Off-the-Merits Express

from TPM

Here is a good example of an 'off-the-merits' ploy.

McCain is asked about his 2004 conversation with John Kerry re being Kerry's 2004 runningmate (a whole saga unto itself, which is not the point of the current post, so I won't go into the substance here).

In the video below, he displays some classic rhetorical behaviors in his effort to avoid having to answer on the merits. Straight talk indeed!






see Collecting McCain-isms