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Obama Will Be Going for Knockout in Debate. What Should McCain Do?
As the GOP candidate bobs and weaves, his Democrat counterpart will move in for the kill. Here's how to turn things around. [Also, Victor Davis Hanson on Pre-Debate Anxieties]
McCain even permitted Obama to sound tougher than him about bin Laden in both debates. At least McCain might have pointed out that for the past seven years bin Laden has been in hiding and on the run whereas while Bill Clinton was President there was a period when bin Laden worked in the open from an office a few blocks from the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan. Which, of course, means that when Clinton was president, it would have been rather easy to find and take out bin Laden. Back then, FedEx could have found Osama — and they could have done so by 10 AM the next morning!
You get my drift. Instead of trying to knock out Obama, McCain seems hell-bent on subjecting the voters to painful repetition of shopworn sleep-inducing platitudes, only occasionally throwing anything resembling a real punch.
Obama’s task in the closing weeks of the campaign has been twofold:
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To convince the American people that he can go toe to toe with the vastly more experienced McCain in debate. He has succeeded in this beyond expectations partly because of his keen intelligence and quick mind, partly because of his Clintonesque slippery smoothness. And also because of McCain’s failure to seize opportunities coupled with his communications skills deficit.
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To avoid allowing McCain to effectively portray him as someone of questionable character, judgment and associations. That should have been a formidable challenge, but he has succeeded in this, partly by some very artful dodging, but mostly because of McCain’s inept approaches. Who but John McCain would refuse to raise Obama’s twenty-year close association with the hate-whitey, vehemently anti-American Rev. Jeremiah Wright and give as his flimsy excuse for such an inane blunder a claim that this would be injecting religion into the presidential race? Obama must laugh himself to sleep at night with that one.
Confident that in the third and final debate and right through until the polls open the McCain campaign will remain on autopilot with the same inept, ineffective strategy, Obama is readying his knockout punch.
It is reasonable to assume, given the length of this campaign and especially given the intensity and impact of events of the past couple of weeks, that the American people are anxious for a leader they see as acting like a real president. The Obama camp gets that — and they are preparing to fake “presidential.”
And so on October 29th, six days before Election Day, Barack Obama, will probably sit behind a desk that will look remarkably similar to ones we’ve seen in the Oval Office and speak to the American people in prime time on at least two of the major networks. The viewing audience will be huge.
There is sure to be an American flag prominently in the background. And on his lapel you will be able to clearly make out one of those American flag pins that he used to ridicule others for wearing. He will not display that pretend presidential seal of his — the one in which he deleted E Pluribus Unum (Latin for “Out of many, one”) because he was afraid of offending that fringe element who think America should adapt to the ways of its immigrants rather than their having to adopt America’s language and ways.
The closing-the-deal remarks that Obama will read from the teleprompter will be very carefully and very well written and perfectly parsed. They will likely include a slick bio film as part of the package. It will all have been focus group-tested to help insure powerful emotional impact. And when he finishes, the mainstream media will gush and rush to proclaim how “presidential” Obama looked and sounded and acted and they will declare the election all over but the shouting.
McCain, of course, could deliver his own prime time pretend presidential address. But there are excellent reasons not to. His would surely suffer by comparison and, besides, Obama has three times as much money as McCain to spend for television. Why waste money that would be better spent on hard-hitting ads exposing the real Barack Obama?
But there is still hope. McCain could pull the rug from under Obama’s great speech plan and run circles around Obama in the “Acting Like He Is Already President Game” without spending a dime. Here’s how:
John McCain should announce — either during the final debate or very shortly thereafter — what he should bill as the three most important appointments that he will make promptly upon being sworn in as president.
Promise to name Governor Mitt Romney secretary of the Treasury. Hail Romney as the man who took on a scandal-ridden Olympic Games mess and turned it completely around. Tell the country that your instruction to Mitt is to do the same with our financial markets. Remind America that Romney took Bain Capital from $37 million to more than $4 billion. Tout him as an accomplished governor of a large state. Say this is one very smart, very talented man who knows how to find real solutions that fix real problems. Say you will give him free rein to build a team of professionals who will not just solve our current financial problems but also develop plans for preventing future ones, including the looming crises in Social Security and Medicare.
Promise to name Mayor Rudy Giuliani attorney general. Remind the country about how as an U.S. attorney, Rudy vigorously prosecuted and sent to jail plenty of mobsters and Wall Street financiers. Tell the country that your instruction to the man who turned New York City around, the hero of 9/11, is to aggressively prosecute and send to jail anyone guilty of any crime that contributed to the collapse of the credit markets that has caused such harm to our country — and make it crystal clear that you fully expect that Rudy will be summoning a fair number of members of Congress and placing them under oath. Perhaps even sending some of them to jail.
Promise to appoint Senator Joe Lieberman secretary of State. Say that while you disagree with your good friend on many domestic issues, he is a great patriot who shares your foreign policy and defense views. Call him what he calls himself — an independent Democrat. Forget to utter the phrase “reaching across the aisle.”
Such a strategy could rescue the faltering McCain campaign. How?
First, it is a bold, rejuvenating step — à la the “Sarah Barracuda” selection. This is something the mainstream media could neither ignore nor effectively diminish. Before Obama gets to do his “presidential” act on October 29th, McCain will have beaten him to the punch. He will be the one acting like he is already president; Obama will look like a copycat. Out goes the wind from that Obama sail.
Second, it also ruins Obama’s October 29th prime time speech idea because it forces his opponent to either say or refuse to say whom he would pick for these key positions. McCain could badger him and keep badgering him about it, demanding that Obama “be specific” about his key cabinet choices during his prime time address. If he doesn’t, it helps McCain. If he does, so what? No way can Obama field a better Treasury/Justice/State team than Mitt/Rudy/Joe.
Third, by taking such a stunning step, McCain can offset some of the huge paid media advantage Obama enjoys by countering it with free media coverage.
Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Joe Lieberman are figures who command attention. It would be difficult for the media to ignore any one of them let alone all of them. McCain would be wise to simply send them out and let each of them do it his own way, free of any handling by the McCain team who have fumbled the ball so often.
The simple truth is that each of these stars does a far better job of presenting McCain’s views than McCain himself. They could save him. And if they do, America will have three outstanding leaders in three very critical areas in the years ahead. The rest will fall in place.
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Fred J. Eckert is a former conservative Republican Congressman from New York and twice served as a US Ambassador under President Reagan, who called him "a good friend and valuable advisor."
