McCain suspends campaign to go back to DC to work on bailout
 

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the...l?hpid=topnews

So glad to see he's taken the initiative to do this. While the campaign is VERY important, it's important that the Senators remember what they've already been elected to do. And with this situation in crisis mode, it's absolutely the responsible thing to do. Of course I've supported McCain before this, but this is confirms why.

And now I have Dead or Alive stuck in my head, thanks.

You spin me right round baby right round...

Bless you, nittanyalum. :D

I thought this was interesting, per Politico:

I think that they should be there to vote on the issue, but I think anything more than that is political posturing. Whether it's the right thing to do or not doesn't make it posturing any less. And turning the issue into more of a political circus than it already is will only worsen the situation exponentially.

Reid is just doing political posturing as well. It's already been mentioned that Democrats are worried that they're going to vote for the administration's plan only to have McCain (and most of the rest of the Republicans on the hill) vote against it. That's why they're making such a big deal of trying to get McCain to commit to how he will vote.

And on the flip side, doesn't it make sense that if one of those two men is going to have to deal with the consequences of that bill for the next 4 years, they should at least get the shot to do their jobs and come try to shape it right now?

And if you want to see political posturing, watch the Democrats try to blame this on the "failed policies" of the administration instead of themselves for pushing through the "Community Reinvestment Act" which required banks to lend to people who were not good credit risks in the interest of everyone having the right to own a home. It's all those very mortgages which are defaulting, making mortgage backed securities worthless, and wrecking the balance sheets of investment banks. Democrats don't need to be telling anyone not to play politics on this one.

I'm not a big fan of many senators at all, but I can't stand Harry Reid. He talks out of both sides of his mouth more than anyone else in Washington.

I agree.

He is just trying to suspend Friday's debate... because he knows it's a fight he cannot win

:p

I like the way TonyB put it in the AKA forum (hope he doesn't mind me pulling his post over here! :)):

I agree that Reid is posturing. But I also think he's right. As I said, I think Obama and McCain should vote on the issue, and they are welcome to discuss it in their campaign speeches, in the debate, and behind the scenes as much as they need to. But I don't think they should be in the middle of it, physically in Washington, making the discussions on the Hill go that much slower, and politicizing it that much more. That's more harmful than helpful, which is why, regardless of why Reid said what he said, and regardless of the fact that it is absolutely posturing, I agree with the sentiment.

As for playing the blame game, both sides have done that, and it's equally ridiculous at this point from other side. (Almost as ridiculous as trying to boil the whole years-in-the-making disaster down to a single act.) Don't think the republicans' hands are clean of trying to place the blame on the democrats.

Actually Reid yesterday said that if McCain didn't back the bailout, no Dems would either. He's going back and forth b/c he didn't see McCain's move coming.


I love it when people have selective memory -- McCain's asked Obama to debate him for MONTHS. To have join town hall's, etc., but Obama ignored the request.

I daresay after watching Obama go down at the Saddleback forum we saw why he ignored the request -- if it's not a speech, he fumbles and makes mistakes.

He's merely a rehearsed record of the Democratic Party, which by all means you may consider fine. But the man (Obama) hardly has any substance to him whatsoever. Does he even make decisions for himself (ie: Biden)...??

lol...apparently selective memory works both ways.

Please provide a quote where Reid said that he wanted McCain to physically be in Washington to discuss the bailout in advance of a vote.

"Backing" something and showing up in the middle of negotiations with huge amounts of national press in tow are two completely different things. It's very naive to think either Obama or McCain needs to physically be in Washington to have an opinion and be influential in the lead up to the vote. The difference between doing what they could do outside of DC and doing it inside is the circus effect.

Note that I've said twice now I think both candidates should be there to vote. That doesn't mean the circus has to come to town beforehand.

Ambinder:

Ponnuru

I don't think it's right that the Dems will be less likely to push something through because of McCain's interference (yes, I am intentionally using the word interference). But any political operative like McCain has to know that his going to Washington would put their backs up and likely make things harder. He cannot have it both ways - but I'm sure he'll try. If negotiations stall I'm sure he'll place the blame squarely on the Dems, and not take any responsibility for the fact that he could have been influential without being detrimental by staying on the sidelines, rather than diving in headfirst.



