This is why I love the Obama campaign. This is the democratic party I've been looking for.

Excellent! Call out McCain for his enormous ego in thinking that only McCain can resolve this "issue". Tie it in to McCain's overreactions to other "crisis".

I said this in a previous thread, but I really want Obama to come out and say 'This is the time for the American people to see our different views on the economy and to see how we respond to crises differently. If not now, when?'

They should DEBATE.

I don't think they should switch the focus to the economy because the third debate is needed to leave a lasting impression on voters' minds before they go to the polls.

It's likely a terrorist attack could happen before then, so it wouldn't advantage Obama to have the final debate on foreign policy.

McBush may be taking down his ads, but just wait, I'm sure they have a whole bunch of new ones ready to go up in their place.

Something like this?

"No. You didn't call for this when Lehman went under, when AIG had to be bailed out, or when Merrill Lynch had to be bought out. But you were up 2% in the polls then, and deciding whether the fundamentals of the economy were strong or whether it was time for a new New Deal. You didn't call for it when Paulson asked for $700 Billion. The polls were about even, and you were content to throw mud at me for awaiting Paulson's plan before commenting -- which I did, after meeting with a dream team of economic advisors. And over the weekend, no solutions from you or calls for a truce; just more mud.

"Now you're down 9 points, the press is starting to object to your constant refusal to answer to lie, and you want a truce. Enough. The American People have 40 days to decide who is best to lead them out of this crisis. Now more than ever, they need to know as much as they us and our runningmates. Now more than ever we need democratic transparency. Yet just yesterday your campaign again refused to allow the press to ask questions of your runningmate. Enough. I will not suspend the debates. I'll be there at 9 on Friday, because the American people deserve to know what I would do as president. If you care to speak to them, I'll see you there."

McCain's first instinct is to hightail it to Washington and mingle with the assembled hand-wringers.

Would be better if the two presidential candidates just switched the Ole Miss debate from foreign policy to the economy and aired their views on the current "crisis" and how to solve it.

Barack is out here in America talking about the economy, John. Come on down.

Ok, McClown will be taking down his ads. That will save him some badly needed cash. What about RNC ads? What about 527s? There have been enough toxic waste from them to kill a medium-size planet...

Good. If necessary, let them debate from the Senate floor over C-SPAN. No commercials to boot.

Stand up to this stunt, Senator. The event should proceed, as planned - even if Obama ends up standing alone on the stage.

Cafferty: "He hasn't cast a vote since April...he's not going to be writing the legislation."

McCain's stunt has obviously been coordinated with Bush's speech tonight. They are trying to ramp up the crisis here. I'm sure the calculation is that McCain looks better in a crisis situation, like the Georgia mess.

I hope Obama sticks to the debate. It would be awesome if he showed up and McCain didn't.

Obama needs to show he can do a few things at once. Dispatch Biden to be his surrogate in Washington while he gets ready to debate John McCain on important issues.

This is McCain's second political stunt in a month; he canceled the first day of the convention. Enough is enough. Enough is enough.

Pufferfish

Why can't McCain just lose like a man? This is getting embarrassing.

Just curious, but why is he waiting a day? If this crisis is so important, why didn't he suspend TODAY? Or Yesterday? What's so important about CGI that it can't be skipped, but the debate can be postponed?

If McCain can't think under pressure, why is he running for president? If he needs to cancel the debate, he should probably also cancel his campaign.

Americans are voting by absentee ballot now. A campaign suspension at this juncture is only words. Another McCain political stunt that smells to high heaven. We need to slow down the bailout train not add more coal to the fire.

How about having Biden debate Palin of Friday while McCain and Obama are in DC.

Let see what McBush says to that.

Perhaps Obama could suggest an impromptu Palin v. Biden debate? She's ready, right? I mean, she's met with world leaders, Charlie!

This is like calling a time out in a basketball game when the other team has the momentum.

Maybe While in DC Obama and McBush could hold congressional hearing about " the fundamentals of the economy are strong."

Last week the "fundamentals of the economy are strong" and today he is suspending his campaign over the economic crisis.

I think the time has come to make the argument that McCain is going to be worse than BUsh.

Hear, hear.

I just called the campaign to beg them not to take their foot off McCain's throat. McCain's simply procrastinating in the face of complicity.

It's Powell's "Pottery Barn" analogy: he helped break it, he owns it, and now he's got to pay for it.

First payment's due on Friday. Pony up.

Originally Obama wanted this first debate to be about domestic issues but McCain insisted it be about foreign policy. Now, instead of changing the topic McCain wants to take his ball and go home to Washington.