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69 Comments
1. David Thomson:“The simple truth is that each of these stars does a far better job of presenting McCain’s views than McCain himself.”
The politically correct John McCain is his own worst enemy. He is horrified that he will be charged with racism. This irrational fear has eviscerated McCain’s campaign. He fails to comprehend that he has an obligation to tell the truth about Obama. It is the least that he owes the American public. Sadly, though, when he looks upon Obama’s darker complexion—his knees turn to jelly.
White guilt threatens the very foundations of our democracy. It also works to the advantage of the David Dukes of the world. The Democrats and their MSP (main street propagandists) allies will continue to employ the race card. Inevitably, many whites will become embittered and seek out far right wing leaders. Barack Obama is setting back race relations in the United States by at least twenty years. I predict a very bleak future—and so far I have been uncannily accurate when it comes to warning about race guilt.
Oct 15, 2008 - 1:15 am 2. lee:The odds that I’m wrong are not high.
Fred J. Eckart GETS it. I especially like the idea announcing Mitt Romeny as the Secretary of treasury and Joe Lieberman as secretary of state. Mccain himself is an unappealing candidate, but if he can convince moderates and conservatives that a vote for him is essentially a vote for a more charismatic figures like Romney and Gulianni, who knows? Some conservatives are already supporting the Palin / Mccain ticket.
Let’s face it, Mccain will probably not win the final debate. I don’t think he’ll ever abandon the “I can work with both sides” angle, since that’s one of the ways he can distance himself from the Bush / GOP. Whatever the outcome of the debate, he needs take the adive from this article. “Tout” and promise big roles for a number of candidates who conservatives would rather vote for as president. He might even want to lure Ron Paul, his supporters are determined to throw their votes away.
Oct 15, 2008 - 1:24 am 3. Pippa:Pippa writes from Africa:
Obama just has to turn up for this debate.
His body language has turned into a casual
swagger and his facial expressions are just
short of a smirk.
McCain will throw the economy at Obama,
but Obama will not have to stretch his brain
on that issue.
Obama has the white house ‘in the bag.’
The polls do not lie.
Peace out America.
Oct 15, 2008 - 2:01 am 4. Typewriter King:I guess most of us can’t resist living vicariously through a candidate, and penning their own editions of “now if I were the nominee…”
But McCain has his role written for him, and he seems content to be Arnold Vinick, and letting the other guy get away with being Matt Santos. It didn’t have to be this way. Arthur Branch was available with his own script, maybe a winning one.
A shame. Outside of his “Santos script”, B.O. doesn’t even know what ’strategy’ means. A street magician- I mean activist- he’ll have to chart our foreign policy course by adopting his lousy street agitation tactics piecemeal. We may be back to lobbing cruise missiles at camels to boost the country’s self-esteem.
We accepted this silly primary system that gave us these people, so it’s our fault.
Oct 15, 2008 - 2:36 am 5. Chip:This is election is very far from being in the bag.
The swing states are still very close.
If Florida hinges on Tampa Bay, McCain will win there and take the whole South.
The youth vote will see the bogus poll numbers that CBS has put out this week and many will not bother to show up.
Oct 15, 2008 - 3:16 am 6. vivo:McCain will do his best in the debate, but the whole thing is so boring that the media will overanalyze all the little details for days on end.
Obama will be his usual cool and methodical and people will see the next President of the US.
Can’t get simpler than this unless a surprise comes up.
Oct 15, 2008 - 3:53 am 7. Chris:Great analysis and ideas! Apparently Mr. Eckert has been beating his head against the wall, as have I!
Now, if the McCain camp will read and learn and act…*sigh*
Oct 15, 2008 - 4:04 am 8. Olof Palme:“[Obama]has succeeded in this beyond expectations partly because of his keen intelligence and quick mind, partly because of his Clintonesque slippery smoothness.”
Ha! I laugh every time I see a McCain supporter claim its Obama who is `like Clinton’. If you want to talk `personality’ ask yourself who has been the close-to-the-edge, `honorable’ bad boy who can get away with anything, adulterer who gets all erratic but remains, sometimes angrily, self-rightous when caught out? John Sidney McCain. Except he’s not as smart as Clinton. 894th vs. Rhodes Scholar etc.
Man, its not even worth arguing this election anymore. McCain-Pailn…what an insult to the electorate…what were they thinking?
Oct 15, 2008 - 4:33 am 9. omer:The american people will never learn from the past mistakes,like when they elected bush,that was a big mistake, i will not be surprised if they elect john maccain.
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:11 am 10. Mary Grabar:I pray McCain’s team reads this. Fred Eckert for president (or at least advisor who can continue Ronald Reagan’s mission).
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:12 am 11. Dan Dickinson:He should also announce Fred Thompson as Attorney General and Mike Huckabee as Secretary of Health and Welfare. Then he should draw an explicit parallel with the Team of Rivals Lincoln cabinet, as outlined in Doris Kearns Godwins wonderful book.
Clearly, Sarah Palin is also thinking this way. She mentioned the book and the model during the Gibson interview. No one picked up on it. I wondered if she’d already talked with McCain about it, or whether she came up with it herself. In either case, it is a great idea and a potential game changer.
Fred, you used to be my Congressman, once upon a day. Where have you been?
Dan
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:12 am 12. tom:McCain
drop the Maverick, pork barrel, reach across the aisle talk
1) pin FM/FM economy on Democrats
name names, my administration under Rudy will prosecute these people
2)uncover the 95% Obama tax plan
since 30% don’t pay taxes it’s welfare
bring up the plumber and ’share the wealth around’
3) have specifics on the economy and pound them home
Having Mit on board and stumping in the last weeks would be good
lowering taxes – Kennedy – all boats rise in the tide
4) talk about Chicago
11% tax
failed public housing Rezko
failed schools – Ayers
bought elections
acorn
more people killed there than Iraq
do you want Obama’s policies in Chicago to go nationwide?
5)energy plan drill and nuclear
two things obama opposes
tire gauge or open up more offshore
if the questions don’t allow, answer them quickly then hit your talking points
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:19 am 13. Chris in Toronto:John-Sarah-Joe-Mitt-Rudy.
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:21 am 14. RustyG:Love the sound of it!
Great suggestions. In a couple of weeks the country I love may elect Obama as president. I fear I would not recognize America after an Obama administration. The sheeple have been fooled and scammed. I’m scared $#@^less.
