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Posted on March 2, 2009 at 12:46 pmJohn McCain wants to know how one manages a beaver.
Fred On Meet The Press
Posted on November 2, 2008 at 6:45 pmThe former Senator breaks down what John McCain is up against:
Thompson agreed with the premise that McCain was “swimming against a tsunami,” trying to be elected as a Republican candidate after eight years of President George Bush, who is unpopular with a large portion of the voting public, including many in his own party.
The former senator said that McCain “is going against the strongest headwind I have ever seen” in a presidential election.
However, Thompson said that the party nominated “the only fella who would have a chance under these circumstances,” primarily pointing to McCain’s character, as evidenced by his military record as a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam and his political career in the Senate.
SEE ALSO: Politico
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Joe The Plumber Hooks Up With Nashville Publicist
Posted on October 30, 2008 at 7:42 amI just returned to the office late Tuesday night after covering an event in downtown Nashville and saw the e-mail message: “We are excited to announce the addition of Joe ‘The Plumber’ Wurzelbacher to The Press Office for exclusive public relations representation!” Wurzelbacher, of course, is the Ohio man who wants to buy a plumbing business but is concerned about the nation’s financial future. The guy whose favor was aggressively courted by both John McCain and Barack Obama in the last presidential debate. The guy who, as The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart says, has already done more interviews than Sarah Palin. I must emphasize that The Press Office is a reputable company that’s owned and operated by Jim Della Croce, a respected music industry veteran. His other clients include John Anderson, Pam Tillis and McCain supporter Aaron Tippin. But you have to wonder about the plans for Joe the Plumber’s upcoming public relations campaign. Will there be more media opportunities for him after the election? A lot of public appearances? Is there a book deal in the works? But, dear God, please don’t tell me Joe has abandoned his plan to buy a plumbing business so he can concentrate on his real dream — to become a country music star.
SEE ALSO:
Newscoma
Southern Beale
Sharon Cobb
His Own Man: Majority Of Voters Do Not See McCain As Bush III
Posted on October 21, 2008 at 10:44 amThe gap between Barack Obama and John McCain is starting to close and one of the Obama campaign’s major talking points seems to have lost favor with voters:
Now comes a statistical inkling that the closing is starting to occur, but in a strange way. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll of 1,058 adults taken Friday through Sunday and out Monday showed Obama’s eight-point lead from early October had been trimmed to five points, 51-46.
But two interesting points from within the poll. It’s not so much that McCain gained as that Obama slipped.
Also, the numbers show that for the first time a minority see McCain as carrying on the policies of Pres. George W. Bush, a theme the Obama campaign has relentlessly driven home all summer and autumn.
Put another way, for the first time 51% of Americans now see McCain as his own man, less likely to continue the unpopular Bush presidency.
Transferring Transcendence: How Powell’s Endorsement Helps McCain
Posted on October 19, 2008 at 1:10 pmAs was speculated earlier this week, former Secretary of State Colin Powell did endorse Barack Obama for President of United States on Meet the Press this morning.
This action by Powell is being seen, predictably, as one of the final nails in the coffin of the candidacy of John McCain.
A man, who has in his own career transcended race, a man who spent much of his life in service of Republican Presidents, a military man who brings to the table many of the qualities Barack Obama lacks, has endorsed a candidate many white Americans still have questions about. What could be worse for John McCain?
The fact that a man like Colin Powell has no questions about Barack Obama leading this nation, the media elites say, contributes to the narrative that Barack Obama has closed the deal with the American people.
To the informed, enlightened center of the country, this will no doubt be how the endorsement is viewed. But this small sector of the American populace has already come to terms with Obama. Informed, elite opinion in America has already accepted Obama as a man they are comfortable with executing the duties of President of the United States.
However, this informed center, this malleable elite, will not make up the margin of victory for Obama in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. It will be another sector of the electorate who will have the final say.
