September 25, 2008

9/25: McCain Calls Time-Out

Predictably, most conservative bloggers loved John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign and return to Washington to work on the proposed $700 billion bailout plan. Righty bloggers are praising McCain's unconventional move as "politically sagacious" and "shrewd". Hugh Hewitt declares: "The contrast between McCain as a leader and [Barack] Obama as a schemer has never been more clear than today."

Just as predictably, liberal bloggers panned McCain's move, deriding it as a "cheap stunt" that demonstrates that McCain is "temperamentally unfit to be president". Lefty bloggers believe that McCain is trying to politicize the bailout debate in Congress rather than engage in a good-faith effort to move the negotiations along. They also believe that the McCain camp is proposing to postpone the VP debate because they fear that Sarah Palin isn't ready for prime time, as evidenced by her shaky performance during her interview with CBS' Katie Couric.

MCCAIN: Desperate Candidates Do Desperate Things

Liberal bloggers see McCain's move as a cheap political stunt that reflects his desperation:

• The Huffington Post's Seth Grahame-Smith: "What a cynical, political, desperate man he's become. I can only pray that the rest of America sees this for the gimmick it is."
• AMERICAblog's Joe Sudbay: "This is a stunt from an increasingly desperate campaign -- a campaign that doesn't have a clue about the economy. The Washington Post/ABC News poll showing a nine-point Obama lead must be similar to McCain's internal polling."
• Obsidian Wings' hilzoy: "This is flailing desperation. [...] He's down in the polls. His 'brilliant' VP pick is not wearing well, even in her virtual press seclusion. His responses to a genuine crisis are all over the map. So he decides that rather than scaling back his appearances and being quietly helpful behind the scenes, he will descend on Washington, cameras in tow, and posture."
• Oliver Willis: "Sen. Obama proposed some bipartisan action on this, but drama queen John McCain decided to try and take all the credit for this by 'suspending' his campaign -- because he's currently trailing in the polls. That smell? That's desperation."
• MyDD's Todd Beeton: "Shorter John McCain: Hey, look over there!"
• TPM's Josh Marshall: "Bringing the presidential candidates and their press entourages back to Capitol Hill won't speed or improve the process of coming up with a good bailout deal. It will politicize it. That's so transparently obvious that it barely requires stating. And of course that is the point. By going public with his 'suspension' announcement as a breaking news statement McCain intended to make any agreement between the candidate impossible. Contrast that with Obama's campaign, which apparently tried to get both campaigns to agree on a common set of principles privately before going public. There's no logical reason there can't be a presidential debate while a bailout plan is being negotiated. Finally, does anyone think that McCain would have come up with this gambit if his polls were where they were two weeks ago instead of where they are today? Of course, not. This isn't a reaction to the national financial crisis but to the McCain polling crisis."
• The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "I've never even heard of a presidential candidate acting in such a reckless, compulsive, and ultimately haphazard fashion. McCain just decided to 'suspend' campaign activities? This rivals picking Sarah Palin for the ticket on the list of desperation moves. [...] The Republican nomination has apparently gone to some kind of man-child who believes stunts and gimmicks are the way to the White House. It is nothing short of breathtaking to see someone so manifestly unserious seek the highest office in the land."
• TAPPED's Adam Serwer: "John McCain's latest effort to ensure that the campaign becomes a narrative of his personal heroism, rather than a referendum on the issues, is to 'suspend' campaigning and postpone Friday's debate ostensibly to deal with the economic crisis. This is like a student caught cheating who demands that class be interrupted so he can finish the homework that was assigned yesterday, given that he hadn't bothered to read the bill as of yesterday. His call to put 'Country First' just happens to occur a day after unfavorable polling and the revelation that his campaign manager Rick Davis has been apparently engaged in undisclosed lobbying on behalf of one of the very mortgage giants McCain identified as being part of 'the culture of corruption and influence' in Washington. Most disconcerting is the idea that this is how McCain would run his administration. The American people cannot stop what they're doing whenever John McCain feels like he needs a time out. It's the president's job to be able to concentrate on more than one thing at a time without having a panic attack."
• Sadly, No!'s Brad: "Shorter John McCain campaign: Barack Obama needs to stop kicking my ass for the sake of national unity, my friends!"
• Atrios: "So much obvious stuff can be said about this. McCain hasn't voted since April, etc.. etc.. But basically his campaign thinks you're stupid."

