So I’m sitting here these days while the economy is tanking, thinking to myself that McCain has really lost the plot in his bid for the White House.
All I want to say (a la SNL yesterday) is “Really?.. Really Senator McCain?” Here we are in what by all accounts appears to be the greatest economic challenge since 1929 and he’s out there running ads on Bill Ayers and actually admitted to being unable to win on the economy.
So now McCain has decided to run on Obama’s “associations” and his Chicago pals etc. Maybe this isn’t the main narrative coming out of his mouth, but the new Ayers / Chicago ad coming out these days is also part of his narrative. It’s incredibly poorly timed. I personally think it’s an insult be trying these bullshit old “boogedy-boogedey-boo!” during a period of such important national crisis. But as a Democrat, I’m quite pleased in that he’s chosen to make some of the worst possible campaign decisions. But I almost feel sorry for him to be honest. He really ought to have known better than this.
Sarah Palin did worry me at first. She was a great unknown, and could have possibly done something really spectacular. However it became clear as time wore on that she’s clearly a mental lightweight with plenty of political baggage. You know who would scare the shit out of me as a Democrat? Mike Huckabee. Even I like Mike Huckabee despite the fact that I disagree with everything he stands for. He’s have energized the base and his populist message would be perfect for the financial mess. Instead we get the nasty Sarah Palin who simply reminds those of us not on the far right of exactly what is wrong with this country. He’s a very old man and the person he offers up to be his successor is clearly not intelligent enough to know better than to run for VP. I suppose he hoped that the right-wing echo chamber would put enough mis-information to dupe the public into believing that she has credentials, but luckily we saw past that.
So McCain is going to continue on this path? I hope he does, because it is only going to work in our favor. He can get nasty if he wants, and it may even make things tighter in some places, but he won’t win this way. The stock market has lost 2.5 trillion dollars in seven days, and McCain wants to talk about someone Obama chaired some board with over a decade ago. People are scared shitless and not only does he offer nothing but token ideas and half-measures (like suspending his campaign) he’s coming out of all of this acting very un-presidential. When the shit hits the fan, McCain comes out swinging with no clear target nor overall strategy.
The only way McCain can have a chance of beating Obama is if he somehow changes his image. His current image is one of a guy who is simply not prepared to be President. He chose Sarah Palin when he had the obvious choices of Huckabee or Romney. But he felt that his luck wouldn’t run out. He didn’t even know her for Christ’s sake! He nearly killed the bailout bill despite his best efforts. Now he has conceded the economy as an issues and if anyone here knows anything about American politics, is that when the economy is bad, the guy who seems most competent on it will simply win. Obama is going to win because McCain is simply to big-headed to run a campaign that addresses what people are actually interested in.
Maybe Obama won’t win, and if he does I’ll be sad. But if he loses it won’t be for a lack of anything that I could point out. Obama has the most favorable terrain, the best organization and the best demeanor and also the better public image.
I just don’t understand how McCain can be so blind. The truth of it is though that I doubt he’s really in charge at this point. I feel like he said to the Republican goons “Just do whatever it takes to win and I’ll sign off on it.” I really think he wanted to choose Joe Lieberman. Yet he made an insulting political calculation. He decided that he’d choose a woman (because all Hillary voters voted for her because she’s a woman, right?) and he also deicded that he’d pick one of the least possible qualified Republican women to boot. There were dozens of prominent female Republicans he could have chosen.
What should McCain be doing now? He’s truly sunken as low as possible. He has become what he loathed in 2000 by using Bush’s dirty South Carolina tactics to try to win an election. Except that he’s late to the party. This is a year when these tactics are out-dated. I’d be surprised if McCain were to even gain any traction at all with these attacks.
What would you advise him to do? If I were McCain I’d first of all keep Sarah Palin in the background. No matter how bad she is, dumping her for someone better will have a net-negative effect. I’ve long argued that nobody will change their VP. McCain ought to for the good of the country, but for the good of his campaign he shouldn’t. He ought to do his best to appear Presidential. He ought to focus on his ideas instead of purely on Obama’s. McCain has made this election about Obama. He will never only make it about himself, but he needs to have people talking about him. But it can’t be a stunt. McCain needs to pick an economic angle (one that is wisely thought out) and try to hammer it out for the rest of the election. If he were to do that, then I could see him making some headway. I’d need to be different, but it needs to be responsible and backed by important people. He needs to quit playing the culture wars because this time around they’re really pissing off the independents. He’s so undesirable he’s even got racists in West Virginia not sure who to vote for: McCain or the N****r. That’ right folks. The economic situation is so dire, and Obama is so clearly ahead in that area, that people are willing to consider voting for a man of a race they consider inferior to save their own hides. He needs stability and he needs a new message. While they seem mutually exclusive, they aren’t. He needs to come up with a comprehensive idea that offers an alternative, while not being half-baked like all of his other ideas. Once he hits on that he may have a shot.
Otherwise, Republicans, we are going to be in charge in a big way. And maybe if we don’t trip over our own dicks as we always do, we can possibly bring this country out of the multiple messes we are in at the moment.