The McCain campaign just announced that it’s suspending the campaign to go back to DC and work on the bailout, and calling for a postponement of Friday night’s debate.
That puts the Obama campaign in a tough position. He can’t show up on Friday and debate an empty chair, and McCain has just once again demonstrated that there are things more important to him than winning elections. It also demonstrates his record of working on bi-partisan efforts.
It’s hard for Obama to do anything but a “me too,” which will burnish McCain’s leadership credentials as well. This could end up being a very good move, politically, for the McCain camp, which has been off its game ever since the Wall Street panic started. In terms of the polls, though, while it’s true that Obama has opened up a gap, interestingly, he didn’t seem to take any away from McCain. The gap seems to be a result of recent new McCain supporters going undecided again (probably because of the response of the campaign to the panic). Obama still can’t close the deal and get a majority of support.
[Update a while later]
Apparently Senator Obama is willing to go to Oxford and debate an empty chair. If I were the McCain campaign, I’d send Sarah as a replacement.
“It’s clear they’re nowhere close yet Larry but yeah somebody lit a fire under their seats, both McCain and Bush.”
Huh? It’s House Republicans that are opposing the deal, not the Democratic majority. If anything, McCain (and Bush) now appears to be incapable of leading his own party, nevertheless lighting fires under members across the aisle.
McCain needlessly tying the unpredictable albatross of these negotations around the neck of his campaign demonstrates poor judgement. This was a bad risk he didn’t need to take, for the country or his campaign.
Anonymous they’re both opposing it and turning it into a clusterf..k.
That was and is to be expected* (once again we’re talking cat herding here) and why McCain, Obama, and Biden should focus on this instead of campaigning.
* It’s a good thing as it implies they’ve at least gotten as far as to realize they don’t actually agree on the details (which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone). The road to something that actually passes goes right thorough there and it’s their job to find it.
Or if they’d rather relinquish their positions as senators that would be fine too but until they do this is and should be their primary responsibility.
As for the details of the original proposal I continue to think that the bailout/Bernanke approach is insane so I don’t fault Congress (no matter party affiliation) for raising a stink about it – they should! Even so the parts of the alternative(s) that amounts to “not punishing the guilty” are obscene too and nothing more than infected band-aids at the wrong places. Bailouts are treating the effect rather than the cause, better than collapse/death but worse than going after the root problems.
I’m not sure what McCain has achieved by going to Washington other than blowing up what seemed to be a deal – I saw Utah Republican Sen. Bennett speak to the press about this. If that’s his stragey – blow the deal – and take credit for it – Wow. He is quite the maverick.
If that is all he accomplished, then good for him. The deal stunk and shouldn’t have gone forward.
> Huh? It’s House Republicans that are opposing the deal, not the Democratic majority.
It’s not “House Repubs”, it’s a majority of House Repubs. A significant minority supports the deal.
However, they’re irrelevant because the bill can pass without any House Repubs. (Unlike the Senate, the Dem House majority can pass a bill.)
They’re an obstacle only because Pelosi isn’t willing to take credit for saving America. (Or funding Acorn.)
Considering that she’s been willing to pass other things on a pure party-line vote, this is curious.
From http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0908/McCain_at_campaign_HQ_making_calls.html?showall
After a late night flying back to Washington, McCain is at his campaign HQ making calls to push a deal on the financial bailout, according to a top aide.
‘He won’t be headed to Capitol Hill today.
As for why not, Mark Salter told the campaign pool reporter: “Because he can effectively do
what he needs to do by phone.”
The campaign is to put out a list of people he called later.
==========
Hmmmpf!
Catch any related news? Like how both Democrats and Republicans describe the current state of the ongoing process? And I’m sure you noticed McCain showing up at the debate on Friday.
But by all means keep hmmmpf’ing those phones ^_^