McCain Camp's Genius Vs. A Rookie Mistake

Before one buys into the Liberal and media spun conventional wisdom about what just went down, it would be best to pause and consider what was happening and what is happening now.

The economy became central to the election and Obama seemed to have the upper hand.

Obama has made a critical, if not fatal mistake he hoped to avoid precisely because he was forced back to Washington by John McCain. At the White House meeting the Dems opted to let Obama take the lead - their plan is now his plan. Obama has had a problem going on record for or against anything. Now he's locked in to a losing hand.

McCain knew what they would come up with based upon his years there - spending too much, billions of it on the usual liberal nonsense.

I suspect McCain has rallied Republicans around an alternative proposal - less expensive and a bit more cautious, but serious - that Americans will likely prefer in the end. Up until now McCain was losing to Obama on the economy. This now sets the stage for the economy debate to hinge mostly on a single discussion in which I believe McCain will be proved to hold the upper hand in the minds of American voters.

It will be fascinating to watch as it's hard to imagine it not coming up in some manner in tonight's debate. I wouldn't be surprised to see McCain interject it whenever he can. When you can take an area in which you are losing and turn it around to beat your opponent over the head - any way you slice it, that's a win. Let's hope McCain can pull one off tonight, as well.

Comments

[SacTownMan]

Poor Xerxes wanted to take 3 FULL days to prepare for the debate. That's what happens when you you don't know crap about the subject. Think about that, three days to "prepare".

I hope at least one day was devoted to reduce the stuttering and eliminate the use of "uh" every 5th word.

McCain can go into tonight's debate and just be natural and relaxed while Barry might need to do a couple of lines before hand!

[Joseph Weisenthal]

That's certainly one spin.

Another spin is that Republicans were getting blame (fairly or not) for holding up the bailout, and now McCain is caving by going to the debate.

[Worst President Ever]

Looks to me like McCain just blinked, big time. He tried to bluff Obama into delaying the debate. Obama called him and McCain folded.

[hdtv]

Damage to McCain is already done. This is no genius move. What is becoming clear(er) is that McCain lives on the edge and makes hasty not well thought out decisions.

[mary]

You spin masters are just amazing. Maybe you ought to remind Senator Obama that he has a job. You know, he is a Senator in the US Senate and it isn't a "when you feel like it" gig. Yeah I know all the stuff about McCain not having voted in the last couple of months but, when the heat was on, McCain did the right thing, suspended the campaign and went to Washington. Yeah, I know all the stuff about walking and chewing gum at the same time but real leadership recognizes when something is important and address that something with their full attention. Do they do other things at the same time? Of course, we all do, but this is on the front burner for McCain. The fact that it isn't on the front burner for Obama says way too much about Obama that a lot of quiet Americans are picking up.

[Joseph Weisenthal]

Occam's Razor question: If suspending his campaign and camping out at the Senate were helping his campaign, why un-suspend it now?

[seekeronos]

McCain's a wily old fox, and he's got right inside Obama's OODA loop.

The MSM (and mooks who troll here) will be beside themselves feverishly trying to spin this for Obama - just look at Dan's MSNBC crawl on the right at the propaganda swilling forth.

Looks like you have a winner there after all, Dan. Your MSNBC crawler is about 10 out of 10 items shilling for the Chosen Zero.

[SacTownMan]

Dear trolls, it was Xerxes who chickened out on the 10 townhall meetings with McCain. Just ask your boy Bill!

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/bill-clinton-do.html

"I remember he asked for more debates to go all around the country and so I don't think we ought to overly parse that."

And I could be wrong but the debate is going forward right? So, your troll talking point is what exactally? That McCain is "afraid" to debate Xerxes, that's laughable even for you trolls!

This is same guy that wasn't afraid to flip off his captors and endure daily torture for 5 1/2 years so if you airheads think he needs to "hide" from your boy Xerxes you need to cut back on your drug usage!

[mary]

This is a little off topic but concerning nonetheless. For quite a while I have been reading the Dealbreaker site. Today, they have simply decided to become an organ for the democrats. It is concerning as they were once a very good site for the Wall Street insider stuff. In light of the fact that I have seen "the change in Politico" (a site I rarely read) discussed, is it possible that some cash is being passed around here to make people come over to their side?

[jaime]

"Maybe you ought to remind Senator Obama that he has a job."

I'm sorry, I didn't know Obama was on the committee responsible for negotiating this bailout deal.

What a wonderful place your alternate reality must be. One where Obama's lead in the polls didn't double in the last 24 hours and Sarah Palin isn't dumber than a can of chew.

[mary]

Jaime, no matter how you slice it, there are one hundred Senators and one hundred Senators should be dealing with this issue that the president is calling a "crisis". The fact that your guy wants the other 99 to do the work for him, speaks volumes to me, an independent.

[mary]

Jaime, I ignore the polls. The election is November 4, a lot of things can happen between now and then to make people re think their vote. Like this bailout bill.

