senator Graham.
Mike Allen of Politico says that Senator McCain is considering invading some new economic proposals.
Do you know anything about that?
Yeah, we're going to talk this afternoon.
It will be a very comprehensive approach to jumpstart the economy.
Ooh, the economy, I hear, that's quite a hot topic.
Unfortunately, later that day, McCain's advisors total porters that they quote did not know why Lindsey Graham had said that, and that they weren't going to announce any new proposals, with McCain's policy advisor saying I have no comment on anything to anybody, adding I said good day.
Now.
Obviously this sounds a little schizophrenic, but it's all part of their new campaign slogan, we know how to fix the economy.
No, we don't shut up. You don't shut up again.
Away for the McCain campaign did have a game changer up its sleeve.
John McCain unveiling a new stump speech, Today's.
John McCain hits the reset, but the comeback starts now.
Clear signs that Senator McCain is changing his rhetoric.
Coming up everybody.
The new John McCain, call it John McCain four point zero.
McCain is expected to win, veil a new kind of fiery Stump speech.
The new Stump speech is here, the new Stump peaches here, Honey, honey, get the kids.
The new Stump speeches.
I wonder where a new Stump speech ranks on the excitement over the unveiling of new things scale.
Let's see.
I think it's probably somewhere between a new machine that makes gold.
Oh, it's in between soup of the day and soup of the mun And so, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the new, new, new, new New.
I know what fear feels like. It's a thief in the night, robs your strength. I know what hopelessness feels like. It's an enemy who defeats your will.
I know what an enlarged prostate feels like. It's a fiery demon that.
Takes the joy out of living.
I will veto every single pork barrel bill Congress passes.
I will make them famous.
And know their names. I think I've heard this brand new speech before. I think it was at the Republican Convention.
I will veto it.
I will make them famous and you will know their names.
You will know their names all right.
Obviously he's going to keep his catchphrase. This new speech can't be that similar to that one.
We'll start, We'll thrill them now.
We're gonna stop sending seven dollars a year to trace it.
Don't that don't likes very much.
Will invest in all energy alternatives, nuclear wins side solar, natural steam, coal technology. We will encourage the manufacture of hybrid next to you elecflectric automobiles. My friends, I can hardly wait until eight introduced sir to Washington, d C. I've been fighting for this country since I was seventeen years old.
I have the stars to prove it.
Fight for what's right for our unstring, fight for the ideas of the party Waite, fight for our children's future.
We never hide from the history.
We we hisstream.
His supporters are going to be so mad when they find out he recycles. In fact, the only new bit of business in this firing new thumb speech was that McCain's now behind in the polls, and he let people know how comfortable he is with that position.
You know what they forgot, They forgot to let you decide. My friends, we've got them just where we want them.
Here's what we're going to do, my friends, We're gonna let Obama win.
Okay, now, listen up. Then he's gonna get sworn in.
We'll let him run the country for three maybe four years.
And that's when we spring the trap.
Is anyone really dope enough to fall for this being a new speech?
And so there is the speech.
It is not the usual stumped speech by John McCain.
That'll be right back. Welcome back by death tonight. Here was the White House Press secretary under.
President George W.
Bush from two thousand and one to two thousand and three.
Please welcome back to the show. All right, fly sir, sir, all right, battle down unruly mob that's been enraged by me.
Here's what I think is going on in the election. And you tell me, here's what I believe the McCain Pailing ticket is doing. They're acting erratically, they're acting irresponsibly to convince the voters that they're actually Democrats, because no one will vote for a Republican in this environment.
What do you think?
I'm not sure that's right.
What do you make of this? This seems insane?
Well, first of all, I'm glad I'm a happily retired man from active duty politics. This has been a tough one for any Republican to watch. This is a very bad year for Republicans. I hate to say it. This country really wants change, and John McCain is fighting his hardest to make himself the change element. Huge uphill climb three weeks Togo. Anything can happen, especially in this year, but it's tough.
What would you do if you're if you're advising them, and I don't want to say, how do you put lipstick on that pig?
Because obviously that's.
Sexist, So let me try something slightly different.
How do you refume this turd? How do you What would you say to them? What would you listen? John? What should they do?
John Mccainn's best chance to win this selection is for the stock market to continue to go up, for people to start to think that something has been put in place to reverse the economy, and then to really focus on economic issues. If I were John McCain and make himself the change element, and I think he can open up a front against Barack Obama. My problem with Barack Obama is really twofold one is massive redistribution of income proposal he would have under his policy, it's about forty five percent of this country would no longer pay any income tax.
Socialist.
Well, I know where you're going to say, he says, with George Bush is for so I'm not going to go that direction.
I know you are going.
I'm just gonna say, because it is funny to see people going, we're going to become socialists.
Meanwhile, we've just nationalized the bank.