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:27 am 15. tom:new zogby poll Obama up +3.8
Rathmussen Obama +5
CBS/NYT Obama +15
looks like the race is a lot closer than they think
John does well tonight, acorn keeps tipping the scales
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:48 am 16. Linda:voters will turn out in mass outrage to oust Obama
Could you email this article directly to John McCain, please?
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:58 am 17. Janeway:The media and RNC who gave us John McCain, like Dole, will now loose this election. Someone said that Mitt Romney was the luckiest guy in town to not be picked for VP the day Palin was selected!
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:59 am 18. joan:Unfortunately, 2012, we will be begging Romney to run against the current “Jimmy Carter”, Obama. I just hope he agrees. They possibly picked the worst candidate of the group to be the Republican candidate. Good idea for McCain to call out the good guys but it is too late. I just hope for the country that Obama and a Democratic congress have not done so much damage with supreme court nominations, tax policy, etc. that it can be undone but I doubt it. Watching Atlas Shrugged become a reality is unbelievable but it has – whether you buy Rand’s philosophy (I didn’t) or not, one has to admit, she had vision. I figure we have about 2 years before the public figures out what happened so I advise individuals need to get prepared financially and socially to see “changes” we hoped we would never see. Keep up your good work, Dr. Hanson, we need your voice more than ever.
GO OBAMA GO BIDEN! 08 Palin is a witch and a lier. mccain is in bed with big oil. He is a puppet and his lobbyist are pulling his strings.
Oct 15, 2008 - 6:02 am 19. dvd:McCain should call for a Delay in the Election in order to purge vote fraud from the system.
The math of potential vote fraud is understood by the person hours devoted to the practice and ingenuity required to support the expenditures paid;
13,000 voter registration workers
working 5 hours per day produce 65,000 man hours of work product per day.
per week 325,000 man hours
per month 1,300,000 man hours per month of potential labor applied to the purpose of subverting this and future elections.
Anyone who does not support a delay in this election, is probably just bought and paid for.
Acorn has 13,000 paid employees focused on voter registration……….employees are paid by the hour and while they dont have set quotas, a spokesperson for Missouri acorn; said today on a KMBZ raido interview, “that we cannot keep anyone on the payroll that is not doing thier job.”
this election should be delayed, and all local election boards should purge all fraud within the electoral system….give them until April 09…. let FBI and Justice, work directly with local points of interest, to remove the possibility of election fraud.
this will weed out local as well as collusive arrangements with extensible service organizations to sustaim political interests in power through vote fraud.
Oct 15, 2008 - 6:06 am 20. ksk:Better team for McCain to announce would be Sheila Bair at Treasury, Chuck Hagel as Sec State, Susan Eisenhower as SecDef, someone totally uncorrupted as AG, and Huckabee at Health&Human Services.
Oct 15, 2008 - 7:12 am 21. KD:At this point, the fact that McCain even has a base is due solely to ideology. Remove the ideology, and what you have is the man. One commenter at Eunomia well describes him: “erratic in crisis, a reckless gambler, overly histrionic, reactive instead of thoughtful, intellectually dishonest, openly deceptive and duplicitous, obstinate, ungracious, comtemptuous, and ultimately a little nasty in the pursuit of his ambition.”
One need not even mention his running mate, whose dishonorable performance this past week has left many life-long conservatives aghast.
Oct 15, 2008 - 7:19 am 22. HonestAbe:EVERY SINGLE NOBEL LAUREATE
http://sefora.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/nobel_letter4.pdf
I know I know, all that learnin’ can only mean trouble.
Oct 15, 2008 - 7:33 am 23. HonestAbe:Palin is the foremost expert on energy, huh? (quote from John McCain)
Here’s why her theories are absolute, political crap – maverick indeed.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/4647
I would agree that Obama is only slightly less wrong, but Palin is supposed to be this uber-independent…please.
Oct 15, 2008 - 7:47 am 24. narciso:Let’s keep in mind, Mr. Eckert; you were defeated by Louise Slaughter, possibly one of the most incompetent candidates in the history of the Republic. So We’ll take your words with a pinch of salt
Oct 15, 2008 - 8:12 am 25. Jim Baker:Obama has more money than McCain. ’nuff said.
Oct 15, 2008 - 8:49 am 26. Kurtis Fechtmeyer:Yes, McCain needs a positive game changer like this.
He should hit Ayers et al., but more to talk about Obama’s many “bonehead” moves. Obama looks like a classic “smart” professor when he is viewing everything in hindsight, but people need to point out that by Obama’s own admission, he has made “bonehead move” after “bonehead move”. Rezko, Ayers, Wright, etc. etc.
Oct 15, 2008 - 9:08 am 27. cfbleachers:Senator Obama showed up with a gun to a knife fight….as well as brass knuckles, a can of mace, a billy club, a broken bottle and couple of pet pit bulls.
Senator McCain arrived with the Marquess of Queensbury Rules and Robert’s Rules of Order.
Here is how battle ensued: 1) Obama parries with a stab in the side , McCain reads “no man should have seconds assisting in the ring”, 2)Obama sprays mace in the eyes and slashes across the face with a broken bottle, McCain reads: “No member can speak twice on the same issue until everyone wishing to speak on the issue has spoken once”
Nobody doubts for a moment, that Senator McCain has shown as a former POW, that he can withstand cruel and unfair mistreatment at the hands of an enemy who has complete control and still maintain his honor and dignity. He has proven that against his captors in Viet Nam and with the crooked entrenched media during this election campaign.
What he needs to show, is a willingness to fight back for those he means to serve. He can do it cleanly and fairly, even overcoming the crooked refs. But he can’t do it by sitting there and reading the rules and getting hit yet again below the belt.
He is fighting for those of us who stand against the tyranny of leftist authoritarianism, and if he bows and scrapes before it, in order to maintain his honor…instead of fighting against it in order maintain ours…then we all become prisoners in their control.
I’m quite weary of showing our civility and ability to “take a punch” from relentless onslaught of the crooked, the venal, the arrogant bastards of the extreme left. When will a real hero emerge to take them head on and expose them for the cowards they are? I know the rules, I wish to continue to play by them fairly…but if we are in a fight for our national soul…that is no time for the timid or faint of heart.
Oct 15, 2008 - 9:11 am 28. Tennyson Williams:I’m so tired of all the lives being crushed because of political opinions. I definitely side with one of the candidates, but my heart goes out to both of them, their families, the voters and everyone else who has to deal with the hostility started by the campaigns and the press.
