Stop!

[Steev]

Everyone! STOP STOP STOP!

McCain called a time out.

[Fenstermaker]

GAME OFF!

[Moves portable hockey goal out of street, a la Wayne's World.]

[Schoolyj]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/mccains_statement_on_postponin.html

This is a no-win for Obama.

[Crescent]

Don't make fun of me for not understanding but why is it a no-win for O?

[Telfer]

I wondered how McCain was going to handle being a worse at answering questions once he was in the debates.

Apparently, he's going to handle it by making debates seem Un-American.

[Crescent]

Wait! I figured it out for myself I think. Is it because the debates are where Obama shines and McCain could crash and burn?

[Telfer]

Cha-ching!

[Schoolyj]

Also it's a loser for O because if he doesn't suspend his campaign he is politicizing a big crisis, but if he does suspend his campaign he is bowing to the leadership of his opponent.

There's some blog chatter that indicates that McCain kind of pulled a fast one here, trying to get out in front of Obama on the non-partisan issue.
Example: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/us/politics/25mccain.html

[Jeebee]

What a crock...

[Crescent]

Also it's a loser for O because if he doesn't suspend his campaign he is politicizing a big crisis, but if he does suspend his campaign he is bowing to the leadership of his opponent.

There's some blog chatter that indicates that McCain kind of pulled a fast one here, trying to get out in front of Obama on the non-partisan issue.
Example: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/us/politics/25mccain.html

oh yeah. you are totally right. F. This is bad news.

[Schoolyj]

Yeah - it's indicative of the "rash" McCain that people talk about. Calling for firing people then suspending his campaign. It puts Obama in a tricky position, but it looks like he's handling it well.

Rahm Emanuel - Obama's debate guy, Chicagoan and political badass - said "we can handle both" (the debate and the crisis)to ABC news.

Nice.

Side note, I ran the Ravenswood 5K last year and Rahm passed me at mile two, said hi and never looked back.

[Fenstermaker]

"Mr. McCain made the call after spending more than an hour preparing for Friday’s debate"

"Oh shit, I don't know this stuff. Is there some way I can get out of this exam? Pull the fire alarm or something?"

It's like a Saved By the Bell episode.

[MikeJ]

If he can fix the economy by Friday will the debates still be on?

[robbersean]

I can already see the McCain ads next week:

"Barack Obama doesn't think that the current financial crisis is important enough to suspend a debate..."

or

"Even Barack Obama thinks McCain is a true leader. During a time of financial crisis, Obama followed McCain's lead."

[Biddle]

Sure, I think that this puts Obama in a tricky situation. If he were a Republican, every (R) senator and congressman would line up for press conferences to decry this as "political maneuvering" and all other manner of outraged ad hominem attacks. But Obama will weather this smartly and with measured tact and grace.

I'm sure that he will agree to some sort of limited campaigning through the weekend. He can't DEMAND a debate. And he can't attend it without McCain there. And McCain can't just keep ducking debates with Obama, without clearly demonstrating his genuine dread at having to deal with the opposition.

As long as Obama is careful not pounce on this as a political tactic and let's the American People judge for themselves, this is going to read as McCain weaseling out of debates that he had no chance of winning. Which is a blow for his supporters and any right-centric undecideds.

Watch and see, Obama, will handle this as smoothly he handles everything else that the Repubs have thrown at him. He'll even call it out as a delay tactic, but then he'll take control back of the campaign. That's how he seems to be running this campaign.

Cheers
COB

[gotsick]

McCain is already backing off the time out.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/24/mccain-aide-friday-debate-will-take-place-if-bailout-passes/

[macarthur31]

The other factor: How does it play with the media?

I just caught a bit on CNN (Gloria Borger, I think), and she detailed it as:


Obama privately contacted McCain to request an effort to make a joint statement on the bailout, and get a common understanding on how they're going to approach it on the campaign.
McCain suspends campaign in the afternoon, asks Obama to do the same.

If this is the story, then it can easily be seen that Obama took the initiative to contact McCain, and then McCain made an impulsive decision (or calculated decision) to "call timeout" to put country first.

Dumb move. This only further irks the cable news channels (they've got tons of money already invested in hyping up this event), and only feeds into the storyline that McCain will do anything to win.

Plus, Obama's team has already hit back with the "we can do both" response, and can make the salient point that as President, you don't get to call "time out" whenever you want to. ("Hey Vladimir, can you give us a week to think about Georgia?")

[Schoolyj]

Yeah it's fascinating watching the campaigns trying to game who took the initiative on the "setting aside parties for the crisis"

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/24/mccain_suspending_campaign_ask.html?hpid=topnews

This article has dueling spokespeople going over who-called-who first.

And then has this deliciously catty quote from the divine Ms. Barney Frank (D-Mass):

I'm not particularly focused on Senator McCain. I really don't care," he said. "I guess if I wanted expertise there [from the GOP ticket], I'd ask Sarah Palin."

[rdolan]

John McCain accomplished himself what noone else thought of calling him or wanted him to do. He turned himself into a coward.

[VinRigan]

I love the "we can do both" thing. I think Obama's response should be, "there is no higher obligation than preparing for this nation's highest office. I am looking to the future, and making plans for how I will deal with this crisis when I am President. I look forward to speaking to *Senator* McCain about his thoughts, after my inauguration."

What a douchebag.

[stetsko]

I'm waiting for the response of "well, if your debate prep is frantically memorizing vetted phrases, I could see how you couldn't do that and focus on substantive law..."

