Chuck Todd writes:
[If] my sources are correct, Lieberman was virtually a done deal inside McCain's mind as of 10 days ago. But then, he was talked out of his pick by top adviser Charlie Black and campaign manager Rick Davis.
Once again, in case you missed it: John McCain, the nominee and presumptive leader of his party, was talked out of his VP pick by Charlie Black and Rick Davis.
Meet Charlie Black:
In 1972 he contended with Karl Rove for the leadership of the College Republicans, in a contest so heated that then Republican National Committee (RNC) head George H.W. Bush was forced to intervene.[2]
In the same year, he served as political director for the first senatorial campaign of Jesse Helms, during which he designed a strategy that labeled Helms’ Democratic opponent as too liberal for North Carolina, employing a slogan declaring Helms to be "One of Us."[3] In 1996, he told the New York Times that, at the beginning of the race, "everybody knew he was too conservative, he’d never run for office, and couldn’t win. But it was a good conservative cause, so I went down and worked on his campaign for the last six months. And lo and behold, we did win."[1]
In 1975, Black co-founded the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC) with Terry Dolan and Roger Stone.[1]
Black went on to work for a succession of Republican presidential campaigns from 1976 to 1992, including those of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. His first hire on the Reagan campaign was Lee Atwater, whom he met during the course of his work with the RNC in 1972. He re-emerged as an advisor to George W. Bush's campaigns in 2000 and 2004 and has been quoted in news stories as an unofficial White House spokesman.[citation needed]
A colleague of Black's, Republican media consultant Roger Ailes, attested to his reputation for toughness: "Charlie's the kind of guy who if he came home and found somebody making out with his wife on a rainy day, he'd break the guy's umbrella and ask him to leave, then have him killed a year later. Lee Atwater would blow the house up." [4]
Now, meet Rick Davis:
In 2003, Davis and his lobbying firm were hired by German logistic company DHL and Airborne Express, to lobby congress to approve of a merger between the two firms. John McCain, as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, backed the deal and helped thwart opposition to the merger. DHL Holdings was eventually successful in acquiring Airborne Express. Davis' firm earned over half a million U.S. dollars for its lobbying work.[1][3]
McCain and Davis have now come under severe criticisms for facilitating the deal, as DHL is planning to quit using the Wilmington, Ohio freight airport as a hub. The airport and package-sorting facility in Wilmington was previously owned by Airborne Express. The move by DHL is expected to cost the region more than 8,000 jobs.[4]
Involvement with Oleg Deripaska
In 2006, Davis helped set up the encounter between McCain and controversial Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in Switzerland during an international economic conference. At the time, Davis was working for a lobbying firm and seeking to do business with the billionaire. Later that month, Deripaska wrote to Davis and his partner, GOP political consultant Paul J. Manafort, to thank them for arranging the meeting. "Thank you so much for setting up everything in Klosters so spectacularly," he wrote. "It was very interesting to meet Senators McCain, Chambliss and Sununu in such an intimate setting." Deripaska, considered a close ally of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, had his U.S. visa revoked for suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures.[5]
Here is why John McCain is so spectacularly unqualified to lead our country: Because he has so little faith in his own judgment that he leaves the most important decisions to bag-men and lobbyists.
If John McCain doesn't trust himself to make the decisions he feels the strongest about, why should we?
Ballgame. QEfuckingD.
John McCain is padlocked from the cockpit of his own campaign -- a passenger along for the ride -- as the religious right, the neocons and corporate raiders duke it out for control. He has been instructed that his opinions, no matter how heartfelt, are no longer required, and that he is to simply await further instructions, eyes forward.
As we know from his flight record as a Navy pilot, that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach is a familiar one. Unfortunately for Mav, there are no ejection seats in First Class.