Nice. When it starts to get tough, McCain wants a timeout. This is the perfect time for Obama to demonstrate the ability to do more than one hard thing at a time.

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.

McCain is attempting to avoid the debate in the face of this decline, through the type of evasion and lack of press access and communication that has characterized his campaign. It shows an extraordinary willingness to use difficult conditions to erase and avoid political errors, and serve political needs.

He surely would like to put off the debate, and attempt to create more favorable conditions for it. Don't be cowed.

Cite:

Head of State

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

I posted this in the cafe so no need to rework it:

Here is the moment that Obama and millions of us have prayed for. It is a pivotal moment.

If Obama seizes this opportunity to insist on going forward with the debates and to insist that this moment of crisis means it is more important than ever to communicate our policies and positions to the American people then the momentum and the high ground will be Obama's and the chance McCain could ever recapture it is almost zero. No contest really.

If Obama is foolish enough to agree to any sort of suspension or postponement of the debate then he will have missed the golden moment and one that neither he nor the Democratic Party or our people can afford to pass up. Now is the time to strike! Now is the time to highlight McCain's incompetence, his horrendous decisionmaking ability, his second rate intellect, cowardice and political opportunism. Now is the time to show no mercy at all to the opposition. Now is the time to demonstrate to the people what a real leader is and does in a moment of crisis and it isn't run to Washington and hide in the capitol with all your lobbyist buddies.

If Obama does this he will have reversed the damage he did to himself during the past four months of typical congressional Democratic wimpiness, wishy washy calculation and flip flops on things like FISA, etc... He can demonstrate to people that he is the clear choice to lead the nation and perhaps more importantly that it is far too risky to allow McCain and his idiot sidekick to do so. The people now need to see a leader who is smart, clear-headed, decisive, strong and unafraid. And all those qualities need to be juxtaposed with McCain's palpable fear in the face of crisis as so neatly and well packaged by his attempt to run away from the debate later in the week. McCain is terrified. If he's afraid to debate, how can he lead the nation through the most difficult time since the 1930's? He can't. McCain is terrified of what current polls portend, he is terrified he might have to take responsibility for all the rotten policies he has supported for 20 some odd years and are now bearing such rotten fruit, and he is terrified that Obama will make him look like the incompetent, doddering old fool that he is. So clearly Obama should press the issue and put this one away right now instead of allowing more indecision and doubt to linger about himself and to put an end to his own oft-repeated "respect" for McCain's service a lifetime ago.

The battle of Gettysburg was won by the United States Army in significant part because the first US officer who encountered the rebel troops immediately and decisvely decided to hold the high ground position he found himself in and not to let it go or fallback regardless of the cost. The rest of the three day battle developed around this initial decision and the encounter that resulted. That officer's ability to capture and hold the high ground prevented the rebel army from positioning itself advantageously for the remainder of the engagement.

In that scenario lies a lesson for Obama. For this year's Presidential contest we are now at a similar, decisive juncture. I pray Obama has the good sense to recognize it, seize the advantageous position he finds himself in and marshals his forces in preparation for delivering the decisive blow of the campaign. If, however, he chooses to continue with the namby pamby "above it all", "new politics" routine and this moment is lost, it will be a bitter regret later for him and for us all.

Poor John McCain. This man is either very wicked or highly mentally disturbed. So much so that he does not know how to walk in honesty and integrity. This poor man is so desperate to win that the only think left for him to do is to go fling himself off a mountain. Oh Dear God, this man will steal the milk out of Obama's coffee. What a mess of a man. Pray for him. I think he is losing his mind.

As a political move, I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out. Clearly the McCain camp will be claiming he's Country First, while the Obama camp will be claiming he's Politics First. Which message lands is a toss up imho, and most likely depends on how the pundits tell the majority to think over the next news cycle (is that cynical?).

As a real attempt to deal with the economic crisis, it's just not credible. Neither senator is on the committees that are intended to focus on these things and develop pre-solutions prior to opening up general debate. In every organization, going around the existing structures creates more pandemonium than solutions. As others are already noting, bringing the two candidates, with all that electoral baggage back to Washington, will impede whatever process there is.

Who knows, this could be some sort of weird set-up.

McCain flies in on his white horse to do the debate--supposedly unprepared--and has all of his talking points down. He does well, the analysts say, especially since he's been so preoccupied working with boths sides to find a good plan to solve the crisis. He rushes back to DC for the "unfinished business" of saving our nation.

The media would eat it up.