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McCain Busses in 4,000 School Kids to Fill Crowd

Posted by Sam Stein, Huffington Post at 11:36 AM on October 30, 2008.


This happened less than a week out from the election, when the heat of the campaign should be drawing record crowds.
mccainexcitement
McCain: Feel the Excitement.

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The most cringe-worthy political moment of the day, so far, came when Sen. John McCain called out for his new buddy Joe the Plumber to stand up at a rally in Ohio, only to be greeted with confused silence. Joe the Plumber wasn't there.

But that rally featured another embarrassing moment, one that illustrates a far more troubling dynamic for the Republican ticket. The McCain campaign actually had to bus in school kids from the surrounding area in order to fill the event. As reported by MSNBC:

A local school district official confirmed after the event that of the 6,000 people estimated by the fire marshal to be in attendance this morning, more than 4,000 were bused in from schools in the area. The entire 2,500-student Defiance School District was in attendance, the official said, in addition to at least three other schools from neighboring districts, one of which sent 14 buses.

This happened -- as if a reminder were needed -- less than a week out from the election, when the heat of the campaign should be drawing record crowds.

AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.

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Tagged as: john mccain, politics news, mccain crowds, mccain enthusiasm, mccain joe the plumber, mccain school bus, mccain school chidlren

Sam Stein is a Political Reporter at the Huffington Post, based in Washington, D.C.


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So, do you think anybody noticed
Posted by: FLMom on Oct 30, 2008 12:06 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
that most of the people in the crowd weren't even old enough to Vote??? That's a real sham! How desperate they've become to save face on national television news spots! You're ship is sinking and it's time to bail!

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John McCain Supports Busing Students
Posted by: lmwilker on Oct 30, 2008 12:08 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Now that would make a great campaign ad and be about as truthful as the ones McCain's camp is airing right now.

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wait a minute...
Posted by: Moira61 on Oct 30, 2008 12:54 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
aren't these kids supposed to be in class? Is taking them out of school to attend a political rally even legal? What about the kids whose parents are Obama supporters? This is pitiful that McCain is using these kids in such a way - the man gets more disgusting every day. I pray Obama wins in a LANDSLIDE!!

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» RE: wait a minute... Posted by: Lilly
» RE: wait a minute... Posted by: FernLee
» RE: wait a minute... Posted by: weslen1
» RE: wait a minute... Posted by: mobilone
Ebonious73
Posted by: eboniousx on Oct 30, 2008 1:00 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
haha
I live the next county over, and just a question. Who paid for the fuel for those buses?
My cousin took her children so as not to be a socialist and use the school districts money to fuel the buses hmmmm.

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yeah...and...
Posted by: undrgrndgirl on Oct 30, 2008 1:30 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
who signed the permission slips???!!

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Bet none offered to share their sandwich with him either
Posted by: Purple Girl on Oct 30, 2008 4:11 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Pathetic.
If McCain had not sold his Soul to Cheneycorp after '00, he would have won this election hands down. Hindsight's a bitch ah Johnny Boy?Actually he may have even squeaked it out if he hadn't brought in the Sleazy machines like Schmidt.
bu tnow he's lost the Election, his last chance to be called Commander in chief, he's lost his integrity, created suspesions about his 'Glroy Story' and his Real Allegiences and worst of all he's lost his legacy.
Sad like a Greek Mythological tale of heroic tragedy, 'hero impales himself on his own Sword' (Blind, unbridled ambition)

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Any lawyers here tonight?
Posted by: gallery on Oct 30, 2008 4:55 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
it doesn't seem like it could be legal to force a political position on a student.
Are you telling me there's not a single democratic family in Defiance Ohio?

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Does anybody else think that the McStain campaign
Posted by: Quannah on Oct 30, 2008 8:49 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
looks more and more like a) The Onion; OR b) Saturday Night Live?

This shit writes itself! When "Joe The Plumber" wasn't there... I swear, they are trying to lose this election on purpose, right? Right? This is all a sick joke, right? Right??? Somebody help me make some sense of this! Aaaarrrgggghhhhhhh!

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How Desperate!
Posted by: rainingwolf on Oct 31, 2008 4:45 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
OMG! I am still laughing! (Especially love the picture of the sleeping men showing their excitement at his rally.) I know we dare not take this election for granted, and must keep working hard for Obama to be sure every vote is counted correctly--but I still can't help but be amused by McCain's desperation. School kids? Ha Ha Ha...! :-)

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dictator
Posted by: marie.vorrath on Oct 31, 2008 7:03 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This site is a test for the mentally impaired, get a life.....

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» RE: dictator Posted by: Carol Burns
» RE: dictator Posted by: mobilone
» RE: dictator Posted by: rotorooter
We're being played for suckers again.
Posted by: monkeywrench on Oct 31, 2008 11:17 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Of course, the fact that McCain has to cheat to get anybody to show up at this rallies will never be mentioned by the "Main Stream" Media. No, the MSM and its cabal of corporate owners is too busy cherry-picking and spinning polls to show that the race between McCain and Obama is tightening – when Obama draws 10 to 20 times the supporters to his rallies than McCain, even when McCain cheats.

The fix is in; this "news" reporting about tightening poll numbers is setting up the american people to accept the results of an election that may well be stolen once again, like in 2004 and nearly in 2006. Obama's only hope is that his actual margin of victory will be so huge as to make attempted election fraud obvious and his victory too great to steal.

(Another attempt to artificially tighten the race is the reporting on early voting showing horrendous lines and, in a couple of cases, actually announcing the percentage results of the early votes! Anybody remember the election of Jimmy Carter? East coast results were announced before the west coast polls closed; as a result, many democrats didn't bother to vote late in the west, thinking the race was already decided, and more than a few democratic "down-ballot" candidates lost their races because of it. This is happening again, worse, with early voting returns, and I'm surprised – although I guess I shouldn't be – that no one is reacting to this outrage.)

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