I think it depends upon when the attack occurs and the severity of the attack. I’ll cite the one in Spain which altered the election. It happenned at the last minute and neither party really had time to react.
If there were an attack tomorrow, it would not really affect the election because both candidates would have time to think things through, make speeches, and recover from any slips.
If there were an attack the ay before the election, it’s anyone’s guess.
Once again, this isn’t about how you would see things. It’s how most Americans would see things. It’s about being tested and having experience. Things that Obama is in shorter supply of than McCain.
And the bomber pilot is just one thing. McCain just has a lot more experience with international affairs in general. You may not agree with his positions, but that’s a different matter.
If we insist on a Clintonian definition of “seen”, yes.
Depending upon the attack’s severity, I’m afraid I have to agree. The worse the attack, and the closer to the election, the more it would help McCain.
We know how John McCain reacts in a crisis. Calmly, and with balls the size of Texas.
It’s a little glamorized. ‘Gallantly took control of a firefighting crew’?
But, yeah. McCain walked. Down the nose. Of his plane, which was on fire. Then jumped to safety seconds before it exploded.
But the statement was made that “we HAVE seen” how McCain would respond in a crisis, whene in fact, we have never seen any such thing.
That doesn’t tell us anything about how he would handle a crisis, and I have to wonder about the value of his “experience,” considering he still apparently knows less about Iraq than I do.
I’ll stick with a dictionary definition. How can we infer anything about how McCain responds to crisis from his short career as a failed bomber pilot?
What else was he going to do? Jumping out of a burning plane is just ordinary self-preservation. I see nothing extraordinary or partucularly courageous in that.
Did he wait until the rest of his crew were out?
Quite true. Alas, they’ve done a damn good job of selling the notion.
The A-4 is a teeeny plane. No crew.
And let me repeat this. He didn’t jump out of the plane. After his plane was hit by something, suddenly engulfed in flames, he had the presence of mind to pick the right way to go, climb up over the cockpit, walk down the nose of the plane, and jump off the equivalent of a balance beam over a raging inferno.
I can not vote for the man because of his behavior in the last four years, but never misjudge his courage.
Sounds like they mostly got incinerated. The wiki piece doesn’t tell us anything about McCain’s actions other than that he bailed ass. It was LCDR Hope who “gallantly took command,” not McCain.
I don’t see how that takes any particular presence of mind or courage. It was the only direction to go (straight out front and off the nose). It sounds like that dude, Hope, was the one who showed real balls. All McCain did was follow the obvious course to self-preservation. I ask again, what else was he going to do? What would a coward have done?
Ok - I’ve done some pretty adventurous things…Hang Gliding etc…etc… But jumping from a burning plane whether you are saving lives or the one being saved is a very big deal. Ordinary self preservation is when you are in an ordinary situation - fall through the ice on a pond, grabbing a tree before you plummet over a cliff - that’s a little more ordinary. Jumping out of a burning plane then lasting aslong as he did…He’s pretty diesel…or at least he was. I do remember being pretty psyched that he had such a rapid response for 9/11. I like the guy as a senator. Not as the POTUS.
eta: What would a coward have done? Frozen with fear, went into shock…
Never mind, that wasn’t McCain’s crew that got incinerated, it was people on the ground. It appears that McCain had no crew.
He didn’t choose to put himself into that situation, he just did what anyone else would have done once he was in it. I fail to see anything extraordinary about bailing out of a burning plane. I would have done the same thing, and I’m a cringing pussy.
Incidentally, the wiki piece makes it sound like McCain’s plane wasn’t even in the air. It caught on fire while still on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier and he just jumped off the nose onto the deck. BFD. What did he fall, about 3 feet?
I actually think it would benefit Obama at this point.*
The level of cynicism and suspicion of any and all politicians has been raised to levels like never before. This has happened for many reasons, most recently the latest “official” revelations that came from McClellon’s book, and the fact that, as said up thread, that the majority of America is well aware that our current Administration has made us less safe. There have been rumblings, since before 2004, that the Bush Administration would “do something” to remain in power. I think the number of people in that camp have grown large enough and would be vocal enough that the “blame Bush” cries would stick; as well, they would stick to anyone associated with Bush.
In a similar vein, I think Hillary’s poorly chosen words of bringing up RFK, probably doomed any chance of her being able to step in to the nomination role should such a horrible event actually occur; just as they likely nixed whatever VP chances she had. Far too many people would, again fairly or not, connect those dots and there would be too large of a backlash.
As more and more light is shed on the Iraq fiasco and the level of corruption currently in the White House, more and more credence would be paid to conspiracy theories.
One more thing, why did Bush have such huge approval ratings following the September 11th attacks? Largely because he gave a good speech. That he was a military pilot(technically at least) never even came up, what mattered was that at that moment in time he was able to inspire. In times of such despair what the public really looks for is a leader who can rally people to band together and who can lift their spirits. Partisanship would be little, if not a nonfactor at that moment, the eyes and ears of the public would look to both Obama and McCain for who would be the brightest beacon of hope. I suppose that is exactly what we are seeing now, with the eight years of Bush being the attack.
*barring Bush declaring martial law, suspending elections, yada yada yada
The “failed bomber pilot” thing is assholish and isn’t going to sway anyone to your side. Is every infantryman who ever got shot a “failed soldier”? Whatever you think of his politics you should respect his military service. IIRC, the guy had a high ranking father in the navy, didn’t he? He could’ve got a safe, cushy job easily, but he chose to serve his country in a very dangerous job and paid a huge price for it.
You’re right. I withdraw the “failed” part. I don’t want to demean his service, I just question how much we can infer from it.
This is almost exactly what I was going to say.
If there were an attack the day before the election, besides lower voter turner, I still think it might favor the Republicans.
Another way the idea of a terrorist attack could gain votes for the Republicans is if, right before the election, a plot was is reported to have been “discovered” and a number of “terrorists” are rounded up. This way, no actual Americans die but the Republicans can be seen as effective in their vigilance for America’s security.
If combat is important then I am sure you all voted for Kerry over Bush.