Back in 2000, one of the real drags on the Gore campaign was the perception pushed forward by the establishment media that the Democratic nominee was less than truthful. Interestingly enough, it's looking increasingly possible that John McCain may be being tagged with the label of "liar", which might cause some real headaches for his candidacy going forward. Take a look, for instance, at this exchange from ABC's "The View" from yesterday:
It's not just the hosts of "The View" hitting McCain for not being truthful in his attacks on Barack Obama, in his storytelling about Sarah Palin's experience and background -- about you name it -- we're beginning to see some of the most established names in the news business calling out McCain's truthfulness. And it's occurring even on the most mundane issues. Take a look at this report today from Bloomberg running under the headline, "McCain-Palin Crowd-Size Estimates Not Backed by Officials."
Senator John McCain has drawn some of the biggest crowds of his presidential campaign since adding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to his ticket on Aug. 29. Now officials say they can't substantiate the figures McCain's aides are claiming.McCain aide Kimmie Lipscomb told reporters on Sept. 10 that an outdoor rally in Fairfax City, Virginia, drew 23,000 people, attributing the crowd estimate to a fire marshal.
Fairfax City Fire Marshal Andrew Wilson said his office did not supply that number to the campaign and could not confirm it. Wilson, in an interview, said the fire department does not monitor attendance at outdoor events.
In recent days, journalists attending the rallies have been raising questions about the crowd estimates with the campaign. In a story on Sept. 11 about Palin's attraction for some Virginia women voters, Washington Post reporter Marc Fisher estimated the crowd to be 8,000, not the 23,000 cited by the campaign.
The McCain campaign may believe that it will be able to get away with stretching teh truth -- at times even beyond the point of recognition. Indeed, it appears that the campaign is intent on continuing these questionable practices. But while McCain has been able to ride the tide of these tactics to a point where today he's tied in the national polling, or perhaps a couple of points ahead, it's not clear to me that McCain can weather much more press calling his ability to be truthful with the American people -- to be a "straight shooter" -- into question, because all of the sudden the first thought that may come to voters' minds with regards to McCain will not be his long tenure of service to the country but rather the continued falsehoods coming out of his campaign and even his own mouth.
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