Everyone is worried about the mental and physical health of the candidates for the job, but I’d like to know how many years have already been unnecessarily deducted from their lifespans, just during the election process.
Oct 15, 2008 - 9:12 am 29. Deloies:Here’s the thing, if McCain wants to bring up the Acorn situation, lets be realistic here, Because Obama may have contributed to that organization, does that mean he has control over whom they pick to gather voters signature..I think not. How can he be held accountable for the organization hiring those people. its like if you give your spouse an amount of money and that spouse spends it in a way that is not good, does that mean, the person who gave the money should be held responsible for the action of another…I think not. its time to put this to rest. We all know that it was a bad thing, but why hold Obama responsible.
Oct 15, 2008 - 9:31 am 30. Believer:I heartily support the author’s suggestions. And the Cabinet appointments. I hope McCain reads this.
Now maybe McCain could ask Obama during the debate, “What about this New Party you were a member of some years ago…”
Let’s see if his lies multiply. And if this opens up new territory to explore.
I think we’d get a better idea of where BO would take our country when we see him pictured alongside other members of this Socialist Party — as well as from that video clip of him telling the plumber he thinks “spreading the wealth” makes things fairer for those who lag behind. (gatewaypundit.blogspot.com should have pics and video of both)
We could also better understand where his earlier efforts at “fairness” took us: right into a near total financial collapse with a government takeover of some of our mightiest institutions.
That surely has the “S” word all over it.
And, remember, the Dems’ very own Maxine Waters, at the Congressional hearings to grill the Oil Execs, stated, “We just might have to socialize…” And then stopped, horrified, she’d let the cat out of the bag. One or two behind her tried to hide their amusement…
Her voice was one of the strongest against oversight of Fannie and Freddie. A team player, that one.
This is just the beginning of the “change,” folks. Expect plenty more of the same should Barry occupy the White House along with majority power in the hands of the Dems in all branches of government.
You’ll get your “change” alright.
Oct 15, 2008 - 9:56 am 31. “John McCain should announce — either during the final debate or very shortly thereafter — what he should bill as the three most important appointments that he will make promptly upon being sworn in as president” « PurpleSlog:[...] important appointments that he will make promptly upon being sworn in as president” An interesting idea: John McCain should announce — either during the final debate or very shortly thereafter — what [...]
Oct 15, 2008 - 10:00 am 32. james wilson:‘What should McCain do?’ is a ridiculous proposition. What he should have done is switch parties as he considered in ‘01, not run as a ’70’s Democrat in ‘08 representing the Republican Party.
Oct 15, 2008 - 10:01 am 33. worried voter:He’s doing what his brittle, feeble old brain is telling him to do. What the hell is our excuse?
I wish John McCain would say to Bob after the first question. “The American People want to hear us answer questions we haven’t yet answered” and then proceed to talk to the people similar to what Sarah Palin did. Take control of the debate and talk to the people. He really doesn’t have anything to lose by going directly to the people. I am so tired of canned debate questions. I want to know why Obama hasn’t produced a legitimate birth certificate and if he has ever had dual citizenship. If there is any chance that he could be disqualified before Jan. after getting elected, we could have a Biden/Pelosi whitehouse. Very scary thought indeed.
Oct 15, 2008 - 10:13 am 34. Rotwang:John McCain should use the opportunity tonight to politely conced and withdraw from the race.
He is old, feeble and visibly confused and/or medicated.
He could name Clint Eastwood and Bruce Willis to his cabinet, but no one would care.
His campaign ended the day he selected Palin as his running mate, much as Fred Thompson’s primary campaign ended the day he announced.
Say “Hello” to President Obama. And say “Goodnight” to Hanoi John.
Oct 15, 2008 - 10:20 am 35. Amphipolis:Based on my quick analysis 81% of current senators have more experience in the senate than Obama. I think McCain should drive home Obama’s pathetic resume.
Oct 15, 2008 - 10:26 am 36. John:If you really think that naming Mitt Romney and/or Rudy Giuliani to cabinet positions is going to have a measurable impact on this race, then you’re probably one of the same individuals who thought that the pick of Sarah Palin as VP candidate would rally the Republican party, dampen Obama’s momentum and put McCain on the road to victory. Meaning that you think more gimmicky political appointments are the solution to McCain’s campaign woes. Meaning that you you essentially have no idea of what this presidential race is about and how it will be decided.
A pick of Giuliani or Romney, just like the Palin pick, will get everyone excited for a couple of minutes, sure, that’s true, but overall will have no effect. Any positive net effect will be shortlived because it will be offset by moderates and independents who don’t hold any special place in their hearts for either Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney, for a variety of reasons.
Again, if you truly believe that adding more conservativism to an already quite conservative Republican ticket is going to win this election, you’re sadly out of touch with the current political climate. Like it or not, this election is a referendum on the economy, and I don’t think anyone in their right minds believes that Mitt Romney is going to be the guy to save it based on the facts that he once ran a big company and “took on a scandal-ridden Olympic Games mess”. Both of those qualifications seem lacking, if not completely irrelevent given the overwhelming crisis this economy is in.
This election will not be decided by some cabinet appointments, especially ones that that vast majority of people will find boring, uninspired, and indicative of how far off the pulse the McCain camp truly is. Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney will not save the day.
Oct 15, 2008 - 10:38 am 37. Pierred:All these ideas are great, but fail miserably when you consider that you have to have a questioner ask questions that in SOME vague way enable McCain to make these points. Unfortunately, given the leftist questioners in these debates, he’ll have to really fight to make these points. Obama will get softballs to whack over the fence.
Oct 15, 2008 - 10:49 am 38. Dr. Slogan:> Promise to name Mayor Rudy Giuliani attorney general.
Oct 15, 2008 - 11:08 am 39. Steve P.:Yes, that would be a true game changer. This is the kind of punches that may actually work. Exressions, vocal exercises and body language are working better for Obama than for McCain and I hope McCain and his advisors have recognised this. In a day nobody will remember the words. But actions like this can make a real difference. Public has alrwady proven that in this election logic is not going to work a big part of electorate. For example, the growing list of worst America-haters endorsing Obama, is mindboggling for anyone who takes 5 seconds to think about it. Ahmadinejad, Qaddafi, Hamas, Kim Jong-Il, Castro, Ortega… The list goes on, yet so many people choose to ignore this. The only real ammunition left is actions.