The average white man or woman in America is no longer overtly or even covertly racist by any honest definition of that word. Sure, many whites feel more comfortable with those who look as they do but this is a quality hardly unique to the Caucasian population of America.
Most white people see themselves as very much open to dream of Martin Luther King, that we should all be judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character. Ability, qualifications, intelligence and ideology — all of these things most whites believe should trump racial considerations.
This fundamental embrace of King’s dream by white America, however, is exactly what could cause them to be alarmed by the endorsement of Barack Obama by Colin Powell. Marc Ambinder said this morning that “to the extent that there remain white voters who have inchoate worries about Obama’s race, it helps to have him associated with a man whose race they’ve already gotten over.”
Yes, Colin Powell has transcended race for much of his life. But transcendence is not something that one can necessarily transfer and, in trying, Colin Powell risks to damage his own reputation on that score.
Colin Powell is, as has been noted over and over, a lifelong Republican, one of Rockafeller stripe to be sure, but a Republican nonetheless. He is a friend of John McCain and admires him greatly. In August 2007, Powell, gave to John McCain the maximum contribution of $2,300.
Colin Powell, a lifelong Republican, wanted John McCain nominated by the GOP and the Republican Party, to the surprise of many conservatives, obliged. But when faced with the choice of the Republican he favored in primary and whom he admires and calls a friend and Barack Obama, Powell chose Barack Obama.
Rightly or wrongly, many white voters will no doubt conclude, despite Powell’s protestations, that at least one of the deciding factors in his decision was race. Many whites will assume that the prospect of the nation’s first black president had become too real for Powell to just stand back and say nothing.
If that is the conclusion that whites reach regarding the endorsement then what are they likely to conclude about the prospects of colorblindness on both sides of the racial divide in America?
Most whites in America have no problem voting for a man who happens to be black to lead our country. What many whites do have a problem with is electing an explicitly black leader who will bring with him to the White House a racial agenda.
It is the fear of, as I call it, “The Big Payback.” While whites may never verbalize it, they are afraid of electing a black leader who will attempt to right the wrongs their ancestors perpetrated but which they had nothing to do with.
Most whites in America have no sense of racial solidarity. They do not think of themselves as white Americans or any kind of hyphenated American, they see themselves as simply Americans. Whether their actions and words contain vestiges and evidence of racism and white privilege, I suppose is an open question. The fact remains, however, that they do not see it that way and never will.
What they are capable of seeing, however, is racial solidarity among blacks and they are not the biggest fans. Whites see themselves as accepting of all races and judging people on their own individual merits. What worries them most is that their shrugging off of racial identity and solidarity is a one way street.
Colin Powell is certainly not unique among Republican types in his support for Obama and his reasons for supporting Obama may be very much similar to those Republicans and conservatives. Personally, I assume that they are.
But the fact remains that Colin Powell is still a black man and seeing a man line up with the black candidate in opposition to the party he has called home makes whites ask questions like:
“Would Colin Powell have endorsed Hilary Clinton against his friend John McCain?”
“How about John Edwards?”
“Would Colin Powell have endorsed any white Democratic candidate in a race against John McCain?”
When Barack Obama is trying to close the deal with white, working class voters who reject racial solidarity by both blacks and whites, I’m not sure that the endorsement of one the of the most admired blacks in America is quite the boon many in the punditocracy think it is.
SEE ALSO:
Sean Braisted
Six Meat Buffett
Washington Post
NY Times
Marc Ambinder
Huffington Post
Yglesias
Jonathan Martin
Rush Limbaugh
Political Radar
Ben Smith
Hotline
Tiny Cat Pants
Mark Mays
Steve Clemons
Nate Silver
The Hofstra Debate: The Reaction
Posted on October 16, 2008 at 12:31 amJohn McCain has already been called angry and erratic. He couldn’t have disproved that label tonight. Instead he used emotion to some advantage. He went on the attack and made points that will keep his base excited. For me, the attacks on ACORN and William Ayers fell flat, but I’ll bet conservatives were cheering. Where his attack was effective with me and maybe some in the middle was his distancing from President Bush. Not only did he say he isn’t George W. Bush, he added that maybe Barack Obama should have run against him four years ago. I remember the 2000 campaign, and John McCain with all his flaws is no George Bush.
