McCain suspends campaign

[yesthattom]

McCain has suspended his campaign because of the financial crisis.  He hsa asked the debate commission to postpone Friday night's debate.

My thought?  I think he's got Yet Another Medical Problem (you know, he's had cancer multiple times, right?) and needs to stall while the campaign figures out what the hell to do.

Comments

[la-directora.livejournal.com]

My theory is FAR more cynical than yours. I think he has NO FRICKIN' IDEA how to respond to this economy crisis. So he's offering to be a gentleman *whatever* and suspend campaigning to give himself time to figure it out. And he worded it the way he worded it to try to shame Obama into suspending campaign activities as well.

I agree with MGK on this one (http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2008/09/24/when-they-bend-over-thats-when-you-begin-fucking/).

"Five ways the Obama campaign can respond without appearing ungentlemanly in a “McCain wants to work to solve the problem and Obama wants to campaign” sort of way:

1.) Offer that the first debate instead be about economic policy.
2.) Agree to cancel the debate, then hold a televised townhall meeting in its place about foreign policy.
3.) Agree to cancel the debate, then hold a televised townhall meeting in its place about the economy.
4.) A combination of 2 and 3.
5.) Go to Washington, use magic powers, solve all economic problems forever via secret words of the Vishanti, then hold original debate as planned."

I absolutely think Obama's reaction should be some version of, "Now is not the time to suspend the discussion of how to solve these problems. Now is the time to discuss them in earnest!" Or something far more eloquent than that, because he's more eloquent than I am, which is part of why I want him as my president. :)

[kimuchi.livejournal.com]

I dunno. Suspending the campaign for the crisis plays into the "country first" message, and there's nothing saying the other parties engaging the media on his behalf have to slow down. I also wouldn't doubt that he needs more time to prepare for the debate in light of recent events, considering who he's up against.

[ceo]

You're right, except that it isn't a medical problem.

[ninaf.livejournal.com]

The medical problem was on my mind also.

If you're right

[mrfantasy.livejournal.com]

I'll buy you a beer!

[dieppe.livejournal.com]

I think the Republicans, and McSame, are a little scared (shitless?) to debate. Their new, hot, MILF, rockstar-with-lipstick Star is fading, and they have nothing. Debate with an intelligent man? On the economy?

They'd like to win on "American Idol" points, not have any sort of REAL discussion. I didn't get idea that he was suspending his whole campaign, but rather than he wasn't going to debate..

I say: Fine, suspend your campaign if you wish... but you'd damn well better meet Obama on the debate floor. This election is too important for you to weasel out of actual debate. And if you think we're going to suspend OUR campaign for a financial crisis that is of your party's making--you've another think coming.

To quote a previous, winning, Democratic campaign: "It's the economy, Stupid."

;)

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

One thing I don't see is how electing not to debate will solve this economic crisis.

[dieppe.livejournal.com]

BTW, from patgund:
"We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself."

- 2008 Republican Party Platform, (Rebuilding Homeownership), adopted September 2008

[scherzoid.livejournal.com]

Nope. It's purely a strategic move, and has more to do with today's polling numbers than anything else. If Obama accepts the challenge to suspend, McCain succeeds in stealing away Obama's new-found momentum. If Obama declines, then McCain gets to charge that Obama would rather win an election than win a war fix the economy.

Now they're proposing that Friday's scheduled presidential debate be rescheduled for the date of the vice-presidential debate, which would then (supposedly) be rescheduled for some undetermined date in the future. Of course, there won't be a mutually acceptable date until after election day, so the McCain camp gets Palin out of debating. How convenient.

[vees.livejournal.com]

I agree with dieppe. It would be charitable to call this a strategic move. They're desperate and grabbing at strings. He's not specifically sick, he's just really vulnerable in the polls right now. The debate would hit him with another precipitous drop and create yet another ("liberal") media narrative.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

*nod* it's a win-win for mccain -- if the democrats protest, then they don't care about the country. If they don't, and they agree, then McCain still wins for "caring about the country".

[awfief.livejournal.com]

they're both senators, though iirc neither are on the senate finance committee....anyway, if there's something to vote on, they "ought" to be there, be in the know, etc.