Posted by David Thomson:
“The politically correct John McCain is his own worst enemy. He is horrified that he will be charged with racism. … Sadly, though, when he looks upon Obama’s darker complexion—his knees turn to jelly.”
What a ridiculous remark. I’m not even sure what you’re trying to say. Are you angry at John McCain for not calling Obama a hustling, drug dealing, welfare loving, angry black man? Or are you angry at the media for intimidating John McCain into not calling Obama a hustling, drug dealing, welfare loving, angry black man? Perhaps you’re just frustrated by the fact that the previously tried-and-true strategies of racist Republican smear campaigning that previously defeated such candidates as Harold “Call Me” Ford and Michael “Willie Horton” Dukakis is backfiring this time around?
“White guilt threatens the very foundations of our democracy… Barack Obama is setting back race relations in the United States by at least twenty years. I predict a very bleak future—and so far I have been uncannily accurate when it comes to warning about race guilt.
The odds that I’m wrong are not high.”
“White guilt” is just a euphamism used by white supremacists to justify injustice. Asking white people to judge a black candidate based on his record rather than his skin color is not unreasonable, and it certainly does not “threaten the very foundations of our democracy.” And I would love to hear your theory on how electing a black president “is setting back race relations in the United States by at least twenty years.” That doesn’t sound ludicrous at all.
Let me be a bit conciliatory, though. If you were to switch the words “high” and “wrong” in your very last sentence, and I will resoundingly agree with your comment.
Oct 15, 2008 - 11:19 am 40. proud elitist:McCain shouldn’t move around too much in his Igor/Gollum-like ways.
He should stop making us shudder with the phrase “my friends.”
He should NOT bring up Ayers/ACORN unless he’s willing to go to the mat for it. Because if Obama nails it during a response, McCain won’t even have those two topics left.
He should announce he’s dropped Sarah and picked a competent #2.
Of course, he won’t do any of that so it will pretty much be easy batting for Obama.
Oct 15, 2008 - 11:21 am 41. Joseph Marshall:“McCain’s task in the closing weeks of the campaign has been to convince the American people that Obama is not only woefully ill prepared to be president but in fact a very risky, indeed dangerous, choice. McCain has failed miserably in this task.”
No, you guys just don’t get it. McCain has violated three vital rules for “taking the gloves off”.
1] Do not “go negative” until you fully establish your own image and pitched your brand to the persuadable voters. McCain could have done this as far back as April. He didn’t, and he hasn’t yet.
2] Never associate your name with the attack ads. They should always be fronted by an “outside” and “objective” source. There were plenty waiting in the wings.
3] Hit as early as possible to keep the other guy from establishing his own image and brand with the voters. Had McCain sold himself in April, he could have hit hard with anything and everything as early as June, when Clinton stopped campaigning. He didn’t get anything suitable on the air until early August.
He is inept.
And neither Palin’s public mouth, nor his own slash and burn ads have stopped him from dropping like a stone with undecided voters. Nor will they. It’s too late for that. His one chance, slim as it, is is going back to his brand and speaking coherently about it.
Oct 15, 2008 - 11:33 am 42. Sandra M:I like Tom’s suggestions in comment 12
especially. I’ve deleted some suggestions and added others in [].
1) pin FM/FM economy on Democrats
name [Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, et al'], my administration under Rudy [or Fred Thompson]will prosecute these people
2)…bring up the plumber and ’share the wealth around.’ [Taking money from those who work for it and giving it to those who don't].
3) talk about Chicago
11% tax
failed public housing Rezko
failed schools – Ayers
bought elections
acorn
more people killed there than Iraq
do you want Obama’s policies in Chicago to go nationwide?
5)energy plan drill and nuclear
two things obama opposes
tire gauge or open up more offshore, [with royalties to states and citizens as Alaska has. Also, Putin and Iran want to start a natural gas cartel. Palin pre-empted them with the natural gas pipeline. (IBD editorial today). If elected, we will put drilling on accelerated war footing, with bonuses for bringing oil and gas to market quicker, because we are at war with the Axis of oil. Those are jobs which will make us energy independent AND stop the 700 billion dollar outflow of capital to our enemies. Together with my veto pen of unnecessary expenditures, these policies will get us out of the recession more quickly].
if the questions don’t allow, answer them quickly, then hit your talking points” [as Sarah Palin did]
[Also, link Joe Biden to bankruptcy and high interest rate credit card legislation and to the Global Poverty Act which he and Obama support which would take a percentage of our GNP and send it to poverty-stricken nations through the UN.’
Oct 15, 2008 - 11:39 am 43. Jim Baker:Deloies, How can anything be held against Obama? Please wake up before it is too late.
Oct 15, 2008 - 12:05 pm 44. Believer:Well, then, John #36 —
If “this election is a referendum on the economy” you might like my suggestion we open up the discussion to what has most affected it:
Your candidate’s socialist ties.
Once your candidate is out of the closet, we can have the American voters – fully informed – decide which direction they want our nation to take over the next four years.
Oct 15, 2008 - 12:06 pm 45. Peter Gee:McCain prefers to attack Republicans and pretend to be non-partisan than anything else.
The thing that should have prevented him from being chosen in the first place has come back to haunt him as he babbles baby-talk “reaching across” instead of hitting Obama and the Democrats.
This is the worst Republican campaign I have ever seen. It deserves to lose and it will. How sad, as I am a staunch libertarian conservative who dreads what is comping from the O-nointed One.
If Sarah Palin had one year on Capital hill she would have learned enough in 365 days to defeat any Dem. More is the pity!
Now prepare for decades of socialism with a soft face.
Oct 15, 2008 - 12:14 pm 46. Sandy Salt:It would be a nice dream to think anything would change the course that this country is on, but more so than just this election we can expect the next four years regardless of who wins to be a downward spiral. This country has completely lost its way in the world. We have allowed the greedy and corrupt to occupy the Congress for far too long and now we are reaping the rewards. Blame both Democrats and Republican alike because neither was willing to stand up and stop the spending. We have spent our way into astronomical debt that we will never be able to paydown without drastic cuts in government spending. Neither candidate has a real plan on how to fix our government and only one is slightly worse than the other when it comes to how fast they will drive this country into the ground. McCain isn’t going to enact real reform when he would have 60+ Democrats in the Senate and healthy majority in the House. He will roll over as he has done in the past and let them have their way. Obama will just speed the process. McCain keeps claiming that he will make people famous for their porkbarrel ways, but he hasn’t. He talks about reaching across the aisle to do what the Democrats want vice enacting any real reform. Vote for whomever you like, but it isn’t going to change the outcome of the next four years. I hold out hope that maybe starting in 2010, we as a nation will start electing true conservative patriots and truly fix Washington. Keep hand wringing over who the next President is going to be, but realize that the Congress is going to be firmly in the hands of the worst leadership in Congressional history (Pelsoi and Reid).
