Media to McCain: Are you going to debate?
By Jimmy Orr | 09.25.08
With word from Washington that there is an agreement in principle on the $700 billion plan to bailout the US financial markets, the question on every political observer’s mind is — what about the debate?
If we’ve got a bailout agreement, that should open the doors for the mano-a-mano verbal slugfest, right?
Not so fast. No matter how many times you phrase something to the McCain campaign, they’ll keep giving you the same answer over and over again. Like the answers we received from McCain spokesman Ben Porritt when asked if there were any updates.
3:36pm: “There isn’t a deal, until there’s a deal.”
4:10pm: “There is no deal until there is a deal. We are optimistic but priority number one is to find an economic solution.”
We had progress anyway in terms of the number of words sent back.
Does that mean McCain would actually skip the debate and allow Obama to go it alone? Radio silence from the McCain campaign on that question.
Gutsy or Hail Mary?
No matter what happens with the debate tomorrow, McCain’s move Thursday night couldn’t have shaken the political world up any more or received such polar reactions from people — for example, former colleagues Newt Gingrich and Barney Frank.
Newt Gingrich called it gutsy.
“[It’s the] greatest single act of responsibility ever taken by a presidential candidate,” he said. “It is surprisingly irresponsible and politically dangerous for the Obama campaign to try and insist on a debate Friday night.”
Democratic Representative Barney Frank brought up a Doug Flutie’ish sports analogy.
“It’s the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys,” Frank said.
Roger Simon over at Politico brought back a great memory from the McCain 2000 campaign.
“McCain has never been known for excessive caution,” Simon writes. “At the beginning of his 2000 presidential run, he would talk about his early days as a Navy jet jockey when he and his buddies would just take off without bothering with all the safety procedures.
“McCain said his motto in those days was: ‘Kick the tires and light the fires. To hell with the checklist. Anybody can be slow.’ ”
It’s going on
Obama, meanwhile, is full speed ahead. At this morning’s Global Initiative meeting put on by former President Bill Clinton, Obama reiterated the call that postponing the debate is unnecessary.
“The American people deserve to hear directly from myself and Senator McCain about how we intend to lead our country,” Obama said. “The times are too serious to put our campaign on hold, or to ignore the full range of issues that the next president will face.”
It’s not going on
John McCain brought up the debates too in his speech, reminding people why he is in postponement mode.
“I cannot carry on a campaign as though this dangerous situation had not occurred, or as though a solution were at hand, which it clearly is not,” McCain said. “As of this morning I suspended my political campaign. With so much on the line, for America and the world, the debate that matters most right now is taking place in the United States Capitol — and I intend to join it. Senator Obama is doing the same. America should be proud of the bipartisanship we are seeing.”
Debate is likely
Although a one-person presidential debate on Friday would be historic and a great skit on Saturday Night Live, many people just don’t see it happening.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour today was carrying on like there aren’t any changes.
“This is going to be a great debate tomorrow night and we’re excited about it,” Barbour said at a press conference today.
At a “Monitor Breakfast” sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor on Thursday, Obama campaign strategist Robert Gibbs predicted John McCain will show up for the debate.
“I think he will be there,” Gibbs said. “I think he will decide that a president is capable of doing more than one thing at a time.”
“[Obama’s] practicing his part in this, so we’re prepared to take questions from Jim Lehrer with or without John McCain,” Gibbs continued.
Strategizers
Some strategists don’t see it happening without McCain there. In an email to The Vote, GOP strategist Rob Stutzman thinks - deal or no deal - McCain’s going to be there.
“Debates should favor McCain, I bet he shows up,” Stutzman said. “He needs the value of the side-by-side match-up, and now that there’s an apparent deal on the bailout, I think he’ll be in Oxford tomorrow night. The hullabaloo increases viewership 15 percent. Net win for McCain. Plus they need to do something to bury the Palin CBS interview!”
Yeah, that is something else for the McCain camp to consider.
