# 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:** 7
**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 24, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/121 "2008-10-24T15:04:12Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Now McCain wants to make this campaign about some guy who did some shit that hardly anybody cares about or remembers. No joke. I had to look up what the hell the “Weather Underground” even _was_ because I was confused as to why the Republicans were so pissed off at the website that I use to check the daily forecast. And then it turns out there were a gang of hippie troublemakers who did some petty shit _twenty years before I was born_. Who the fuck cares?! The economy is in shambles for Christ’s sake! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/122 "2008-10-24T15:09:27Z")
[Submitted without comment because none’s really necessary, IMHO.](http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Vote2008/story?id=6100765&page=1) > [@](#): > > Obama has also said publicly that he regrets not returning to his mother’s bedside before she died of cancer, as he overestimated how much time she had to live, and he doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/123 "2008-10-24T15:56:04Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The thing is, even in the best case scenario for McCain–this charge against Obama takes traction–Obama’s countermove is blindingly obvious. He could express exasperation with McCain’s focus on the politics of personal destruction, publicly reimburse his campaign for the cost of the jet trip, and move on. He comes out looking great; McCain comes out looking appalling. > > It’s yet another incredibly dumb move. > > Daniel Actually, the classy thing would have been for Obama to reimburse his campaign without being asked. That having been said, I can’t get worked up over Sarah Palin’s bringing her family along on some of her trips, so I can’t get worked up over this either. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/124 "2008-10-24T16:01:50Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Actually, the classy thing would have been for Obama to reimburse his campaign without being asked. How do you know he isn’t planning on doing that? He’s just landed in Hawaii and likely has other things, like his grandma, on his mind. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/125 "2008-10-24T16:05:19Z")
Frankly, I think a Republican telling the Obama campaign what would be “classy” is the height of comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/126 "2008-10-24T16:05:44Z")
> [@shy\_guy](#): > > No joke. I had to look up what the hell the “Weather Underground” even _was_ because I was confused as to why the Republicans were so pissed off at the website that I use to check the daily forecast. And then it turns out there were a gang of hippie troublemakers who did some petty shit _twenty years before I was born_. Who the fuck cares?! The economy is in shambles for Christ’s sake! The other day, McCain was talking about how he had been deployed during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I thought, my God, how old is this this dude? For anyone under 30, you might as well be talking about Teddy Roosevelt’s Roughriders as talking about JFK and being aboard the USS Enterprise with an onion on your belt during the Cuban Missile Crisis. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/127 "2008-10-24T16:05:52Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Actually, the classy thing would have been for Obama to reimburse his campaign without being asked. > > That having been said, I can’t get worked up over Sarah Palin’s bringing her family along on some of her trips, so I can’t get worked up over this either. I suppose that would be true were any donors upset by it. But it seems the only one making a case about it is Brad Blakeman, GOP asshat. I am willing to change my tune if you can find some outcry from donor’s to Obama’s campaign over this. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/128 "2008-10-24T16:13:01Z")
[quote=“Shodan, post:123, topic:469233”] Actually, the classy thing would have been for Obama to reimburse his campaign without being asked. QUOTE] I have not heard anything about Obama paying, not paying, or otherwise for his plane trip to Hawii, but my guess is that if the use of the plane is out of bounds and/or needs to be paid for out of his personal pocket, then he has likely ciphered up how much it costs and possibly even pre-paid for the trip. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/129 "2008-10-24T16:32:28Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I suppose that would be true were any donors upset by it. But it seems the only one making a case about it is Brad Blakeman, GOP asshat. I am willing to change my tune if you can find some outcry from donor’s to Obama’s campaign over this. If anything, people are using this an excuse to donate _more_ to the campaign. So tax payers in general are unaffected by this, and the people who would have the right to complain (if indeed complaint was appropriate) are responding with prayers, postcards to the Hawaii Obama HQ, and more money. And isn’t that just what the GOP wants to see? Another shower of donations for the Obama campaign? He’s going to have to start renting skywriters to get through all of his money… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/130 "2008-10-24T16:37:42Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > How do you know he isn’t planning on doing that? He’s just landed in Hawaii and likely has other things, like his grandma, on his mind. Sure, but it is already too late, in the sense that I mean. Ideally, he would automatically reimburse his campaign for anything personal, just as a matter of course. It would be difficult to escape giving the impression that he is reimbursing his campaign because he got called on it, not because he thought it was the right thing to do. If you see what I am saying. > [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > I suppose that would be true were any donors upset by it. But it seems the only one making a case about it is Brad Blakeman, GOP asshat. I am willing to change my tune if you can find some outcry from donor’s to Obama’s campaign over this. Well, no. A politician shouldn’t be using campaign funds for his personal benefit even if the donors don’t care. That would make it a bribe. I’m sure you can see the problem with that. Look, I don’t want to give the impression that this is anything much. _De minimis non curat lex_, even campaign law. I think it is perfectly OK for him to go see his dying grandmother, he is ahead in the polls to the point where it probably doesn’t affect things one way or another, and the McCain campaign should have just said “Sorry to hear about your grandma - our thoughts and prayers are with you” and left it at that. But technically, this is a gray area. I don’t think this should be a major scandal. But, for better or worse, this is the standard that we are supposed to be holding our leaders. The President in particular is supposed to conduct himself at all times so as to be above reproach. Now you can certainly argue that this is an unrealistic standard, and I would probably agree with you. It isn’t generally possible for anyone to be as pure as Calpurnia, especially in Washington DC. And this is, as mentioned, something too petty to make much of. But I have seen a lot of other stuff, equally petty, that Democrats seem much less eager to gloss over. One wonders why that might be. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/131 "2008-10-24T17:03:39Z")