K.

[stetsko]

also, I find the whole thing insane, b/c if they call off the debates it looks like McCain was scared of Obama. Which is hysterical, because in general McCain is a much better debater. (Not a better thinker or speaker, just a better debater.) Because McCain's stiffness behind a podium turns into great just-folks charm when he's doing something closer to a Town Hall. But Obama starts channelling a professor, which doesn't play very well.

All McCain would be doing by postponing the debate is giving Obama the chance to hone his skills...

[Schoolyj]

I don't think this is so much about postponing the debate as it is McCain trying to look like he's taking control of an issue that's been kicking his ass.

The news is only focusing on the financial story, and when they do go to the campaigns the story is McCain is slipping because Obama has more favorable polling numbers regarding the economy.

So McCain takes a drastic step to put himself at the top of the economic story.

It's amazing how it seems to be already backfiring on him as most news outlets are reporting on the Obama-McCain phone calls.

[Schoolyj]

I love the "we can do both" thing. I think Obama's response should be, "there is no higher obligation than preparing for this nation's highest office. I am looking to the future, and making plans for how I will deal with this crisis when I am President. I look forward to speaking to *Senator* McCain about his thoughts, after my inauguration."


Not exactly what you asked for, but close:

"It's my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person will be the next president," Obama said. "It is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once. It's more important than ever to present ourselves to the American people."

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/24/campaign.wrap/?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail

[rdolan]

Daily Kos: Time Out. (http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/24/162035/349/139/609054)

[stevescholz]

What a crock...

To that I'll add...."What a maroon!"

So McCain suspends his campaign, says he'll stop running his ads, and calls for the debates to be postponed, then expects Obama to do the same? Oh, and apparently McCain "suspended" his appearance on The Late Show, but he was willing to appear down the street with Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News.

SchoolyJ, don't you worry about this being a "no-win." You're quote from Obama about "more than one thing at once" is the perfect response. Obama gets it. He's a leader. McCain doesn't. He's a spaz*. Time and time again, when he's under pressure, McCain panics.

*I must give credit to Rachel Maddow for first calling McCain a spaz.

And speaking of McCain (sneakily writing this before it airs...), did anyone watch Letterman tonight call him out for not showing up? I think Dave nailed it.

[stevescholz]

http://coloradoindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/mccaintalkingpoints.jpg

http://coloradoindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/mccaintalkingpoints.jpg

[Jels]

McCains ads were still running in Colorado, Ohio and other in-play states.

Sure, they are going to "suspend."

Lurv Obama's comment that both campaigns have planes that can take both candidates pretty quickly to Washington from Mississippi. Go Barry!!

[davec]

I don't think this looks bad for Obama in the slightest.

I don't think the American people are going to react like, "Yeah, don't do the debates!" It's going to be seen as a weird thing. We expect the debates to happen, and we're too cynical to buy into the whole, "I'm too important to the economy to do the debate."

You've got Letterman ripping into McCain, you've got Obama saying his "two things at once," bit. McCain looks desperate. And the slightest indication that he's still doing politics will make him look like a hypocrite who is cheating.

This is like Sarah Palin. At first, everyone on the left is going to be like, "Oh no! This is so terrible! He's getting so much attention for such a bold move!"

But very quickly, it's going to turn around on him. I think a lot of people want to see the debates, and will see it as an effort to pull a quick one on them and their ability to decide.

[millerjake30]

Its sort of been reduced to something similar to an NFL contract hold out.

When Obama wouldn't play, McCain just crosses his arms and says "well, i'm not coming" So what happens if its decided that he's not going to show up? The media has 2 hours set aside for this? Do they go to syndicated sitcoms, or is it a chance for Obama to just go off on the issues, McCain....I think if the Dems folded and said "wow, good play, guess we gotta play ball" it would've been disastrous. But, they've stood their ground, and the McCain camp is left with a bad decision on their part either way...succomb to the pressures of their opponent, or leave themselves open for a groin shot.

Is it an older, more egotistical campaign, thinking they got the one-up on the young bucks over at Obama Headquarters.

[speedymarie]

So it just becomes a two-hour interview with Obama aired on all the networks. Delightful.

[Biddle]

Sometimes, I get the feeling that even John McCain doesn't want to win this one. It's like he's looking for the looniest possible decision to throw this one, without looking like he's throwing it.

-Picked a Hockey Mom for Veep.
-Cancelled Day One of the RNC because of fear of hurricane.
-Approving easily-disproved lies for campaign commercials.
-Blocking the press from attending the Palin-UN meeting, then allowing it...but only for 29 seconds?!?
-Calling off Letterman, then sneaking over to Couric - and hoping no one would notice.
-Trying to dodge the debates, by claiming concern for the economy - that his party fucked up properly!

I can't wait to see how low he'll stoop to lose this thing. I'm guessing that we'll soon hear the tale-tell crinkle of adult diapers under his khaki's during a very public pep rally. That'll show em!

I feel like I'm watching some political version of "Brewster's Millions", where he'll win 300 Million Dollars, if he can blow this thing, without anyone knowing it. Good luck to him, eh?

I also like to imagine all the frustrated, back-water racists, who've got to feel like they're backing a losing pennant team here. "C'MON MAN! Yer gonna lose this thing to a black guy! He's BLACK, fer Pete's sake! HOW can you be LOSING to a BLACK GUY!!!" That's gotta hurt.

Delicious.