McCain suspends campaign temporarily and asks for postponement of debate

[Torie]

McCain is an idiot.  That's all I have to say...

Oh no! A blue avatar breaks ranks! Oh the horror of it, the horror!

I think it was a smart move myself. McCain was slowly sinking in the polls, and needed to shake up the dynamics again. Palin is proving to be a bit of a dumbo as I feared, and is beginning to cost along with this financial crises. McCain needs to demonstrate he can handle complex economic issues like this, by doing so.

[daboese]

Palin is proving to be a bit of a dumbo as I feared, [...].

I never thought I would hear this...

[Boris]

It's obviously nothing more than a stunt and more symbolic than anything (not that there's any objectively wrong with that, since both campaigns are essentially one big PR stunt); McCain's presence (or lack thereof) in Washington will have minimal effect on the stabilization (or lack thereof) of the U.S. financial system.

I think I agree with Torie on this. McCain needs to demonstrate economic prowess. It's a gamble. We'll see whether or not it pays off as well as staunchly supporting the surge and picking Palin did.

[J. J.]

Most of you don't get it.  This is McCain's "I shall go to Korea."  He's running against an Adlai Stevenson type; he's a military hero.  We're in 1952.

[Verily]

Palin is proving to be a bit of a dumbo as I feared, [...].

I never thought I would hear this...

Torie is definitely not in Palin's target demographic.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Most of you don't get it.  This is McCain's "I shall go to Korea."  He's running against an Adlai Stevenson type; he's a military hero.  We're in 1952.

Problem is, McCain is using a play from the 1980 Carter playbook, not the 1952 Eisenhower one.

[daboese]

Now the next democtratic senator slams McCain:
'He is trying to divert attention to his failing campaign.', says Sen. Reid.

But I think it is really about Palin, to be honest.

[cp]

I think you've misread your own historical example, J.J. Going to Korea was about applying Eisenhower's experience to the mess created by the Democrats. It worked for him because he had credibility on foreign policy while the Democrats had none.

Most people would agree McCain's in the opposite position. He's weak on the economy and is, whether justified or not, closely associated with the incumbent administration who's policies and oversight are being blamed for the current crisis.

A better example might be McGovern's visit to Vietnam after he'd secured the nomination in 1972. An all-but-forgotten event, it did nothing to dispel the impression of McGovern as soft on military issues and foreign policy. It was a publicity stunt that failed badly.

[MODU]

Am I the only one who thinks it might not be such a good idea for McCain to be seen as closely associated with the bailout?

If the bailout is successful and the market recovers, McCain will all but win in a landslide.  If the bailout fails, McCain loses in a landslide.  It's worth the risk sometimes.

[Reds4]

Here's the problem with that... there are only 41 days until the election.. there is no way the bailout can work in that amount of time.. and even if the market bottoms.. sentiment will take a while to come back

Am I the only one who thinks it might not be such a good idea for McCain to be seen as closely associated with the bailout?

If the bailout is successful and the market recovers, McCain will all but win in a landslide.  If the bailout fails, McCain loses in a landslide.  It's worth the risk sometimes.

[Brittain33]

McCain is an idiot.  That's all I have to say...

Oh no! A blue avatar breaks ranks! Oh the horror of it, the horror!

I think it was a smart move myself. McCain was slowly sinking in the polls, and needed to shake up the dynamics again. Palin is proving to be a bit of a dumbo as I feared, and is beginning to cost along with this financial crises. McCain needs to demonstrate he can handle complex economic issues like this, by doing so.

Let's see if it plays out according to that path. From what I saw on CNN, it's being read and reported as "McCain's trying to get the VP debate canceled." If they do have a bailout bill ready tomorrow, he's not going to get that opportunity.

Also, he can't really handle complex economic issues. It may be hackish of me to say so, but there is no one on the ticket who understands this stuff or cares, and McCain's chief advisors are of the ideological variety that is completely on the outs this week and which won't contribute to the conversation. That's why it's a stunt.

I don't think Obama knows this stuff either, as do few people, but I trust his judgment (with this recent event one more example of McCain's erratic need to "shake things up" with unwise and foolish decisions) and his advisors better than McCain's. Congress actually seems to be working things out well on their own, mirabile dictu. I wouldn't have predicted that.

[Brittain33]

Am I the only one who thinks it might not be such a good idea for McCain to be seen as closely associated with the bailout?

No, that part doesn't make sense to me, either.

But in a campaign headed towards Dole territory, anything that shakes things up and wins a news cycle could be a game-changer, so is definitionally a good move.

[daboese]

I am not quite sure.
It can still go both ways.
CNN is asking if Obama was blindsided by the McCain announcement:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/24/suspend.timeline/index.html

[HappyWarrior]

This is just idiotic, two men not talking to eachother is not gonna make one damn bit of difference.  McCain just wants an excuse to seem humble and make Obama seem like hes only looking out for himself.  McCain is afraid of appearing old and weak next to young and energetic Obama.

[cinyc]

Obama blinks:

Bush Invites Obama to DC to Work on Bailout Bill; Obama Accepts

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Obama blinks:

Bush Invites Obama to DC to Work on Bailout Bill; Obama Accepts

Obama is capable of working this week, and showing up to Friday's debate.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Most of you don't get it.  This is McCain's "I shall go to Korea."  He's running against an Adlai Stevenson type; he's a military hero.  We're in 1952.

Huge difference.  First of all, in 1952, the mess was created by a President of the opposite party.  Second of all, Ike had the creds on foreign policy that Mac doesn't have on the economy.  Finally, Obama is no Adlai Stevenson, and McCain is no Eisenhower.