So, the only question remaining in the minds of American voters now is: Will Will.i.am perform at the Inauguration? Because unless Obama gets caught naked with four hookers and one of them is a plumber named Joe - this thing is over.
McCain fidgeted throughout the entire debate; he needed to get up and pace but he couldn’t, so he fidgeted. And what was it with the heavy breathing into the mic? And the blinking eyes? I could not take my eyes off his incessantly blinking eyes. Four more years of another uptight grumpy old impolite conservative man fidgeting in the White House would drive me crazy. Never mind that I need health insurance.
Obama won the debate not just on his amazing ability to keep his cool in the face of ridiculous assertions, but instead primarily on the topics which were discussed. Even on taxes, an issue with which Republicans quite often do well, Obama seemed to command the debate by showing how the average American would benefit from his proposal, even if “Joe the plumber” who thinks Obama tap dances like Sammy Davis Jr. might be a bit perturbed.
McCain’s attempt to reach out to the hard right mystifies me. That’s Palin’s job. They’re already ginned up, screaming out non-sequiturs at Palin rallies. He needed to change minds of independents. That he didn’t do a good job of it or really try suggests he’s only interested in protecting down ticket races by encouraging conservative voter turn out.
Bob Schieffer decided to be less a moderator and more a fight instigator, which I think was unnecessary and more about trying to produce soundbites than reveal anything worthwhile to the public. Of course, Obama had called out McCain over Ayers recently, and I believe he was hoping to goad McCain into looking like a slightly unhinged snapping turtle. If so Obama got his wish.
Obama effectively refuted the dubious associations the McCain campaign has pinned its focus and hopes on, as polls have dramatically tilted toward Obama. Obama directly told the American people who he looked to as advisors on economic and foreign policy issues, in sharp contrast to the dubious attempts at guilt by association by the McCain campaign.
I’ve criticized Obama in the past for looking arrogant and dismissive; tonight McCain looked more so. If he had any hopes of coming out on top, he needed to be more self-deprecating and let Obama come across as the glib candidate.
Yay! After sleeping through the first two debates, Sen. McCain seems to actually care about this race again. But that’s to be expected; McCain only comes alive when he’s ten points down. How the man managed to win so many races for statewide office throughout his career will remain a mystery, at least to me.
Tonight, if you wondered what the hell happened to the John McCain of 2000, he showed up at Hofstra University and put Barack Obama on the defensive, almost twitching in his seat. McCain reminded folks who turned away from him why they liked him when he ran for president eight years ago and before he swallowed his pride and kissed up to Bush ever since.
I don’t know if Obama necessarily won tonight. He didn’t say anything new. But he didn’t need to win. McCain spent most of the debate throwing a hissy fit, and is not going to reverse any trends in this election.
McCain was playing to hit 46%. He just wants to lose by less than 10 points right now. And the only way to do that is to rally the GOP base…again.
I can’t fathom anyone still being undecided after this debate. These two men are very different, and it shouldn’t be that hard (anymore) for a voter to choose the man who best represents the voter’s ideas and ideals for America.
Bob Schieffer did a much better job of moderating this debate than Tom Brokaw did last week in Nashville, and asked a lot of the right questions; and more importantly, got both men to answer.
How did John McCain do tonight? The answer lies in the battle of the metaphors: “McCain got to the plate, but didn’t hit a home run.” “McCain kept jabbing, but landed no punches.” “McCain took the fight to Obama, but he didn’t follow through.”
Furthermore, McCain’s eye-rolling and almost constant smirk — reminiscent of George W. Bush — did nothing to hide his contempt for Obama. In fact, it highlighted his blunder in the last debate when he referred to Obama as “that one.”
