Wednesday, September 24, 2008

McCain Calls Time-Out

What is the first thing a basketball coach does when his team is behind in points and the clock is ticking toward zero?

Exactly.

He calls a time out.

This is what John McCain did today. Behind in the polls and sinking with each day’s news of financial crisis, how he is self-admittedly not an expert on economics, and how Barack Obama is increasingly being seen as the candidate who is most likely to deal with a financial crisis effectively and with good judgment. How McCain reacts to the news of impending financial disaster by lashing out at SEC chairman Christopher Cox threatening to fire him (made especially poignant with the news that a president actually does not have the power to fire the SEC chairman), and how Obama has responded with measured judgment that addresses key concerns voiced from both sides of the aisle.

So John McCain called “time out” today, announcing that he was suspending his campaign “to return to Washington to help broker a deal to save the financial industry,” to quote Chris Cillizza who pens WaPo’s “The Fix” blog.

Are you kidding? Didn’t we all hear John McCain say that he was “no expert” at economics? So now he is going to lend his expertise in brokering a deal? I’m sorry; I have to have a reality check here. Below is a 13 second clip of McCain’s chat at a Concord, New Hampshire town hall meeting early this year.



Asphinctersayswhat?

Believe me, the last guy I want in Washington working this deal is this rank amateur, John McCain. This is a combination of grandstanding in the extreme, and a strategic stall to save his falling numbers.

Grandstanding. McCain claims that negotiations on the bailout have entered a morass and are unlikely to be settled anytime soon. But just a few minutes ago, Congressman Barney Frank, interviewed on MSNBC, who is working this problem, claimed not only that the deal was close to agreement, as in “in a few days”, but that McCain’s help wasn’t really needed.

Strategic Stall. The last thing McCain needs right now is to face Barack Obama in public debate. Even if it is on an unrelated matter, like foreign policy, this debate can easily be turned into a shooting match over finances.

And that is the last thing McCain wants.

So is this debate going to go or is Obama going to be alone onstage this Friday? Obama has indicated no intent to suspend his campaign. To do so would be to allow McCain to lead. On the other hand, should McCain bow out, what does that do to his argument about wanting to have all of those town halls with Obama, and Obama not agreeing? Now we have McCain ducking behind skirts on an imagined crisis.

Frankly, this is a real exposé on what we can expect from a John McCain presidency. Ducking out, cutting and running when the heat gets turned up. Concocting an excuse based on faulty intelligence to do something, or not do something as the case may be.

Geez, who does that sound like?

Exactly.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another thing coaches do, if one of their starters is "unavailable" to play, is to substitute another player. Let Palin debate Obama. If she is ready to assume the presidency on short notice, surely she wouldn't blink at a chance to debate Obama.

Anonymous said...

Hal, Harry Reid said Mccain should come back, then he did. Then Reid said they don't need him. Mccain is stepping up and looking more Presidential by his stance of doing his job. What if Bush Multi tasked on 9/12?

Obama say's he stands for Change. By no going back and answering 'THIS 3 AM CALL', he is giving the same old washington rhetoric of it will work itself out and call me if you need me. Mccain is stepping up and doing his job. Obama wouldn't know a thing with his 143 days in the Senate. He's done more campaigning then being a Senator.

As the last comment on your page. I still think Palin could take down Obama in a debate. Obama saying that a kid should get a breathalyser when he's asmatic is a joke. All Obama can do is give a great speech. Im not ready to elected a african america Ryan Seacrest. Hillary actually stood for the Democrats, but Obama is just a hollow entertainer. If you ask one group of people to name one accomplishment Obama has done, they can't even name one.

Proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzFOOcEQtP0

Anonymous said...

Hal, Washington mutual is at $2 a share, 25,000 lost there jobs at HP, several huge investment firms gone, banking system starting to fall apart, HOW IS THIS FALSE INTELLIGENCE WITH THE EVIDENCE IN YOUR FACE!

Obama this morning, "This is the worst crisis since the 1929 crash."

AND HE'S NOT IN WASHINGTON!!

DO YOU WAKE UP EVERY MORNING AND TAKE THE SKEWED DEMOCRAT I HATE REPUBLICAN EVEN IF THEY'RE RIGHT ROAD? FOR YOU NOT TO CLEARLY SEE THIS ONLY PROVES HOW BLIND YOU ACTUALLY ARE!

A crisis calls all hands on deck and Obama is no where to be found.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should change to football Hal. Obama is now down in the polls after this decision.

Anonymous said...

Obama fans still have Communist Cuban flags with Karl Max on it in all of their homes and offices in Fort Bend and Houston?

Hal said...

God I hate it when you guys get it wrong. It wasn't Karl Marx on a Cuban flag - that doesn't really make any sense, does it?

It was Che Guevara's famous black and white drawing of his head on a Cuban flag. Were you alive in the '60s? That drawing was a symbol of war protest.

Yeah, bubba, not only are all of us Obama supporters closet communists but we also belong to witch covens and are working feverishly to put a hex on Sarah Palin.

Anonymous said...

Ive seen Marks on a Cuban flag. Last time I checked they were communist, so why wouldn't that make sense?