Wolfson ought to know because he was schooled in this in the primaries. After all, Obama had a consistent message and long-term strategy from day one and Hillary was the one lurching from message to message and choosing tactics over strategy -- albeit less hysterically than McShame. And we all know how that turned out.

i think after tonite debate lets get ready to hear more about rev.wright,tony rezko,bill ayers,barack is a muslim even though i seen him ate pork bacon on a couple of occassion,hes an elitist,i would'nt b surprise which they probably is already do u want a black man running the white house?and believe me i guarantee its gonna happen bkuz hes gonna beat tha living shit out of mccain tonite!!!!!OBAMA/BIDEN 08!!!!

As George Will said, McCain has found his inner Williams Jennings Bryant; he's become a populist all of a sudden. And the problem with that is a populist engages in pandering to the whims of voters. And pandering is not a quality of a good leadership.

Interesting that Wolfson thinks McCain won the news cycle on Wednesday. I wonder by what standard? Is it just about who drives the narrative? Because from the cheap seats it looked like McCain might have driven the narrative right off a cliff.

The ultimate irony is that McCain's campaign suspension, too, was still all about character, about biography, about story-telling. It was a tale of a former soldier again (supposedly) making a big sacrifice for his country and for the greater good. Tellingly, McCain even referred to his service in discussing his suspension.

But if current polls are to be believed, story-telling just isn't enough.

Peggy Noonan said this in her open mic comments she subsequently tried to deny, at least 3 weeks ago. She said something along the lines of:

It's bullshit political narrative and every time the Republicans try to do that they lose because they aren't comfortable there (which is bullshit, but ok - it is still Peggy Nooners.)

The suspension was probably a Rick Davis idea to save his own ass as the NYT and Newsweek were digging hot on the story of him still collecting a paycheck from Fannie Mae up into last month. The McCain Camp initially defended this by saying that Davis wasn't a part of Davis Monafort anymore and that the Fannie money was going there, however upton further digging Newsweek found that during the Primaries the McCain Camp was paying Davis through Davis Monafort - sending cheques there rather than sending him a check personally. So of course the next question would have been "Why was the campaign sending payments for Davis' services to Davis Monafort if Davis no longer had anything to do with them?" And this was over 4-5 payments, so it's not like they can say their billing department made a mistake. This matter proved that Davis was still an active partner of Davis Monafort and since Davis Monafort was paid by Fannie Mae $15K/month up until last month, that Davis essentially worked for Fannie. Also since he professed he didn't work for Fannie, why was Fannie sending Davis Monafort monthly checks for $15K? Obviously they were buying access to McCain.

And sadly that story was buried because of the "suspension stunt"

What this campaign has done is made it evident how each of these two candidates will govern.

On one hand, you have an administration that governs with a coherent philosophy that looks at the best long-term interests of the country.

On the other hand, you have an administration that governs with a muddled, inconsistent strategy aimed at the next election cycle.

I'll buy the Davis explanation. I don't buy McLame working out just what the advantage to suspending his campaign would be. He doesn't think that far ahead.

Two words: Sarah Palin

The problem for Republicans is that Americans are playing close attention for once. They aren't going to put up with being played for fools on their financial securty and the Palin choice is increasingly being seen for the unserious choice that it was. Americans aren't amused.

The Story-telling concept is a good one and a very strong part of what drives voters. We know McCain was not going to be leading on the issues so, as Noonan pointed out, it was going to be about his story. Look at the Convention and "Maverick", "POW"...plenty of smarter folks than I said that was his only chance.

Problem is, now he's really starting to look "unstable" in his decision making and *that* reality trumps the story.

my .02

From what we have witnessed this week is quite easy to see which candidate is telling the voters what they would do if elected POTUS.

Obama has been steady and calm in his reaction to the crisis. He is measured in his response because he is not actively involved in the negoiations going on at the Capitol. Let the experts hammer out a solution, after which he reviewed and discussed.

McCain had to be drawn into the discussion. At first, his remarks concerning the financial crisis were contrary to what was being reported. There seemed to be quite a disconnect with what he thought he was saying to what people understood him to be saying. Instead of a steady hand at the helm of a ocean liner, it was more like the quick, jerking reactions of a race car driver on a course with multiple tight turns. At the end of the week, we found our elected representatives at the Capital in abject pandemonium after he waltzed in and purposefully disrupted the delicate bipartisan negotiations crafted by representatives and senators who left their party hats outside so not to let party affiliation influence the proceedings.

As Abraham Lincoln once said, it is one thing to be silent and thought a fool than it is to speak up and remove all doubt.

This week I learned who the fool was.

I think people are missing something here. Obama has done with the current economic crisis what he did with Hillary to great effect. He acted reasonably. He did not play politics. Long time politicians clearly do not know how to react and they end up overreacting and looking like fools.

In this case, Obama sent McCain a message at 8:30 in the morning stating they should get together and create a statement together to increase public confidence. In any world but politics, this would have been greeted with enthusiasm. But it sent McCain into a tizzy. They met for hours, over-thought what was happening and came up with the dumbest plan I've ever seen in presidential politics. Now McCain looks like an idiot.

All because Obama was acting like a thoughtful human being, with no motives but the greater good. The inside the beltway crowd doesn't know what to do with that kind of olive branch and they lose it.

I've been watching since the primaries began and it never ceases to amaze me.

http://stopallmonsters.blogspot.com/

I agree. If there ever was a week when it was an advantage to look more like an accountant than a cowboy, this might be the week.

Lettuce not get ahead of ourselves with these debates here. I don't know about y'all, but I saw The Chimp get his rectum smoked in several debates in '00 &'04. Yet, to listen to the MSM, "Governor Bush has shown a tremendous grasp of the issues".....Hopefully, this media thing is behind us, but I ain't convinced myself.....

MSNBC is reporting Teddy has been taken to the hospital, no details.

Fox News also reporting on Senator Kennedy have been taken to hospital by Hyannis Port fire dept.

I do not like the sound of this. I have been hoping that Ted would make it to see Senator Obama being sworn in as President.

There have been some reports, during the past week or so, that Ted was slipping fast.

Keep him in your thoughts.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,429104,00.html

I do believe Jim Lehrer was not a happy camper when McCain suspended his campaign and wanted to pull out of the debate. He has also stated just because the first debate is about foreign policy doesn't means the financial crisis isn't off the table.

I'm burning the midnite oil here just to watch the fireworks going off in the western sky as the sun rises to the east. It'll be a morning to remember!

WTF is Wolf-foxappeaser-son talking about? He is an idiot. How did McLame win the day's news cycle by suspending his campaign.

McLame is instable mentally and it's showing. He's making these haste and thoughtless decision because, as O' said, McLame is panicking.

Nothing to do with winning the newscycle.

Sorry to hear about Ted Kennedy. My sister had cancer that metastisized to her brain and there really wasn't anything to be done at that point but palliative care. She died barely 3 months after the cancer reached her brain. I know his case is different but still, cancer growing inside an enclosed space like your skull is a bitch. It just becomes a race to shrink the tumor before it does too much damage.

Completely off-topic, but

Come on, you Gunners!

Asshole Wolfson actually stumbled into the truth.