This was a lot better than the Brokaw debate. McCain seemed more improved than Obama over last time, but scored no knockout punches. This time McCain looked like he was having a better time than Obama; Obama’s smirking was unattractive, but his closing statement was strong.
This was a great debate — the best of them all. I loved the fact that there was actually some back and forth. Both candidates did very well, but I don’t think John McCain did enough — plus he made a huge mistake when he mocked the health exception for women…
John McCain and the Republicans are preparing for 2010.
The ideological attacks on Obama helped to rally what’s left of the base, but that’s about it.
Of course McCain is too stupid though to “go there” with any statements about Rev. Wright. What an idiot! I can’t believe that we have not seen one single commercial with Obama’s rabid pastor/mentor screaming “God damn America!”
Finding The Ad And Praising It
Posted on October 14, 2008 at 7:51 amAn economist and casual observer of politics says John McCain is leaving an opportunity on the floor by not campaigning like Lamar Alexander:
“I saw one of his ads last night, and I thought if (Sen. John) McCain had been running his campaign that way — that one line — ‘Lamar doesn’t really care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat …’
Low made an observation that will seem prescient if McCain falls short on Nov. 4. He said that single line in Alexander’s commercial made a heck of a campaign statement.
“McCain could have run that way because that’s how he was in the Senate. He wasn’t partisan.”
When informed that Alexander is considered a moderate Republican by East Tennessee standards, and no favorite of bedrock conservatives, Low elaborated on his point.
“The fact is, we’ve got a guy as a nominee who is also not liked by the conservative wing of the Republican Party,” Low noted.
Ironically, perhaps, the ad in question was produced by McCain’s creative director Fred Davis.
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Wrappin’ It Up
Posted on October 7, 2008 at 11:10 pm
It certainly was an experience consuming a debate this way amongst the hustle and bustle of the national media just yards away from the actors on the stage.
Watching the reality of the “Spin Alley” you hear and read so much about up close and personal was an eye opener. Listening to local and national political figures spouting out prepackaged, fluffier-than-fluff instant reactions to reporters desperately sopping every tidbit they could to make deadline or get a story instantly up on the web was something to behold.
Is this process really that conducive to the pursuit of truth? Yeah, that’s a rhetorical question.
Anyway, here are some of the quotations I was able to get amongst the crowds of the national and local press pursuing truth.
Harold Ford, Jr.: “Overall this debate will not change the dynamic of race in any meaningful way. Obama is ahead nationally and in the swing states. Obama did good tonight, very good and I think the polls will bear him out as the winner tomorrow.”
State Rep. Beth Harwell: “Senator Obama, while he performed quite well, really contradicted himself in several meaningful ways tonight. For instance on taxes he said things tonight I don’t remember hearing before. I remember hearing the opposite. I think that will hurt him.”
Phil Bredesen: “[Obama] looked like a president out there tonight.”
The one gem I found out there came in the form of reaction to McCain’s proposal to bailout individual homeowners. Both Bredesen and Ford also seemed intrigued by the idea. Their answers seem to indicate either a departure from or a lack of direction from Obama handlers, although I could be wrong.
Bredesen called it “an interesting idea.” Ford echoed that sentiment, “The way he proposed it tonight by sort of throwing it out it there was interesting. It obviously needs to be fleshed out. I don’t know if it is feasible but it certainly requires some thought.”
As for my take, while McCain certainly delivered a capable performance hitting his talking points and staying on message, Obama really did bring it home with some finely nuanced answers to questions.
Just as in the first debate, Obama took no hits and delivered a presidential level performance. Like I said earlier, tie goes to the man ahead. That man is Obama.
With the economy the way it is without a game changer, either in the final presidential debate or somewhere else, it’s pretty clear where this thing is going absent a serious and unforeseen Bradley Effect.
SEE ALSO: More pics from Spin Alley.