Drudge (about Letterman, not because it adds to my position but because it's funny):

^^^Thank you...exactly:rolleyes:.

Mullets rule :cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMwdAc1Dzfg

Charles Schumer is an idiot.

You don't draw a painting. And I certainly wouldn't take the bold step of calling this clusterf*ck of a bailout plan "an amazing painting".

His quote also makes it sound like the Democrats don't want McCain stealing credit for their "amazing painting" of a bailout. That's good, because if I had to guess he's going to vote against it.

Schumer had one thing right about his analogy. "It just doesn't make sense."

Oh likewise, KDAngel. Have you forgotten about when McCain said our economy is sound and harshly criticized those who disagreed???

And Obama did not ignore his requests to have joint town halls. He just said no.

Obama will be going to DC. Bush has requested that both candidates and Congressional leaders attend an emergency summit at the White House Thursday and Obama agreed after Bush personally called to request his presence.

http://www.wnbc.com/news/17551484/detail.html

That's debatable (pun absolutely intended).

uh huh... the economy is fundamentally STRONG..

uhhhh it is? That's why he's now freaking out and trying to act like SuperMan to the aid of the $700 bazillion dollar band-aid?

To be honest, I know some people (*cough*Bush*cough*) are pissed off that it's taking the Dems some time to sort out everything and make some much-needed amendments to this Band-Aide, but really, if he thinks everything was just going to sort itself out, he's a bigger idiot than I thought. I honestly like that they are taking time to make sure to put in some safeguards and stuff in there.

I work f-ing hard for my $. If they are going to just throw it at a bunch of irresponsible companies with no stipulations whatsoever, then I would be pretty pissed off. I like that they are trying to put in items in there so that people will know what the money is going towards... and limiting the amount of millions that crappy CEOs can get pretty much as a reward for running their companies and the economy into the ground.

This has been going on for MONTHS if not over a year or so. Why is this suddenly such a huge emergency for him? Especially a week or so after saying the economy was strong.

That's fine. I approved this message ...again. :)

if McCain can't juggle several challenges at once...then he doesn't need to be elected president...

He has hounded Obama for months for a debate and now it's 48 hrs away he cancels....mkay

This would have been the perfect opportunity for McCain to state his case about how to deal with the crisis at hand because even if things kick off on tomorrow or Friday it's no way in hell that it will be resolved in one day...I am sure this is NOT SOMETHING that Congress will RUSH to get thru without checking and rechecking...

Besides....

I am sure there is a way he can keep up with what's going on in session while he prepares for the debate....oh...wait...McCain is not up on technology.

Naw.....this is not a good thing...if another disaster is about to strike the US...like...say...A HURRICANE....is he gonna ask Mother Nature to postpone it while he handles another crisis??

Sigh......perfect opportunity to see how well the candidates can multitask in a real CRISIS and McCain just failed....

"Publicity Stunt"

Letterman tonight is AMAZING!!!!!

Don't cancel your interview spot on a late night talk show not only will you be the source of his monologue and top ten, but he will also get Keith Olberman to take your place as the nights guest. . . .

^^Agreed. Even with the teasers I read on Drudge about Letterman, he is going after McCain even harder than I expected.

I can understand canceling Letterman to work on the economics crisis. I cannot understand canceling the debate. We're talking about a couple hours on a Friday night. If the politicians in Washington do their jobs and work together for a resolution to this crisis, there will be a bill in place by Friday night. I think they should change the focus of the debate from foreign policy to the economy but it should still be held.

ETA: I've solved the problem. The government can just pay off all of our mortgages and we will then flood the economy purchasing stuff with all of our extra cash :)

Sorry, but this actually made me laugh, and not only because most of the people I've talked to (granted, probably a biased group) have been rolling their eyes at McCain. My wife (definately biased) sees it as another example of knee-jerk reactions from McCain.

If conducting his business as a Senator is what he was elected to do, then I guess he (and Obama and Clinton and Biden) have been shirking their duties all along. Of course, maybe McCain just needs a little more time to learn about it all, since he's said that he doesn't know that much about economics and just a few weeks ago assured us that the economy is fundamentally strong.

