John McCain and the Raiders of the Lost Economy
Posted on October 7th, 2008 at 10:18 am by Patrick KeeganIt is amazing how quickly elections can turn, which is why next week, we could easily be talking about John McCain making yet another Lazarus-like return to the top.
Just a month ago, the McCain campaign was basking the glory of a rousing, bring-the-party-together Convention that featured the coronation the pixie-like heiress to the Reagan legacy with frameless glasses, a winning smile, and a wink with every ‘gosh shucks’ line she lobbed to conservatives like a big, fat casaba melon. Their ticket had the lead in the national polls for virtually the first time, and an energized GOP base for a *John McCain* ticket. Never thought you’d hear that one, now did you?
Queue Lehman Brothers, and the now infamous “the fundamentals of our economy are strong” line, and you have an instant recipe on how to piss away a lead in a Presidential election. I know a few of you opined when I wrote about the “fundamentals” line stating that he was right. That we had growth last quarter, and that at 6.1%, we are at the textbook definition of a ‘healthy’ unemployment rate. Whoop-tee-doo. Tell that to the 150,000 plus people who lost jobs last month, and they’ll tell you how ‘healthy’ it is for them.
Still more people praised the bold and assertive leadership that McCain showed by the circus act suspension of his campaign, the desperate attempt at having a debate postponed, and the inept arrival in D.C. to rally the party he is the standard bearer for to successfully torpedo the first version of the bailout plan.
He kept his trophy-VP under wraps after two rough performances in interviews, and she actually saved the McCain campaign from a free fall by overcoming expectations an athletic mouse could leap over.
And just in the last couple of days, after the larded-up, pork-filled version of the bail out finally passed, McCain adviser Greg Stimple offers up this gem: “”We are looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis.”
This comes yesterday, as the Dow was down 800 points, but managed to rally and “only” losing less than 400, to drop below 10,000 for the first time in years.
These missteps have created, as David showed yesterday, a huge electoral college lead for Barack Obama. Even has the McCain campaign tries to “turn the page” on the most critical issue of this campaign right now, more hits are coming.
“The Economist” magazine published an article last week, revealing polling data from economists on the McCain and Obama economic policies. 80% of those surveyed said that Obama has a better grasp on economic issues, which includes 71% of independent economists. Obama even beat McCain among economists identifying themselves as Republicans, by a 46% to 23% margin.
The truth of the matter is, while McCain may or may not believe that the fundamentals of the economy are strong, it is becoming obvious that the fundamentals of his campaign are not. Over the weekend, trophy-VP Palin was let loose on the stage with enough mud to build a small Pueblo city. Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright are a couple of names that I’m sure Palin will be using quite a bit over the next four weeks. The funny part of the McCain campaign using Wright to besmirch Obama, is the fact that he railed against such use when the North Carolina GOP used Wright in an anti-Obama ad in April.
McCain’s quote on the matter?
“I’m making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there’s no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don’t want it.”
Right you are Senator McCain!
That is, unless of course your down six-to-eight points in the national polls, down nearly 200 in the electoral college and your Achilles heel issue just happens to be at its most critical point in decades.
I fully expect more of the “shotgun” approach to running a campaign from McCain over the next few weeks, throwing as much crap against the wall and seeing what can stick to Obama.
Whether it works or not remains to be seen.
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From the other side of the political spectrum i completely agree with your post. I was against McCain in the primary but one of the main ones was the potential for economics to be a problem. If the republicans would have nominated Romney he would make Obama look like…well kind of what Obama makes McCain look like now. The repubs can start making their plans for 2012 and hopefully that includes changing their nomination system from ‘gee, he deserves it’ to ‘who is the best candidate to run the country’ (and not just the military).
To clarify, i agree with the premise that this is obama’a race. (The presidential, not the black thing he obsesses about). As far as all this being republicans fault…anyone who thinks one party is clean and the other deserves all the blame on anything is delusional.
Those 150,000 people you lament about lost their jobs because of a Democratic controlled congress letting the Wall Street and the mortgage industry to run wild for the last 6 years. You can’t blame it all on McCain or the Republicans when it has been your party in control of the Legislative branch prior to and during the meltdown. It is clear that the Democrats blocked the Repulicans on changes that they wanted to make to Freddie and Fannie. However, despite the obstruction of the Democrats, one must wonder why the Republicans did NOTHING while they were in power for TWELVE YEARS.
Don’t be so blind to your side’s hand in the meltdown. Both parties are corrupt. Both parties took money from Freddie and Fannie. This is not just a McCain problem, it is a Washington problem. Obama is no more equiped to handle the economy than McCain. No matter who we elect, we’re in for a rough ride.
When will you partisan people wake up and say enough?
It’s time to unite and throw them all out.
I agree completely about the partisans.
Keegan, please spare me the survey references. Those economists who say Obama is better prepared for the crisis? Many of them probably agree with McCain that the government backing companies who purchase sub-prime loan packages that were sold to unqualified minorities are a disaster for the economy. If you encourage lenders to make fast money giving big loans to little people and back them up with government money (Fannie and Freddie again!), what do you expect them to do? This was a part of Obama’s organizing in Chicago however, and another part of the rise of “fairness” as Biden puts it. (Through Obama/Biden tax proposal, fair is giving a check to people who don’t pay taxes funded by increasing taxes on those who pay astronomically more.)
Obama might have a ‘better grasp’ but he will continue this kind of community organizing and attempted government regulation of the ‘opressed’ that steers the markets in dangerous directions. His values and policies encourage feelings of entitlement and reliance on government assistance rather than the hard work and responsibility that will really get us out of this mess.
If you really think that only Republicans and big bad Bush are responsible for this crisis your commitment to party warfare is a bit over the edge.
I agree with the statements above, you can’t pin it on one person or one party. As I’ve said a million times, every person who has been in Washington during the Clinton era until now, Wall Street, banks, and millions of individual consumers are all at fault.
Patrick, if you think it’s so one-sided, defend your party on this one. I’m going to steal your own words from you… quite being so negative about the party you oppose and tell us why you think the Dems have handled this crisis well and/or did everything they could to prevent it.
I agree the both parties are to blame for this mess, but you missed the point of the piece.
I am laying out a case that McCain’s recent woes are due to the fact he’s not run a good campaign, and the financial crisis has exposed that fact.
I would say both sides made mistakes here, the difference is that Obama’s plans, words and actions have shown he has an even keel. He is cutting taxes on everyone who makes under $250,000 a year, he wants to help small and start-up businesses by cutting the capital gains taxes they pay, and he wants to create new jobs by investing in renewable, American energy forms.
Alaina, even you have to admit that McCain has run a questionable campaign up until now. He’s made several gambles, some have paid, some have not, and this one on the economy has not worked out for him.
I’m not defending the Democratic party, nor am I attacking the Republican party here, both know their roles in this mess.
I just feel that McCain has performed poorly as a candidate in the last few weeks of this mess, and Obama has been better, not great mind you, but better.
McCain is done and so is this country. Obama is a big time lair and spender and we’re all going to suffer. the only other candidate that might have had a better chance was Rudy, but he blew it too by blowing off Iowa & NH.
Hillary is finished as a Presidential candidate, so in 2012 the Republicans need someone with a good business bckground to save us from the mess we’ll be in.
I’ll probably be wrong but I believe that this country will never see another Republican President in the next 30 years!!!