The Instant Gratification Express
Posted on at 4:48 pmI have to concur with the Brainstem on this one. Much has been made of John McCain prowess in the town hall debate format but just because that is how the man prefers to campaign does not give him an advantage.
As far as I know, John McCain has never faced a Democratic opponent in such a format. While John McCain may be one of the better Republicans at this style of debate, the town hall is the Democrat’s natural habit.
Bill Clinton was a master of the format. It wasn’t just that he was an excellent politician with an ability t connect with the average person, it was that in a town hall the candidate is directly addressing the voter. The voter stands there with his particular personal concern waiting for the candidate to solve his problem, hear his specific grievance, yes, and feel his pain.
It is the format best suited to the panderer. Now, don’t get me wrong. John McCain can pander with the best of them, but Barack Obama has an answer for everything (not necessarily a good thing). Not only that, he has a program for everything. Whatever problem you have, whatever ails ya, he has an offer of government assistance or intervention.
A Republican, by definition, cannot hope to compete with this. A Republican will always fall short because in the end they cannot offer everything a Democrat can and will. This is not to critique the candidates or their ideologies. It is just a fact.
This debate will feature a cavalcade of real people with real life concerns. Even if they are fundamentally conservative peopl,e they will not be looking for talk about ending earmarks or the constitutional limitations of power. They will want the candidate to offer some kind of direct assistance to relieve their plight. This debate, like the ones before it in this format, will be the immediate gratification debate.
John McCain simply cannot compete with in this arena. The format, as well as the expectations for McCain, have doomed him to fail.
This will not be a good night for Senator McCain.
The College Is Crumbling
Posted on October 1, 2008 at 12:03 pmMatt C has crunched the latest polling and shows the averages reveal an emerging Electoral College landslide for Obama:
Last week I warned that unless McCain developed a serious economic policy, he would probably lose a couple red states in this week’s update. Well, it was worse than I thought. In one week’s time, McCain has lost New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. Next to fall unless something drastically changes: Nevada and Missouri.
MORE: TPM
New MTSU Poll: 22% Of Hillary Supporters Will Vote For McCain
Posted on September 29, 2008 at 11:39 amAccording to a new poll, in a state which Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary by a commanding percentage and which includes a large swath of those conservative Appalachian voters, Barack Obama still has trouble in the race against John McCain:
The McCain campaign seems to have had modest success at attracting supporters of former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, whom 22 percent of Tennesseans say they voted for in the Democratic primary. A quarter of those who voted for the junior senator from New York in Tennessee’s Democratic presidential primary say that they would now vote for McCain and Palin in the general election. However, 56 percent of those who report that they voted for Clinton in the primary say that they would now vote for Obama and Biden. The rest of Clinton’s supporters remain undecided at this point or say they would vote for someone other than McCain or Obama.
In state politics, Republican also enjoy an advantage:
Fully 47 percent of Tennesseans are satisfied with the direction the state is going, but only 34 percent of Democrats are satisfied compared with 59 percent of Republicans and independents.
Lamar Alexander, as expected, polls well in his race versus Bob Tuke:
Republican incumbent Sen. Lamar Alexander outpolls Democratic challenger Bob Tuke 50 percent to 26 percent among likely voters in Tennessee’s race for U.S. Senate, but about a fourth (23 percent) say they aren’t yet sure whom they favor.
A plurality of Tennesseans want more church in their state:
Fully 41 percent of Tennesseans think politicians say too little about religion, while 26 percent say the amount is about right, and 23 percent say there is too much religious talk.
View entire report here. Press release available here.
SEE ALSO: Grantham is Talking
New Poll: McCain Still Has Big Lead In Tennessee
Posted on at 6:38 amAndy Sher reports:
The Sept. 22-24 poll shows Sen. McCain leading Sen. Obama by 55 percent to 39 percent. Six percent remain undecided. The telephone survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
“McCain’s got a double-digit lead in Tennessee and there doesn’t seem to be any indication that’s going to flip,” said Brad Coker, managing director of the Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc., which conducted the poll for the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
More on the poll here.