MCCAIN II: I Guess Those Fundamentals Aren't So Strong Anymore...

Many liberal bloggers are observing that McCain's rhetoric about the economy has shifted dramatically during the past two weeks:

• Daily Kos' Markos Moulitsas: "So apparently, McCain no longer thinks the fundamentals of our economy are strong. So now he's 'suspending his campaign'."
• TPM's David Kurtz: "The guy who a week ago said the fundamentals of our economy remain strong suddenly suspends his campaign and wants to cancel the first presidential debate to rush back to Washington to deal with a crisis that his vice presidential candidate now says could lead to another Great Depression if not addressed immediately."
• The Huffington Post's Jed Lewison: "It's taken [McCain] exactly ten days to go from the economy is strong to we're heading into the Great Depression and must stop the campaign. But nothing has changed other than the polls, and that's why it's impossible to take this gamble seriously."
• Balloon Juice's Tim F.: "Several pundits noted McCain's polar swing from dissing economic concerns last Monday to hair-on-fire panic today. That sort of bipolar, crisis-to-crisis reactivity is normally taken as a sign that a person (or campaign) has no idea what is going on."

MCCAIN III: Reckless, Cowardly, Or Both?

Many liberal bloggers are portraying McCain's move as an example of his recklessness:

• Beeton: "This needs to be framed as John McCain in panic mode. This is what someone who panics does, while Barack is calm and steady in a time of crisis."
• Marshall: "Desperate and Reckless: Ramp up Georgia Crisis for votes; Call off half the GOP convention; pick a demonstrably unqualified freshman governor to salvage his campaign; calls for firing head of the SEC; now ask to have presidential debates delayed or canceled so he can politicize the bailout debate..."
• Lewison: "What we are witnessing right now is what a McCain presidency would be like -- herky jerky, bouncing from crisis to crisis, overreacting at every step. [...] McCain wants to demonstrate his leadership skills, but instead he's demonstrating beyond any doubt that he is temperamentally unfit to be president."
• tristero: "The McCain campaign's behavior is worse than a cheap stunt; it's seriously panicky behavior, the last thing this country needs from its leaders."
• Balloon Juice's John Cole: "If you want some moron to run around like his hair is on fire in a time of crisis, McCain is your man."
• Open Left's Chris Bowers: "McCain is crazy out of control. He will do anything crazy if it is perceived as helping him, no matter how ludicrous it actually is (such as, say, picking Palin as VP.) What an incredibly dangerous President this guy would be."

Other liberal bloggers are accusing McCain of cowardice and/or lack of preparedness:

• Willis: "Does McCain realize that there's no 'time out' in the White House?"
• Atrios: "What's the problem, John? Are you chicken?"
• Ezra Klein: "There's every reason to focus [Friday]'s debate on the economic crisis, but no reason to cancel it. And, indeed, McCain is not canceling everything. He is still giving his speech at the Clinton Global Initiative. He is simply hiding from the debate. He's a kid pulling the fire alarm because final is coming up and he hasn't studied. Such a panicked response to declining poll numbers and major national events does not inspire confidence. You don't get to call time out when you're president."
• Think Progress' Matthew Yglesias: "John McCain feels he can't do debate prep and make up his mind about the bailout proposal at the same time. He wants an extension."
• The Nation's Ari Melber: "After calling for debates all summer, John McCain is cutting and running from the first one. [...] McCain says he is taking these dramatic steps because he wants to focus on congressional negotiations over the bailout. It's not clear how a national presidential debate -- the ultimate bully pulpit in this political season -- would detract from any effort to build national consensus on solutions for the economic crisis."

MCCAIN IV: Where Are Your Priorities, John?

Liberal bloggers are arguing that McCain's behavior during the past 24 hours proves that his call to suspend his campaign was nothing more than a political stunt. First of all, they're pointing out that McCain made time to meet with a prominent supporter yesterday morning, as The Politico's Ben Smith reports:

"The McCain campaign's new urgency about the financial crisis didn't entirely clear his schedule this morning. My colleague Amie Parnes reports that he made it to his scheduled morning meeting with Lady Lynn de Rothschild, a Clinton backer who recently came out in support of him. All while Obama was waiting by the phone for a returned call."

