Posted by: ST on September 26, 2008 at 11:46 am
Nope, this doesn’t mean a deal has been reached on the bailout, but nevertheless the McCain campaign has issued a statement declaring why he’ll be attending the debate after all.
“John McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign was made in the hopes that politics could be set aside to address our economic crisis.Â
“In response, Americans saw a familiar spectacle in Washington. At a moment of crisis that threatened the economic security of American families, Washington played the blame game rather than work together to find a solution that would avert a collapse of financial markets without squandering hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ money to bailout bankers and brokers who bet their fortunes on unsafe lending practices.
 ”Both parties in both houses of Congress and the administration needed to come together to find a solution that would deserve the trust of the American people. And while there were attempts to do that, much of yesterday was spent fighting over who would get the credit for a deal and who would get the blame for failure. There was no deal or offer yesterday that had a majority of support in Congress. There was no deal yesterday that included adequate protections for the taxpayers. It is not enough to cut deals behind closed doors and then try to force it on the rest of Congress – especially when it amounts to thousands of dollars for every American family.
 ”The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain was apparent during the White House meeting yesterday where Barack Obama’s priority was political posturing in his opening monologue defending the package as it stands. John McCain listened to all sides so he could help focus the debate on finding a bipartisan resolution that is in the interest of taxpayers and homeowners. The Democratic interests stood together in opposition to an agreement that would accommodate additional taxpayer protections.
 ”Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.”
More here.
After several weeks of brilliant moves, the McCain seems to have returned to its Stuck-On-Stupid mode – and just in time for October.
I cannot say if the original decision to not debate was a good one, since McCain cut and ran before we could find out. But why take a stand like he did and then flip-flop within 48 hours? Mark my words – McCain lost the election with this stunt, and may even take a good chunk of the GOP down with him in the process. He will be seen as weak and indecisive and unable to stand up to proponents of a “rescue” package that overwhelming majorities of Americans oppose – and he will deserve it.
I sometimes wonder about the Republicans. They stand firm against Communism and Islmofascism, but pee in their pants whenever the MSM and their Democrat pets give them a dirty look. Did Howard Dean become RNC chairman when no one was looking?
Another case in point: the MSM is already trying to twist Palin’s words in an interview with “Bubbles” Couric. The winners (besides the Messiah) are Couric and the MSM, which gained legitimacy they do not deserve. The McCain campaign bought the legitimacy, gift-wrapped it with a big shiny bow, and begged on bended knee for the MSM to please pretty please take it.
How can Republicans complain about MSM sleazebags like Couric and Gibson and then keep trampling each other in the rush to be interviewed by them? Will Republicans ever learn to stop enabling the MSM?
I don’t think all is lost, MD, but it’s definitely not been a great week for McCain and many in the GOP, especially when you consider not only what you’ve pointed out, but the fact that we’ve had a few conservative pundits come out this week and basically kick the party in the teeth after “reassessing” Gov. Palin and finding her ‘unsuitable’ for the vice presidency. Internal debate is no doubt healthy, but sometimes we can be our own worst enemies.
Dick Morris wrote an interesting piece, about the mastery of McCain, and how this might play out. It’s on townhall.com. I thought it was a very interesting read.
As for all the b.s. Who knows? I think Nancy scares the hell out of men, and they cower in her presence. Reid is a weasle, and rests on her shoulders, in private.
You know, I look at incidents like McCain’s apparent flip-flop on attending tonight’s debate and think to myself, eek. His decision to attend anyway after trying so hard to make it clear that what was at stake in DC was far more important allows BO & Co. to determine the rules of the engagement — always a mistake. I don’t think the impact will be as severe as MD makes it out to be above. Nevertheless I agree it’s still a strategic error on McC’s part.
But then I remind myself that BO’s campaign is saddled with Joe Biden. And something inside of me relaxes and smiles.
All is not lost