‘Hanoi Hilton’ Photos, Footage to Boost McCain Bid

Writer Paul Bedard published nearly a dozen posts today at the U.S. News & World Report Washington Whispers blog. Two of them dealt with photos and film footage of the place where John McCain spent five years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war. Before the 2008 presidential race is over, those two should provide a big boost to the Republican candidate’s campaign.

In John McCain’s Home While He Was a POW in Vietnam, Bedard included two photos of McCain’s prison cell at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” In Hanoi Hilton: the Movie, he reports that “cable news outlets are going all out” to review Debra Watkins’ film footage of the North Vietnamese prison.

Exactly how will photos and film footage of McCain’s prisoner-of-war environment help his White House bid? My belief is that Obama will not be able to resist comparing conditions of McCain’s five-year confinement to those many Americans live in today.

Yes, I think Obama will play the poverty card. Of course, it will backfire and, in so doing, help McCain move one step closer to victory in November.

-- Bob McCarty Writes