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The Green Hills McCain/Palin HQ Grand Opening
Posted on September 28, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Photos available at the usual place:
State Senator Jack Johnson and Representative Beth Harwell helped kickoff the event which featured entertainment from The Redd Hot Mamas. The Redd Hots made Vice President nominee Sarah Palin an honorary member of their group.
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The Ole Miss Presidential Debate: The Reaction
Posted on September 27, 2008 at 2:26 pmThe first presidential debate looked like a draw to me, but then I fell asleep a couple of times.
One sign that McCain was really not happy with Obama, or at least was afraid of him, is that he would not attempt eye contact. He just stood there, all clinched up like a sailor’s knot. There was no ease about him. He stumbled over names and he looked nervous, that that made people nervous.
It is the “people” that count, as two polls I saw last night, a CNN and a CBS poll showed that most believed Obama won this debate. Most important was the CBS poll taken of undecided voters. Ouch.
One of the most important questions that could be asked by Jim Lehrer is not being asked: “What exactly is victory in Iraq?” Since the candidates can talk to each other, perhaps Senator Obama will ask the question?
I went out after the debate and was surprised that no one I talked to had similar reactions to mine. Although I thought Barack Obama held his own, John McCain continued to go on the attack and put Obama on the defensive again and again. I haven’t taken the time to verify the truth of McCain’s attacks, and I should note that Obama consistently rebutted McCain’s charges. But that doesn’t strike me as the place Obama wanted to be.
However, NEITHER McCain or Obama took a stand on the current bailout bill. The American public is against it and both of the men avoided voicing their support like it was the plague
If you were paying attention to substance, I think this was a clear, decisive win for John McCain. On style points, it was probably a tie. Yet to be seen is how the media handles the response (my guess is they’ll chalk up a win for Obama), and that could have as big an impact on the polls as the debate itself.
As with most candidates from either political party, some of Obama’s answers were good from a debating standpoint, while some were just “bull” whether the Senator intended that ir not. It wasn’t Obama’s answers that may have lost him the debate-or at least not to perform as well as he might have hoped-but the fact that McCain had Obama on the defensive nearly all night.
That’s what we’ll all likely be saying in about six weeks from now given Obama’s debate performance tonight.
I think they both did poorly. For the first part of the debate, which focused on the financial crisis, they both threw together random strings of facts and quips hoping that something would stick. Neither one assured me that he had a strong grasp of the problem.
Obama was smart, too smart. McCain, on other hand, was firm. He gave no ground because the uninitiated will view acknowledgment as a sign of weakness. (And you better believe that the Republicans will have a video of Obama saying that he agreed with McCain before he disagreed.) He spoke in generalities just like Bush because he knew that viewers would not recall specifics.
In the end, the debate about the show, not substance. McCain put on a show.
Sen. John McCain was dazzling last night with more than a quarter century of experience in foreign policy and global travelling, making Sen. Barack Obama look and sound like Gov. Sarah Palin’s more knowledgeable brother in the presidential debate.
Xark:
I haven’t seen this mentioned in the debate reax this morning, but last night I kept thinking that there are a lot of already anxious white people in this country who could go either way in this election but harbor a basic discomfort (not hatred) with the black people in their lives. Hence: If McCain can succeed at coming across as roughly equal to Obama in other respects, being a white grandfather could get him the comfort-food vote.
The simple fact is, that on foreign policy, McCain showed us last night that he represents the past. We, as a country, truly need to move past a Cold War mentality. And this is why I felt Obama was far stronger on foreign policy.
Let’s be clear. If you are going to vote for John McCain, you think McCain won the debate. If you are going to vote for Barack Obama, you probably think Obama won the debate.
Interestingly, McCain was up several on InTrade right after the debate, but now he’s dropped a bit. I presume that means that traders who watched the debate thought that he’d done better than the ensuing spin suggested.
