McCain campaign admits the economy is in the dumper

[Fear Itself]

What a turn around from just last June, when McCain was sure the economy was very strong (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldVH22XxUk4&feature=related); now, they are admitting it is so weak, it would be in poor taste to host a lavish convention (http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_10279696?n):While Democrats in Denver are arranging for the spectacle of a stadium-sized throng, the Republicans here are staging things a bit differently for their get-together Sept. 1-4. They talk about a more intimate, you-are-there feeling. Simple but classy, they're calling it.

"We're much more simple this time than we have been in the past," said Nash, a veteran TV producer. "Basically, Sen. McCain and his staff feel that to do something real glitzy and Las Vegas-like would be inappropriate, the way the economy is." So which is it John W.? Is the economy very strong, or is so weak you are embarrassed to put on anything more than a good, Republican cloth coat for your convention?

[Cervaise]

Cloth coat? I want to see them in a hair shirt.

Of course, it'll probably be Britney's hair, but still...

[Merijeek]

What a turn around from just last June, when McCain was sure the economy was very strong (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldVH22XxUk4&feature=related); now, they are admitting it is so weak, it would be in poor taste to host a lavish convention (http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_10279696?n):So which is it John W.? Is the economy very strong, or is so weak you are embarrassed to put on anything more than a good, Republican cloth coat for your convention?

There is the very likely possibility, of course, that it's a matter of sour grapes, seeing as how McCain has trouble filling an auditorium, much less a stadium.

-Joe

[Quartz]

The BBC news said the American economy grew 3% in Q2 2008. Link to story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7586280.stm).

[Fear Itself]

The BBC news said the American economy grew 3% in Q2 2008. Link to story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7586280.stm).
So the McCain campaign is lying about the state of the economy?

[R. P. McMurphy]

So the McCain campaign is lying about the state of the economy?

Lying? Clueless? It's one or the other or maybe both.

[John Mace]

So the McCain campaign is lying about the state of the economy?
Those numbers just came out today, genius.

Oh, and how do you get "in the dumper" from "the way the economy is"?

[Leaper]

One possibility: no matter what McCain personally feels about the economy, he may just be playing to the average Joe, whom he almost certainly knows from polls THINK the economy is bad. Sort of like throwing a big birthday party when the guy next door just got laid off.

[Fear Itself]

Oh, and how do you get "in the dumper" from "the way the economy is"?You must have noticed there were no quotes around "in the dumper" so what's your beef? When they said it "would be inappropriate, the way the economy is", how do you spin it any other way? They are so ashamed of what they have done to the country, they know it would look bad to do otherwise. In that context, "the way the economy is" is exactly the same as "in the dumper" .

[John Mace]

You must have noticed there were no quotes around "in the dumper" so what's your beef?
It's not even a good paraphrase.

When they said it "would be inappropriate, the way the economy is", how do you spin it any other way? They are so ashamed of what they have done to the country, they know it would look bad to do otherwise. In that context, "the way the economy is" is exactly the same as "in the dumper" .
Eh. If you're predisposed to hate the Republicans, I guess it's not surprising that you'd interpret the remark in the worst possible light possible. People like you give the Democrats a bad name.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Uh, John, the inference is pretty clear.

Let's try a little experiment. Here's the quote again, and a couple of modified versions, for comparisons' sake:
"Basically, Sen. McCain and his staff feel that to do something real glitzy and Las Vegas-like would be inappropriate, the way the economy is."
"Basically, Sen. McCain and his staff feel that to do something real glitzy and Las Vegas-like would be inappropriate, since the economy is doing well."
"Basically, Sen. McCain and his staff feel that to do something real glitzy and Las Vegas-like would be inappropriate, since the economy is in the dumper."

One of these things is
not like the others
one of these things is
not... the same...

[dre2xl]

Are you guys also calling Warren Buffett a liar?

McCain used pretty specific wording in the Youtube video that was linked. Having strong fundamentals is not mutually exclusive with being in a recession.

[Leaper]

Reading the article, there is of course the possibility that the quoted person (a producer for the convention, and not a part of the McCain campaign himself) is just reading his own interpretation into the instructions given to him by the campaign. It's hard to say.

[Mince]

McCain campaign admits the economy is in the dumper.


How could he (they) not? To do otherwise would be akin to the 8-year-old denying he ate the chocolate cake...with chocolate cake all over his face.

[elfkin477]

Which June is the OP talking about? The youtube link is dated June 2008, which isn't last June to a lot of people. "in June..." or "this past June..." sure, but "last June" was in 2007. Except when people don't think it was. Why can't we agree on these things?

Eh. McCain knows he's not an economist, he told us so already, so this gaff doesn't bother me as much as it will if he picks a VP who is also economically clueless.

[Voyager]

How could he (they) not? To do otherwise would be akin to the 8-year-old denying he ate the chocolate cake...with chocolate cake all over his face.
C'mon, Cheney does that kind of thing all the time.