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POW: McCain's All-Purpose Excuse
Talking Points Memo — As Greg notes, even some in the political press corps are beginning to tire of McCain's version of "the dog ate my homework." ...

Tire Swing No More?
Talking Points Memo — Pundits and yakkers start rapping McCain for non-stop POW, POW, POW.

A noun, a verb, and P.O.W.
Political Animal — ... ." Greg Sargent summarized the problem nicely: "[I]f you print too much currency, it devalues it. The McCain campaign is cranking out all these bills with a little 'McCain as P.O.W.' logo on it and is trying to use them to buy their way out of every controversy that comes along. Pretty soon the McCain team's money won't be good anywhere." Quite right. I'd just add that the hard-sell wouldn't be quite so awkward if McCain didn't go around saying that ...

Pundits And Writers Hitting McCain For P.O.W. References
Rook's Rant — Having worked in the CD field for as long as I have, I have come to recognize a certain syndrome that can become quite irritating in it's monotonous droning; playing the victim. It would appear that John McCain's campaign has reached that droning point in playing the victim card. ...

Noun+Verb+POW
The Reaction — ... A lot of people are thinking that McCain may have thrown down the POW card one too many times yesterday when the campaign pushed back against the reaction to his house gaffe by saying, "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," referring to the prisoner of war camp that McCain was in during the Vietnam War." The best take on it I've seen is by ...

John McCain’s Authenticity Has Left the Building (All 7 Or 8 of Them)
Firedoglake — ... doesn't get it" can be such devastating political attacks.  Keeping Democratic candidates from achieving this kind of identification with voters is why Republicans invariably launch such blistering personal assaults, with negative ads seeking to make them figures of ridicule and portray them as weird, morally suspect freaks.  All of a sudden, though, now it's McCain who seems abnormal and inauthentic.  (That reporters and pundits are starting to recognize the McCain team's "But he was a POW!" defense as canned shtick doesn't help.) ...

Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points [44] -- McCain House Party!
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... But the media, fickle as they are, don't seem to be buying any of what the McCain folks are selling. Perhaps it's because McCain has all but shut them out, after his new campaign team (with the Karl Rove Seal of Approval) decided to deny them access to the candidate. The media is even pushing back on the "POW" references now -- something that would have been unthinkable mere weeks ago. USA Today shows how much ...

Note to McCain: Ease Off on the P.O.W. Talk
Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines — ... McCain’s sacrifice. “I think they are going to it way too many times,” Fineman told MSNBC, adding that “you can’t help but have admiration and respect for the guy” but that “it’s become a crutch in the campaign.” “I think he is in danger of trivializing it,” Fineman continued. “By the time they get to the convention in St. Paul, there might not be much of it left to use.” Read more READ THE WHOLE ITEMRelated Entries ...

McCain Camp’s Overplaying of POW Card Called to Account From All Corners
Crooks and Liars — ... anything and everything to the point many in the media have begun questioning the tactic: Whether he’s deflecting criticism over his health-care plan or mocking a tribute to the Woodstock music festival, Senator John McCain has a trump card: the Hanoi Hilton. … That was followed by Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, Politico’s Ben Smith, and Time’s Ana Marie Cox (h/t Greg Sargent) all calling foul. The Washington Monthly’s Steve Benen inferred ...

'Underusing' the P.O.W. story
Political Animal — ... the other day about the McCain campaign overplaying the prisoner-of-war card, so much so that even sympathetic reporters have begun questioning McCain for " trivializing " his service. For its part, the McCain campaign has come to ...