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McCain: Bailout Deal Won't Pass

From John McCain's speech today at the Clinton Global Initiative:

I cannot carry on a campaign as though this dangerous situation had not occurred, or as though a solution were at hand, which it clearly is not. As of this morning I suspended my political campaign...

It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal to meet the crisis. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time. So I am returning to Washington to seek five fundamental improvements to this critical legislation.

But as the Obama campaign was quick to note, the Associated Press says a deal is imminent, and other press reports this morning indicate that the negotiations have progressed considerably.

Could it be that the fate of civilization as we know it doesn't hinge entirely on McCain's heroic return to D.C.?


121 Comments

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Is it official yet? Can we now say that McCain has officially gone off the deep end?

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He's way, way off the deep end.

I dunno, but he is flaming out quick!

I agree with unaboogie. Suspension is just a new form of campaigning.

Or could it be that Republicans in Congress are willing to put our economy at greater risk in order to help their candidate score political points? They could refuse to support the plan.

My understanding would be all they would need is one Repub on the committee to get to the floor for a vote, and then a few Repubs to vote yes.

Good thing he's going back. Apparently you can only see the consensus if you're in Washington.

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Ya don't say?

Translation:

The parade has started and I need to run to get to the front.

There has been a clear consensus on the Administration's proposal. Everyone is against it.

It's Dodd's plan that people are getting behind.

Exactly.

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Yes. Even the Repugs are with Dodd on this.

Hell, I saw Ollbermann last night. I saw Dodd and then I saw the Repug agreeing with him.

Bush is not going to get anything he wants at this point.

I think this is cover for an urgent trip to Walter Reed.

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I've had the same thought. Stroke?

Interesting. I noticed in the video of his suspension announcement yesterday that his left eye was part way closed while his right eye was all the way opened. I've never noticed that before.

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Look at his photo on Intrade. His eye has always looked funny. But now it's got make-up too. So it looks diseased!

Oh, ok, I guess I just never looked that closely. Must be from his heroic torture and imprisonment.

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I think it relates to puffiness from the former cancer.

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What happens if he expires before the election?

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The "animate" a CORPSE - which is what we've got already!

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Isn't McCain pretty blatantly seeking to mislead people by suggesting that the Bush/Cheney/Paulson administration's plan is the only plan on the table?

Obviously, there is a strong Democratic counterproposal on the table, and according to the excellent reporting over at TPM-M (maybe you guys at TPM-EC can cross-post), the plan has been on the table in the same basic form all week.

You can even read the outline of the plan at TPM-M! That sounds like it's on the table to me!

He's right. But the Bush-Paulson Plan was DOA. This is about Dodd's Plan and McCain can't fix his lips to give him credit.

The McCain Campaign is the living incarnation of the phrase FUBAR.


These seem to be the EXACT same words he was saying a day or 2 agao - maybe he was reading the wrong cue card???

Could it be that the fate of civilization as we know it doesn't hinge entirely on McCain's heroic return to D.C.?

It's funny how he acts like showing up for his fucking job is some ground-breaking act.

He's missed two thirds of the 600-odd Senate votes in the 110th Congress; the only guy who's even remotely near that is Tim Johnson, and that's only because Johnson's been fighting cancer. McCain hasn't appeared in the Senate since April 8. So yes, McCain showing up for his job is newsworthy.

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This has nothing to do with the national economy; it is his campaign's economy. McCain can't afford to campaign for the next 40 days. He is going to be outspent on every level, so he wants to take his ball and go home for a while.

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I've been thinking the same thing. He shot his wad.

That is the same line he used yesterday (already a day late), which clearly refers to the originally proposed Bush/Paulson plan. That plan hasn't been seriously considered for at least 48 hours. Similar to RoboPalin, once McCain gets locked on a talking point (or rehearses a speech), it seems as if there's too much room for error if they try to modify his remarks as "facts on the ground" change.

Really is a trainwreck.

These pitbulls must have lockjaw.

Anyone else think McCain's campaign suspension will end before his campaign manages to pull all of his ads off the air?

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Honestly, I don't know what's going on. I can't make any predictions about what will happen next.

Yep.

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What is this "dangerous situation" that has occurred? (according to mcShame) We've all been living with this for over a year now! And knowing about it for far long.

Where was this guy for the past 8 years?

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Working for ACORN pushing the bad loans that led to this and campaigning...oops, that was the other guy...sorry.

Remind me again, what years did Obama work for ACORN?

Nice, it's the poor folks fault that rich folks lost their money.

Did you see where McCain said in Scranton we should find a path to citizenship for those 50K poor illegal Irish immigrants?

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Ok. Now I've figured it out... it's the poll numbers and the Intrade (57 to 43 now!) - yeah, that can be dangerous!

Apparently McCain is holding a rally at the Philadelphia airport today. At least according to Ambinder.

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but that's not "campaigning" right????

That's not "campaign suspension" we can believe in!

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What the fuck?!

Ok, I'm gobsmacked. He suspends campaigning except for the campaigning.

It just occurred to me that McCain's timeout might be necessary to find a replacement for Rick Davis. And then find a good explanation for why McCain lied about Davis's payoffs.

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Well what's wrong with McLame? Clinton fired campaign staff who were a problem. So did Obama.