• MyDD's Jonathan Singer: "Just how important was it for McCain to make time [for working on the economic crisis]? Apparently not so important to cancel a meeting with a very wealthy supporter this morning, as Ben Smith reports."
• AMERICAblog's John Aravosis: "McCain thought meeting a beautiful filthy rich member of royalty was more important than focusing on the economy today. Yet he now suddenly wants to cancel everything to focus on the economy."
• Marshall: "It seems that today during the time Barack Obama was waiting to hear back from Sen. McCain about their planned joint statement -- and while McCain says he was meeting with key advisors and becoming increasingly concerned about the financial crisis facing the country -- he was actually holding a special meeting with Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, the expat international financier who once supported Hillary Clinton but now is supporting McCain because she thinks Obama is 'elitist'."

Second, liberal bloggers are pointing out that McCain didn't fly to Washington immediately, but instead gave a speech this morning at the Clinton Global initiative in New York City:

• TalkLeft's Big Tent Democrat: "Can someone explain to me how time is of the essence requiring cancellation of the Presidential debate but it does not require McCain to cancel his appearance at the Clinton Global Initiative? [...] This makes no sense. Clearly this is a stunt by McCain."
• Benen: "I'm afraid I must be a little fuzzy on what it means to 'suspend' one's presidential campaign. As John McCain sees it, the crisis on Wall Street is so serious, he couldn't possibly recommend a proposal and seek the presidency at the same time, and the idea of taking 90 minutes to debate Barack Obama is just wrong. McCain can, however, stop by New York to address the Clinton Global Initiative, in part to talk about why he can't make any political appearances during the economic crisis."

MCCAIN V: Smart Politics Or Stupid Politics?

A few liberal bloggers also thought that McCain's move was politically savvy:

• digby: "I actually think this is pretty savvy. He doesn't want to give the country a chance to see the two of them together right now and make the logical comparisons. He also wants to show that he can 'take charge' in a crisis and the optics of this are that he's rushing back to to Washington to knock some heads together."
• Moulitsas: "It's not a bad political stunt. He gets to play at being 'bipartisan', at a time his campaign is getting pummeled. And he has yet another excuse to keep Palin hidden away in [Dick] Cheney's undisclosed location."

Others aren't so sure:

• FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver: "Maybe I'm grossly misreading this, but I don't think McCain's decision to 'suspend' his campaign today self-evidently looks Presidential. It could look Presidential, or it could look like a stunt. [...] The cumulative audience between the three Presidential debates will likely significantly exceed that of the Super Bowl. [Americans] like watching them, and look forward to them. If McCain denies them that pleasure, they are likely to be angry with him, perhaps in ways they have difficulty expressing."
• Firedoglake's Spencer Ackerman: "John McCain started the day as a presidential candidate slightly down in the polls. [...He] ended the day as, literally, a national joke. I think he's done. Really. This is one unforced error atop another. The McCain campaign is now suggesting suspending the Biden-Palin debate. It's almost as if they think that compounding the initial mistake would wash the whole thing clean. Did McCain hire Bob Shrum and not tell anyone? [...] John McCain lost the election today. He looks erratic, panicked, utterly unable to assess a situation for what it is and mistaken about what his relationship to the electorate is. The only question at this point is how McCain rehabilitates his post-defeat reputation and continues in public life even as a fraction of the statesman he used to be."

MCCAIN VI: A Brilliant Maneuver!

Most conservative bloggers are praising McCain's move and panning Obama's response:

• NRO's Peter Kirsanow: "McCain looks like a decisive man of action and Obama looks like a guy who prefers to vote 'present' in the midst of a crisis."
• Townhall's Hugh Hewitt: "The contrast between McCain as a leader and Obama as a schemer has never been more clear than today, and it will be incredible if a majority of Americans forget this sharp contrast over the next six weeks. John McCain is absolutely right to focus on the legislation and to suspend his campaign until that solution emerges. McCain will never be accused of fiddling while the markets burned, while Obama now owns the consequences of putting his political ambitions ahead of the country's interests. I guess Obama's reaction to a terrorist attack would have been to hold another fund-raiser? Perhaps Obama just doesn't understand the significance of what is going on?"
• Townhall's Mike Gallagher: "I have never been prouder of John McCain. [...] John McCain made a decision to do his job. After all, like Obama, he is a sitting U.S. Senator. McCain announced that he's suspending his campaign, heading to Washington and doing everything he can to help get this economic calamity fixed. Sen. Obama wants to put on the make-up and and smile pretty for the TV cameras in Oxford, Mississippi, site of tomorrow night's scheduled debate. What a dramatic difference between these two men. John McCain is a natural leader, Barack Obama is a wanna-be."
• RedState's Pejman Yousefzadeh: "This is entirely the right thing to do. [...] The debate can be 'on' but why the need to have it this Friday night? Surely, there are more pressing issues -- like the resolution of any legislation to deal with the current economic crisis, nyet? We can have the debate later. For now, we need Senator McCain, Senator Obama and Senator Biden to attend to the duties they are currently being paid for and get to work with others from both parties in order to fashion a legislative compromise."
• NRO's Jonah Goldberg: "Politically, I think it is shrewd, even wise. It demonstrates McCain's willingness to make politics and partisanship a secondary concern. Obviously, some of McCain's detractors will see it as a gimmick. But politics is all about gimmickry in a sense. [...] As a matter of civics, I am at a loss to understand what the argument against this could possibly be. I didn't much like the cancellation of the first night of the GOP convention because of the hurricane. Democracy should go on, and all that. But postponing a debate so that the world's oldest deliberative body can tackle the most pressing domestic crisis in modern memory seems both democratic and appropriate. The debate in Congress isn't a photo-op. It's what Congress is for."
• Townhall's Matt Lewis: "This seems to me to be a very politically sagacious move. It shows McCain is putting the economy before politics and is putting his Senatorial duties before politics. By calling for this unilaterally, McCain is demonstrating bold and strong leadership -- and is once again defining the 'debate'. This may also serve to sort of recalibrate the political mood, which has been decidedly bad for McCain since the economic news broke."
• Power Line's Paul Mirengoff: "This seems like a good move. If Obama agrees, he's following McCain, not leading. Moreover, Obama seems to have 'momentum' on his side right now, so a 'time-out' might help McCain marginally. If Obama doesn't agree, he may be seen as unwilling to put 'country first.' And if a deal is negotiated (something I think most Americans would like to see, as a general matter), then McCain will receive credit and Obama won't. Finally, if Obama is campaigning while McCain isn't, the focus may shift back to him. In this race, staged conventions aside, increased focus seems to correlate with slippage in the polls. That was the case with Obama following his trip abroad and the case with McCain following the Republican convention."
• AmSpec Blog's J.P. Freire: "It's a smart move. McCain says, 'This goes further than politics.' He reaches out to Obama. Media attention suddenly forgets about his absurd thirst for Chris Cox's blood. Now, the media is talking about how McCain initiated a rise above campaign smears. So long to that line about 'McCain Is Running A Filthy Lying Campaign.' Symbolically speaking, McCain wins the news cycle today. Any possible campaign stops he'd have over the next few days wouldn't have yielded the kind of press he's going to get for doing this."
• NRO's Michael Ledeen: "I think we sometimes get so involved with inside baseball that it becomes impossible to see real leadership. McCain is right: if this crisis is as grave as most everyone says, it should be the only thing, not just the most important thing for those who would be president."

MCCAIN VII: This Was Probably A Good Move, But...

Other conservative bloggers offered more muted praise for McCain's decision:

• Townhall's Jonathan Garthwaite: "I tend to agree with Matt [Lewis], Hugh [Hewitt], et al that McCain campaign suspension and questioning of the debate schedule was a smart decision. It hasn't been a great couple of days for the McCain campaign and McCain had to make sure the American public knew he was taking the economic situation seriously. That being said, in my humble opinion, McCain needs to be careful not to take it too far. To disarm unilaterally in the ad wars and risk looking weak as a no-show to Friday's debate would be disasterous."
• Right Wing News' John Hawkins: "Was it a good move? Yes, but only if McCain takes advantage of the situation. If McCain goes to D.C. and ends up helping to push through a 700 billion dollar nightmare for the American taxpayers, I think it will remind conservatives exactly what they don't like about the guy: that he is very bipartisan, but 'bipartisan' to him means screwing conservatives. [...] However, if McCain, who does have a good reputation as a fiscal conservative, helps bring about a better, more fiscally responsible bill or even helps stop this bill and gets another debate at a better time, he has made this situation work for him. Whatever the case may be, he has shown leadership -- but, let's just hope he's not leading us down the road to perdition with this bill."
• NRO's Jim Geraghty: "I am not certain McCain is right on the politics of this, i.e., whether or not the public will agree with him that this is a good idea. But I think it's probably right as a matter of policy. There's still plenty of time to do three presidential and one vice-presidential debate. [...] Postpone the debate. Pass the bill. Get the toxic loans out of the system. Save the economy."
• NRO's Rich Lowry: "I'm a 'the show must go on' guy. I didn't like that McCain cancelled the first day of the Republican convention. So I don't see why we can't have a presidential debate even in the midst of this crisis. On the other hand, my preferences aside, there's the politics of McCain's move, which may work to his advantage. 1) He needed to change the story line and flush out the 'fundamentals of the economy strong' mis-step from last week, and this does it; 2) it's not going to strike most people as wrong or unreasonable for a senator to go to Washington and participate in a senate debate over this historic bailout package; 3) as long as it isn't perceived as gimmicky, people will like the anti-politics-as-usual feel of McCain 'suspending' his campaign; 4) they can still have the debate next week."

