McCain Cancels Again-- this time the friday debate.
Obama replies: "It's part of he president's job to deal with more than one thing at once!"
John McCain has said he's suspending his campaign and going to Washington to work on the economic plan to deal wih the economic crisis.
He did something similar to this at the beginning of the Republican National Convention, when hurricane Gustav was approaching the GUlf Coast. It was a great excuse to disinvite George Bush and Dick Cheney from making what had been obligatory, but really, unwanted, undesirable appearances.
Now, McCain, poll results plummetting due to his economic commentary gaffes, seems to be pulling another cancellation play.
This time though, he doesn't have the cooperation of people in his party. He's made a commitment to engage in what has become a core tradition of campaigns-- a face to face debate. There has been much speculation over his ability to face Obama, even on the topic which is supposed to be his strong suit-- foreign policy and international relations.
But we know that for weeks, McCain's campaign team has refused to allow McCain or Palin to engage in question and answer, open discussions, let alone conversations with the press. He cancelled, for example, an interview with Larry King, after King purportedly gave a campaign staffer too tough a time.
A Fox News commentator spins this as "precisely the out of the box, maverick, in your face" style we are accustomed to from McCain.
But is this maverick action or does this show that McCain can't handle dealing with more than one issue, one crisis at a time? Does it show how McCain is undependable and can't be expected to follow through on what he commits to, especially if it's not something he really wants to do? Are we encountering examples of "the dog ate my homework?"
McCain seems willing to pull these "let's not be partisan" moments when it is convenient. He talks big about putting the country ahead of politics, but the circumstances have been such obvious examples where he benefits by taking these purportedly nation-first, "principled" withdrawals from commitments. One has to wonder how often he'll use the weather or discussions in congress to cancel important meetings with national or corporate leaders.
One thing's for sure. Obama would be very wise to not trust McCain for a split second.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com and is a columnist with Northstarwriters.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
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-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
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was just on the phone with my dad. at the exact moment he was saying how mccain is "incapable of multi-tasking," i pulled up this article with the "single track man in a multiple track world" title.
you've nailed it.
by
Cheryl Biren-Wright (29 articles, 29 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 435 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 3:03:06 PM
or is it simply a pretty good idea that one is going to have his backside kicked?
In any event, McCain should be compelled to attend Friday's debate, in part to face his fears, and in greater measure to spare us the depredations we invariably suffer when John McCain looks to fixing the economy.
Oh, by the way, did he mention who it is that he is fixing it for this time?
by
John Sanchez Jr. (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 1379 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 3:37:12 PM
first of all what a typical sleazy thing for mccain to do. obama contacted mccain at 8:30 a.m. to discuss issuing a joint statement on the financial crisis and working towards a bipartisan approach. mccain calls back at 2:30 agrees to discuss details and instantly turns around to the press and says he is stopping his campaigning and calling on obama to join him. then he drops the postponing of the debate ball.
obama has got to learn he can't play nice with people like this.
obama could agree to stop "day campaigning," but state there is no reason to postpone the scheduled friday night debate. a president should be able to think on their feet and handle more than one issue at a time. you're either ready for the debate or you're not senator mccain. this is a true test of whether he can handle the stress of the office of the presidency.
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Cheryl Biren-Wright (29 articles, 29 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 435 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 3:40:53 PM
I wasn't looking forward to closed, suppressed, imbalanced debate between the two parties which did nothing to stop this financial turmoil we are in. In fact, the two parties helped create this situation with actions taken during Clinton's presidency to lift the Glass-Steagall Act.
But...If the debate is off, than we have more time to get Baldwin, Barr, McKinney, and Nader into the debates.
We have more time to get people like McKinney and Nader who will stick up for progressives in timese like these and not limit the debate.
Wouldn't it be great to hear a debate where the Federal Reserve was discussed since it had a lot to do with this collapse?
Wouldn't it be great to talk about bringing home all troops in the Middle East in 6 months or less?
Wouldn't it be great to talk about single-payer health care?
Wouldn't it be great to talk about ending corporate personhood? Think about how that would resonate with the American people at this point in history.
My suggestion to Barack is to forget McCain. Invite the third party candidates to the debate and just talk with them.
The world wants more than McCain. I think it wants more than what Obama is willing to push for, but the world would like to see Obama be a part of the debate on what to do after Bush is out of office.
This problem is solved easily if Obama stands up for change and defies the apparatus that organizes the presidential debates.
Sure, this is wishful thinking. But, think about Obama winning because he supported more voices and more choices.
I could even see myself thinking about voting Barack Obama if he agreed to debate the third party options which have gained enough ballot lines necessary to in a free and fair election win.
Americans should take this opportunity to push for third parties to be included in the debates---options Americans should seriously consider in this election.
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Kevin Gosztola (252 articles, 130 quicklinks, 76 diaries, 958 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 4:14:37 PM
Obama can't debate by himself, so why not ask the other candidates to replace McCain in the venue? The University of Mississippi is locked into the schedule, so why not throw in a half dozen more microphones?
With the all around quality of the Republican ticket, they should be considered to be a tenth or twelfth party in any event. John McCain may be doing more to illuminate his candidacy by pulling out than we could ever expect him to do in attending the debate.
