McCain, Carter, and a Friday night

[© tweed]

could John McCain be Jimmy Carter?

ie, if Obama continues to reject the request to cancel the debate, and the debate proceeds, what does McCain do?  does McCain not show up and instead Obama just fields questions by himself?  (Carter didn't show for the first debate in 1980 and looked like a moron, as Reagan just debated Anderson, but 2008 has no John Anderson)

if that were to transpire what would be the result?  would McCain be heralded for sitting in the Senate while Obama campaigned or instead look like a fool for handing Obama two hours of network TV primetime?

[Iosif]

could John McCain be Jimmy Carter?

ie, if Obama continues to reject the request to cancel the debate, and the debate proceeds, what does McCain do?  does McCain not show up and instead Obama just fields questions by himself?  (Carter didn't show for the first debate in 1980 and looked like a moron, as Reagan just debated Anderson, but 2008 has no John Anderson)

if that were to transpire what would be the result?  would McCain be heralded for sitting in the Senate while Obama campaigned or instead look like a fool for handing Obama two hours of network TV primetime?

The former by Republicans, the latter by democrats.

[Keystone Phil]

The networks wouldn't cover Obama by himself.

[Eraserhead]

Obama should invite former Republican Bob Barr to the debate to take McCain's place.

[Torie]

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

[© tweed]

The networks wouldn't cover Obama by himself.

yeah they would...  and even if the NBCs and CBSs of the world didn't, hypothetically that is, CNN and FOXNews and MSNBC still would and it would be a major news story.  

[Eraserhead]

The networks wouldn't cover Obama by himself.

Are you serious?

[Keystone Phil]

The networks wouldn't cover Obama by himself.

yeah they would...  and even if the NBCs and CBSs of the world didn't, hypothetically that is, CNN and FOXNews and MSNBC still would and it would be a major news story.  

Ok so it's your opinion against mine. Neither of us know for sure. The debate would almost definitely be cancelled. Either way, it isn't happening.

The networks wouldn't cover Obama by himself.

Are you serious?

I'm sorry...are you? There's no way that they'd get away with that. The Commission would cancel the debate anyway.

[© tweed]

it'd be really cool if Bloomberg was in this thing, because he'd be invited to the debate, so it really could be 1980 redux with Obama debating Bloomberg.  but, alas, not.

[© tweed]

I'm sorry...are you? There's no way that they'd get away with that. The Commission would cancel the debate anyway.

how do you know what the commission would do?  they don't have much time (like 50 hours as of now) so they don't have much time to cancel.  if everyone is there with their notepads and microphones and Obama walks in, they aren't just going to turn the lights off and tell everyone to go home.

[daboese]

The networks wouldn't cover Obama by himself.

You'll never know. McCain isn't the media's favourite anymore after a couple of blips on their side, especially those concerning Palin. I would like to see her debating Obama on foreign policy, though.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

They won't have a debate if McCain doesn't show up.

[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.

[Eraserhead]

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.

[© tweed]

They won't have a debate if McCain doesn't show up.

but it may not necessarily be clear whether he will or won't until pretty close to when the debate starts, and if everyone is rearing to go at that point (including Obama) I can't envision them telling everyone to go home

[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.

[Franzl]

The networks wouldn't cover Obama by himself.

You'll never know. McCain isn't the media's favourite anymore after a couple of blips on their side, especially those concerning Palin. I would like to see her debating Obama on foreign policy, though.

which is neither the strongest area of Palin nor Obama.

[© tweed]

The networks wouldn't cover Obama by himself.

You'll never know. McCain isn't the media's favourite anymore after a couple of blips on their side, especially those concerning Palin. I would like to see her debating Obama on foreign policy, though.

which is neither the strongest area of Palin nor Obama.

that's also a decent roundabout point - this is the one debate where the subject matter should inherently favor McCain, and if he's a no-show...

[cinyc]

could John McCain be Jimmy Carter?

ie, if Obama continues to reject the request to cancel the debate, and the debate proceeds, what does McCain do?  does McCain not show up and instead Obama just fields questions by himself?  (Carter didn't show for the first debate in 1980 and looked like a moron, as Reagan just debated Anderson, but 2008 has no John Anderson)

if that were to transpire what would be the result?  would McCain be heralded for sitting in the Senate while Obama campaigned or instead look like a fool for handing Obama two hours of network TV primetime?

