Abnormal Rhythms
News reports today scream with consistency that John McCain needs a "memorable moment" or a "game changer" during tonight's final presidential debate and that it's his "last, best hope" to rebound against a Democratic candidate surging in the polls. The bottom line? It's "do or die" for the Republican nominee.
Hyperbole, or reality?
With polls out today showing that after weeks of hammering Barack Obama for ties to 1960s radical Bill Ayers and his GOP surrogates' use of the Democratic nominee's middle name to raise concerns about his heritage, McCain has fallen in the polls. He trails Obama by 14 percentage points, according to a New York Times/CBS News survey out today. Perhaps more problematic, McCain is identified by 6 of 10 voters for spending "more time attacking Mr. Obama than explaining what he would do as president."
Meanwhile, four Quinnipiac University battleground polls released today show Obama surging with white voters, long a tough constituency for him to court, in CO, MI, MN and WI.
So with 20 days remaining until voters go to the polls, what's an underdog to do?
A combative Republican candidate turned out for the last two debates. McCain didn't look at Obama during their first meeting. And the GOPer received some heat for dismissing the Democrat as "that one" during their second outing. He provided fuel for Obama's camp to label him "erratic" and "unsteady."
His pick, meanwhile, of Sarah Palin has disenchanted many devout conservatives, who say the AK governor is not qualified to run the country. In a column released late last month, the National Review's Kathleen Parker deemed Palin "out of her league" and many of her colleagues followed, registering their disappointment in McCain for making a political pick at a time of national -- and international -- economic peril. Conservative Christopher Buckley, son of the founder of National Review, endorsed Obama this week, saying of McCain's Palin selection: "What on earth can he have been thinking?"
It appears time for McCain to accept the notion that the American people are in no mood to respond to negative politics. He must also reassure those conservatives concerned about Palin's selection that he can be trusted and has the experience to lead the nation.
To counter the growing perception that he's not pushing productive policy proposals, McCain could take a positive, thoughtful approach to addressing the issues -- the economy prime among them, of course -- when the candidates face off for 90 minutes at Hofstra University. To provide contrast to his past performances he could strike a gracious, forward-looking tone. He could even say that the last many months have been a hard-fought, sometimes attack-oriented battle, and that he pledges to make a more substantive plea in the final days of the campaign.
McCain needs to do something dramatic. If the status quo persists, he loses. McCain could promise to pull his team's negative ads circulating in critical states, and he could challenge Obama to do the same. In exchange, McCain might substitute them with a series of to-camera spots reasserting his most appealing attributes -- longtime service to country, a penchant for breaking with his party, deep foreign policy knowledge. He could debut his choice for Treasury Secretary and promise to have daily conversations with voters about the economy.
The drumbeat of each day's dire economic news continues to favor the Democrats, whom voters' have historically backed at times of financial trouble. Whatever McCain decides to do to "shake things up," as his running mate likes to say, he must act fast.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
Pundits say McCain has no chance unless we get hit by a terrorist attack. But say we did, why do people assume that would benefit McCain? He who rushes around spitting fire and rage and ready to kill ... do people really think that's the answer? If what we've seen so far of Obama holds true, he would most likely have a much more measured response to such an attack. He would be angry, but he'd retaliate calmly and methodically with intelligence and precision, with an eye on the ultimate goal of getting the perps, not just making a show of power to the American people. Nope, I think we have seen enough of the glaring differences in both candidate's temperament and intellect and that's why there is nothing McCain can do to alter the inevitable course to an Obama presidency.
There's a word floating around that no one has uttered yet. Yes, we heard erratic, inconsistent, self-contradictory, about McCain's performance. But when one puts together the sum of his vagaries (uttering "My friends" in this last debate some 22 or more times (I lost count); saying "I know how to do this" about getting Bin Lden, ending wars,handling crises - oh yes, we saw THAT, didn;t we, that weekend where he "suspended" his campaign, then acted erratically and did more harm than good; and saying idiotic things like firing the head of the SEC, then shifting toally inappropriately to the FEC duh; and all the contradictions, unfinished mangled sentences, illogicalities), then that little hidden word needs to come out: are we seeing markers of onset of senility? But no one dares say it on the airwaves, not even Keith Olbermann.
This is scary beyond any imagining - and all the impulsive not thought-out responses and actions by this candidate that we have been witnessing should give us great pause.
There's a word floating around that no one has uttered yet. Yes, we heard erratic, inconsistent, self-contradictory, about McCain's performance. But when one puts together the sum of his vagaries (uttering "My friends" in this last debate some 22 or more times (I lost count); saying "I know how to do this" about getting Bin Lden, ending wars,handling crises - oh yes, we saw THAT, didn;t we, that weekend where he "suspended" his campaign, then acted erratically and did more harm than good; and saying idiotic things like firing the head of the SEC, then shifting toally inappropriately to the FEC duh; and all the contradictions, unfinished mangled sentences, illogicalities), then that little hidden word needs to come out: are we seeing markers of onset of senility? But no one dares say it on the airwaves, not even Keith Olbermann.
This is scary beyond any imagining - and all the impulsive not thought-out responses and actions by this candidate that we have been witnessing should give us great pause.
McCain has painted himself in to a corner. If he attacks Obama viciously as he had done earlier, in the campaign, he is going to turn off the remaining undecided voters. If he toots his loud horn about his military connections and POW days and as Tina Fey put it his "Mavericky" achievements people are going to say “Not that again”. His actions, speeches and plans have demonstrated his erratic nature that he has been known for. His running mate’s image as an attack dog with skeletons in her own closet is not helping either. But I admire him for where he has finally arrived in his life with relatively a low IQ and academic achievement. Good luck MAC.
McCain has painted himself in to a corner. If he attacks Obama viciously as he had done earlier, in the campaign, he is going to turn off the remaining undecided voters. If he toots his loud horn about his military connections and POW days and as Tina Fey put it his "Mavericky" achievements people are going to say “Not that again”. His actions, speeches and plans have demonstrated his erratic nature that he has been known for. His running mate’s image as an attack dog with skeletons in her own closet is not helping either. But I admire him for where he has finally arrived in his life with relatively a low IQ and academic achievement. Good luck MAC.
McCain has painted himself in to a corner. If he attacks Obama viciously as he had done earlier, in the campaign, he is going to turn off the remaining undecided voters. If he toots his loud horn about his military connections and POW days and as Tina Fey put it his "Mavericky" achievements people are going to say “Not that again”. His actions, speeches and plans have demonstrated his erratic nature that he has been known for. His running mate’s image as an attack dog with skeletons in her own closet is not helping either. But I admire him for where he has finally arrived in his life with relatively a low IQ and academic achievement. Good luck MAC.
McCain said Palin knows a lot about autism. You'd think he would know a bit more about his running mate.