Clearly it's posturing. Not that he's the only one posturing here, but that's what it is. And regardless of what he intends, he's making it look like he's trying to avoid the debate.

Blowing off Dave = worst move EVER. Especially blowing him off for Katie Couric whose stock is falling faster every day.

This reminds me of President Johnson saying if he'd lost Cronkite (re Vietnam) he'd lost America.

And no, I don't think I am overdramatizing this. I don't know what his advisors are thinking (if he even has them) but this was an incredibly boneheaded thing to do.

LOL, I was JUST going to post on this. http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/minor/20...mpaign-or-not/

And Letterman really did skewer McCain. And Sarah Palin.

And frankly, I thought that was some well-taken skewering. Palin is qualified to run the country on Day 1, but she can't step-up to the lead position for in the campaign for a few days?

FWIW (which may not be much), early polls are seem to be showing that McCain's move isn't being received well over all.

and Gallup doesn't show him moving at all:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/110647/Ga...oint-Edge.aspx

Really? Read the accompanying material. It could be he's not moving because that poll is for September 21-23 and he announced the suspension of his campaign yesterday (September 24th).

Despite the "suspension of his campaign" I heard no less than 5 ads bashing Obama on my way to work this morning, all with the "I'm John McCain and I approve this message" stamp of approval on them.

Well the debate is still going to happen tomorrow here at Ole Miss!

That's why I put the FWIW when I mentioned the "early" polling. It's really too early to tell too much about how this will factor in.

The campaign would have already bought the time for the ads you heard today.

I think he had said he would suspend ads only if his opponent was doing the same anyway. I'm just being snarky :)

ETA: It wouldn't do our radio stations much good financially to have him pull advertising at the last minute either.

"early" polling looking for a response to an event isn't generally considered to be polling that took place in its entirety before the event occurred.

And I'm not saying you haven't seen polls that back your assertion, I was just pointing out that the poll DaemonSeid posted is completely irrelevant to the assertion since the sample period was completed a day before McCain made the announcement.

This all seems convenient. Just more than a month before the tight election, Chicken Little George yells the economy is falling, so that America's Hero can come and rescue it, when the economy is Capt. Hero's achilles hill. While the big bad villain is looking like a fool in Mississippi waiting to debate Capt. Hero.

Smells like a stunt, a good planned stunt.

Oh I agree. I guess I didn't say it well -- there's no way that polling before the event (like what DS posted) could reflect the event. In my earlier post, I was referring to some preliminary polling that I have seen on McCain's decision and how it is viewed. I specifically characterized it as "early" (and threw in the FWIW) because such early polling very well may not accurately reflect how the decision is being viewed at large once people have had some time to think about it.

Make more sense?

I gotcha, I thought you were defending the poll DS had posted as showing that.

I can maybe understand that logistically it's hard to pull TV and radio ads immediately. (Although I know it's been done before for non-political reasons.)

But why, if he has suspended his campaign, are his surrogates and/or campaign staff still appearing on TV, why are they sending out their blast emails to the press today, why is he interviewing with Couric, etc? What has been "suspended" other than the Letterman interview and a couple speeches? Did he not say he was going to stop everything?

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_p...disbelief.aspx

Don't get me wrong, I think the whole idea of a campaign suspension is idiotic. But if you are going to say you will suspend your campaign, doesn't it make sense to actually do so? Maybe he doesn't have full control over the advertising, but surely he has control over whether his own staff appear on TV and send out campaign emails to reporters today?

Even more idiotic than suspending is claiming to do so falsely. Makes it look more and more like a convenient way to postpone the debate and somehow manage to cancel the VP debate altogether.

"you gotta have a gimmick, if you want to get ahead" has been playing in my head all day...

I think he meant that HE is stopping the campaigning, but made it sound much more heroic like his campaign is stopping all together. Its not, and it won't. Mr. McCain goes to Washington will and is getting a media bump, and may result in a poll bump. I can just see my grandmother telling me how noble he is for doing so.

I don't think it will have an effect either way. If you like McCain, you'll say "how noble", if you don't, you say "Why can't he multi task? Why is he afraid to debate?" If you don't care, you won't care more now.