by David Nitkin
Barack Obama boiled his campaign down to one word: "Change." John McCain hasn't quite hit on a similar same concise message.
"Country first" reads the latest slogan on his Web site.
If the Arizona senator is looking for something different, he could go with the more complex suggestion in the sign shown above.
Don Murphy, a former Maryland state delegate and longtime McCain supporter, greeted the presumptive Republican nominee at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport this week, with a sign spelling out McCain's name in numeric code.
The system, Murphy said, was used by McCain and other POWs to communicate while imprisoned in Vietnam. In the code, the alphabet is broken into groups of letters. The letter M is the second letter in the third group, so it is represented in the code by "3-2." "C" is the third letter in the first group. And so on.
Getting off his airplane, McCain got a thrill out of seeing the sign, and immediately began tapping out his name, Murphy told The Sun of Baltimore this week.
Murphy said later that he should have given the placard to McCain as a gift. But he only thought of that later.
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Comments
Oh, that's what that is. I thought it was McCain/Bush approval poll number code for S.O.S.
Posted by: Doug "Hussein" Zook | July 25, 2008 1:58 PM
"A new John McCain slogan"?
Yeah, that'll work....NOT!
Are they just giving up over there in McCain campaignland? Bob Dole ran a better campaign than John McSame has..
Posted by: John E | July 25, 2008 2:03 PM
After listening to many of McBushs' speeches...he sounds more like a grandfather telling a fairy tale.
Posted by: bill "Hussein" r. | July 25, 2008 2:06 PM
"HANS COLO SOLO MCCAIN SPEAKS"
IT'S NOT THE MARK!
IT'S NOT YOUR EMD MARK!
IT'S NOT YOUR NEW "PRIVATE SOCIAL SECURITY CARD NUMBER"
IT'S JUST A NUMBER!
IT'S NOT A BARCODE!
IT'S NOT A CHECKING ACCOUNT NUMBER!
IT'S NOT A SAVINGS ACCOUNT NUMBER!
IT'S COLO SOLO PANAMA CANAL ZONE 1936 LONGITUDE/LATITUDE COALIATION BOAT "PRESCOTT BUSH"
IT'S NOT RUDY GUILIANI'S
SKYWATCH TATOO, BUT IT COULD BE!
Posted by: Roger Morris | July 25, 2008 2:07 PM
John McCain's slogan: Status Quo
Posted by: MBT | July 25, 2008 2:16 PM
That's funny "John E" because Rasmussen has McCain up by 10 in Ohio and Quinnipiac has him only down 2 in Minnesota and Michigan. Are you getting nervous?
Posted by: B. Werty | July 25, 2008 2:20 PM
Very cool.
Posted by: SS | July 25, 2008 2:24 PM
Oh how nice! Maybe when Obama is president he will invite McCain to the White House to talk about those halcyon days in Viet Nam.
Posted by: GEEP | July 25, 2008 2:57 PM
That's funny "John E" because Rasmussen has McCain up by 10 in Ohio and Quinnipiac has him only down 2 in Minnesota and Michigan. Are you getting nervous?
Posted by: B. Werty | July 25, 2008 2:20 PM
Polls in July aren't worth the paper they're printed on, I didn't believe the polls that showed Obama up by 20% and I don't believe the ones that are out now. If you're depending on some July polls that show "some" good news for McCain to make you feel better about your chances then you're fooling yourself.
Posted by: Trent J. | July 25, 2008 3:27 PM
You'' believe the polls in November when John McCain wins the election. I like his new slogan; it is why many of us will be voting for him. We will put America first!
Posted by: jaycee | July 25, 2008 3:41 PM
New McCain campaign slogan;
"John McCain - He's Not Old, He's Ancient"
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je8KBhT970Q
Posted by: John E | July 25, 2008 3:41 PM
I don't get it.
If the groups have 5 letters, M would be 3-3. If the groups have six letters, M would be 3-1.
What gives??
Posted by: John | July 25, 2008 4:28 PM
This country can't survive another Republican administration. Of course it probably can't survive an empty slogan like "change" unless it is what the government hopes that is what we can live on!
Posted by: Tom | July 25, 2008 4:56 PM
I'm an Obama supporter, but I think Murphy's sign is cool.
Like Obama himself, I respect McCain's service and the time he spent in captivity.
I just don't think he'd be an especially good president.
By the way, I am really intrigued by the certainty with which McCain's supporters predict his imminent victory. Very sure of yourselves.
Posted by: FillB | July 25, 2008 5:12 PM
McCain's new slogan? I thought it was one of these:
"Pass the fudge."
"Berlin Ohio - it's a lot less noisy and crowded."
"Elect me you whiners!"
"Hey, I'm still running you know."
"Get off my lawn!"
Posted by: Tom O | July 25, 2008 6:26 PM
I thought it spelled G_E_R_I_T_O_L!!!!
Posted by: bill "Hussein" r. | July 25, 2008 9:53 PM
You're a very sick man, Bill R., I hope one day you get the help you need, Hussein.
Posted by: Jeff | July 26, 2008 12:29 AM