Oct 15, 2008 - 12:26 pm 47. Chris:McCain is an ex-combat pilot; that alone should teach him that you use your ammunition when it is most effective. Many folks criticized him for not hamering Obama in the last debate, but my take is that as many of the revelations were just coming into the MSM at the time, it would have been premature. It would have given Obama & the MSM far too much time to repair the damage, particularly given the massive amount of money that is being used to buy Obama the White House (talk about sub-prime, lol…)
My hope is that the intervening two weeks have prepped the public enough to actually undo the nearly two years of Obama-grooming and be receptive to scrutinizing Obama’s checkered (or is that red-flag?) history, and that McCain will be able to close aggressively without a huge MSM backlash. We’ll see.
Oct 15, 2008 - 1:13 pm 48. Will Sharpe:David Thompson: “White guilt threatens the very foundations of our democracy.”
It’s about time it did!
Preposterous statement by the way; I think the more McCain goes on the offensive against Obama’s past, the more the country will tune him out. At this point it’s too late to go on the offensive against someone’s past; what we need is a substantial policy debate with real offers from both candidates tonight. The likelihood of this is slim, though.
Oh yeah, “The odds that I’m wrong are not high.” Why aren’t you running for President?
Oct 15, 2008 - 1:15 pm 49. tanstaafl:If Senator McCain could avoid repeating…”Senator Obama…(did, thought, promised, said) this that and the other…” and would use his energy instead to promote himself and gin up enthusiasm…
(Ok, I’ll allow some references to Annenberg and ACORN, but they hafta be zingers, like: Senator Obama’s campaign gave $800,000 to (those crooks !) ACORN during the primaries to “get out the vote”. Senator Obama said yesterday that that was then, this is now, and he doesn’t “need” ACORN anymore…)
AND…
If Senator McCain would avoid saying…”my friends…” over and over…
Then, tanstaafl won’t squirm as much during tonight’s debate.
Oct 15, 2008 - 2:50 pm 50. Chip:I find it fascinating to see the liberals who are showing up here talk like this is a done deal.
Do they not understand that most of the national media polls like CBS are heavily skewed and therefore worthless?
Do they not realize that Obama limped across the finish line against Clinton? Many voters are already very much aware that Obama is essentially a Puppet Politician who really isn’t all that bright. Obama is the ultimate Affirmative Action rubber stamp for the far left liberal money vault.
McCain will win with about 274 electoral votes if things play out as expected. 283+ if McCain hits a home run tonight.
Oct 15, 2008 - 3:25 pm 51. Chip:“Man, its not even worth arguing this election anymore. McCain-Palin…what an insult to the electorate…what were they thinking?”
The McCain Palin ticket has a track record of proven results.
Obama has a track record of making lame excuses, and continuing pronouncements of a lack of judgment, about most of his long lasting political and personal associations.
Oct 15, 2008 - 3:50 pm 52. NITWIT:Generally don’t promote conspiracy.
However, does it even seem like McCain is trying to win?
Was McCain the intended fall guy for Hillary; and things went horribly wrong. He was THE weakest candidate of the primary contenders…
How did he win the Primary…one day he was down and out of cash; next he had all the money and ’support’.
?
I’m just saying, he doesn’t seem to be in it to win it. Obama would the easiest lib to beat…
If we don’t see some life from McCain in the next three weeks…he intentionally threw it
Oct 15, 2008 - 3:56 pm 53. Les:Being a liberal who is cheerfully skipping over the corpse of your party, I thank you for giving me yet another reason to vote for Obama in three weeks – because Mr. Eckert’s suggestion for McCain’s appointees is the most terrifying thing I have seen suggested for his administration. It’s Sarah Palin cubed, appointing three gutless hacks to positions of great power.
From a neutral perspective, I have little belief that McCain can do anything to change this, and while the election will likely be closer than expected there is little chance he can break the Obama juggernaught down save if Obama yells “Allah Akhbar! Workers of the world unite!” (Which, to any ignorant twat who thinks otherwise, he won’t – he is not a terrorist and not a Communist, but a brilliant politician who gives this country what it wants.)
And from my personal perspective, time to kick the Republican Party into a corner where it can lick its wounds and come back as a halfway decent form in eight years. You know, once Obama/Biden have put us back together and restored national respect.
Oct 15, 2008 - 3:57 pm 54. proud elitist:Well, Chip @ 50…those electoral votes certainly won’t be coming from Michigan…
RCP (much more conservative than other polling) says this about the electoral map: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/
And this about the current national polls: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html
At present, it does not look good for McCain/Palin.
And Chip (@51)…you are right, they have a track record of proving they aren’t the “dream ticket” that came out swinging in late August. McCain has proven that he’s no “maverick”, not a “reformer” and once again, can’t capture the American right (just like 2000). Palin has proven that she lacks any type of “reform” as one report regarding her tenure (so far) in AK has her violating ethics and the Personnel Board is looking into more allegations of misconduct.
Obama, on the other hand, has proven nothing sticks. None of the b*tsh*t crazy righty attacks. His poll numbers just keep on climbing.
Oct 15, 2008 - 4:27 pm 55. The Wide Awake Cafe » Push Him Back, Push Him Back, Way Back!:[...] will never be asked by Bob Schieffer or others blasting John McCain’s crankiness, or of not being cranky enough or woeful predictions about what they think will happen in the debate tonight, which, after all, is [...]
Oct 15, 2008 - 4:28 pm 56. Believer:Hope he heard this story in time to ask BO about it:
africanpress.wordpress.com
Hit “Michelle Obama story causes…” in top left column.
She had a few things to say to AFI…and they’re being very careful it seems…
Oct 15, 2008 - 5:36 pm 57. harry:Mccain must hammer home Obama’s associations with people of dubious character, people who do not speak for mainstream America. McCain must have Obama explain his “spreading the wealth remark” and how Dems like Frank and Dodd have already attempted this with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae only to cause total chaos in the financial world and if elected Obama will provide more of the same. He must relate how Obama’s changes will hurt America.