[cinyc]

Obama blinks:

Bush Invites Obama to DC to Work on Bailout Bill; Obama Accepts

Obama is capable of working this week, and showing up to Friday's debate.

Keep spinning.  The liberal netroots are going to go nuts when they see a picture of Barack Obama with President Bush.

[Alcon]

Keep spinning.  The liberal netroots are going to go nuts when they see a picture of Barack Obama with President Bush.

That was an excellent example for your suggestion to jfern!

[Stranger in a strange land]

Obama blinks:

Bush Invites Obama to DC to Work on Bailout Bill; Obama Accepts

Obama is capable of working this week, and showing up to Friday's debate.

Keep spinning.  The liberal netroots are going to go nuts when they see a picture of Barack Obama with President Bush.

but they're on board no matter what. And that image says "bipartisanship" like nothing else.

[exopolitician]

Obama blinks:

Bush Invites Obama to DC to Work on Bailout Bill; Obama Accepts

Obama is capable of working this week, and showing up to Friday's debate.

Keep spinning.  The liberal netroots are going to go nuts when they see a picture of Barack Obama with President Bush.

See, but this is what needed to happened. Nobody needed to suspend a campaign over it though. Cut the drama and just get down to business. Geez.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Obama blinks:

Bush Invites Obama to DC to Work on Bailout Bill; Obama Accepts

Obama is capable of working this week, and showing up to Friday's debate.

Keep spinning.  The liberal netroots are going to go nuts when they see a picture of Barack Obama with President Bush.

Eh, whatever. They'll be meeting again at noon on Jan. 20th.

[Democratic Hawk]

The conductors of the debate would be insane to not talk about the economy. The subjects were decided long before this issue came up and can be easily shifted to do just that. We don't need a postponement of the debate at all. This is precisely the time for explaining one's ideas to the public, instead of hiding out in Washington and pretending to know what you're doing.

You're assuming that McCain is going to be hiding out in Washington pretending to know what he's doing.  Don't assume anything.  There are TV cameras in Washington.  Chuck Schumer manages to find them all the time.  And McCain knows exactly what he's doing here.

The idea that we need to suspend a debate is an absurd one. All this does is show anyone with half a brain that John McCain is childish, immature, and impulsive in his decision making. The McCain Camp spent several days trying to figure out how to respond to this.

First the fundamentals are strong, then everything's gone to sh*t and we need to drop everything we're doing.
First he's mister de-regulator, then magically when things go awry he's "we need to regulate and fire the bad apples" guy.
Then, an article pops up saying we need to deregulate healthcare just like we did with banking.

McCain had no option left to him (because flipflopping and lying was getting old) but to go nuclear and  make a classic McCain move, that is to say, a dramatic and impulsive decision that does nothing to solve our problems but gets everyone riled up for a short time. See: Sarah Palin

Well it's certainly a classic McVain move in that it's headline (that is, attention) grabbing

Dave

[cinyc]

Most of you don't get it.  This is McCain's "I shall go to Korea."  He's running against an Adlai Stevenson type; he's a military hero.  We're in 1952.

Huge difference.  First of all, in 1952, the mess was created by a President of the opposite party.  Second of all, Ike had the creds on foreign policy that Mac doesn't have on the economy.  Finally, Obama is no Adlai Stevenson, and McCain is no Eisenhower.

I don't know whether we're in 1952 or 1976, but the 1952 race featured a liberal one-term "egghead" governor from Illinois best known for giving speeches versus a war hero from points west.  There's more similarity between the Stevenson-Eisenhower matchup and Obama-McCain than first may meet the eye.

[Sam Spade]

I see that Obama is following Bush (or McCain) or whatever to Washington.  This was basically the move that Obama had to make.

You see, prior to this, it became somewhat clear what was going on.  After reading Torie's and Vorlon's comments, it popped into my head that only two things could happen:

1) McCain goes to Washington, Congress passes bailout before Friday debate, McCain debates on Friday.
2) McCain goes to Washington, Congress doesn't pass bailout before Friday's debate, McCain cancels, saying he's doing "the people's work trying to save the economy".

Given that scenario, Torie was right.  McCain does hold all the cards.  Either Obama would cancel the debate or not, but if he didn't, McCain would either attend or not, and most importantly, hog the media spotlight.

However, when Obama said earlier that he was not going to go to Washington, it created a dangerous alternative scenario.  Specifically this:

I suspect that House/Senate Republicans will only accede to the Democratic measure only if McCain does. 

Given that, the likely result would be that the measure would be strategically agreed by Republicans to *sometime Friday, probably in the afternoon*.  If Democrats didn't want to go along, McCain would stay and do the bully pulpit from Washington.

However, if it were to be agreed to in that time period, McCain would fly down to the debate, which would be on foreign policy, his strong point.  He would be gambling that his expertise on the issues would get him through well enough without as much prep.

But more importantly, the next morning, the debate headlines would be lessened greatly by the agreement on the bailout news, with McCain probably towards the front lines.  So, in a sense, the debate would have less impact than it would have otherwise (and I think the timing of the debate doesn't help).  Therefore, if Vorlon's right, and the public is looking for a way to be confident in his abilities as CoC, that connection could be, in a certain sense, drowned out.

It was a weird gamble - and something that didn't connect until I determined the *postpone the debate stuff* was but a distraction.  But I think Obama agreeing to go to Washington eliminates this long-term dangerous alternative scenario, while giving McCain the day through his attention-grabbing.