I told Jim, I knew you're Oh, I know. I'm just saying, but you can't have a country that's gonna be strong if you've got about forty five percent of the country that is excused from paying income tax.
Isn't isn't capital gains changes, isn't changing the investor class, tax policies, redistribution of wealth just in a different direction.
I mean, this whole idea of.
We're not a free market system. There are puppeteers. It's just a question of which.
Hand they're pulling the string on.
And after this many years of the investor class and the very rich really dominating and expanding that gap, is it socialist to say, Hey, maybe the guy struggling in the middle class, maybe we should cut his tax if I were.
If I were convinced that redistribution. But if I thought that redistribution of income to the extremes that it's being proposed would accomplish that, then who would be against that?
Now we're just arguing at price?
Then well, we're arguing whether or not it's right for forty five percent of this country not to pay any income tax.
If you well, if you were to say that, for them to put up with trickle down economics and for eight years have being told, hey, man, don't worry, stay there, it's gonna get wet soon.
And it never gets wet. What if somebody new comes in and goes make it right? You know what I mean?
That's all that Now I thought, Let me ask you this. Do you what do you think of this Governor Palin? I know that you've spoken highly of her.
That's right.
What do you like about her?
I like, Governor Palin.
Let me ask you this, and I say.
This as a with great respect for your political acumen.
Why three reasons? Okay, One because I'm a conservative, okay. Two is because I like people to come in change Washington, shake it up and three. She gives you a lot of good material.
How is she? How is she changing Washington?
Because my sense of her is she won't take any questions from anybody, so she's not very transparent and she's involved in an abuse of power scandal.
So how does she when she goes to Washington? Isn't she just like I mean, I'm just saying, isn't she just she's a dinner theater version of bush chaining? Is he not?
I mean?
Or is that.
Out of time?
And by the way, you have to recognize one thing. Cheney gets to stay. It doesn't matter who the vice president is, Toby Obama, Cheney not Obama. He just comes with the place he stays.
You're saying he's literally a barnacle. But do you get my point? You know, she keeps saying, who's Barack Obama? Well, who are you? We met you six weeks ago.
Look here, here's what I think the issue was with her. When Barack Obama began his candidacy twenty months ago. All the same arguments against her could have been used against some inexperience, et cetera. Too long a state center, not a United States senator. He had twenty months to prove himself in the public's eye. That's what he's had the advantage of doing. Now she hasn't had that long chance to prove herself without the scrutiny because he got it scrutiny free for the first few months of the primary especially. But she will you put a similar spot?
She would?
Well, I think right now, it's so super intense. And look at your show, John, Everything you showed was against McCain and Palin. You didn't show any of the things about Obama today or Biden today.
There is our journalistic ethics exactly. No, all right, well let's let's how would you let's let's let's flip the script.
She's taking all the scrutiny that Obama didn't take for the media.
All right, My TVO says no, But all right, let's flip the script.
Let's say you're a guy, you're a Democrat, and you are planning how you would attack Sarah Palin?
Would you take the patriotism route? You would with her secessionists?
She's running for vice president. It's like attacking Joe Biden.
You don't.
It's not relevant to who's going to lead American's either going to be John McCann or Barack Obama, and that's where both Canada should focus.
So you don't think the person who might be in the secondary position should be looked at even when they've just appeared.
Of course they should be looked at. But the point is, no presidential campaign should focus on the number two. If Barack Obama takes his eyes off John mcca, I'm saying. I'm saying, like, make a mistake as the group.
Would you get her on the secessionist party in Alaska, like take that patriotism route, or would you.
Go with the the religious religious?
She had the witchcraft guy in her church and the Jews for Jesus guy. You could take the high road and just get her for her utter lack of experience.
But that would apply to Barack Obama. So you wouldn't let me do that.
But he has would you agree he's at least been vetted by an electorate.
Well, that's my point. He's at twenty months where his job was being a candidate. But he has less experience than her. Of course in terms of any executive judgments. He's ever cast. He's never been in executive position, and she, of course also she of course also is the hot most popular governor of any state in the country, both the Democrats and Republicans in Alaska. I've her eighty percent job approval right now, that's for no reason?
What reason?
No, No, you're like her when they've.
Seen in Alaska because they know her. No, I get it.
So you feel that it's not a reflection on McCain's. He made the argument that it was all about experience, that Barack Obama was dangerously inexperienced. And then he picks Sarah Palin, who is I guess intriguingly inexperienced.
Do you miss it?
Would you if they called you up and said, hey, man, we need you. Your expertise in this is unparalleled, come and come and help us.
That's why I have call her.
I d.
Hurry why ch card.
Explore more shows from The Daily Show podcast universe by searching The Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch The Daily Show week nights at eleven.
Ten Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus.
This has been a Comedy Central podcast