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2. George | 09.25.08
McCain has nowhere to go now but down, and I will tell you exactly how this will happen. They can run away from President Bush, but they can’t run away from the Republican Party. The Republicans will be regarded from now on as “the party that wrecked America.” Over the weeks ahead, as carnage in the economy and the financial markets ramps up, it will become increasingly clear. It is important that this meme be spread through the internet. I urge all commentators to adopt and spread the idea that the Republicans are “the party that wrecked America.” It will work because it is the truth. Use it freely. Just spread the word. Get the meme going.
3. trey | 09.25.08
Great point by Gibbs, if you think you’re qualified to be president, you have to be capable of handling multiple very important tasks at once. McCain is showing now showing his true hand, which is that of a snide trickster who will do anything in his power to become president. Beware all, if the McCain/Palin ticket gets in, we’re looking at a great great depression and probable WWIII…these people have no clue.
4. Kottaras | 09.25.08
McCain is debating in DC on the most important issue at hand.
The other debates can wait. Most of them are purely for the media hype and gossip columns. We have witnessed the most pressin debate ever perhaps.
McCain for president I say.
5. George | 09.25.08
Palin debating either person on the Obama/Biden ticket would be a slaughter. It’s no wonder the McCain campaign is trying to delay the VP debate, too.
McCain is acting in a self-destructive manner that is adversely affecting the world around him. Picking Palin and now these shenanigans… foolish, self-destructive behavior.
As many people are saying, Obama is acting presidential while McCain’s behavior is gimmicky and irrational. He’s just not suited to be president.
6. John Pisciotta | 09.25.08
What is more important than speaking directly to the people on the issues he feels strongly about? McCain should do the debate for his wishy-washyness already looks to be a sign of weakness.
7. riri | 09.25.08
Maccain is serious to solve American economy problem. CNN unintentionally reported Obama camp were cheered up when stock market crash. Of corse, all CNN members and analysts were pleased also. Candy reported this is all they wanted.
Obama doesn’t want to solve this problem before the election.
8. eric | 09.25.08
Ten days ago McCain said the economy is strong, he has been campaigning all week and now the day before the debate he thinks this an emergency. If Obama does not agree will they portray him as not caring about the bailout? Most likely.
9. festinog | 09.25.08
Funny, Regan had no problem debating Carter in the middle of the Iran Hostage Crisis.
Do sane Republican voters really believe that this represents genuine concern on the part of McCain given that a week ago he was of the opinion that the economy was “fundamentally strong”. An amazing about-face by any standard.
And that’s without even discussing McCains long history of deregulation.
This has all the hallmarks of a candidate running scared and trying to delay not his debate, but that of his veep; who once again has been shown up in a press interview (her third!!) to be a total, and utter lightweight who is completely unfit to be veep, never mind POTUS.
And then of course there’s those pesky tumbling pole ratings.
10. Marcus | 09.25.08
I think what you’ll see is Bush standing up in October and declaring that McCains master plan for saving the economy (That Bush and his buddies destroyed) is a winner. McCain really is Presidential and we should all thank our lucky stars that MCCAIN is a REAL American hero. He has to, because if he doesn’t McCain won’t have a prayer of getting elected. Everybody is watching the ballot boxes for fraud now. Bush doesn’t have any terrorists handy in the country to do something extreme which would let him declare martial law and suspend the elections, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see that ploy tried.
Nope, there’s nothing can save him except making McCain look really great for no reason.
Figure it out. If you are facing the rest of your life under Congressional investigation and possible jail time for subverting or breaking almost every federal law there is, what would you do?
12. ELLIS | 09.25.08
There is satellite link, you know—-that way mccain won’t have to be so scared to stand next to Obama.
HOWEVER….If mccain is just too busy for the debate then it should be the whole thingo for Obama! Let Obama have ALL OF THAT FREE PRESS!!!!!!!!!! THAT WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE DEBATE!
13. Ron | 09.25.08
Its amazing how all this had to come up one month before elections, never would have imagined.
14. RickW | 09.25.08
If McCain is too busy then we should go ahead with the Biden/Palin debate.
That makes total sense.
15. festinog | 09.25.08
Marcus, that’s an interesting theory. The only problem I see with it, is this is the same President Bush who wasn’t even welcome at his own party convention and who was barely mentioned that entire week. It is the same President Bush who is enjoying an all-time low in approval ratings, and is widely regarded as being a total ‘lame duck president’. The same man whose presidency is widely regarded as being instrumental in the present melt-down.