[mary]

The credit markets have seized. Slowly "they" are trying to make sure we are frightened enough to pass the bill. (WaMu failure last night) Now CNBC is saying that people won't get their paychecks if the credit markets don't unfreeze. Are we to assume that people's paychecks are funded by credit?

[Lala]

Instapundit gives us this video

Burning down the house

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o

[The Cryptkeeper]

Mary, don't mind Jaime the troll (or is she a Fairy? It is getting awfully difficult to discern the origin of these creatures who keep popping up from under the rocks in the left hand side of the Hundred-Acre Wood these days).

She seems to be a useless tosspot who seems only able to sit about mumbling to herself about whether or not she can get past her silly kvetching over the attractive, young and rather clever Mrs. Palin's candidacy for Vice President.

[Fred Beloit]

"What a wonderful place your alternate reality must be. One where Obama's lead in the polls didn't double in the last 24 hours..." and one can become a candidate for President by voting "present" time and again.

[hdtv]

"Are we to assume that people's paychecks are funded by credit?"

Yeah.

It may not be that they are funded directly, it's that the financial world operates in one big computer shuffle of money. It's along the same lines of how banks pay interest rates on savings accounts, the money the pay out as interest comes from interest collected from loans and investments the bank makes. If the bank doesn't collect, it can't pay. This is a woefully simple example, but that's pretty much how it works.

[jaime]

"rather clever Mrs. Palin's candidacy for Vice President."

Yeah. That's it. She's just letting us all THINK she's dumber than a bowl of warm cereal milk.

[jaime]

"one can become a candidate for President by voting "present" time and again."

No, it's just that Obama's not arrogant or senile enough to think he was going to swoop down in his Maverick-mobile to Washington and solve the entire financial crisis all by himself.

McFailure's fighter pilot instinct is going to crash ALL of us this time.

[Tom]

"You spin masters are just amazing. Maybe you ought to remind Senator Obama that he has a job. You know, he is a Senator in the US Senate and it isn't a "when you feel like it" gig. Yeah I know all the stuff about McCain not having voted in the last couple of months but, when the heat was on, McCain did the right thing, suspended the campaign and went to Washington."

McCain hasn't voted in the Seante since APRIL - APRIL! And you have the raw nerve to distract the dialog with your silly words about Obama? Are you freakin insane? Your man is an absol;ute disaster for this country and the world. Because he 'suspends' his campaign (and BTW, you seem to be the only sentinent human who believes he actually did this) and goes back to Washington? To then derail the entire days work by the real adults?

Your man is toast. Your brand is toast. The GOP is a relic of a more corrupt and bad time for America. The fact that you still support this nutjob is a testament to your kool-aid drinking skills. You don't have any children, do you? I truly hope you don't. America needs the next generation to help us, not allow another 'hero' to assist us. Pathetic is all I can think of.

[Lala]

Speaking of Independents - the Independence Party of New York State endorsed John McCain.

[SacTownMan]

"Pathetic is all I can think of."

LOL.

Truer troll words were never spoken!

[L Testin]

Lost in the swirl of events is the fact that from the way Pelosi and Reid treated Obama, ( He knew to stay out of the way because he is a hopeless ineffectual), THAT HE WILL BE A NAKED STOOGE TO THEM AS "PRESIDENT". If.......we are dumb enough to elect him

[Charlie Xray]

Since either BHO or McCain will ultimately have to live with whatever comes out as a "solution" to this mess, I would think they would have an extremely high interest in what that "solution" might look like. Obviously, McCain does, but BHO hasn't figured out that need yet.

[Palooza]

Appears McCain's bluff was called by Obama. Pretty simple story really, not sure how the nonsense of the main post above is going to play out. If McCain does not have the cajones to stare down Obama, how is he going to handle Putin, Kim or Ahmadinejad? You just saw how woeful McCain was in handling a pressure situation (hell the guy couldn't even do more than one thing at once). He got his ass kicked by Obama. How's it feel?

[Dan Riehl]

"If McCain does not have the cajones to stare down Obama"

It's difficult to know how to characterize such a comment - ignorant and crass, stupid, or perhaps retarded is the right word?

[Worst President Ever]

Last week, McLame tells us the "economy is strong"
Yesterday McLame tells us the "economy is in crisis". How bad? He has to suspend his campaign to go to Washington pledging to stay until its fixed.
Today, with no fix in sight, McLame leaves Washington.

Some leader.

[North Dallas Thirty]

LOL.....let's see here.

On Wednesday, Reid said McCain needed to be in Washington.

On Thursday, when McCain actually came, Reid reversed himself and said he didn't -- and then with his puppet Schumer, started a screaming hissy fit about how awful it was that McCain came.

Pwned.

On Wednesday, Obama said the crisis wasn't that bad.

On Thursday, Obama dragged his feet heading back to Washington because the crisis wasn't that bad.

