# McCain campaign slams Obama's visit to his grandmother **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233 "2008-10-23T17:27:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/21 "2008-10-23T18:39:47Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I hope this ends up on youtube soon. No video yet, that I can find. But people are [discussing it](http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7572815) all over the place. Check out Hardball or Olbermann tonight. Maybe even Rachel Maddow. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/22 "2008-10-23T18:41:57Z")
Here ya go: > **[GOP Strategist On Palin's Clothing Allowance: Real Outrage Is "Obama Taking A...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gop-strategist-on-palins_n_137226)** > > GOP Strategist On Palin's Clothing Allowance: Real Outrage Is "Obama Taking A 767 Campaign Plane To Visit Grandma" (VIDEO) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/23 "2008-10-23T18:45:10Z")
I really think McCain is trying to throw the election. He spied early on that Obama was the right guy so he went for the Republican nomination so he could jump on the grenade and save us from the REAL Republicans. It’s the only explanation that makes any sense what with him being a warrior and all. ETA: Or maybe it was an attempt at black humor? ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/24 "2008-10-23T18:45:12Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I paraphrase: > > If you want to talk about spending money, how 'bout Barack Obama taking a 767 to Hawaii to visit his sick grandmother? All the fuel and expense that’ll be. Why doesn’t he just take a commercial flight if he needs to take a break and go to Hawaii? How do you think his contributors feel, paying for him to go on a trip to Hawaii? I will gladly earmark my $60 contribution towards visiting ailing grandparents. Just a little more pork barrel spending us Democrats love. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/25 "2008-10-23T18:45:14Z")
> [@Trion](#): > > Here ya go: > > [GOP Strategist On Palin's Clothing Allowance: Real Outrage Is "Obama Taking A 767 Campaign Plane To Visit Grandma" (VIDEO) | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/23/gop-strategist-on-palins_n_137226.html) Thanks! Gah, Shuster should have blasted the son of a bitch. Blakeman is a shoe-in for tonight’s Worst Person in the World. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/26 "2008-10-23T18:53:25Z")
Blakeman: “Taking a 767 of campaign money from people who could least afford it is more of an outrage in my opinion.” Who the hell is he talking about? Who are these people who “could least afford it”? Obama donors? I’m pretty sure thay could affors the money they chipped in. Who then? It’s not like Obama was stealing the money from a charity at which he worked or anything. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/27 "2008-10-23T18:53:39Z")
> [@Trion](#): > > Here ya go: > > [GOP Strategist On Palin's Clothing Allowance: Real Outrage Is "Obama Taking A 767 Campaign Plane To Visit Grandma" (VIDEO) | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/23/gop-strategist-on-palins_n_137226.html) Holy crap. Forget about the stupid things he was saying, the tone of his voice was unbelievable. "To go visit grandma’ was said with such disdain, and even disgust…I don’t think people who are grandmas, people who have grandmas, people who have lost grandmas, and people who have a sense of decency are going to be impressed with the ugliness in his tone. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/28 "2008-10-23T18:54:05Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Or maybe it was an attempt at black humor? Is that what they’re calling it now? ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/29 "2008-10-23T18:56:22Z")
Oh, My- I was so happy to see the host laughing in that McCain spokesman’s face. That was **the lamest** attempt to disparage someone I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/30 "2008-10-23T18:56:59Z")
> [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](#): > > Why would anybody say something so mean-spirited on national TV? > > Is anyone in that campaign thinking at all? > > I guess he’s striving for the equivalence the media types all love so much…but surely somebody with a wit of sense knows that slamming someone for visiting an ailing relative only serves to make you look like a mean SOB and thus shouldn’t be touched with a 10 foot pole. This is what I came in to post. How could he possibly have thought this was a good line of attack? I swear, if Obama was on the campaign trail giving candy to children, someone from the McCain campaign would be blathering on TV that Obama was attempting to kill American children by making them obese. WTF is wrong with these people??? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/31 "2008-10-23T19:05:12Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > Oh, My- I was so happy to see the host laughing in that McCain spokesman’s face. Me too. Obama “should be \*humping \*his bags on a commercial jet”?!? Who uses a word like that anymore? Is it a regional thing? ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/32 "2008-10-23T19:09:09Z")