I don’t think an endorsement from this man is something the McCain campaign wants. Especially when McCain has been bending over backwards to distance himself from his own party on a laughable promise of reform…
16. Andy | 09.25.08
There is a real world (hello…: economy, war, predators, victims) and there is a fake world (duh…: media, advertisements, video, fiction, political correctness, etc. etc. etc.)
If you cannot tell them apart then you are an idiot and do not deserve to be in charge of anything.
McCain can tell them apart.
Get over it.
Andy
17. ELLIS | 09.25.08
And he has no more business to conduct in DC. The hush gossip in DC is that the deal was final this afternoon but McCain demanded that it hang in limbo til tomorrow so he could cut and run on the debate. No kidding.
Wait and see — it will be “final” but not until he is safely away from the debate.
Washington is whispering about this tonight.
18. Ron | 09.25.08
“I suspect that part of what we’re seeing in the freezing up of lending markets is strategic behavior on the part of big financial players who stand to benefit from the bailout,” said David K. Levine, an economist at Washington University in St. Louis, who studies liquidity constraints and game theory.
19. annonymouse | 09.25.08
Why should they debate at all? Our country prospered for almost 200 years without a debate. I want the person who can manage the country better. I couldn’t care less about a good debater.
Read the platforms instead of sitting in front of the TV with your mind already made up.
Oh, I forget, most of the boomers don’t read or think for themselves.
20. Kottaras | 09.25.08
McCain does not back away from anything he feels is important for his country. It takes more courage to tackle real issues.
The biggest debate ever at hand has taken place. The winners are the people. McCain deserves to be president for he knows what to do in an emrgency. Obama will face McCain rest assured.
The debate will go on.
21. Keith B | 09.25.08
There is no agreement - not as of 8:45 P.M. Eastern Time. Evidently, the Democrats and Republicans in the Senate forgot to ask the House Republicans what they thought and they are LIVID. Barney Frank and Pelosi evidently doesn’t speak for them - duh! Pelosi looked like a deer in the headlights tonight on TV. I think her great leadership is coming home to roost. This is absolutely the worst congress in a 100 years (probably more). How about back to the very first one? Do you agree with me? Say so if you do. Also, we need term limits for House and Senate. I’m tired of seeing these people suck on the public *** until they die.
22. LuxEt | 09.25.08
I don’t think we need a debate, just swing by here for what a MccainPalin administration would look like… http://mccainpalinworld.com/
23. festinog | 09.25.08
You are right Andy.
There is the real world:
De-regulation on Wall Street leading to predatory practises that have run the American economy onto the rocks; Iraq not sharing a border with Afghanistan; most Americans knowing how many houses they own; most Americans considering someone who earns $5 million a year as very wealthy.
And then there is the “fake” world:
A two-bit Alaskan bumpkin is qualified to be Vice-President of the most powerful country in the world; it’s about experience, no it’s about change, oh wait, no, it’s about reform.
24. cta | 09.25.08
“McCain is debating in DC on the most important issue at hand.”
And the issue is “how do I make myself look like the one who saved this after throwing a wrench in the works so I could come in and look like a hero?”
25. annonymouse | 09.25.08
KeithB, term limits is the way to go, but they will never allow it to happen. A grass roots movement for term limits is due NOW
In my honest opinion, one 6 year term and YOU ARE OUT OF HERE.
The founding fathers intended the congress to be a serve awhile, do your duty, and GO HOME thing.
26. Patrick | 09.25.08
If someone puts MacCain’s “I do not know much about economy” with “I am going to Washington to help build consensus about economy” that would be great.
27. Bob L | 09.25.08
Only political neophytes and vested commercial journalistic interests could give priority to a campaign debate at the expense of unfolding government events to avoid a global financial melt down. It clearly shows a lack of understanding of the dynamics of the global capital markets and remarkable disregard for the ultimate health of the U.S. and consequently international economies.
28. Patrick | 09.25.08
annonyouse, the country also prospered for 150 years without women voting. it did prosper without computer etc…
debate is where they express their views and let people know if they have just shallow promises or if they have ways of fulfilling them.
