UK

[Bumped]

Republicans have a major messaging problem–no sooner do they come up with a new talking point then it gets shot down and they have to come up with another one all over again.

Conservatives’ latest attack on Barack Obama just doesn’t make sense–according to them, Obama is too popular and showing too much leadership; he’s acting too Presidential, and that makes him presumptuous.

What is this all based on? A series of stupid, easily-refutable arguments:

1.  Obama went to a foreign country and gave a speech, and he isn’t even President yet!

Presidential candidates–including John McCain–often go abroad during their campaigns.  In fact, McCain recently  made some high-profile junkets to Canada, the Middle East and Latin America,  (where he spent Indepdendence Day).

The fact that Obama is so well-received in foreign countries shows how successful of a President he would be in restoring America to it’s rightful place as a respected world leader.

2.  Obama met with foreign leaders just like Presidents do!

Again, Presidential candidates–including McCain–do that often, as well.  In fact, McCain has met with Mexico’s Felipe Calderon, France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, The United Kingdom’s Gordon Brown, and others.

Diplomacy is important, now more than ever.  America’s next President will have to work with a variety of international allies, and Obama’s success in meeting with foreign heads of states shows how successful he will be in bringing the world together to fight terrorism and provide international security.

3.  Barack Obama is putting together a transition team more than three months before the election! That proves he’s presumptuous!

Actually, that’s standard for Presidential campaigns, too:

Obama has plenty of historical precedent to draw upon. On the Republican side of the aisle, Ronald Reagan began his 1980 planning effort in early spring under a senior confidant. The planning produced the fastest transition to governing in modern history, which translated directly into Reagan’s victories on budget and tax cuts only six months into the term.

George W. Bush also began his planning early, which produced a remarkably disciplined transition that laid set the stage for another round of tax cuts. It is hard to imagine how the transition could have succeeded without it. Given the Florida impasse, it is hard to imagine how the Bush transition could have succeeded without the pre-election planning.

On the Democratic side, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also began their planning early.

[Emphasis added]

Early planning is the key to a successful transition, and all campaigns of both parties do it. And in our modern world, with terrorism and insecurity and economic instability, it would be irresponsible for a Presidential campaign to not prepare for the massive challenges our 44th President will face.

It’s clear that McCain and his supporters are getting desperate–you know you’re trouble when you say your opponent is too popular, too talented, too successful.

It’s basically an admission of failure.

UPDATE: Then there’s this:

In his new ad about his Bush-style no care health care “plan”, John McCain identifies himself on screen as “President McCain”