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John Sanchez Jr. (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 1379 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 5:52:57 PM
Unless third party (or fourth party, or fifth party) candidates are REPRESENTED in our Congress and so have an opportunity to show the voters how they would govern, to include third party candidates in the presidential campaign will remain nonsensical. We need to change to PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION in order to change things. That is the issue that all those dissatisfied with the status quo should work for.
by
Stickshift (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 20 comments)
on Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 9:14:32 AM
would be severely challenged to govern if they won, but there is little chance of that. There is nothing wrong with expanding the pool of ideas that voters have to consider, though.
Actually, looking at how the Republican party are conducting this campaign with so little regard for truth and such nonsensical navel contemplation to misdirect attention, they are the one party that should be shut out of the debates.
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John Sanchez Jr. (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 1379 comments)
on Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 4:29:30 PM
Obama would be seen as inclusive AND unafraid of defending his positions from all comers. McCain will spin it as Obama putting himself over country, so Obama should address Bush's bail out and paint McCain's absence as his own bail out, choosing DC over the American people.
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Gustav Wynn (70 articles, 49 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 337 comments)
on Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 7:00:31 AM
I doubt he will appear in ANY debates. His handlers know he is senile and likely to have a mental lapse on stage. Even doped up on his meds, he may begin forgetting questions and start babbling to the ceiling. They thought they could get him thru the elections, but apparently the senility is getting worse.
We're likely to see Palin trotted out more for appearances once she is properly brainwashed to the acceptable talking points.
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Roger Thomas (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 81 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 5:08:43 PM
10 days into an economic crisis that spells defeat for McCain for obvious reasons, John throws a hail-mary pass to try and inject himself into the congressional bailout discussion. We will not know how this plays out in public opinion until early next week. McCain trying to skip the debate will play out much sooner. We here know that McCain hasn't done anything in the Senate since april and his arrival in washington is a photo-op/headline grabber. I'm assuming that Reid will stretch this thing out just long enough to leave McCain hanging naked next week. Reid will have no problem doing this because of many conservative senators railing against the bailout. What is at stake for McCain here is how right leaning public opinion views this whole bizzare stunt next week. If they view it poorly he is finished. If they view it positively he is still behind by 2.
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Kyle Murphy (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 24 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 5:27:35 PM
Obama's campaign team should take the opportunity to spin this like McCain is rushing back to Washington in order to ensure that his cronies on Wall Street can get the best deal possible in the face of serious opposition tho this heinous bailout and GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD to the scheming lousy bastards who got us into this mess. This could be a knockout punch and a great opportunity to introduce the Keating Five into the mix.
This isn't the time for Obama to play nice, this is the time to go for the killshot now that the rank cynicism of marketing Satan Palin as the queen of peckerwood nation is blowing up in their faces and it becomes more apparent that she is nothing more than a northern version of the same ignorant trailer trash that have saddled us with the war against reason and the know nothing knucledragging lumpen Republikans who gave us Bush.
Just my two cents
EE
by
Ed Encho (8 articles, 19 quicklinks, 57 diaries, 396 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 5:43:32 PM
Americas attention should not be diverted. If they pass that 700 billion dollar bail out, America is toast. The self destruction of the last 35 years will be complete.
If you read nothing else today, read the latest article from Michael Hudson.
Rome fell to protect the creditors, so did the British Empire (their elite moved to the New World), so too will Americas Empire end (Asias a pretty cool place, so say the elite who now have homes in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Singapore). The credit elite never die, they just move the address of their empires and change the name. Old World, New World, New World Order.
by
pft (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 576 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 5:37:07 PM
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A statement by Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama today...
"I would like to make a comment on Republican Senator McCain deciding to suspend his campaigning during this very important race for the Precidency and suggesting that he might not attend the scheduled debate this Friday so he can return to Washington to help craft a solution to the economic crisis that the country is facing.
"Wanting to solve the current economic turmoil that our banking industry and investment industry in in the midst of is a very worthwhile cause. THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT REPUBLICAN SENATOR McCAIN IS PART OF THE REPUBLICAN-CREATED PROBLEM -- NOT PART OF ANY BI-PARTISAN SOLUTION.
"This economic crisis is the result of a lack of regulation of the banking and investment industry over the last twenty years. Republican McCain has been against nearly every move to regulate these industries. He has consistently supported the Republican party in their anti-regulation moves.
"This economic crisis is the result of greed and a lack of government oversight over the last twenty years. Republican McCain has been against government regulation and in favor of corporate greed for his entire career.
"In short, Republican McCain is a little late to the party. His policies and votes have brought us to this point, and there's no reason to believe he can do anything to move past this crisis unless he has completely changed everything he has believed in for the last twenty years. I'm sure Republican McCain is capable of turning his back on twenty years of anti-regulation, anti-oversight, pro-corporate greed in an instant, but I don't know that America needs a late-blooming, flip-flopper to lead them out of this mess that the Republican party has gotten America into.
"I will be there on Friday to speak to the American people about the kind of leadership and change they can look forward to from an Obama/Biden administration. Hopefully, Republican Senator McCain will join me there to explain exactly what McCain and Palen will bring to the table."
by
Charlie L (2 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 737 comments)
on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 6:11:03 PM
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