29. Tom | 09.25.08
If McCain doesn’t show up, hang a rubber chicken with his name on it in his place. A chicken’s a chicken…..
30. NinaK | 09.25.08
From today’s news, yes, McCain and Senator Obama were in the discussions with President Bush and other high-rank republicans and democrats. However, McCain said NOTHING!! He was just there for the photo ops! Furthermore, how long is the debate going to take? One hour, maybe?? McCain does not want to participate in the debate, it is that simple. McCain KNOWS he has no real plans and without his ROVE CLONE WRITTEN SCRIPTS, McCain is totally at a loss. His campaign KNOWS this and McCain KNOWS this is a fact. Look back to when McCain lost his place on the teleprompter and how he filled in with his own words and made big mistakes/gaffes!! Wasn’t it Rick Davis who stated, “John McCain does not speak for the campaign.”? It’s McCain’s campaign, yet he does NOT SPEAK FOR THE CAMPAIGN?? Also McCain and his campaign want to wipe out the Biden/Palin debate because they want to keep her “wrapped” so we do not really know her. She, too, cannot seem to speak without the ROVE CLONE SCRIPTS. I find it very interesting John McCain wanted to be “the big kahuna” of the bailout discussions and when he got there today, he had NOTHING to say/contribute to the discussion!! Folks, McCain is just causing distractions!! Furthermore, a president has many, many issues with which to deal and MUST be able to handle more than one at a time!! Looks like McCain would put everything else ON HOLD so he can work on only one issue at a time. Even our own bosses EXPECT MUCH MORE FROM US AND WE, THE PEOPLE, EXPECT MUCH MORE FROM OUR PRESIDENT!! McCain has already proven he is NOT fit to be president of our great nation, and continues to prove it every single day. His decisions are bizzarre, hasty, and without much thought; he is a bigger danger to our country and to us than are the terrorists!!
31. annonymouse | 09.25.08
If it’s all about the economy, think on this:
“A president’s pension currently is $191,300 per year, until he is 80 years old.
Assuming the next president lives to age 80. Sen. McCain would receive ZERO pension as he would reach 80 at the end of two terms as president. Sen. Obama would be retired for 26 years after two terms and would receive $4,973,800 in pension.
Therefore it would certainly make economic sense to elect McCain in November.”
How’s that for non partisan thinking???
32. Kottaras | 09.25.08
If Reagan were faced with an economic meltdown, he too would have rushed to DC and called for urgent action. Even the Iran hostage crisis cannot compare to the current financial chaos.
What you are seeing now is the beginning of another great depression.
33. Patrick | 09.25.08
Bob L “Only political neophytes and vested commercial journalistic interests could give priority to a campaign debate at the expense of unfolding government events to avoid a global financial melt down.”
And McCain is the superman who knows how to fix economy, whom we are all looking up to. He himself claimed he does not know much about economy. Then a week ago he said the economy is solid. He has voted for de-regulation for decades.
Both Obama and Cain, maximum they can do is vote in senate. They are still just senators.
34. saskin ordek | 09.25.08
McCain is not debating ANYTHING of consequence in DC. He is not an expert on economics (by self-admission), he is not on any of the committees concerned with the bailout, and he has not been involved in any part of the deliberations on this issue. ****, he has not even shown his face in the Senate since April (another member who just had a brain hemorrhage has a better attendance record). This is grandstanding and theatrics, pure and simple. He is a jerk. Even worse than Bush (at least he had some decency).
35. festinog | 09.25.08
Only an egocentric halfwit would believe that his imminent arrival in Washington would herald the passing of economic legislation given:
A. He has admitted and repeatedly shown that economics is not his strong suit. To put it mildly.
B. The entire senate and congress is already working on an agreement without McCain’s help. Not unsurprisingly, given that McCain has not attended the senate in over 6 months.
36. dotty | 09.25.08
The school children need to learn about the real World. Attacks on us by coordinated Foreign money pullouts is afoot.
What the children will learn?
Fairness is a fallacy
Entitlement is a fallacy
Believing one knows the mind of another is a fallacy of intent.
