Poll: Should The Candidates Skip The Debate?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, McCain, Polls
Has everybody heard that McCain has suspended his campaign to go back to Washington and wants to skip Friday’s debate? Well, if not, then go here.
Still, Obama says the debate should continue, and now SurveyUSA has a snap poll of 1,000 adults nationwide that suggests Americans agree with the Illinois senator.
Debate Or No Debate?
Debate – 50%
Change Debate To Focus On Economy – 36%
No Debate – 10%
Suspend Campaigns?
Re-Focus The Campaigns On Economy – 48%
Continue – 31%
Suspend – 14%
Cancelling Debates Good For America?
Bad – 46%
No Difference – 35%
Good – 14%
Cancelling Debates Good For McCain?
No Difference – 52%
Good – 21%
Bad – 21%
Cancelling Debates Good For Obama?
No Difference – 52%
Bad – 26%
Good – 16%
The common sense thing to do here would be to refocus the debate on the economy. That seems like it would make everybody happy.
Still, it seems like McCain is dead set on not having a debate on Friday, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see what shakes out.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, McCain, Polls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I think they should debate and keep it on Foreign Policy. Foreign Policy has a direct effect on the Economy and questions that wrap the two together should be very informative.
We need to hear more about what these men think.
And NOW!
September 24th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Unbelievable. What will this guy come up with next – have Sarah. Palin set off a couple of bottle rockets off over Russia ( She’s close enough in Alaska to do that, right?) to start the next World War so John McCain could come to the rescue?
It would be meaningful if McCain was the head of the Finance Committee, in a leadership role in the Senate or something important, but he isn’t. Doing this will not help the situation on the hill which, slowly but surely, is working out all the details necessary to get the job done. This will just muddle the situation – which is exactly what it DOESN’T NEED.
It’s just another stunt, and I think the public will see through it and get tired of this political game playing. If this is the bull~!#t he tries while campaigning, what will he be capable of as president. I sure don’t wanna know.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
In order to have a “debate” one must have something to debate about. I’m not interested in hearing about how each candidate would go about the latest bail out of venal, felonious Wall Street.
Both candidates are staunch capitalist mouth-pieces. In thee end both with always bail out and protect corporate interests no matter what. And the justification goes; “Well, yeah! the president has to bail out corporations because what’s bad for the corporation is bad for the American people in the way of the economy.” Pure humbug! Corporations are pig-stuffed with the greediest, irresponsible, unscrupulous characters you could imagine.
The message is clear. If you are a scamming, double-dealing capitalist go-getter. The government is going to use everything in it’s power to protect you. But if you are some small-time criminal, forget about it. You are best served in prison where some more capitalist can make money off warehousing your person.
So…when I hear the word “debate” I can hardly catch my gag reflex. Let’s hear the newest round of excuses for abuses. Whom is paying? asks the tax-payer. Why! you are the tax-payer tells himself. The tax-payer then asks himself whether the government would be so kind as to bail him out. HAHAHA!!!! Bail out?? You’re kidding right?
And remember folks. At one time in the not to distant past it was possible for Americans to seek relief through the bankruptcy processes, but even Bush shut that door. Bail outs don’t exist for the poor. Only the rich.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Well, thankfully people are siding with Obama. While it would be nice to have McCain go to Washington and show that yes, he is still a part of the Senate and interested in doing his part to “save America” – isn’t the whole point of a debate for us to get to see what the candidates think? They could devote the entire debate to the economy, frankly.
However, I think that a good number of people are seeing this for what it is- an attempt by McCain to buy more time since the last week or so have really shown that he’s barely prepared for a minor speech let along a debate.
It’s amazing how much can change in a person in 8 years.
September 24th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
McCain may be walking into a trap here, in part of his own making. Suppose (as is quite likely) that the bailout package that ultimately ends up before the Senate is laden with pork. McCain would be screwed no matter whether he votes for the bailout (in which case he’d quickly find himself accused of abandoning his anti-pork stance) or against it (in which case he’d just as quickly find himself accused of being willing to let the economy crash over some relatively trivial concern like pork). That, in a nutshell, is why campaigning against pork-barrel spending is such a dangerous proposition for any politician, let alone a presidential candidate.
September 24th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Just an FYI, Snap Polls have zero reliability. I didn’t even look at the results because they are useless. There’s a little thing called response bias that ruins the integrity of the surveying.
Also, I haven’t seen the Couric interview, but if he was talking about the bailout than that’s a lot different than going on Letterman.
Finally, have you noticed the media actually swaying right? I have always said they lean liberal, but with Obama leading the polls, they clearly want to help McCain at this point so they still have something to sell. Ridiculous.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Is there a link for this poll?
September 24th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Sorry about that Rich. Link now above and here.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:00 am
I can hardly count anymore how many times I’ve turned on my tv or radio in the past couple of months to be greeted by another “you’ve got to f***ing kidding me” moment.
lol, this one takes the cake.
And the real kicker came a few hours later when the true reason for this proposal came out: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/the-real-reason.html
You know what’s most scary about this though …
About half of American voters have proven themselves over the past 8 years to be stupid enough to fall for a stunt like this.
Please let this year be different.
Seriously.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
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