Oct 15, 2008 - 6:00 pm 58. Sarge:Just stand there and take it like ALLL good Republicans have for ages! Seriously we are all tired of politics as it is. McCain needs to reach back and HIT back! There is enough ammo in Obama’s background to scare the beegeeses out of most people if they would just WAKE UP!
Oct 15, 2008 - 6:11 pm 59. harry:Post #23 by Honest Abe:
Oct 15, 2008 - 6:50 pm 60. Ed Wallis:Your link’s arguments can be easily rebutted.
We can continue to buy oil from friendly countries while severely diminishing purchases from those who use our money against us. Secondly, while oil prices may have dipped over the past few weeks rest assured prices will reach new highs again, add to the fact that oil is an ever dwindling resource which must be replaced by some other commodity. In addition, if those countries promoted terrorist activities at ten dollars a bbl how much more can be accomplished at 100 or 200 a bbl? By enriching these countries they are empowered to buy arms and America itself bit by bit. We should have been creating new powerplants and new oil rigs all along but have not and we should have been building new nuclear reactors all along but we have not yet your link is telling us we can’t now? How preposterous. Government and special interest groups prevented us from these things not economical reasons. Global warming is still a theory! Theories have a habit of being totally wrong. We still can’t predict the weather correctly for longer than 3 days. We don’t have definitive information and data to make dire economic reductions because of global warming. Besides we cannot control other nations from reducing their emissions. Finally, it is Obama’s experience that needs explaining since he has little experience in the Senate. He has no experience creating or maintaining a budget as a governor does. Obama choose to not vote on numerous bills. Exactly what expertise does that create? Palin will be Vice President not President why are her requirements more essential than Obama’s? Let’s put it bluntly the media is in the tank for the democrats. If Palin were a democrat perhaps they’d be in awe. The media is full of crap. Like congress the media has failed us and worse they lie to us on a daily basis.
Debate just over.
OOOOOOOooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh, Johnny sure had a great time wiping the floor with Obama’s smile.
Oct 15, 2008 - 7:42 pm 61. P. Shahir:Paid media makes it a weird ball game, to such an extent that the media often deviates from any Public Service or Public Information norm.
Sadly some would like to be ‘taste judges’ just as ‘joke killers’ – however, when the truth hits the world as a grievous boomerang – as drug cartels go unchecked – and proterrorists would like to take it as a signal of media capitulation, and that the Media AND Wall Street might seem to them negociable as long as some proxies could be made to ‘cooperate’ at the expense of the livelihood of good people.
It is time to wake up from this hang over – for the People should ask themselves WHOSE public agenda this has been.
Oct 15, 2008 - 8:09 pm 62. P. Shahir:I bet that there are those deeper thinking journalists who go for deeper values, who never get heard.
I still have some hopes on some brave maverics – AND those who believe in a JOING program across and ABOVE all party politics, without compromising the truth about the role of paid advertisment.
People have to be brave to speak out even in face of ‘ new established prejudices ‘ .
Loyalty and fairness go along with joint cooperation and respect of those leaders who have been surprised by horrifically cruel hard headed fanatical terrorism that targetted the economy since the 1990s as Saddam wanted to control the world.
Some still sympathise with him, and shed tears for him, while the masses die under economical recession !
ERRATA * )I still have some hopes on some brave maverics – AND those who believe in a JOINT*) program across and ABOVE all party politics, without compromising the truth about the role of paid advertisment.
Oct 15, 2008 - 8:17 pm 63. Edward A:After watching the third debate, it is even clearer that McCain will continue Bush’s policies of the last eight years. McCain is exhausted, his ideas out-dated and his temperament is ill-suited to these difficult days ahead.
Obama is in control, has wisdom that comes through clearly and has the ability and energy to steer this country. America is suffering due to the failures of GW Bush these past eight years. To paraphrase a Nixon campaign slogan, ‘Now more than ever’ we need change.”
Oct 15, 2008 - 9:14 pm 64. Ed Wallis:I found this quote from Joe Wurzelbacher to be a good summary about the debate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdLPWfTczM4
“Obama’s Proposal Scares Me Because It’s Just One More Step Towards Socialism”
Oct 16, 2008 - 6:53 am 65. sonya:Nurse Who Exposed Infanticide-Based Abortions: Obama Lied During Debate
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 15, 2008
Email RSS Printer
Chicago, IL (LifeNews.com) — The Chicago-area nurse who exposed the practice of life-birth abortions that led to he bill Barack Obama repeatedly opposed in the Illinois legislature says Obama lied about his record during the final presidential debate. Jill Stanek says Obama again misrepresented his position and record before the American people.
As LifeNews.com reported, John McCain took Obama to task during the debate when the topic turned to abortion.
“Sen. Obama, as a member of the Illinois State Senate, voted in the Judiciary Committee against a law that would provide immediate medical attention to a child born of a failed abortion. He voted against that,” McCain said.
Obama responded to the charge by repeating his claim that he voted against the bill because it would have undermined Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that allowed virtually unlimited abortions throughout pregnancy.
However, as Stanek explains, Obama voted for an amendment to the bill to mitigate those concerns and subsequently voted against the legislation anyway.
Stanek said the bill, the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, “simply stated all born alive babies became legally protected persons immediately upon birth, no matter what gestational age and no matter if unwanted abortion survivors.”
“Obama voted against this straightforward human rights legislation four times stating as the sole state senator speaking against it on the Senate floor in 2001 it would be ‘unconstitutional’ to declare very premature abortion survivors persons,” Stanek explained.
Obama also defended his votes against the anti-infanticide bill by claiming “there was already a law on the books in Illinois that required providing lifesaving treatment.”
Stanek also called that a “lie” saying “Illinois abortion law to this day only protects abortion survivors their abortionist deems fit to live.
“The potential for subjective assessments in these cases is clear to all but Obama. In fact, Obama opposed closing this loophole by voting against legislation to mandate a second doctor be present at deliveries of all live abortion survivors to independently assess their viability,” she said.
Obama not only voted against the bill to protect newborns who survive failed abortions but the Chicago-area nurse says he took a leadership role to defeat it.
Stanek points to Obama’s own campaign web site which indicates he approached the Illinois Planned Parenthood affiliate to develop a strategy to defeat that measure and the ban on partial-birth abortions.