Pandering to spoiled children who stomp a foot and say “I want” is unrealistic, since what they will get if this is unresolved, is a life hand to mouth on the streets.
No more jobs and paper money by the basket fulls for a loaf of bread, means no more free ticket to school from Mommy and Daddy. No job means no way to work for the spoiled student either.
What would it lead to?
Rich Countrys with a “no fear” attitude, could attack and dis assemble the Union, which would mean draft to create a homeland defense military.Who wants some serious rationing from groceries to gas?
What power company survives for the computer, if no one pays an electric bill?
At least in the last great depression, the people owned the power plants.
Today?
No such luck.
Children can kick the turf and stomp, and whine and moan, but they are not going to like their future over some “unvaluable talk” they planned to hear.
College debates are fun games, but little meaning to a Congress called to emergency session, and a summon by the President.
If Obama shows to a debate, or says call me if you need me….it shows a complete lack of understanding about what his role is.
No, they won’t be calling.
Obama was shown in the Documentary film (Obama Effect The Hype) as a constant no show during crucial meetings , or a” present” vote.
Obama asking the people for a job, means he should care about the job first and not college level games.
37. Mary Porter | 09.25.08
Why can’t McCain’s staff carry on with the campaign while he hurries to Washington to hog the cameras? I think he had to suspend his campaign so his staff could concentrate on their lobbying work.
The Republican counter-plan consists mainly of infusing public money into the private sector with no oversight at all. I don’t see how they are protecting the tax payers. Is McCain sabotaging the negotiations so his cronies can broker a deal where we guarantee solvency for private companies with tax-payer-backed “insurance”?
38. C.D. Marsh | 09.25.08
While the banking instituitions, their investors and Wall Street Bankers quake in fear the public reaction will derail the “ecomomic rescue plan”–what a term of art that is, soldiers and civlians are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan. In fact Pakastani troops fired on American helicopters just yesterday. Will that country also fall under a Taliban style of rule? Both Korea and Iran have seized this moment of economic collapse to restart there nuclear programs. The Palestinians continue to wait for a solution. Oil and fuel and food prices along with rising health care costs continue to put enormous pressue on households around the globe. Socializing Wall Street will happen with or without the candidates present. The debates are about our collective futures. The candidates need to answer questions on a broad range of issues like how we regain our values in terms of human rights, individual rights, and find a new prescription for addressing the rising tide of Muslim extremists. Getting out of Iraq might remove a primary source fueling the hatred. An even hand in dealing with the Palestinan solution would do even more to help us restore our dignity. The debates are about a lot more than saving Wall Street. Tell us how long the recession will last, or how we reduce the trillions of dollars of public and private debt in this country without a depression. Senator McCain should show up and tell us what is on his mind just as one would hope Senator Obama is prepared to do.
39. annonymouse | 09.25.08
saskin. The same can be said for Obama. His voting record since April is only slightly better than McCain. Look it up. Neither has anything to do with the economy in Congress. Obama is not an expert on anything, let alone ecomonics.
What we have here is the evil of two lessers. Read the platform and vote Libertarian this year.
40. Jank | 09.25.08
McCain is cutting and running because he is scared of the debate. He is losing in the polls. McCain is desperate and when McCain gets desperate, he acts recklessly.
McCain has never responded to pressure well in his political career: from getting dragged right smack into the middle of the Keating Five Banking Scandal - when a big campaign contributor pressured McCain into getting federal regulators off his back, to his spineless bowing down to Bush after being savaged by him in the primaries in 04, to this frankly absurd VP pick… and now this.
Late in the game, he’s behind and he has to do something reckless. So he is bailing on the debate, with a hero act as his excuse.
It seems he is much more comfortable jumping back into the morass of DC insider politics to disappear in the halls he’s inhabited for so long, than he is the idea of facing Barack Obama in a presidential debate. McCain’s carefully carved “maverick” facade crumble into the facts of his Yes-Man voting record.
With this impotent grandstanding, he is now trying to shamelessly exploit our national financial crisis in his effort to get elected President. Pay attention America.
41. annonymouse | 09.25.08
Quote: “At least in the last great depression, the people owned the power plants.
Today?”