After tonight nobody on the right who wants to be taken seriously is going to be able to claim that Palin is more prepared to become president than Barack Obama is. She is no longer a factor in the presidential equation, unless her bumbling policy responses continue to be a drag on John McCain. Then comes the backlash against her 15 minutes of fame.
One major thing: Barack Hussein showed NO respect, calling McCain John (McCain called him Senator, or Senator Obama). He constantly interrupted, showing his lack of courtesy and manners. I guess his grandmother didn’t instill something as important as respect and manners
Tonight both Barack Obama and John McCain landed some punches, but neither delivered a knockout blow.
Obama always has to live within his skin, which is a lovely shade of brown. Because of America’s racism Obama cannot, even for one frame of video, look like an angry black man. If he gave McCain’s continuous distortions a deservingly hostile response, the McCain campaign would have immediate commercial fodder depicting Obama as an unstable black militant. Obama gets the clear win because he maintained his composure and McCain didn’t thrash him on content. Avoiding negative racial stereotypes is a continuous handicap for Obama and should never be forgotten.
In general though, I think this debate showed two serious (one a little more than the other, of course) individuals, at a serious time, debating serious matters, and the country is better for it.
“One of the most clarifying moments of the debate was when Sen. McCain and Barack Obama were asked proposals each man would have to cut to pay for the economic bailout legislation now being crafted on Capitol Hill. Sen. McCain continued his relentless focus on reducing spending and reducing taxes in order to grow the economy while Barack Obama who has promised more than $900 million in increased spending and higher taxes to pay for them - talked about programs he would like to increase spending on.”
McCain just said something to the effect that healthcare should be between the patient and the physician, not the federal government. Can I hold him to that on reproductive health and “conscience?”
Overall, my view of the debate is that it was at least a draw. Sure, I personally feel that Obama “owned” McCain in the substantive scoring, but all Obama really needed (from the independent voter) was a draw. A “draw” in a debate on foreign policy with John McCain is really a win for Obama
SEE ALSO:
A Chris Davis Video
Dan Lehr
Commercial Appeal
Henry Kissenger
Polling shows Obama wins
Kelly Vlahos
Bill Frist
Knox Views
Factchecking the debate
David Letterman Goes Upside McCain’s Head
Posted on September 25, 2008 at 12:47 am“You don’t suspend your campaign. This doesn’t smell right. This isn’t the way a tested hero behaves. I think someone’s putting something in his Metamucil. He can’t run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second-string quarterback, Sarah Palin. Where is she? What are you going to do if you’re elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We’ve got a guy like that now!”
A Joint Statement From Barack Obama And John McCain
Posted on September 24, 2008 at 7:59 pmOn the mess that is our economy:
“The American people are facing a moment of economic crisis. No matter how this began, we all have a responsibility to work through it and restore confidence in our economy. The jobs, savings, and prosperity of the American people are at stake.
“Now is a time to come together — Democrats and Republicans — in a spirit of cooperation for the sake of the American people. The plan that has been submitted to Congress by the Bush Administration is flawed, but the effort to protect the American economy must not fail.
“This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.”
SEE ALSO: The Boehner/Pelosi joint statement.
UPDATE: Barack Obama’s Director’s Cut
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McCain To Suspend Campaign
Posted on at 2:21 pmFrom the Hill:
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Wednesday he is suspending his campaign, and he is asking Democratic rival Barack Obama to join him in trying to postpone Friday night’s debate so that both candidates and both parties can focus on a solution to the Wall Street crisis.
SEE ALSO: Full McCain remarks
UPDATE: Obama working on details with McCain.
INSTANT ANALYSIS:
Andrew Sullivan
Josh Marshall
Brendan Loy
Dan Lehr
Sean Braisted
Matt Yglesias
Mediaverse
The Chicago Way
Posted on September 22, 2008 at 6:10 amJohn McCain attacks Obama’s political pedigree:
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