McCain Shouldn't Attack Too Much Tonight

While the media may be playing it up as Wrestle-mania 3, a review of state and national polls suggests attacking is not what McCain actually needs to accomplish tonight. For all the Obama hype and his outspending McCain 3-1 on ads, Obama continues to be unable to firmly close the sale.

With voters more concerned about the economy than the inside politics fights between the candidates, McCain needs to communicate that he gets it, is prepared to deal with the economy and has a solid plan.

By the time you factor in leaners and undecideds, this election remains up for grabs. And one has to wonder if Obama isn't beginning to be seen as trying a bit too hard given his exposure.

Whatever the reason, doubts about Obama continue to exist. McCain needs to make sure that's not the case for his own candidacy with voters after tonight. He can continue to work around the edges attacking Obama in ads and on the stump.

But that will only be effective if McCain offers voters a safe place for them to go with their vote.

I'd be careful about scoring this like a prize fight tonight. More likely the most effective presentation and ultimate winner will be the individual who offers a straight-forward message on Economy 101.

If McCain can do that, any attacks on Obama going forward will only prove to be all that more effective. As of now, the ones that have been launched have hit their mark. But they alone won't win McCain the Presidency. And it isn't what most Americans concerned over the economy are going to want to take away from the debate.

Comments

[IslamoLlama]

"-- If the Democrats are so eager to "spread the wealth" why don't the ones in congress take a pay cut? The rest of them can ante up out of their collective pockets; that way small business owners (almost all of whom are Republicans) can continue doing business and employing people. --"

Brilliant. The average Congressman's salary is $169,300.
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm

With 535 Congressional members, divided by 180 million tax payers, that's a solid 50 cents a head. You want that by cash or check?

You want to save the US Government stadiums full of cash? Disband the military. We don't need it. Never really did. Give every man and woman a gun and let'm fend for themselves. If terr'rists strike America, the brave Conservative Figureheads can lead the defense. Put that 2nd Amendment to use.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/defense.html

We project to spend $583 billion on the Defense Department in 2008. That doesn't include funding wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fuck it all. Disband it. Get rid of it. Give the money back to taxpayers.

We collected $1.1 trillion in income taxes in 2007. Get rid of our military and you can cut your taxes in half. That's 50% right off the top. Bam! Show me a better proposal than that. You could cut the entire rest of the US budget - education, FDA, welfare, FEMA, you name it - and you couldn't get as good a deal.

What are you paying in taxes? $10k? $50k? $150k? You get half of that back. All you've got to do is give up your Navy Seals and your Green Berets and your nuclear penis. Buy a gun - hell, buy a tank, you should have the cash - and go live safe knowing no one is crazy enough to bother you that doesn't also plan to blow himself up in the process.

So there you go. I see your "get rid of the Congressional budget" and raise you "get rid of 50% of the discretionary budget". Top that.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- If the Democrats are so eager to "spread the wealth" why don't the ones in congress take a pay cut? The rest of them can ante up out of their collective pockets; that way small business owners (almost all of whom are Republicans) can continue doing business and employing people. --"

Brilliant. The average Congressman's salary is $169,300.
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm

With 535 Congressional members, divided by 180 million tax payers, that's a solid 50 cents a head. You want that by cash or check?

You want to save the US Government stadiums full of cash? Disband the military. We don't need it. Never really did. Give every man and woman a gun and let'm fend for themselves. If terr'rists strike America, the brave Conservative Figureheads can lead the defense. Put that 2nd Amendment to use.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/defense.html

We project to spend $583 billion on the Defense Department in 2008. That doesn't include funding wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fuck it all. Disband it. Get rid of it. Give the money back to taxpayers.

We collected $1.1 trillion in income taxes in 2007. Get rid of our military and you can cut your taxes in half. That's 50% right off the top. Bam! Show me a better proposal than that. You could cut the entire rest of the US budget - education, FDA, welfare, FEMA, you name it - and you couldn't get as good a deal.

What are you paying in taxes? $10k? $50k? $150k? You get half of that back. All you've got to do is give up your Navy Seals and your Green Berets and your nuclear penis. Buy a gun - hell, buy a tank, you should have the cash - and go live safe knowing no one is crazy enough to bother you that doesn't also plan to blow himself up in the process.

So there you go. I see your "get rid of the Congressional budget" and raise you "get rid of 50% of the discretionary budget". Top that.

[BobinStamford]

Looks like Grandpa's cutting and running!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081015/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_ads

Shock and awe!!

[mary]

OMG, is murtha trying to lose?

[Lala]

Mary,
If the ceilings are high enough they put in loft beds.

The average price for a house in the other four boroughs of NYC in a stable neighborhood is about 600,000 and up. A friend had to move out of his apartment because the landlord sold the house. The price was 850,000.00. It isn't a great house. It's a two-family on a busy street, attached on both sides to two other houses. No yard. The neighborhood is okay, not too much crime, close to the subway and shopping. But that's how it is.

[mary]

I don't understand the arrogance. I mean the guy is sending talking points out to everyone, including the media, BEFORE the debate.