What. In the great depression, very few of us even had power. We were a rural nation. I was there.
42. annonymouse | 09.25.08
Quote: “He is losing in the polls.”
Really, what polls are you reading? Some have McCain leading by 5 points.
CNN poll of polls had McCain leading by 2 last Monday. He is dead even in the average of polls now.
You post what you wish, read up.
45. Mike | 09.25.08
Obama is the muslim communist with communist agenda for this country.Do we need a muslim communist in WH?
46. Sandra S | 09.25.08
Well, this is why McCain is acting so erratically - his campaign handlers are working him like a puppet. After all, the Republican Party Cult knows that they are going down and will lose power in Washington for years. This is them kicking and screaming as they grasp at the grapes but refuse to open their hands, thus sealing their own doom. At this point, they are dangerous because they have nowhere to go and are like a cornered animal so I expect we’ll see some more erratic behaviour from McCain. I will breathe a sigh of relief once Obama is elected; but then again, we have a whole two months for Bush/McCain to do a lot of damage before the swearing in ceremony in January, so after President Obama is sworn in, and I see the Bushes actually leave the White House, then I will breathe a sigh of relief.
47. Mike | 09.25.08
Everybody knows now that Obama broke the law when he bought that house in Chicago togehter with criminal REZKO.No wonder considering his Chicago mob connections.Do we need a criminal in WH?
48. Kevin Kris | 09.25.08
You know why McCain did this.
He wants to swap VP debate with his debate and postpone or cancel
VP debate..
49. mars | 09.25.08
lol annonymouse poll from monday? hello, its thursday and obama is up +3.3 on RCP.
get a clue
50. David A | 09.25.08
Anonymous 31 suggested voting for McCain on actuarial grounds– he’d collect his pension for fewer years than Obama since he’s so much older. By that reasoning, let’s elect Gerald Ford for prez. He’s dead and we won’t have to pay him or give him a vacation.
51. David A | 09.25.08
scratch vacation, i meant to write pension. I’m the one who needs a vacation …
52. bob | 09.25.08
annonymouse…………… look at realclearpolitics.com
Obama is leading. You are sounding like McCain; truth doesn’t matter
54. bob | 09.25.08
Mike…………. Do you ever have anything other than drivel?
Obama is Christian and you are just hateful.
57. S. Sandlin | 09.25.08
No matter how quickly the government acts on the bailout, it will take years to right all those wrongs incurred during the last quarter of a century. Now, just which corporate-controlled nominee will come closest to achieving a stable economy following November? And then ask yourself if this country can survive the one elected. I can’t believe the people have been dealt such a bad hand with the two we have to choose between–but one isn’t as lethal as the other.
58. DoTheMath | 09.25.08
I just read that the “debate” can’t happen unless there are at least two candidates. Otherwise, it’s a contribution in kind to the only candidate who shows up.
It’s ridiculous for McCain to pretend he’s doing anything substantive to move the bailout negotiations forward. What’s he doing, going on strike until they meet his demands? In that case, he seems to be working for Bush since Bush wants to force through a deal as fast as possible without regard to how likely it is to stabilize the market or how much it will end up costing taxpayers or benefiting CEOs.
McCain would serve everyone better if he left the negotiations to the people who are actually negotiating and met his obligations. The good people of Mississippi have gone to a lot trouble.
60. Judi | 09.25.08
Obama and McCain are in Washington with minimal roles in the bailout process. If Obama can make it to the debate so can McCain. If McCain opts out, it is proves his “campaign suspension” was a self-serving hail mary.
61. mark | 09.26.08
One thing the stock market HATES is indecision
It reacts BADLY to not knowing, and in the current atmosphere and mood swings of 500 points, what if Boehner/McCain’s STUNT for a photo op, causes a 600-700 pts. drop tomorrow. If McCain wanted to parachute in to DC to act a PLAYER…OK lets play.
FIX the mess you made of a difficult negotiations which took SERIOUS SMART folks to craft in 7 non stop days.
Dazzle America with your 884th in a class of 890 shmarts, and don’t fail to bring in the BIG BRAIN TRUST that is Sarah, she who needed 5 colleges in 6 yrs for a BA.