I wonder what Mccain thinks of servicemembersi n Iraq and Afghanistan taking gov’t paid gtrips on emergency leave to go home to see family members thatare dying. I guesd he thinks i should have paid for own flight when I flew home on the gov’t’s dime to see my uncle that raised me and died before I got there. He’s a douche. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/33 "2008-10-23T19:12:39Z")
OK, pretty sure the Secret Service would frown on him flying commercial. So, he’s got the jet already, right? I guess he could have hired a smaller one or something, but then the 767 would sit unused, still burning through operating cost. Anyway, 'cuz I’m bored: [Distance](http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Honolulu_US_and_Indianapolis_US.html)from Indianapolis to Honolulu: about 6976 km one way [Economical cruising speed of 767](http://www.airliners.net/aircraft-data/stats.main?id=103): 854 km/h Total round-trip air time: about 16 hours [Operating cost](http://www.icao.int/icao/en/ro/allpirg/allpirg4/wp28app.pdf) per hour for 767 (inclusive of fuel): about $3300 Total cost of Obama’s trip: about $54,000 (Even upping the operating cost to approach more recent fuel figures, we’re not to Palin Wardrobe levels yet.) ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/34 "2008-10-23T19:20:00Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > (Even upping the operating cost to approach more recent fuel figures, we’re not to Palin Wardrobe levels yet.) Not to mention the fact that if you want to get really technical, only the trip _to_ Hawaii is personal business. The flight back to wherever is a legitimate campaign trip. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/35 "2008-10-23T19:20:21Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > [Distance](http://www.mapcrow.info/Distance_between_Honolulu_US_and_Indianapolis_US.html)from Indianapolis to Honolulu: about 6976 km one way > [Economical cruising speed of 767](http://www.airliners.net/aircraft-data/stats.main?id=103): 854 km/h > Total round-trip air time: about 16 hours > [Operating cost](http://www.icao.int/icao/en/ro/allpirg/allpirg4/wp28app.pdf) per hour for 767 (inclusive of fuel): about $3300 > Total cost of Obama’s trip: about $54,000 Visiting the woman who raised you before she passes on: Priceless. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/36 "2008-10-23T19:23:11Z")
If McCain has an ounce of decency, he’ll rip his spokesman a new asshole for that. It should be obvious that Obama’s grandmother is really, _really_ bad off if he’s doing this. I don’t care who it is as president, I always think it’s pretty cool when someone’s parent or grandparent lives to see their son become president, especially if they come from a humble background. Remember Clinton’s mother before she died? She was one proud mother. I hope Obama’s grandmother makes it long enough to see Obama elected. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/37 "2008-10-23T19:23:47Z")
To be honest, I’m too stunned to even joke about this. If I had been in the position of the host of that show, I wouldn’t even have been able to laugh. I think I simply would have been aghast that something so reprehensible, so completely and utterly vile could even come out of somebody’s mouth. That’s how I feel _now_, for goodness’ sake. This is just… completely and utterly beyond the pale. I can’t even say anything about it other than that it’s disgusting and profoundly sad. As someone who has donated to the Obama campaign a few times, I must say that I don’t care if every single penny went toward Obama visiting the ailing woman who raised him. I’d give more if I could. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/38 "2008-10-23T19:27:58Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Blakeman: “Taking a 767 of campaign money from people who could least afford it is more of an outrage in my opinion.” > > Who the hell is he talking about? Who are these people who “could least afford it”? Obama donors? I’m pretty sure thay could affors the money they chipped in. Who then? It’s not like Obama was stealing the money from a charity at which he worked or anything. McCain only has $84 million in public money to spend between the convention and the election. Obama has been taking in in excess of $125 million a month since the Democratic convention. It’s sour grapes. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/39 "2008-10-23T19:28:30Z")
That dude’s makeup is just as scary as what’s coming out of his mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/40 "2008-10-23T19:36:24Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Holy crap. Forget about the stupid things he was saying, the tone of his voice was unbelievable. "To go visit grandma’ was said with such disdain, and even disgust…I don’t think people who are grandmas, people who have grandmas, people who have lost grandmas, and people who have a sense of decency are going to be impressed with the ugliness in his tone. That really pissed me off. It’s his grandmother! I hope he used the money I sent him to pay for fuel. My mom died in Hawaii. I was exactly one day late to see her before she died–I got there just in time to help organize her memorial service. No way I would have wanted the same thing to happen to Obama. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233.md?page=3)