mccain is suspending his campaign

[cacophony]

in order to "deal with the financial crisis" facing the nation.

now, i don't for an instant believe in his purported altruistic motives. so what's the strategy here? he's made this announcement and called on obama to do the same. so what is the risk to obama if he agrees? what if he doesn't? what is the risk to mccain for taking this action? can he benefit from such an unusual move?

i'm very curious to see how this plays out. this is such an unusual maneuver that i don't know where to begin analyzing the potential effect on the voting public.

[bas_I_am]

guess he was the one not ready from day 1, eh?

[cured]

I thought this would be obvious. McCain is slipping in the polls and most feel Obama is better prepared to handle the economy. By "putting country first" and going to Washington to solve the problem (notice his statement seem like he's the one calling the shots), he puts Obama in position to either agree and look like a follower or disagree and make Obama out to be a political opportunist who puts himself over his country's crisis. I just hope McCain doesn't then want to bump the remainder of the debates, including Palin's, because this one debate will have to move to Tuesday or so.

[Deckard]

Crikey.

Well.

Cured's take on it sounds pretty believable to me.

Yes people seem in agreement that the US is facing an historic crisis, but realistically... how much is McCain's suspension going to "help solve things"? I mean, come on! How necessary is that really?

If we're talking staff that genuinely need to be made available elsewhere to ACTUALLY help solve it, if we're talking McCain's personal expertise(..!!..) on economic matters required elsewhere, then fine, that's fair enough. But is that the case?

The Republican said it was time to "temporarily set politics aside" and focus on fixing the economy.

Question is, is he really setting politics aside?

Suddenly McCain's got himself plastered across the news, like some grand old leader, ordering - sorry, "calling on" - Obama to do the same. The Obama camp must be spitting blood at the moment.

They might see it as political opportunism, but they can't possibly say that or they'll be accused of playing politics themselves.

Will be interesting to hear Obama's response, and Bush's address later tonight.

[BeautifulBurnout]

Very sharp move indeed. He showed himself to be inept in his "the foundations of the economy are strong" statement last week. The first debates are coming up this Friday I believe - no way is Sarah Palin ready to take on Biden without coming a cropper. So yeah - political expediency 4tl.

This is the worst Presidential campaign I can remember for cheap below-the-belt shenanigans and it just ratcheted that up another notch or two.

[Sean]

Yeah, this is obviously a ploy to try to convince voters that:


1 - McCain puts America first despite choosing the most unqualified running mate imaginable just because she might be able to help him win

2 - McCain works across party lines as evidenced by his disingenuous reaching out to Obama to join him in this charade

3 - McCain has a handle on all this economy business even though he's done nothing to help avert our current crisis in his years of work in the government


And Obama's camp has responded very simply by saying that "we can do both" in regards to helping solve the crisis and conducting debates, which I think is a perfect response. And the link also includes an interesting element to the timeline of events here:

An Obama campaign official told ABC News the Democratic presidential candidate called McCain this morning to suggest a joint statement of principles.

McCain called back this afternoon and suggested returning to Washington.

Sounds like McCain trying his hand at a bit of one-upsmanship to me.

And finally, it appears that the University of Mississippi has said the debate is still on.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Originally Posted by Deckard

Crikey.

Well.

Cured's take on it sounds pretty believable to me.

Yes people seem in agreement that the US is facing an historic crisis, but realistically... how much is McCain's suspension going to "help solve things"? I mean, come on! How necessary is that really?

If we're talking staff that genuinely need to be made available elsewhere to ACTUALLY help solve it, if we're talking McCain's personal expertise(..!!..) on economic matters required elsewhere, then fine, that's fair enough. But is that the case?



Question is, is he really setting politics aside?

Suddenly McCain's got himself plastered across the news, like some grand old leader, ordering - sorry, "calling on" - Obama to do the same. The Obama camp must be spitting blood at the moment.

They might see it as political opportunism, but they can't possibly say that or they'll be accused of playing politics themselves.

Will be interesting to hear Obama's response, and Bush's address later tonight.

I'm with you and cured on this. Then again cured, Biden brought this up before it was even reported: http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/20...ity-for-obama/

I like how Biden doesn't sugarcoat the BS. Maybe if he delivered the BS wrapped in a big, bright, red bow it's be a bit snazzier, but hey, I think everyone's tired of the sugarcoating.

[nosajmunson]

Here's what kills me about this,

As read to me by my brother, over the phone, from yahoo news (so take that for what's it's worth.)

Obama called McCain early this morning and said something to the effect of "We need to put our campaigns aside and focus on this together, call me back".
6 hours go by, then McCain gets back in touch with Obama and says "Sure, sounds like a good idea. But let's also put off the debates."

Before Obama can get back to him with an answer, he makes this big statement to the press. And now, here we are.

Quite the little oportunist. Obama extended the olive branch and waited to hear back. Then McOldly takes advantage of it and goes public like its his idea.
I love Obama, but he needs to learn to fight. I'm not talking fighting dirty.
But this ain't no civilized boxing match in the ring. There are no gloves to take off.
This is a good old, knock down South Philly street fight.
(Think of that scene in OLDBOY where he fights them off in the hallway.)

Obama prides himself on being fair, which is why I dig the guy. But he needs to use some street smarts.
Don't give McCain anything because Johnny McOldballs is going to hit below the belt.

[cacophony]

Originally Posted by cured

I thought this would be obvious. McCain is slipping in the polls and most feel Obama is better prepared to handle the economy. By "putting country first" and going to Washington to solve the problem (notice his statement seem like he's the one calling the shots), he puts Obama in position to either agree and look like a follower or disagree and make Obama out to be a political opportunist who puts himself over his country's crisis. I just hope McCain doesn't then want to bump the remainder of the debates, including Palin's, because this one debate will have to move to Tuesday or so.

well this is obviously his strategy. my question is what we think the positive or negative results could be for each candidate.

so far the commentary i've read has been that people think the part about postponing the debate reveals an unwillingness to face obama face to face. but then, i don't know that i'm not just reading comments made by committed obama supporters who weren't likely to be shifted by this new tactic.

[gambit]

At first I was like, "What? McCain's calling it quits?" The term "suspending a campaign" is what I heard when people dropped out in the primaries.

Anyway, I agree with pretty much everyone here. Don't have much to add. I just remember yesterday when asked what he would do if his vote would stop the bailout proposal or not, McCain sidestepped the entire question. Quite the turn around here.