You should have that all knocked out by noon tomorrow, so you can make the debate.
62. mark | 09.26.08
In the VP debate, to make it sporting, and to retain Joe Biden’s interest, they have decided to give Gov. Palin 3 lifelines.
She can poll the audience, remove two of the wrong answers, or call a friend.
63. Cari | 09.26.08
McCain is no hero now or before. Read up on the true story of his Vietnam capture. He is still a coward…and a liar.
64. HOWISEEIT | 09.26.08
I really believe that McCain is in the begining stages of Dementia. I never supported Him and if I were a Republican I would surely not vote for Him. I think Sarah Palin is a lost cause Politically and will be replaced soon because of “Family Matters that need Her urgent attention” Which will cause Her to drop out of the race for VP. The gig is up John McCain and everybody can see right through Your lies and B.S.
65. True Debates | 09.26.08
The 1992 Presidential Debates with Ross Perot were not dull. His warnings have now come true. Replace John McCain with Ron Paul. Add Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney. Barack Obama must earn his victory, not win by default.
66. Paddy Rao | 09.26.08
I migrated from India. In those democracies (similar to UKs), elections can be put off. Under those circumstances, it makes sense to suspend a campaign as well.
In the US, there is no provision to postpone elections. Even during the 2nd world war, elections went on. So McCain’s ploy makes no sense. He should debate–that is his calling.
Everyone can see he has no idea of how to fix the economy. The more he makes political ploys to tout “leadership,” the sillier he looks. On top of that, his campaign wants to mess with the Palin investigations. The guy will soon go from being a joke to a farce.
67. indytucker | 09.26.08
The prescence of these candidates in DC does little to help the decisionmaking process. They aren’t on any relevant committees and do nothing but listen and nodd from the end of a long conference table.
Presidential debates in the USA are as much about ritual as they are about delivery the ideas and policies you stand for. They have never been canceled despite economic crisis or even war for that matter.
McCain has shown that his campaign is fueld by political ploy and rabbits in hats. He has undone his own shoes strings on this one. I hope the Palin/McCain ticket falls on its face.
68. BETH | 09.26.08
Hey Mike, your comments about Obama and his house in Chicago - you asked if he wanted to put a criminal in the White House. Well, wake up idiot, there has been one in there for 8 years.
69. NYTimes predicted Govt bail | 09.26.08
2 articles written in 1999 predicted this government bail out:
GOOGLE
“Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending” “NEW YORK TIMES”
“Minorities Home Ownership booms under clinton” “Los Angeles Times”
Here is a quote from each article:
“In moving,into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980’s.”
“Under Clinton, bank regulators have breathed the first real life into enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act, …
“In 1992, Congress mandated that Fannie and Freddie increase their purchases of mortgages for low-income and medium-income borrowers. Operating under that requirement, Fannie Mae has been aggressive … to buy more loans with very low down payments–or with mortgage payments that represent an unusually high percentage of a buyer’s income. That’s made banks willing to lend to lower-income families they once might have rejected.”
70. Dawn | 09.26.08
Seems like a dastardly attempt to shun accountability.Let’s not haste to do our presidents job before election. Let Bush care for the white house concerns. If Obama had pulled this one off in similitude would it be classified and heroism. THINK
71. annonymouse | 09.26.08
Hmmm, You believe whatever polls that you want. Some show Obama leading as of today, some show McCain leading. Poll, schmoll. I still remember the photo of newly elected President Truman holding the newspaper with the giant headline “Dewey Wins”.
Makes no difference to me anyway, I, like all thinking voters, am voting Libertarian this year. Voting for the evil of two lessors in not my thing.
72. annonymouse | 09.26.08
Quote: “He should debate–that is his calling.”
Calling?? There is no calling. The USA did fine for almost 200 years without anyone being “called” to debate.
Go back to Calcutta, until you learn some US history.
73. annonymouse | 09.27.08
LOL. I’ll bet Obama wishes that McCain didn’t show up for the debate.
McCain won. Obama looked like a newcomer (which he is).
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. leah | 09.25.08
Well, they could just swap it for the VP debate. A person who is poised to take over the position of Head of State at a moment’s notice should certainly be able to debate a week early, right?