Really what it is, is an emotional appeal -- McCain looks like he *cares* about the people because he wants to "drop everything" and help. It doesn't matter that he can't help, he gets credit among the republicans for the sound byte of "this country's people are more important than the debates."

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

I think that's their dream, but it won't work out that way. When there's a crisis, people are more engaged with hard news and civic affairs. Under those circumstances, people will be pissed off if someone who's applying for the job of President is hiding.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

You're right, and that's EXACTLY what they'll think if Obama doesn't agree with McCain that the debate should be postponed -- that Obama is hiding from the issues and just wants to talk instead of act.

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

I think you've been traumatized by Democrats ineptitude in dealing with media narratives in past elections. If it becomes a question of what the debate should be about and Obama said stick to foreign policy, saving domestic policy for closer to election day, you'd be right. But the Obama campaign is too smart for that. And not taking the time to tell voters what they think should be done just won't play, except with dittoheads.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

you have seen this, right?

http://blogs.uscannenberg.org/gabrielle_chua/2008/09/controversy-that-unnecessarily.html

It's the same deal -- Winfrey said long before Palin ever was chosen that she wouldn't have any candidates on her show after the primaries, and yet there's an *outrage* that Winfrey endorses Obama but "refuses" to have Palin on the show and is "giving Palin the cold shoulder".

Win-win for McCain-Failin' -- they didn't start the controversy:

http://www.palinpetition.com/

http://www.palinpetition.com/affiliates.html has the list of decidedly right-wing sounding "non-partisan" founders of the petition.

So Obama can't complain, because this isn't an action by the McCain campaign. And it doesn't actually matter that Winfrey made up her mind before Palin was chosen, go ahead and read some articles from various news sources that basically say they have no idea why Winfrey is "snubbing" Palin (or that it's because Palin ain't black):

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/sarah-palin-opr.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Story?id=5736716&page=1

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09062008/news/nationalnews/palin_clubbed_by_oprah_snub_127736.htm

http://stupidcelebrities.net/2008/09/05/oprahs-palin-interview-photos/

Even on Oprah's site people are refusing to believe that Oprah isn't backpedaling:

http://oprah.about.com/b/2008/09/05/oprah-and-the-sarah-palin-controversy.htm

The daily kos points out that we don't even know if Palin asked to be on the show:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/15/111757/401

Sure, Fox news is up there, and no, I didn't quote very many liberal sites, but do you think most of America is following liberal media, or ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN?

As I said before, even when Obama demands the debate, he loses, because then he's seen as a guy who doesn't care about the country's current "crisis", he'd rather talk than act.

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

Actually, no, I hadn't heard about that. And if Annenberg picks up that you linked to them, they can at least have one trackback, which would be an infinite increase over what they have now.

Astroturfing on blogs does occasionally have an impact, but usually it doesn't. And saying that "The daily kos" pointed something out because someone posted a diary that got 21 comments and 3 recommendations is a misunderstanding. I posted a diary there myself this afternoon that got 22 comments and 5 recommendations and I sure wouldn't be presumptuous enough to say that Daily Kos says what I said.

[lilbjorn.livejournal.com]

I've been concerned ever since Bush got the "right" to declare martial law that he's planning to do just that if the election gets out of hand and they are expected to lose. Now, suddenly, an active Army brigade has been assigned stateside, for the first time since the end of the Civil War, to "help with civil unrest and crowd control".

[geekosaur]

Personally, I think the problem is that McCain was behind much of this stuff, just as he was behind the S&L scandal (Keating Five, anyone?), and it finally occurred to him that Obama is certain to skewer and roast him over it.

[gatopreto.livejournal.com]

And did you catch the (not sure if it will make it on air) Letterman/Couric-McCain bit?

[dieppe.livejournal.com]

I'm not voting for Oprah, I'm voting for Barak Obama. It seems that the Republicans have plenty of exposure on Faux News, why are they worried about Oprah?

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Wait, what? Got URL or something?

[lusty.livejournal.com]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/24/army/index.html

[yesthattom.livejournal.com]

Oh shit! I forgot to set my Tivo. I hope it gets to YouTube soon.

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

I think Nate Silver summed it up better than I did.

It's not that the narrative you suggest won't be out there; it's just that way too few people in and out of themedia will buy into it for it to be a net gain for McCain.

[yesthattom.livejournal.com]

OMG yes. I'll be blogging it soon.