Obama said he will stay in Florida for the time being and will not return to Washington unless asked by Congressional leadership. "I've told the leadership in Congress is that if I can be helpful then I am prepared to be anywhere at anytime," he said. McCain: I'll be there. Obama: I'll be in Florida.
Ok so then you tell me how legislatively the two are going to see to this problem with the current status of TARP? You do know the Bill is in committee and hasn't gotten to the floor yet, right? What is the event scheduled for Friday night that needs to be attended to by a plenary session of congress? Other than giving press conferences and looking political I'm hard pressed to think of anything that McCain can do on this - I suppose McCain and Obama coudl go ahead and draw up their own bills which would only slow things down rather than hasten a resolution to the situation.
So when I have a concern, it "doesn't matter." Got it. This is the divide in the country. Many people want to take things one at a time... many others think they are in charge of running the globe and telling others what is important or not. Signing off. I've got less important things to do.
The thing that makes this the most transparent is the call for suspending the campaign and halting advertising. McCain hopes that Obama will quit running the ads hammering him on the economy. McCain can still rely on 527s to smear Obama on abortion, etc. He knows Obama has more ad money and that if they keep advertising and hammering the economy, McCain will lose big. Why does running ads prevent you from attending to your duties? What effect to ads have on the negotiations on the Senate? They have nothing to do with the negotiations going on (which McCain rightly shouldn't be a part of seeing as he doesn't understand something as simple as the relation between inflation and interest rates). The idea of suspending the debate to deal wtih the Senate could possibly be seen patriotic, but the suspension of all campaign activities is what tips the hand of this Machiavellian move.
i think i have a pretty good understanding of what is going on in the market and this is just a political stunt. it is an absolute joke. it's times like these when i wish i could vote for obama but he is just as unoriginal as mccain. do you actually think if mccain and obama take one night away from the credit crisis that they will solve anything? they have had no ****ing clue up until everything blew up. if you picked up any financial magazine months ago you would know how bad things could get. we have the idiots on the banking committee who say they are awestruck when they hear paulson and bernanke present the details of how bad things could possibly get if action is not taken quickly. how in the hell do these fools have no clue at all??? don't worry guys our leaders in washington are going to save the day now that they are aware of things. hooray! we are going to be saved from decades of abusive debt by a magical plan that mccain and obama will have nothing at all to do with creating.
A sitting VP is usually in on these kinds of things... not busy singing the theme to "The Villages." WaaaaaaaaaWAaaaaaaaaaaaWaaaambulance.... somebody get one, quick!
And the early returns say..... BACKFIRE America's First Reaction: Friday's McCain-Obama Debate Should Still Be Held On Friday, But Perhaps with New Focus: Immediately after John McCain's announcement 3 pm ET today, Wednesday 09/24/08, that he was suspending his campaign and seeking to postpone Friday's schedule presidential debate, SurveyUSA interviewed 1,000 adults nationwide. Key findings: A majority of Americans say the debate should be held. Just 10% say the debate should be postponed. A sizable percentage of Americans, 36%, think the focus of the debate should be modified to focus more on the economy. 3 of 4 Americans say the presidential campaign should continue. Just 14% say the presidential campaign should be suspended. If Friday's debate does not take place 46%, of Americans say that would be bad for America. Caveats: This survey was completed in middle of unprecedented and fast-changing news events. This survey should be viewed as a freeze-frame snapshot of public opinion at a unique moment in American history. Opinions can and should be expected to change as news events unfold. SurveyUSA did not characterize Senator McCain's comments nor Senator Obama's comments in any way in the research questionnaire. http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReportUC.aspx?g=54d651a7-a62b-4420-bb32-9dd6b2df8c02
So yesterday your stance was they should drop what they were doing and head back to DC. McCain suggests doing just that and now your stance is, do that but make time for the debate. Yesterday, how much time did you think they should spend in DC? Time enough for a "photo op" or time to see this through as far as they could? If you thought it was simply a "photo op" (which I doubt), then that would have been disingenuious. If you thought they should see it through to the end, then that should obviously curtail their campaigning activites.
^ Major backfire on this move -- few believe this is more than a silly political stunt. Have the debate then head to Washington.
I don't understand why he has to suspend commercials? I could see going to Washington if he really feels it is necessary, but to stop everything all together doesn't make sense. Are commercials running going to impact his decision making ability? Is he giving up?
i know this will get no response but...how has mccain taken the lead in helping to solve the problems his ideas have created? lol was going after the legal short sellers a great idea? good work mccain you have chosen the path of france, pakistan, and overstock.com! it must be those damned short sellers causing problems and not ourselves!!! doh!
Ok, just got up to speed on the full story. Someone explain to me why McCain feels the need to suspend commercials and fundraising. I thought it was just that he wanted to return to Washington to work. The rest doesn't make any sense.
Meeting with Lady Lynn? But the McCain campaign says this... Is Lady Lynn now one of McCain's economic advisers or a leader in Congress? Is she important enough to keep Obama waiting?
Because Obama has taken the national lead inthe polls and this week has increased his spending on TV ads by 50%. Basically burying McCan't.