McCain, Carter, and a Friday night

[Torie]

McCain has the cards, and the usual suspects don't. Watch and wait.

[Torie]

The networks wouldn't cover Obama by himself.

Are you serious?

The networks probably won't. But even more probable is that the debate will be called off, and the interlocutors won't proceed. A debate with one person is not a debate but an interview in any event. The interlocutors would end up debating with Obama. They are not going to just sit there like lambs letting Obama spew out his talking points. Heck, they may be more effective in debating Obama than McCain!  

As I said, McCain holds the cards.

[Torie]

The Commision is not going to cancel the debate. If McCain doesn't show up, he's screwed.

That said, he's going to show up, of course.

One of us is clueless on this. We shall see who.

[Torie]

I understand that, but if it's in limbo up until hours before the debate starts, and everyone begins to file into the debate and Obama's in town, I doubt they're going to just stop everything.  or maybe they will, but it's not impossible by any means that they go along with it.

Well you have a point. McCain should say he won't show up period by tomorrow AM.

[Torie]

I just don't see the upside for McCain in this. I watched CNN at the gym as this was coming out and it was not looking good for him. People were either uncomfortable (defenders, neutrals) or almost gleeful at how insanely weird this is (Dana Millbank).

How can McCain be said to hold all the cards when he's not in control of the media narrative, and couldn't hope to be at this stage in the campaign, with him behind slightly and the polls not favoring him? His is not the Bush campaign of 2004, which really was in control the whole time. This is different. Winning a news cycle isn't the same as winning an election. Meanwhile the media is getting madder and madder.

What demographic is at your gym?  Just asking?