Despite Obama’s claims, Stanek says Obama ultimately voted in 2003 against a version of the bill identical to a Congressional anti-infanticide bill the Senate approved on a 98-0 margin and on which the pro-abortion group NARAL took no position.
“He then purported several times, as recently as August 16, 2008, that the bills were not identical and he would have supported the Illinois version had it been the same as the federal version,” she said.
Obama’s campaign finally had to recant from that position after documents from the Illinois legislature proved him wrong.
“I’m beyond disgusted that Obama continues to repeat the same lies without the mainstream media investigating and denouncing him. We’ll see what tomorrow brings,” Stanek concluded.
Oct 16, 2008 - 9:48 am 66. Anonymous:No ‘ knock out ‘ debate, – but hopefully steps towards realizing and respecting that there are various perspectives.
I hope too, the public will sooner realize the historical realities about the impact of tyranny, terrorism and related narcoterror on the National and Global economy and their grave security ramifications !
I thank Pajamasmedia.com for fostering diversity of views.
In posting number 61, 62 I wrote about joke killers and ‘ tasting judges ‘ slanted media who loose their most basic reason of existence, giving way to partisan engagement instead of issues, and loosing all public service and information credibility. I underlined that there probably are many good journalists who do not get heard or published ….. and therefore, just as certain greed blinded Wall street and financial preoccupations have been judged for undermining national and world economy, we must scrutinize extremist agendas amongst the Media too. ( as corruptions try to buy in and even control search engines, let alone the media !!!! )
Just after my recent postings on Joke Killers and Taste Judges , I heard parts of a Charity even I felt very grateful that the Presidential Candidates Senator McCain and Senator Obama took part in an event where Taste Judges and Joke Killers were ‘ left out ‘ . The public enjoyed that very much ! It gave me great pleasure too !!!!
However, time will tell if the issues I raised on narcoterror and narcotics cartels threatening National and Global stabity, health and wellbeing, could be addressed.
As I wrote on another Pajamas.com forum opposing age dicrimination ( having dubbed it as GERIAPHOBIA or Geriphobia ) , I underlied there too, that narcotics trade is eroding and destroying the very fibre and fabric of Civil Society, and productivity of future generations.
Here, I am not speaking of medications perscribed by doctors, which is an internal issue under the Hippocrathic Oath of Medical Profession, ( needing responsible medical interest and engagement ) , as medical conditions are a distinctly different matter from the ruthless interests of narcotics cartels and narcoterrorists, so closely in deadly symbiosis with terrorism and tyrannic regimes interests in orchestrating psycho-bio-terrorism ( a few of my older concocted terminologies to pinpoint what I mean …….
Oct 18, 2008 - 5:42 pm 67. P. Shahir:I stated before that I hoped that the Media leaves bias, and partakes of responsibilities towards ASSISTING public information and appreciating the public, instead of taking part in full fledged Joke Killing, Taste Judge activities and condoning populist personality attacks that are not relevant to helping towards better society and security of kind hearted strivers – regardless age, race, and background – as long as there is authentic zeal and interest to do good.
No ‘ knock out ‘ debate, – but hopefully steps towards realizing and respecting that there are various perspectives.
I hope too, the public will sooner realize the historical realities about the impact of tyranny, terrorism and related narcoterror on the National and Global economy and their grave security ramifications !
I thank Pajamasmedia.com for fostering diversity of views.
In posting number 61, 62 I wrote about joke killers and ‘ tasting judges ‘ slanted media who loose their most basic reason of existence, giving way to partisan engagement instead of issues, and loosing all public service and information credibility. I underlined that there probably are many good journalists who do not get heard or published ….. and therefore, just as certain greed blinded Wall street and financial preoccupations have been judged for undermining national and world economy, we must scrutinize extremist agendas amongst the Media too. ( as corruptions try to buy in and even control search engines, let alone the media !!!! )
Just after my recent postings on Joke Killers and Taste Judges , I heard parts of a Charity even I felt very grateful that the Presidential Candidates Senator McCain and Senator Obama took part in an event where Taste Judges and Joke Killers were ‘ left out ‘ . The public enjoyed that very much ! It gave me great pleasure too !!!!
However, time will tell if the issues I raised on narcoterror and narcotics cartels threatening National and Global stabity, health and wellbeing, could be addressed.
As I wrote on another Pajamas.com forum opposing age dicrimination ( having dubbed it as GERIAPHOBIA or Geriphobia ) , I underlied there too, that narcotics trade is eroding and destroying the very fibre and fabric of Civil Society, and productivity of future generations.
Here, I am not speaking of medications perscribed by doctors, which is an internal issue under the Hippocrathic Oath of Medical Profession, ( needing responsible medical interest and engagement ) , as medical conditions are a distinctly different matter from the ruthless interests of narcotics cartels and narcoterrorists, so closely in deadly symbiosis with terrorism and tyrannic regimes interests in orchestrating psycho-bio-terrorism ( a few of my older concocted terminologies to pinpoint what I mean …….
Oct 18, 2008 - 5:42 pm 68. P. Shahir:I stated before that I hoped that the Media leaves bias, and partakes of responsibilities towards ASSISTING public information and appreciating the public, instead of taking part in full fledged Joke Killing, Taste Judge activities and condoning populist personality attacks that are not relevant to helping towards better society and security of kind hearted strivers – regardless age, race, and background – as long as there is authentic zeal and interest to do good.
ERRATA*) As long as there is authentic zeal and interest to do good, the Media has a moral responsibility to help such persons in their personal struggle to do good – across and above all party politics.
Oct 18, 2008 - 5:45 pm 69. Ed:TY to Pyjamasmedia
McCain’s campaign has been an example of Senatitis vs. Chicago brass knuckle machine politics. McCain is truly “Country First” in spirit, which led him to work in good faith with both Republicans and Democrats. Some of those Democrats worked in good faith also, but too many were read to shiv John with their left hands while shaking his right. I had hoped that John understood the nature of the snakes he worked with and of the ideology that placed them in power
Alas, when he used the term “My friends” it seems he really meant it. The warrior jinking his scooter onto target and the captive determined to cling to honor at all costs was lulled to sleep by the patina of collegiality in the Senate.
The habits of rhetorical combat vs. those of working with “my friends” are hard to overcome, and McCain failed to do it. The slashing strokes that Obama left himself open for passed unexploited. Too bad.
We won’t know until Nov 5 whether good sense edges out “gimme” in this great nation. If it does, it won’t owe all that much thanks to McCain.
Oct 21, 2008 - 1:08 am