Posted on 09/24/2008 8:12:29 PM PDT by delapaz
That’s my call for now. And at one point I thought this was going to be a boring election year.
What a day, let me summarize the reactions.
Lefties: It’s a cynical stunt
Righties: It’s a cynical stunt… that happens to be in the best interest of the country as a whole.
Independents/undecided: ??? - we have no idea how this will play out.
I think the move was smart because it works on so many levels.
level 1: Politically, McCain makes a move that can easily be seen as putting country first over politics. Even acknowledging that it’s cynical, it still reinforces the very main message of his campaign: Bipartisan reform over partisan politics. And whatever else this is, (quite a lot else, actually) it is the best thing for the country for all the smart guys to get in a room and to get something done together to neutralize the politics. By continuing to campaign, Obama is signalling that he is quite happy to continue injecting politics into the discussion (which he is of course)
Level 2: He looks like he’s serious about actually solving the problem, serious enough to put his reputation and campaign on the line for it. This is his reputation anyway, and he reinforces it Yesterday the talking point was that McCain was “flailing” looking for an answer. Now that he has an answer, they are whining that he’s “crazy”, “panicked”, “desperate”. Can’t have it both ways guys.
Level 3: He reset the media narrative. It wasn’t working for him anyway, Politically it’s the equivalent of turning the game of risk over and scattering all the pieces.
Level 4: On the debates, at the very least, and I talked about this before, he looks like he’ll come out of this better. At the very least, I think he will go on with the debate, but the format will be the economy, not foreign policy.
Level 5: Obama’s reaction, he had one of two. Bite or not bite. If Obama bites, he looks like a follower and a “me-too!” guy. if he doesn’t bite he looks callous and the type of guy who puts his own election over the needs of the party. His reaction at his press conference, “Pelosi and Reid can call me if they need me.
Well George Bush called, Obama is needed, and off he goes.
Which means (Level 6) they’re both going to be equally ill-prepared for the debate if it does happen.
Level 7: Which also means that the VP debate may get pushed, and I watched the Palin-Knowles debate, she does fine, and I think the McCain campaign is sandbagging and saving her. Having that debate closer to the election will help McCain.
Level 8: Whatever plan comes out of this, it will either have Obama’s fingerprints on it, and he will be neutralized, or it won’t and it will look like McCain is a doer while Obama is a talker. I can live with that. But Obama will sign on and that will be that.
Predictions, There’s a 25% chance that McCain will fall flat on his face and will lose incredible ground with this move. There’s also a 25% chance that this move will go down as brilliant and recasts McCain in the eyes of the country in an incredibly good way, (especially now that Obama is balking). But there’s a 50% chance that both sides will muddle through with no real clear advantage but a lot of spin. and even in that case, McCain is controlling the narrative. I think he can live with that.
AMEN!
He is a Senator who TRIED to head off this mess 3 years ago, but now maybe they will listen BUMP!
Tatt
I’m surprised that a couple of “conservative” talk show hosts here in the Los Angeles area have been bashing McCain, calling his move purely political and giving Obama a pass.
The deal will go through. Bambi will not do well Friday night.
idiot....
he'll rave on about the Islamists and the energy crisis and about Hussein taking money from the Fred/Fannie monsters yet he just can't come out and fully support McCain....
sick of him....
so far it’s been predicted as 273-265 for Obama.
If McCain keeps the “status quo” (Bush 2000 states) on election night, He’ll have to pick off either CO, PA, MI, WI, or MN.
If he only picks off NH, we’ll have a 269-269 tie!!!
IMHO!
Regards,
TS
Agreed. Part of McCain's calculation must be that this will get done and the debate will go on. The argument to delay is simply interference to draw flak.
Since Obama has been prepping for a few days, this will distract him enough to throw him off, which is part of the calculation.
McCain has managed this campaign brilliantly, and I have no reason to think he will do any differently in the future.
I was sort getting used to the idea of voting for McCain. Yesterday, he mentioned I was getting Andrew Cuomo too. Now that is something that got me really excited. Just think a nutcase liberal in the SEC. I can hardly wait.
PA is McCain’s to lose at this point.
And if this is the case, then McCain wins. Period.
0bama could carry New Hampshire, Virginia, Iowa, Colorado, and New Mexico and McCain would still win 271 to 267.
If you consider John and Ken conservative, then they were on that band wagon as well. Those guys are entertaining, but serious observers they aren’t. I consider them rabble rousers, at best. Love it when they deal with illegals, that’s when it gets fun.
Karl Rove mentioned how 0bama hasn’t really moved up from this crisis, but McCain has dropped 6 points.
I think it was the Andrew Cuomo comment more than anything that caused it.
McCain taking a lead and charging back to Washington will help him climb back up.
And, as Dick Morris said it well on O’Reillys show tonight - McCain will go to the debate having “saved the country”. He’s the only one who can deliver the Republicans and the Bush Adminstration, all he’s got to do it get them in a room and say “OK listen guys...”
That's his ace in the hole.
Obama can debate himself.
He has flip flopped on NAFTA, FISA, immediate withdrawal of troops, drilling, nuclear power plants, capital gains and small business tax if there is a recession, Georgia, pro-Palestinian one day then pro-Isreal the next.
Yes. That and that the only thing the Junior Senator from Illinois has done, is to line his pockets with money from these failed banks ; }
Tatt
There you go.
One of my first thoughts, too.
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