Send Palin to debate Obama.  That would be must-see-TV. 

[© tweed]

could John McCain be Jimmy Carter?

ie, if Obama continues to reject the request to cancel the debate, and the debate proceeds, what does McCain do?  does McCain not show up and instead Obama just fields questions by himself?  (Carter didn't show for the first debate in 1980 and looked like a moron, as Reagan just debated Anderson, but 2008 has no John Anderson)

if that were to transpire what would be the result?  would McCain be heralded for sitting in the Senate while Obama campaigned or instead look like a fool for handing Obama two hours of network TV primetime?

Send Palin to debate Obama.  That would be must-see-TV. 

I don't think the McCain people want to do that, and I'm also not sure if that would be allowed

[cinyc]

could John McCain be Jimmy Carter?

ie, if Obama continues to reject the request to cancel the debate, and the debate proceeds, what does McCain do?  does McCain not show up and instead Obama just fields questions by himself?  (Carter didn't show for the first debate in 1980 and looked like a moron, as Reagan just debated Anderson, but 2008 has no John Anderson)

if that were to transpire what would be the result?  would McCain be heralded for sitting in the Senate while Obama campaigned or instead look like a fool for handing Obama two hours of network TV primetime?

Send Palin to debate Obama.  That would be must-see-TV. 

I don't think the McCain people want to do that, and I'm also not sure if that would be allowed

Hey, Letterman just said send in the second string.

[Keystone Phil]

I'm sorry...are you? There's no way that they'd get away with that. The Commission would cancel the debate anyway.

how do you know what the commission would do?  they don't have much time (like 50 hours as of now) so they don't have much time to cancel.  if everyone is there with their notepads and microphones and Obama walks in, they aren't just going to turn the lights off and tell everyone to go home.

I'm sorry. I guess I should concede that you have the answer and the major networks would let Obama give a campaign speech for two hours.  

The Commission is very unlikely going to allow Barack Obama to address the nation for two hours without debating anyone. That's common sense. It would be cancelled on Friday so it's not like Obama would bother showing up.

All that being said, the debate is happening.

[daboese]

All that being said, the debate is happening.

With Palin, I hope. Hey, she talked to three foreign leaders. She is prepared!

[© tweed]

I'm sorry...are you? There's no way that they'd get away with that. The Commission would cancel the debate anyway.

how do you know what the commission would do?  they don't have much time (like 50 hours as of now) so they don't have much time to cancel.  if everyone is there with their notepads and microphones and Obama walks in, they aren't just going to turn the lights off and tell everyone to go home.

I'm sorry. I guess I should concede that you have the answer and the major networks would let Obama give a campaign speech for two hours.  

The Commission is very unlikely going to allow Barack Obama to address the nation for two hours without debating anyone. That's common sense. It would be cancelled on Friday so it's not like Obama would bother showing up.

All that being said, the debate is happening.

we'll have to wait and see.  there's no objective way to know what the commission would do when presented with certain unprecedented/unique situations.

[Keystone Phil]

I'm sorry...are you? There's no way that they'd get away with that. The Commission would cancel the debate anyway.

how do you know what the commission would do?  they don't have much time (like 50 hours as of now) so they don't have much time to cancel.  if everyone is there with their notepads and microphones and Obama walks in, they aren't just going to turn the lights off and tell everyone to go home.

I'm sorry. I guess I should concede that you have the answer and the major networks would let Obama give a campaign speech for two hours.  

The Commission is very unlikely going to allow Barack Obama to address the nation for two hours without debating anyone. That's common sense. It would be cancelled on Friday so it's not like Obama would bother showing up.

All that being said, the debate is happening.

we'll have to wait and see.  there's no objective way to know what the commission would do when presented with certain unprecedented/unique situations.

"No objective way?" Dude, it would be Obama and no one else. This isn't like 1980. Reagan was able to debate someone else. Obama wouldn't be debating anyone.