# McCain suspends campaign, asks Obama to do the same. What?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 24, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040 "2008-09-24T19:04:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/281 "2008-09-25T04:39:15Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Wow. > > I agree. I mean, that was absolutely brutal. She was hopelessly unprepared. She sounded like a person who’d been pulled in off the street at random. > > I’m going to add my voice to the curious as well; why does Sarah Palin sound like she’s from Brainerd, MN? Since when did Alaskans start sounding like Marge Gunderson? Her parents are from Idaho, and that’s where she finished college. I thought Idahoans sounded more Western, though. Maybe Alaska gets a lot of migrants from the Upper Midwest. When I lived in Wisconsin, Alaska law enforcement agencies recruited in WI, based on the theory that Wisconsinites were already used to cold, snowy winters. There is a migration pattern of German and Scandinavian Americans moving west from MN and WI into the Dakotas and then on into the mountains and the Pacific Northwest. There are plenty of Gundersons in Washington and Oregon too. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/282 "2008-09-25T04:49:15Z")
Its like ebonics for very, very white people. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/283 "2008-09-25T04:53:03Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > WOW. Just WOW. > > It’s not a good thing when you can see the wheels turning and she then just repeats what she said two seconds ago. I can’t help but see “404 FILE NOT FOUND” flashing through her brain. Ricky Gervais has nothing on this woman. My favorite part: PALIN: [looong pause] Again, my understanding is that he [Rick Davis] recused himself from the dealings with Freddie and Fannie, any lobbying efforts on his part there. And I would hope that’s the case because, as John McCain has been saying, and as I’ve been on a more local level been on a much more local level been also rallying against is the undue influence of lobbyists in public policy decisions being made. I half expected her to finish with “I personally believe U.S. Americans like Rick Davis are unable to have lobbyists, and I believe that our education system like such as South Africa and the Iraq, such as, I believe John McCain over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., or South Africa, and the Asian countries so we should be able to build up our future with the reform and the Maverick which is important for the looking and the finding and the LAA-DY!” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/284 "2008-09-25T04:56:03Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Really f\*ing unbelievable. > > Please, let’s see some McCain/Palin supporters defend that performance in the Couric interview. > > Sad, truly, truly sad. I flipped over to Papa Bear O’Reilly on Fox for a minute tonight to see what the other half was saying, and Dick Morris was creaming all over himself about how Obama completely blew the election today by continuing to play partisan politics, even while McCain reached his healing hand across the aisle to save our nation. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/285 "2008-09-25T05:02:31Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I flipped over to Papa Bear O’Reilly on Fox for a minute tonight to see what the other half was saying, and Dick Morris was creaming all over himself about how Obama completely blew the election today by continuing to play partisan politics, even while McCain reached his healing hand across the aisle to save our nation. Which, you know, was difficult for him to do considering his lasting injuries from 5 years in a…well, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/286 "2008-09-25T05:35:13Z")
I’m watching Letterman…He is ripping McCain a new one, and has Olberman on to help. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/287 "2008-09-25T05:35:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Wow. > > I agree. I mean, that was absolutely brutal. She was hopelessly unprepared. She sounded like a person who’d been pulled in off the street at random. > > I’m going to add my voice to the curious as well; why does Sarah Palin sound like she’s from Brainerd, MN? Since when did Alaskans start sounding like Marge Gunderson? Actually, you’re not far off: during the Great Depression there was a government project to settle the Matanuska-Susitna valley, and most of the immigrants came from Minnesota and the surrounding regions. I’ve heard the resulting dialect (for want of a better word) referred to as “Mat-Su English,” and while it’s not universal in the area, Ms Palin does speak that way. The _content_ of what she speaks is a whole 'nother matter . . . ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/288 "2008-09-25T05:37:37Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Its like ebonics for very, very white people. I lived in WI for ten years. They don’t have an accent. Everyone else does. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/289 "2008-09-25T05:39:33Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > Actually, you’re not far off: during the Great Depression there was a government project to settle the Matanuska-Susitna valley, and most of the immigrants came from Minnesota and the surrounding regions. I’ve heard the resulting dialect (for want of a better word) referred to as “Mat-Su English,” and while it’s not universal in the area, Ms Palin does speak that way. > > The _content_ of what she speaks is a whole 'nother matter . . . Wow. [Johnny Carson] I did not know that.[/Johnny Carson] So, how arrrr ya? ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/290 "2008-09-25T05:45:17Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Please report to a punishment facility. hahaha, “Your agonizer, please.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/291 "2008-09-25T05:58:55Z")
Good ol’ John. He knew I was having a bad day and he leaves me all of this as a nighttime surprise. I’ve been grinning for about an hour reading this thread and watching the videos, and I don’t think I’m going to stop grinning for some time. I mean, and I say this with as much poise as I can muster, aaaahahahahahahahahaha! Seriously, WTF DUDE?! _ahem_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/292 "2008-09-25T06:24:41Z")
> [@Captain\_C](#): > > Good ol’ John. He knew I was having a bad day and he leaves me all of this as a nighttime surprise. I’ve been grinning for about an hour reading this thread and watching the videos, and I don’t think I’m going to stop grinning for some time. I mean, and I say this with as much poise as I can muster, aaaahahahahahahahahaha! Seriously, WTF DUDE?! _ahem_ I know the feeling. I came home from work. Got on. Found this thread and randomly clicked around it. It’s like christmas. I don’t wanna sleep. I don’t want this day to end. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/293 "2008-09-25T07:10:49Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’m tellin’ ya…John McCain: secret Obama supporter. The man’s an effing hero, throwing his reputation and career down the toilet of history just so’s Obama can get elected… If McCain weren’t such a selfish narcissistic prick, I’d agree. I never thought I would see a worse run campaign than Bill Simon against Gray Davis for Cal governor in 2002, but McCain is a whole league of incompetent terribler. I’m hoping that if he does debate Obama that he doesn’t wet himself. I truly see the light at the end of the tunnel of the Republican era. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/294 "2008-09-25T07:59:01Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > If McCain weren’t such a selfish narcissistic prick, I’d agree. I never thought I would see a worse run campaign than Bill Simon against Gray Davis for Cal governor in 2002, but McCain is a whole league of incompetent terribler. I’m hoping that if he does debate Obama that he doesn’t wet himself. I truly see the light at the end of the tunnel of the Republican era. Man, I’ve been watching elections since 1960 (and '64 when I actually knew what was going on) and I’ve never seen any melt down like this. I just watched Letterman (on late out here) and it was telling that Olbermann could hardly say anything more than what David said already. I bet McCain wished he had picked someone with a clue for VP. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/295 "2008-09-25T08:21:39Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I flipped over to Papa Bear O’Reilly on Fox for a minute tonight to see what the other half was saying, and Dick Morris was creaming all over himself about how Obama completely blew the election today by continuing to play partisan politics, even while McCain reached his healing hand across the aisle to save our nation. Two weeks ago, I jokingly emailed a friend and said if McCain had picked Charlie Manson as his running mate, people like O’Reilly would have said, “at least Manson knows how to shoot a gun, unlike that wimp Obama.” But I could never have predicted today’s events. It has to be quite obvious to most people now that poor McCain is basically saying, “Now hold on a minute. Stop everything. I have to concentrate on this problem and can’t be bothered with anything else. Turn down that damned stereo and be quiet! Now go away and just let me think a minute, for christsake!” ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/296 "2008-09-25T09:26:02Z")
I dunno, I keep thinking about this and all I can see is his campaign manager. “John, we can’t come out with a bipartisan statement unless it’s a bipartisan statement _that is our idea._ If we accept Obama’s bipartisan terms, then he wins. We can only afford to be bipartisan if _our party_ wins. So we need to make a counter-offer, a bigger offer. We need to _propose_ an offer that forces Obama to agree to it, see? So we’ll _call off the debates_. _That_ will show people how important this is. The democratic election process will just have to wait until this crisis is over. It’ll be just like last time. We’ll call it a New Nine-Eleven. That ought to bring back the old spirit of bipartisanship, where nobody read the bills the President proposed. Ah, the good old days…” ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/297 "2008-09-25T09:56:06Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Alternately, if McCain doesn’t want to show up, Bob Barr could probably clear the day on his calendar. You know, this is a delicious idea. Obama just goes: “Ok, John, you do what you gotta do, but since we’ve got a debate scheduled, I’ve asked that Bob Barr be invited and he and I will debate the issues. Oh, now you want in? Okay, but since you forced us to find a third debater, we can’t uninvite him, so you and he and I will have a three way debate. And smartly done!” ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/298 "2008-09-25T11:08:00Z")
As an FYI, they just played some of the Letterman clips on the Today show. “Hey John. Do you need a ride home?” ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/299 "2008-09-25T11:14:28Z")
I’m thinking McCain may have some deal running to amend the bailout to explicitly deal with halting foreclosures, particularly to homeowners who have borrowed responsibly and are just victims of the economy. That’s something I haven’t heard addressed to my satisfaction in any bailout plan, and I think whoever gets to it first can score major points on it. Maybe that’s what McCain thinks he has ready to serve up? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040/300 "2008-09-25T11:22:19Z")
For real about the Palin interview! There’s no excuse for that performance. She needs a lesson on how to mix up words in her talking points so that she doesn’t sound like a looping tape cassette. Hearing her respond to a request for clarification with the exact same line (_Rick Davis recused himself…_) doesn’t make me feel feel confident in her abilities. It makes me embarrassed and afraid. Republicans, if ya’ll vote for the hot mess known as McCain and Palin, then there’s nothing left to say except that every single one of you are drooling idiots. Shoot, I’d have more respect if you voted for Bob Barr! Politics aside, at least the guy is smart. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-suspends-campaign-asks-obama-to-do-the-same-what/465040.md?page=16)