Huh??
CNN Breaking News: "John McCain suspends campaigning to work on economy, requests postponing Friday debate; asks Obama do the same."
UPDATE: From McCain's statement:
Smith also asserts that "in terms of the timing of this move: The only thing that's changed in the last 48 hours is the public polling." But I'm not sure that's entirely fair; it has also, I think, become more clear in the last 48 hours that "no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal." McCain is obviously motivated largely by politics here, but nevertheless his proposal is not facially absurd.
In a later post, Smith adds that "Obama's choice ... isn't an obvious one. Does he go along with McCain, for fear of being trapped inside McCain's argument that the Republican puts country first while the Democrat puts himself first? Or does he denounce this as a political stunt, and ignore it?" The latter course, I would add, risks making Obama look like a follower, not a leader. "Either way," Smith says, "the ball's in his court, and it's a not an easy or obvious choice."
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign says it is already working with Mccain on a joint statement about the economic crisis -- and that this statement was Obama's idea, suggested this morning at 8:30 AM. I'm not sure what, if anything, that tells us about Obama's response to McCain's "suspend the campaign, postpone the debate" idea, though.
One thing I want to know: will McCain still appear on Letterman tonight?
UPDATE 2: Nope. He's cancelled Letterman. And he is also "asking Obama to agree to suspend all campaign advertising."
The early word from an unnamed "senior Obama campaign official" is that "the debate is on," but I won't trust anything until I hear an official, on-the-record statement. Surely the campaign is still scrambling at this point, with a robust internal debate, no doubt.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Chait: "McCain is behind in the polls, largely because the economic crisis is dominating the campaign. The best weapon left in McCain's arsenal is the foreign policy debate, which could potentially turn the election back to McCain's stronger issue. If the debate's in the middle of an economic crisis, it won't have the impact they need. So: postpone the foreign policy debate until after the bailout has been passed, and then maybe you can change the conversation to foreign policy for an extended period."
And Michael Crowley: "He was losing control of the campaign narrative. The Palin surge/convention bounce is nearly kaput. Obama seems to be tied or ahead in Virginia and Florida is back in play. Today's WashPost poll showed McCain nine points down and distrusted on the economy. The media's interest this week is in Rick Davis's lobbying and Sarah Palin's comical photo-ops. Things could hardly get much worse. ... The media will treat this as a sign that McCain is desperate and knows he's losing. But the public may see it differently. If he gets credit for showing leadership on the economy, that will undermine Obama's greatest advantage."
P.S. Political considerations aside, if there the campaign is going to be "suspended" for this crisis, the suspension must have a definite end date. It can't drag on for weeks (even though the crisis will). That would be a major affront to democracy. The business of electing a president is not some sort of "partisan" side show. It is fundamental to our existence as a nation. Yes, the process can be ugly and frustrating and divisive. Democracy ain't always pretty. But the public deserves the chance to see these candidates campaign down the stretch. McCain must not be allowed to get anything more than a few days' "timeout" here. And, frankly, even that sets a pretty bad precedent, IMHO.
UPDATE 3: "Obama expected to react to remarks in a statement from Tampa, Florida at 4:45 pm ET."
If Obama wants to debate and McCain doesn't, will we get an Obama-Palin debate?
Also: "Sure, McCain says he wants to postpone the debate for the economy, but what about the economy of Oxford, Mississippi?" Seriously! Poor Oxford.
UPDATE: From McCain's statement:
It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time. ...Politico's Ben Smith notes that this move by McCain "is a mark, most of all, that he doesn't like the way this campaign is going." Clearly McCain wants to call timeout, regroup, distract the media, wipe the slate clean, re-establish his "maverick" credentials, and then use this "bipartisan" gambit as a partisan bludgeon starting next week. Frankly, it strikes me as a fairly brilliant stroke of strategery.
We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved. I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.
I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.
Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.
Smith also asserts that "in terms of the timing of this move: The only thing that's changed in the last 48 hours is the public polling." But I'm not sure that's entirely fair; it has also, I think, become more clear in the last 48 hours that "no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal." McCain is obviously motivated largely by politics here, but nevertheless his proposal is not facially absurd.
In a later post, Smith adds that "Obama's choice ... isn't an obvious one. Does he go along with McCain, for fear of being trapped inside McCain's argument that the Republican puts country first while the Democrat puts himself first? Or does he denounce this as a political stunt, and ignore it?" The latter course, I would add, risks making Obama look like a follower, not a leader. "Either way," Smith says, "the ball's in his court, and it's a not an easy or obvious choice."
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign says it is already working with Mccain on a joint statement about the economic crisis -- and that this statement was Obama's idea, suggested this morning at 8:30 AM. I'm not sure what, if anything, that tells us about Obama's response to McCain's "suspend the campaign, postpone the debate" idea, though.
One thing I want to know: will McCain still appear on Letterman tonight?
UPDATE 2: Nope. He's cancelled Letterman. And he is also "asking Obama to agree to suspend all campaign advertising."
The early word from an unnamed "senior Obama campaign official" is that "the debate is on," but I won't trust anything until I hear an official, on-the-record statement. Surely the campaign is still scrambling at this point, with a robust internal debate, no doubt.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Chait: "McCain is behind in the polls, largely because the economic crisis is dominating the campaign. The best weapon left in McCain's arsenal is the foreign policy debate, which could potentially turn the election back to McCain's stronger issue. If the debate's in the middle of an economic crisis, it won't have the impact they need. So: postpone the foreign policy debate until after the bailout has been passed, and then maybe you can change the conversation to foreign policy for an extended period."
And Michael Crowley: "He was losing control of the campaign narrative. The Palin surge/convention bounce is nearly kaput. Obama seems to be tied or ahead in Virginia and Florida is back in play. Today's WashPost poll showed McCain nine points down and distrusted on the economy. The media's interest this week is in Rick Davis's lobbying and Sarah Palin's comical photo-ops. Things could hardly get much worse. ... The media will treat this as a sign that McCain is desperate and knows he's losing. But the public may see it differently. If he gets credit for showing leadership on the economy, that will undermine Obama's greatest advantage."
P.S. Political considerations aside, if there the campaign is going to be "suspended" for this crisis, the suspension must have a definite end date. It can't drag on for weeks (even though the crisis will). That would be a major affront to democracy. The business of electing a president is not some sort of "partisan" side show. It is fundamental to our existence as a nation. Yes, the process can be ugly and frustrating and divisive. Democracy ain't always pretty. But the public deserves the chance to see these candidates campaign down the stretch. McCain must not be allowed to get anything more than a few days' "timeout" here. And, frankly, even that sets a pretty bad precedent, IMHO.
UPDATE 3: "Obama expected to react to remarks in a statement from Tampa, Florida at 4:45 pm ET."
If Obama wants to debate and McCain doesn't, will we get an Obama-Palin debate?
Also: "Sure, McCain says he wants to postpone the debate for the economy, but what about the economy of Oxford, Mississippi?" Seriously! Poor Oxford.
posted by Brendan Loy at
9/24/2008 03:05:00 PM