MCCAIN VIII: He Did What?

A few conservative bloggers were less fond of McCain's decision:

• AmSpec Blog's Philip Klein: "This is the latest bizarre move in a really erratic week and a half for the Republican nominee."
• AmSpec Blog's Robert Stacy McCain: "Let's not mince words. It's just plain crazy, is what it is. I can't think of any way to justify this move. Can anyone else?"
• AmSpec Blog's James Antle: "This move would make more sense if Obama had agreed to do the same thing or seemed likely to feel pressure to do so. I understand McCain wants to be the country-first problem-solver here. But being out there by himself asking for the debate to be delayed and attracting headlines that say 'McCain Suspends Campaign' just doesn't seem helpful."
• Hot Air's Allahpundit: "He's trying to siphon off some of Obama's strength with voters on the economy, obviously, but er...at the expense of a debate on foreign policy that would have played to his own strength? What does McCain gain by steering the campaign towards an issue for which the public blames his party?"
• The Next Right's Sean Oxendine: "(1.) I don't like the decision to suspend his campaign. For one thing, I think it is lose-lose for him. If there is a deal, it is going to be extremely unpopular with large swaths of the electorate. The politically savvy decision, at least in the short term, is to rail against Wall Street bailouts while hoping the deal goes through. If there is no deal, John McCain looks like he can't get things done. (2.) I also don't like it because it reeks of desperation. This is especially apparent at a time when the bottom really is falling out for McCain's polling numbers. It's still a long way to November, but it isn't THAT long. (3.) On the other hand, just because I don't like it, doesn't mean that he didn't have to do it. It's a desperate sounding move, but I do think with what's going on in the polls, he had to do something. And he may have already been in a no-win situation."

MCCAIN IX: The Rick Davis Files

Yesterday we noted that liberal bloggers were accusing the McCain camp of hypocrisy and corruption after The New York Times and Newsweek reported that the lobbying firm owned by McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis was receiving $15,000 monthly payments from Freddie Mac as recently as last month. McCain blogger Michael Goldfarb wrote a 700-word response attacking The New York Times and asserting that Davis "has seen no income from [his lobbying company] Davis Manafort since 2006." Liberal bloggers are arguing that Goldfarb's response is inadequate, pointing out that it doesn't deny the central revelation of the Times and Newsweek articles -- namely, that Davis's firm received "$15,000 monthly payments from Freddie Mac, which began while Davis was still running the firm":

• The New Republic's Jason Zengerle: "This is a nice bit of sleight of hand on Goldfarb's part. The NYT story doesn't allege that Davis himself was paid by Freddie Mac until last month; rather, it alleges that his firm -- from which, as the NYT story notes, he's been on leave during the presidential campaign -- was paid by Freddie Mac. [...] Goldfarb is basically answering an allegation the Times story doesn't make. Indeed, the central allegation of the Times story is that McCain was either misinformed or was lying when he recently said that Davis's work with the mortgage giant ended in 2005 when it dissolved its Homeownership Alliance, of which Davis served as president (for the princely sum of $30,000 to $35,000 a month). As today's NYT story reports, after the Homeownership Alliance was disbanded, Davis went to Freddie Mac and asked to be put on a retainer, for $15,000 a month. Nowhere in Goldfarb's rebuttal does he address -- or even acknowledge -- that charge."
• Benen: "The McCain campaign went to quite a bit of trouble this morning to offer a detailed denial that doesn't actually deny the charges at hand, and doesn't even try to answer any of the unresolved questions, including the fact that McCain's public statements now appear to contradict the public record on Davis' activities. [...] Remember, the McCain campaign walked right into this one, insisting that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were largely responsible for the Wall Street crisis, and any associations between a candidate and officials at the lending companies are necessarily scandalous. Talk about leading with one's chin...."
• Marshall: "At this point with Davis and the campaign caught in so many different lies, do they really have any credibility to make such claims absent actual evidence? I mean, just yesterday Davis was saying he hadn't had any contact with the mortgage giants since the front group he ran for them shut down in 2005. And now we learn that the following year he asked [Freddie Mac] to keep sending more checks, apparently in return for no services rendered -- a point, you should note, that Goldfarb appears unable to deny. Second, if I'm an owner of a company, I don't have to draw compensation today to reap benefits from the company's current success and profits."
• Firedoglake's Christy Hardin Smith: "Since the McCain campaign official statement denies that Davis was 'lobbying,' perhaps McCain can explain why Freddie Mac agreed to monthly payments of $15,000 per invoice which Davis personally requested from them? What exactly was Mr. Davis doing to earn this 'fee?'"