Unless you’ve donated to Obama’s campaign, you have nothing to bitch about. I donated and I don’t care. McCain’s campaign money comes from _taxapayers_, so it’s much more ethically dubious to use it to by fancy clothes for his hooker. Obama’s plane trip is not on the public dime. Palin’s extravagant shopping trips are. Obama’s not personally rich enough to be able to reimburse a trip like this anyway. He’s not Cindy McCain. The classy thing for McCain supporters to do is to shut the fuck up about a guy going to visit his gravely ill grandmother who raised him. Let’s also not forget that your boy J-Mac fake suspended his campaign and then used his campaign plane to fly back to Washington. If his campaign was suspended then why was he using a campaign plane? Riddle me that, bitches. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/132 "2008-10-24T17:11:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Unless you’ve donated to Obama’s campaign, you have nothing to bitch about. I donated and I don’t care. McCain’s campaign money comes from _taxapayers_, so it’s much more ethically dubious to use it to by fancy clothes for his hooker. Obama’s plane trip is not on the public dime. Palin’s extravagant shopping trips are. > > Obama’s not personally rich enough to be able to reimburse a trip like this anyway. He’s not Cindy McCain. The classy thing for McCain supporters to do is to shut the fuck up about a guy going to visit his gravely ill grandmother who raised him. Let’s also not forget that your boy J-Mac fake suspended his campaign and then used his campaign plane to fly back to Washington. If his campaign was suspended then why was he using a campaign plane? Riddle me that, bitches. Thank You. The Palin/clothes pit thread is twice as long as this one and a far more egregious “gray area”, yet Shodan couldn’t bother posting his concerns about “above reproach” behavior in that thread. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/133 "2008-10-24T17:12:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Unless you’ve donated to Obama’s campaign, you have nothing to bitch about. No, as mentioned, donating to a campaign with the understanding, even after the fact, that the candidate will divert the funds to his personal use, is bribery. In other words, if I donated $100,000 to McCain, and he used the money for a vacation in the Bahamas, that would be illegal even if I knew about it, and was such a McCain supporter that I didn’t care. I realize you won’t be able to understand this, because, well, you’re an idiot, but for the rest of the members of the boards… On edit, I see that **ArchiveGuy** is just as stupid as you are. Oh well, that’s two that won’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/134 "2008-10-24T17:23:22Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > A politician shouldn’t be using campaign funds for his personal benefit even if the donors don’t care. That would make it a bribe. I’m sure you can see the problem with that. [Bribe](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bribe): > [@](#): > > 1. money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person, esp. in that person’s performance as an athlete, public official, etc.: \*The motorist offered the arresting officer a bribe to let him go. \* > 2. anything given or serving to persuade or induce: \*The children were given candy as a bribe to be good. \* [Bribe](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bribe) > [@](#): > > 1 : money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust > 2 : something that serves to induce or influence [Bribe](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bribe) > [@](#): > > 1. Something, such as money or a favor, offered or given to a person in a position of trust to influence that person’s views or conduct. > 2. Something serving to influence or persuade. And you call me stupid? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/135 "2008-10-24T17:24:12Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, as mentioned, donating to a campaign with the understanding, even after the fact, that the candidate will divert the funds to his personal use, is bribery. No it isn’t. And “funds” weren’t used. An airplane was used. A decision which was made by the Secret Service, not the candidate. If you have a problem with it, I encourage you to try to press charges. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/136 "2008-10-24T17:31:08Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > **pepperlandgirl** –I was born in 1962 and I’m sick of the damned Baby Boomers–no, I’m not really One of Them–I have no memory of Vietnam etc. I consider myself a child of the Energy Crisis and Watergate (which I was too young to understand as well). > > Believe me, MOST of the country is sick of Vietnam, hippies, counter-culture BS and all the BB baggage. Not to mention people named after Beatles songs. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/137 "2008-10-24T17:32:56Z")
Golly, If Senator Obama wants to establish a special PAC to repay the Campaign funds for the trip, I will donate to it. And Another donation to a fund to tar and feather the Republican asshole who made the comment, and run him out of every town in America on a rail. Tris ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/138 "2008-10-24T17:33:06Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > …But I have seen a lot of other stuff, equally petty, that Democrats seem much less eager to gloss over. One wonders why that might be. One certainly does wonder! You do. That makes one. Impeccable logic. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/139 "2008-10-24T17:41:39Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > One certainly does wonder! You do. That makes one. Impeccable logic. **That** makes **one**. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233/140 "2008-10-24T17:58:01Z")
As a taxpayer, an Obama supporter, a partial owner of his campaign and a human being I have to say I honestly could give two shits about him flying in a publically funded plane to see his grandmother. Hell, just about anyone could ask me for a few bucks to see a dying relative and I’d do what I could, even **Shodan**. This is not about politics, it’s not about the campaign or about one party versus the other, this is about compassion. This is about doing what you have to do to take care of family business first then worrying about the devil in the details later. This is about priorities and I think Obama has made his priorities known. It is an honor to wittness someone living up to his committments as a family member first. Who knows, will he pay for the flight afterwards? Will he go ahead and write it off on our dime? Will he deliver a campaign speech in Hawaii just to make it all legit? Who knows, who cares. It’s all about the family committment and our compassion towards each other right now. Plenty of time to sort out the business end of the deal later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-campaign-slams-obamas-visit-to-his-grandmother/469233.md?page=8)