Speculation McCain Will Debate
Two days ago, with the US Congress in gridlock over the financial industry bailout, John McCain decided to suspend his campaign to return to Washington to deal with it. Media talking heads skeptical, Senator Joe Lieberman stepped in to say – no, this is for real.
The political issue of the moment: the presidential campaign debate scheduled for Friday in Mississippi. To John McCain, the country is more important than the debate. As it has been put another way, in relation to his, unpopular at the time, vote for the surge, he’d “rather win a war than an election.â€
Whether a calculated political play or not, the Obama campaign took the bait or jumped off the patriot bandwagon, depending on how you see McCain’s decision. Barack Obama is hoping for a win by default, either because John McCain doesn’t show up or because he’s made the fool by being forced to reverse his decision to come to Mississippi. How important is that save the economy and the country thing after all?
On day two, we find Barack Obama following John McCain to Washington and politicians in Congress facing a conundrum. To untangle the gridlock and pass a bill or delay? Let’s be as cynical as possible – just like voters. If you’re a Republican, you want things settled so that John McCain can continue his campaign without abandoning his decision. If you’re a Democrat, you want to fix it fast to show that you didn’t need John McCain’s help. Either way, Joe Lieberman is right. John McCain is the man for the job. John McCain made the right decision, the one needed to get the job done.
Now imagine John McCain standing at the podium in Mississippi Friday evening with the financial industry crisis successfully behind him – points up on the issue of the economy, being presidential, and a master of politics. The subject is foreign policy and national security, one of his strong suits. That he’d “rather win a war than an election†is entirely credible and resonates beyond its original context.
Where did Barack Obama go wrong? A candidate should never pass up the opportunity to take the needs of the country before his own political ambition. It’s so obvious that the presidential election campaigns are going on. There’s supposed to be politics. Politics is part of the process. There are supposed to be debates – we’ve done them in the past and pollsters say they’re really important. I know. I know. It’s so easy to forget what’s actually more important when the political stakes are high. It’s a rookie mistake.
| More from Roger F. Gay
Stumble It!
September 25th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
McCain’s trick: Obama is removed from his debate preparation. The Wizard of OZ-bama doesn’t have enough time to program his puppet. The puppet,Obama, is without his TelePrompTer and without needed extensive programming.
September 25th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I also contend that Obama is more upset because he did not do it first.
September 26th, 2008 at 5:43 am
McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon.