I Thought The Campaign Was Suspended?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, McCain, Palin
Because if you have time to go to the Clinton Global Initiative (picture from this morning above)…why not a debate?
NEW YORK — The morning after he declared he would suspend his presidential campaigning and return to Washington to deal with the U.S. economic crisis, Sen. John McCain made one last campaign stop, speaking at a conference on global issues organized by former president Bill Clinton.Addressing his dramatic call for a pause in the intense presidential campaign, McCain said he intends to “join” the debate in Washington over how to address the meltdown in the country’s financial institutions.
I’m sorry, but if this situation is so dire, why isn’t he in Washington?
Also, Sarah Palin will be holding a rally in Philly today.
PHILADELPHIA — Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin will bring her campaign to Philadelphia Thursday.She’s expected to hold a rally Thursday afternoon near the Philadelphia International Airport.
So what exactly does “suspended” mean?
Seriously, I’d like to know how McCain is defining it, because if it simply means skipping the debate, his campaign has made yet another huge strategic mistake.
And frankly, they would have done well to pull Palin off the road after that interview with Couric. Yikes.
Sorry folks, but this “suspension” seems like anything but.
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, McCain, Palin. 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 25th, 2008 at 8:57 am
He’s still playing attack ads today in Michigan where I live. It seems he only wants to say he’s suspending the campaign without actually doing anything about it. If he really wants to put country first he should debate tomorrow about the economy.
September 25th, 2008 at 9:54 am
This all looks like a rather shameless ruse to knock the vp debate off the table and maybe look like he’s selfeslly putting country first to the people who aren’t paying much attention.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Too funny. C’mon guys, they both should be in full-on Senator mode right now. We’re not talking about a bill to fund a new stretch of interstate, here.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:55 am
McCain and Obama being in the Senate will do almost nothing to aid the expediency of the passage of a bill.
1) It will politicize the process, bringing more swarms of attention to a sensitive issue that I’m sure lawmakers would rather hammer out without the injection of presidential politics.
2) Are they going to help craft the already crafted Dodd legislation? Are they going to participate in the debates on the senate floor? Do they think by participating in the debates they will make a healthy contribution to the Senate’s understanding of the issue? No, the legislation has already for the most part been crafted, if they are going to debate on the senate floor I think they would benefit more by debating in a more public realm, the senators will hear their views as well as more of the general public. I seriously doubt many Senator’s really care what McCain or Obama think on the issue over what their own policy advisers and the Senate Finance Committee and their constituents have to say.
3) They can easily return for a vote on the Dodd/Paulson issue without spending days in Washington.
In economists lingo, the opportunity cost is very high for McCain and Obama skipping the debate and spending their time in Washington. I think the entire nation will derive more benefit from these two hearing them debate on whatever sphere they decide to debate in than from having them debate idly in the Senate chambers.
September 25th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Maybe you can’t read or comprehend. From McCain’s statement yesterday:
“Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative.”
But I am sure you believe the Obama campaign when they cried firsties, so it’s not a surprise that you didn’t pay attention to McCain’s full statement.
FYI: Palin is not a sitting US Senator and is not involved in the passing/drafting of the bailout legislation.
McCain, Obama, and Biden, however, are being paid $160,000 a year to represent their constituents. You’d thinking actually doing the job they are being paid for might be of some importance… If Obama and Biden don’t see the need to get to work, maybe they should step down from their seats so their Governers can appoint someone to go to Washington and represent their state.
We are all going to have to live with this bailout for generations. The next president is going to have to execute. Yet, you think they shouldn’t have a say in its drafting…. ridiculous.
Although I certainly don’t agree with McCain on this bailout, at least he’s willing to lead and not cower by not taking a stance on it one way or another.
Obama, Your Coward for 2008.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
James, you didn’t address anything I wrote. The debate is scheduled to be 90 minutes Friday night, I am sure Washington will not crumble without Obama and McCain there for 4-5 hours, and I am pretty sure Obama and McCain can make their views known via conference call, etc. without actually being in Washington.
September 26th, 2008 at 9:52 am
[...] contributed much to the discussion, but it looks like John McCain is unsuspending the campaign that he never really suspended: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announces: “The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and [...]