McCain needs some external assistance
James Forsyth 9:16pm
Last night, John McCain had to reshape the race. He didn’t. He turned in a fine, energised performance but the debate—like the first one—was a wash which suits the frontrunner, Obama. Indeed, the insta-polls once more had voters scoring Obama as the winner.
As someone who thinks that McCain would be a better president than Obama it give me no pleasure to say that McCain now looks doomed unless either the economic news dramatically improves or some external event intervenes. McCain has very few routes to 270 and he is trailing by considerable margins in states that he has to win.
In a way, events have done for McCain. When only 9 percent of Americans, a record low, think the country is on the right track the candidate of the incumbent party is running into a might head wind. But the criticism that McCain must take is that his campaign has no overarching message. That lack of message is at least part of the reason why McCain has to take such risks—the Palin pick, suspending his campaign—to cut through the chatter.
Pot Head
October 8th, 2008 9:37pm Report this commentReality is a Left-Wing Attack Ad
One almost has to feel sorry for John McCain. He had a pre-packaged jingoistic presidential campaign he wanted to run and now he can't run it because the economy is dominating everything and the Republicans are getting the blame for the country's current economic condition. He had a series of focus-group tested Rove-style attacks on Obama that in an ordinary year would have scared the daylights out of the median voter, but sadly most voters currently think that a major economic meltdown is more worrisome than who Obama knows in Chicago
How dare the public be more concerned about the current economic crisis than our allegations that Obama is a strange, nefarious, alien Other? How dare they yawn at the Karl Rove/Lee Atwater strategy that has successfully frightened the public over and over again and made Republicans the majority party? How dare they pay attention to actual conditions and real problems instead of the bright shiny objects we attempt to distract them with?
TGF UKIP
October 8th, 2008 10:56pm Report this commentOld John once again skirted round it last night by going on about Obama and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The charge needed to be much more direct and specific. Obama was personally, politically and professionally engaged with ACORN in bludgeoning and blackmailing banks in the Chicago area into giving loans to poor (and predominantly) black people who could not really afford them. The very sort of loans that are now the source of the toxicity in the US and global financial system.
If McCain had forced the whole debate to be about that issue he would have won not only the debate but probably the race too.
Obama has tied McCain to Bush, McCain needs to tie Obama back to Chicago where there's already enough material to sink him.
Pechorin
October 8th, 2008 11:10pm Report this commentMcCain is a great man who would make a great President. Sadly, both his half-hearted campaign and 'events' may lose him the election.
The silver lining is that Obama is going to have a very tough time as President and will not have a Republican congress to blame for the country's woes either. The GOP could come back with avengeance in 2012.
Ian C
October 9th, 2008 11:02am Report this commentThis whole election is going to go out with a whimper when it should have been a lung-buster until the final day. A real shame.
Either Obama is going to be proved the 'one' or he will be found out by 2012.
McCain so nearly did it but the Crash of September 2008 did for him as he belonged to the party of the incumbent.
It will mean a GOP who have to get their act together and a Democratic government who don't have clue what is needed. A very tricky time for all.
I would add that there may be a far thinner majority for the Dems. in congress than has been reckoned so far.
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