Will he or won’t he?
By Nick Ragone | Related entries in NewsJohn McCain is playing an enormously high stakes game of poker with his campaign.
He’s essentially betting the ranch that a bailout deal will get done today, and that he can claim some credit — any credit — for making that happen.
Yesterday, it looked like a compromise had been reached, but House Republicans balked at the deal, in part because it didn’t do enough for main street. Some are suggesting that McCain is partly to blame because he’s riled up the House Republicans with his populist rhetoric about tighter regulations, limits on CEO pay, and homeowner protections.
If a deal doesn’t get done today, and he decides not to attend the debate, his campaign will be effectively over. No matter how he tries to spin it, the American public isn’t going to buy it. It will be a collosal blunder, and he’ll be toast.
If a deal does get done today, however, then he can show up to the debate as a conquering hero, and crow about protecting homeowners interests while Obama did debate prep.
It’s a risky gambit with huge upside or downside. And the Democrats in Congress know this; I doubt they’ll sign off on a deal prior to the debate and essentially hand McCain the issue. So McCain will have to decide: Do I attend the debate with no bailout deal, or skip it altogether? Neither is a good option, but skipping the debate would be a disaster.
This entry was posted on Friday, September 26th, 2008 and is filed under News. 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 26th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Nick,
You are so full of crap I don’t even know how you can look yourself in the mirror.
Now you’re trying to make these idiots look like heroes?!?
Not one Republican close to the negotiations has said ANYTHING about doing anything for mainstreet. They have had two issues–a “supposed” philosophic objection to federal intervention in the private market and the overall cost.
It was the Dems who told Paulson to shove his plan unless it did something for Mainstreet.
The original plan was a GOP administration pile of cow dung as it stood, the Dems made some positive changes (but the bill is still a total turd mountain) and now you have a handful of GOP jerks who have been abusing the hell out of the system for years who suddenly find themselves heading back to their districts just before an election and they need to reaffirm their bogus conservative credentials.
It’s one thing to be a conservative leaning blogger, and while I will disagree with you most of the time, I can appreciate that, but you have stepped across the line with this blatent piece of partisan propaganda.
Do enough for mainstreet, indeed. You sir are full of it.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Actually, I don’t think Nick is full of crap here… Nobody likes this bailout, neither the Left, nor the right. Nick may be giving the Right more credit than they deserve, but for the most part, his point is valid. McCain pulled yet another Hail Mary pass, betting everything on the deal going through today. It’s looking like that deal won’t happen, but he’s also now agreed to go on with the debate, so maybe the damage is only limited, but he certainly did himself no favors. That’s basically what Nick said, only perhaps slightly less harsh.