Open Left's Matt Stoller: "McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis is basically still on Freddie Mac's payroll. This is literally the most openly corrupt and dishonest campaign I've ever seen."

In a related development, Newsweek reported last night that Davis "has remained the treasurer and a corporate director of his lobbying firm this year, despite repeated statements by campaign officials that he had ended his relationship with the firm in 2006, according to corporate records":

• Marshall: "Seems like only yesterday the McCain was explaining to us, no, lecturing us on how Rick Davis has completely severed his ties from his lobbying firm that was taking $15,000 a month from Freddie Mac until August. Guess that didn't pan out. Turns out he's still a director and treasurer of the firm."
• Firedoglake's Lindsay Beyerstein: "If you are still a director of a company, you have not separated from it. The McCain camp is lying again."

PALIN: Another Interview Disaster

Liberal bloggers believe that Palin gave embarrassingly weak answers during the first part of her interview with Couric (video here, transcript here):

• The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates: "Not as bad as [her interview with ABC's Charles] Gibson, but good lord. This campaign is now officially surreal. If Palin is supposed to be the 'ordinary American' she passed that test -- she really does sound like an ordinary American. Her answers sound like the responses Couric would get if she interview one of my friends. At three A./M. After a night of drinking."
• dday: "Good God. I don't know what to say. [...] I think the wrong candidate decided to suspend their campaign. No wonder they're trying to spike the VP debate."
• Atrios: "Oh my is this a horror show."
• Moulitsas: "Trainwreck. She makes Bush look good. Amazing, but she does."
• Cole: "Good Lord. Sarah Palin's CBS interview with Katie Couric was a train wreck. [...] Now do you understand why they are trying to weasel out of the debate?"
• BooMan: "Look at Sarah Palin. Look at her. She has no clue. She has absolutely zero clue. John McCain wants to delay the first presidential debate and the vice-presidential debate. Does he think delay can help turn Sarah Palin into a credible public servert...a credible potential president? Please. No amount of training can cure Stupid."
• Daily Kos' Meteor Blades: "I am torn between wanting to watch and parse every word of this deliciously telling interview and wanting to turn away in nearly sympathetic embarrassment for Palin. Yet 76% of Republicans still believe she is 'prepared.' Prepared for what, exactly? Not only does she not get it. She doesn't get that she doesn't get it."

PALIN II: So This Is Why McCain Wants To Postpone The VP Debate...

Many bloggers believe the McCain camp is proposing to postpone the VP debate because they're afraid that Palin isn't ready:

• Benen: "The Couric interview reinforced what many already feared -- the notion that Palin is ready for primetime is ridiculous, and the idea that she's prepared to be one heartbeat from the presidency in four months is literally laughable. There's a very good reason the McCain campaign wants to delay the Palin-Biden debate, and it has nothing to do with Wall Street."
• Cole: "Sarah Palin is clearly not ready to debate next week, and the McCain campaign is desperate for a way to postpone her appearance."
• Moulitsas: "So we know the McCain campaign is maneuvering to cancel the vice-presidential debate. [...] I'm guessing it's the debate prep. They've had [Palin] in Wingnut U for the past two weeks, cramming for all the shit she needs to know but knows nothing about. And at some point, probably abetted by McCain's and Palin's collapsing numbers, the campaign realized that they'd be even more fucked than now if she went through with the debate. Because really, there's NO other reason why this would make sense. None."
• Aravosis: "A grander pattern is emerging as to what was motivating McCain's Hail Mary publicity stunt today. For starters, we now have the first look at Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric. Palin is in so far over her head, it isn't even funny."
• Mother Jones' Kevin Drum: "A couple of hours ago I suggested that maybe John McCain would try to postpone the first debate to October 2nd because that would then eliminate the vice presidential debate. (So sad....) I thought I was just being hackishly cynical when I said that, but no: according to CNN, that's exactly what McCain is proposing. The VP debate would then be 'rescheduled.' (Perhaps to November 5th, joked Dana Milbank.) My lesson for the day: No matter how hackishly cynical you think you are, you're no match for the hackish cynicism of the McCain campaign."
• hilzoy: "Like Kevin Drum, I had been saying 'ha ha, I suppose they'll try to reschedule the first Presidential debate for October 2nd', as a joke. Silly me, and silly Kevin, to think that the McCain campaign would manage not to make that ludicrous unforced error. I think I know why, though: after her interview with Katie Couric, they surely cannot want Sarah Palin to have one more moment of unscripted TV time than is absolutely necessary."

CLINTON: Bubba Spins For McCain

Bill Clinton is once again making waves with his kind words for McCain -- particularly his defense of McCain's decision to suspend his campaign and back out of Friday's debate. Conservative bloggers are enjoying Clinton's behavior:

• Allahpundit: "Think he's enjoying feeding The One this turdburger in bite-sized morsels as thanks for all the racial demagoguery thrown at him during the primary? The best part of this isn't the 'good faith' bit but his point -- which he repeats, so that no one misses it -- that Maverick actually wanted more debates, not less. That'll be a handy riposte tomorrow if McCain ends up skipping out and the left starts accusing him of being scared. Exit question that's really not a question: Dude, he's totally voting Republican this year, isn't he?"
• NRO's Kathryn Jean Lopez: "Bill Clinton [is] not very far away from campaigning for John McCain."
• Glenn Reynolds: "McCain's lucky to have such a supporter."

Liberal bloggers, on the other hand, are annoyed:

• Stoller: "Bill Clinton continues to praise McCain. The Clinton's are obviously split; they are helping Obama, but want Obama to lose so that she can run again in 2012. People are already informally lining up behind her in case Obama loses. Pathetic."
• Yglesias: "Recall that John McCain has been pretty rude to George W. Bush throughout his campaign, busy angrily denying that there's any similarity between the two GOP leaders and their policy agenda. Nevertheless, Bush is sufficiently committed to conservatism that as best I can tell he's been unfailingly helpful to McCain's efforts. Not sometimes helpful but always helpful."

The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan: "Bill Clinton [is] now openly spinning for McCain. It doesn't surprise me, but it may surprise others."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: An Election About Nothing

The Atlantic's Ross Douthat:

"McCain's gamble may be politically smart, or it may be politically stupid, but like almost everything that's happened in this campaign since the two candidates locked up their respective nominations, it's primarily interesting on a tactical level; its substantive import is close to nil. Both McCain and Obama are almost certain, at this point, to end up supporting whatever bailout compromise is hashed out in Congress, which means that we'll be able to add the current economic crisis to the list of issues where the two candidates have managed to avoid anything like a sustained argument about policy. It's the Russo-Georgian War all over again: McCain responds boldly/impulsively, Obama responds carefully/overcautiously, but they both end up saying roughly the same thing, and the pundit class goes back to obsessing about whatever shocking poll or web ad has been released that day."

LEST WE FORGET: 'Boring,' Hillary Clinton Shouts From Senate Seat

From The Onion:

"WASHINGTON -- In a blatant show of disgust and indifference toward her senatorial duties, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) repeatedly yelled 'boring' from her seat Wednesday, interrupting New Mexico senator Jeff Bingaman's speech in support of S. 3125, a bill that would extend certain expiring provisions of the Internal Tax Revenue Code of 1986.

Clinton's declaration of boredom and the various iterations that followed—including shouts of 'Bored,' 'I'm bored,' 'This is stupid,' 'This is boring,' and 'Oh my God, I'm so bored' -- were not reportedly targeted at one person in particular but at the entire assembly. According to those senators present, Clinton delivered her unprompted remarks while she slouched in her chair, rested her head atop the back of her seat, and fixed her eyes on the Senate Chamber's ceiling. [...]

'Stop being boring,' Clinton added. 'Why can't we do something fun for a change, like run for president?'"

Posted by Ian Faerstein at September 25, 2008 01:21 PM