Wow, no wonder everyone loved reagan. He was who he was and he didn't BS the country and he didn't believe as O does that we are electing a king or dictator to straighten us out and aruin our constitution. but, in the bet of "how stupid are people", it looks like BO is winning by a landslide.

[Savage]

TRICKLE UP POVERTY!
Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SacTownMan]

Damn Lame-O that rant was so crazy you thought it worthy of a double post?

The problem is that your boy Xerxes would piss away any savings from disbanding the military.

"I don't want to punish your success, I just want to spread around the wealth a little so everybody can have a piece of the pie!

No military! Do you actually believe the crap you post?

I can just see you with your sling shot out in the street protecting your neighbors!

[Peggy]

I am watching the debate as I sit here and write this. Every time that McCain says something that Obama does not like he gets this big grin on his face. I would love to slap it off his face. Matter of fact I would love to see McCain to reach over and slap it off !
McCain/Palin 08

[seekeronos]

"--- disband the military ---"

No, we don't disband the military.

But we do come home from the over 130 sovereign nations we deploy our forces to. We summarily end the wars in Iraq and A'stan.

We stop all foreign aid to terrorists, reduce aid to friendly nations by spades, and we put Israel on notice that we are cutting their tab down significantly.

We withdraw from NATO and the UN, and charge them back rent until they relocate out of Manhattan.

We half the size of the floating navy, mothballing the oldest half of our fleet with the notable exception of our SSBN/SSN submarines and ASW capabilties; we park half our nuclear carriers and use them as nuclear power plants, to supply the energy grids of certain major cities at a fair price... and to serve as reserve/training platforms for naval aviation units transferred to Naval Reserve, Naval Guard or state naval militias

We convert a sizeable portion of the army into the Border Patrol, and another sizeable fraction converted to National Guard and Reserve units. We put the Corps of Engineers to work immediately to rebuild and repair our transportation infrastructure in most critical need of care, and also to build solar and wind farms on Federal land to be leased to energy companies, and eventually auctioned off to them.

We demilitarize our police forces, roll back the most anti-civil liberty portions of the Patriot Act, and restore some sense of division between the military and law enforcement.

We break down FEMA, and return those funds to the states or any regional consortiums between state governments to handle their own emergency planning needs.

We disband the Dept. of Ed and the whole federal student loan system which has helped drive the price of collegiate education ever skyward; that money gets returned to the many states.

And most of all, we disband the Federal Reseve Bank system, and return to REAL money, based upon a stable metallic standard such as gold, and end the Federal monopoly on the gold supply: the Congress was originally to be responsible for the minting coinage, constitutionally specified as silver dollar coins and gold eagle coins, and paper exchangeable for metallic coinage. We end the crazy train of fraction-reserve banking at unsustainable rates, and control government spending with the limited and rare amount of gold-backed specie available.

[seekeronos]

"--- Every time that McCain says something that Obama does not like he gets this big grin on his face. ---"

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that man's smug smirking. He's quite the arrogant git, isn't he?

[BobinStamford]

Why doesn't the little old man put Joe the Plumber to work in one of his 8 houses? He could become RICH, just like John!

Grandpa's looking older and angrier as the night goes on. Not looking good on a 50"HD flatscreen!

[mary]

He truly is arrogant. I mean during the debate he had surrogates announcing that he had won the debate and the election already and he had the absolute audacity to send out talking points to the media. This kind of media control, indicating what he wants them to concentrate on and what he doesn't, I'm sorry is just down right creepy.

[mary]

Can I ask all of you why he never answers the questions they ask, he answers the questions he wishes they asked.

[mary]

Frank Luntz is so in the tank for Obama. And if that woman he just interviewed about bo's economic policy wasn't a bo supporter from the get go I will eat my hat and your hat.

[BobinStamford]

Frank Luntz hates our freeeedom. His polling career was launched in Willam Ayers garage.

Grandpa's toast. An elderly man looking angry and flailing for 90 minutes does not inspire confidence.

Palin/Joe the Plumber 2012!!!

[Lala]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27184386/

[mary]

You know, O says one thing with his mouth and another thing on his website.

I think McCain is always so socked that CO can like so easily that he neds time to recover.

[seekeronos]

Frank Luntz is a hack "focus group" worker that vomits up whatever results his employers tell him to conjure up.

He did an absolutely stellar job of pimping McCain over Fred Thompson and Dr. Ron Paul in the NH primary debates.

[Fred Beloit]

"How many thousands have you bet so far, Harpo?
Posted by: Fred Beloit | Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 02:36 PM
None."

That's what I thought.

[Fred Beloit]

Gee, Moe, now you have finally gotten IT.
"We project to spend $583 billion on the Defense Department in 2008. That doesn't include funding wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fuck[tsk tsk] it all. Disband it. Get rid of it. Give the money back to taxpayers."

But you stopped short, Moe. You wimped out, you wimp. We need to get rid of the entire government. Do re mi mi mi:

There was an old hermit named Dave
Who kept a dead whore in his cave
Do re mi mi mi. He said I'll admit
I'm a bit of a s---
But think of the money I'd save.

[seekeronos]

"--- You wimped out, you wimp. We need to get rid of the entire government. ---"

Heh. Best idea of them all.