On Friday, Obama is screaming about how "obstructionist" the Republicans are in the face of this horrible, awful crisis.

Pwned.

Like I asked on Wednesday of the Obamabots: is this or isn't this a crisis? Because if it isn't, like Obama said, then the Republicans are right. If it IS, as Obama denied for days, then Obama is a liar and an opportunist who puts his political campaign ahead of the country's business.

This is why the media is in full crashing meltdown mode, and why the polls are suddenly jumping for McCain; in one week, he has demonstrated that the Democrat Party's economic rhetoric is solely spoken for their political benefit, and actually has zero to do with the situation as it stands.

Major pwn.

Meanwhile, Obama's supporters have finally ( http://www.pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/024910.php ) shown their true colors -- by threatening to arrest and prosecute anyone who criticizes Obama. Obama himself is threatening to yank the broadcast licenses of stations that air advertisements critical of him.

[Tom]

"Meanwhile, Obama's supporters have finally ( http://www.pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/archives2/024910.php ) shown their true colors -- by threatening to arrest and prosecute anyone who criticizes Obama. Obama himself is threatening to yank the broadcast licenses of stations that air advertisements critical of him."

From Glenn Reynolds? That is your source? Instapundit? You have got to be kidding me. You are going to show the entire readership of this blog who you believe? How about this: Do your own homework and reading (if you can). This is too important to trust Reynolds or any other GOP water carrier. We already have a secretive and incompetent president, as well as insane republican candidates. We already jail and torture people critical of the administration. We already spy on people critical of the administration. We already have a fascist regime currently squatting in our White House. Seems to me you already have what you think Obama would provide. Why don't you criticize the current occupant of the WH, rather than put your trust in Glenn Reynolds. Childish and lazy don't even come close to your world view.

I said it before, I'll say it again: Pathetic....Please find your backbone. I would hate for your children to see you all scared and running for cover. They deserve better than you.

[Worst President Ever]

Actually, on Wednesday, Reid told McCain coming back to Washington wouldn't be helpful.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/reid-to-mccain.html

You can have it both ways if you listen to McCain - there isn't a crisis, then there is, then there isn't.

[Son of Bob]

If they want to blame McCain for this crappy bill not moving forward, fine. We've already found out today that 20-percent of the money in that bill that was supposed to go toward the bailout was going to go to ACORN, the fraudulent Democrat voter registration organization -- what the hell does that have to do with saving the economy? -- and that was removed today. So, I only hope John McCain gets credit for killing this awful trillion dollar tax soak.

[Worst President Ever]

And it's Obama's poll numbers that are up. And McCain's down:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html

[Worst President Ever]

"20-percent of the money in that bill that was supposed to go toward the bailout was going to go to ACORN"

$140 billion to Acorn? Total BS.

[Just the Facts]

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac. Franklin Raines. Rev. Wright. Tony Rezko. Saul Alinsky. Acorn. No to the surge. If we the people elect Obama, we get what we deserve. Higher taxes and a far left leaning liberal agenda.

[Palooza]

"If McCain does not have the cajones to stare down Obama"

It's difficult to know how to characterize such a comment - ignorant and crass, stupid, or perhaps retarded is the right word?

Dan, I have a word for you "accurate." Obama called McCain's bluff -- McCain folded. His cajones were lacking -- God save us if the President of Iran were to ever do the same to McCain in a more serious context. McCain can't even handle it for a stupid presidential debate. LOL!

[Fred Beloit]

Two cents would be too much to support voter intimidation and fraud.

[Fred Beloit]

McCain tried to get Sen. Smoothie to a town hall type meeting several times to no avail. Smoothie prefers Left-wing MSM interviewers. Tonight should be interesting. Let's see how long Jim L. can hide his preferences for the new leader of the reluctant world.

[North Dallas Thirty]

"From Glenn Reynolds? That is your source? Instapundit? You have got to be kidding me."

Did you actually go to the source, where it links directly to the articles in question?

Of course not.

"We already jail and torture people critical of the administration. We already spy on people critical of the administration."

Indeed we do -- when they're foreign and domestic terrorists who are planning to kill people.

But in Obama's case, those people get a pass; he's too busy trying to silence, prosecute, and jail anyone in the country who criticizes him.

"I said it before, I'll say it again: Pathetic....Please find your backbone. I would hate for your children to see you all scared and running for cover. They deserve better than you."

Considering I don't have any children, that's rather an odd statement to make.

But then again, given that your candidate's acquaintances, the people who he endorses, supports, and works closely with on a regular basis, seemingly have no trouble with attacking the children of people with whom they have a grievance, (http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/04/30/2008-04-30_barack_obama_pal_is_an_enemy_too.html ) it isn't surprising. You attack and try to destroy families all the time. It's Democrat Party politics, baby, and Obama fully endorses and supports it.

[RogerCfromSD]

Damage, shmamage.

STILL voting for McCain.

Besides, he held his own and Obama looked like the newb that he is.