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Well, that would admit he'd made, or could appear to have made, a mistake. Can't have that!

Losing Rassmussen and Letterman-not bad for a days "work"...

Unbelievably cynical use of the economic situation for political ends.

From:

Head of State

http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/09/mccain-trailing-in-polls-continues.html

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

McCain, Trailing in Polls, Continues Campaign By "Suspending" It

John McCain, trailing by 9 points in national polls, has announced that he is "suspending" his campaign.

Having lost significant ground to Obama on the issue of the economy, and facing a potentially defining and withering debate on Friday where he would be confronted on his statements on the economy that have led to this sharp decline, McCain has attempted to change the rules of the game, to erase many past errors through a putatively "unpolitical" move--something we have seen before.

A simple question: Under the same economic conditions, if McCain had been leading, does anyone believe that McCain would have "suspended" his campaign?

This is the ultimate in cynicism--using the current conditions in order to attempt to blunt a sharp decline and try to control the media dialogue, through a political act designed to avoid a potential political debacle. He is continuing his campaign--which was leading to loss in all directions--by "suspending" it. It is an attempt to silence media criticism and questions--and to prevent a debate on these issues that for him is sharply unfavorable.

This is impulsivity masked as statesmanship, as well as an attempt to control the media dialogue, as we saw yesterday at the U.N. He wants to attempt to force media to avoid covering openly his flailing campaign--the cynically political masked as the unpolitical, as we saw in the VP pick.

McCain, in attempting to avoid the debate in the face of his decline in the polls, until he can try to control the issue that has caused his decline, shows an extraordinary willingness to use difficult conditions to erase and avoid political errors, and serve political needs.

The Chicago Tribune provides us with indication of what "suspending the campaign" actually means:

"John McCain's sudden "suspension'' of his campaign and his call for a postponement of the premier campaign debate Friday night has sparked a round of criticism from people asking why the presidential candidate cannot manage a financial crisis and a debate at the same time.

Among them: "Late Night's'' David Letterman, who told his own audience in taping at CBS today that he was hoping to see the Republican nominee for president but McCain called him to say that he had to rush back to Washington to deal with the nation's financial crisis. Then, as Letterman told it, he got word that in fact McCain was down the hall sitting for an interview with his colleague at CBS, Evening News anchor Katie Couric, which aired this evening."



This is just the time for a debate. We can work on solutions at the same time. Don't be cowed.

Cite:

Head of State

http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/09/mccain-trailing-in-polls-continues.html

You could just, you know, post a teaser from the blog article rather than the whole thing so people have a reason to click on the link.

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Dammit, you quit that for one whole day. Now you're back to spamming. What makes you think we'll read your spam just cause you took a day off?

Stop that, please. It's rude.

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Send your request to talk at talkingpoints memo dot com. Tell them to boot the poster!

I will never visit your site because you fail to understand one simple rule. This is the "COMMENT" section, not the "my-blog-post-of-the-day" section. If you can't figure that out, what possibly could I learn that would be of use from your blogspot?

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I hate to say it, but I'm actually starting to feel sorry for the guy (McCain). This is all so pathetic.

Thanks for playing; here's a parting gift.

Just asking: What happens if a Presidential nominee doesn't make it to election day? Has that ever happened? Don't think it has.

We actually vote for "electors", so I suppose the votes for that person would be votes for his electors, who could then cast their electoral votes for somebody else -- I think the laws for these electors may vary, state to state, however.

-- ARG

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I suppose they just "animate" a CORPSE. Which is what we've got already!

This may be "Weekend at Bernies 3"

Who knew McCain was old man Bernie...

NO mercy on the enemy! He'll rip your heart out if you don't rip his out first! Keep firing until ALL the bastards are defeated!

McCain is setting himself up as a white knight.

McCain is trying to orchestrate a game with the congressional Republicans, saying to them oppose for now and let me come in and "save it" in the 11th hour. Will they play along? Probably.

If things start to look that way, Dems need to come out HARD and say that the Republicans are treating this crisis like a political game. They are not serious about solving this issue, only about trying to score political points.


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Try as he might... that Letterman video will prevent it.

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MASON - people aren't stupid, regardless of what the geniuses here think.

There's no way McLame rides in and saves the day now - everyone knows he just quit and it would look like the biggest political stunt of all time, next to choosing Sarah Palin as a running mate - and it will not sit well with people that he's using this crisis in that manner.

A number of Dems involved in the negotiations have been saying this since last night. Unless McCain has every Republican in on it, this strategy is a no-go. It might work with the base (who hate the bill), but for most of the undecideds, he'll just look foolish.

Well, I should have said "trying to" set himself up as a white knight. I agree that it would be seen as a horribly cynical political ploy, especially with so many in the MSM now off the tire swing.

But, it's good to hear that it won't work without all the Repubs on board.


Also, by "taking the initiative" to "suspend his campaign" and return to "work on the crisis" he's demonstrating his proven leadership abilities.

Actually it would be entirely clownish if Bush hadn't stepped in like the King of the GOP Daddies and demanded Obama's presence at his table today. When I read about that I got the distinct impression that it was a kind of a rebuke and possibly an override of Obama's refusal to cancel tomorrow's debate. (i.e. "I kin *make* you cancel yore debate, son"...)

Waiting to see, what will be...