It seems Obama has called McCain’s bluff.
According to Politico.com, a McCain advisor said that the republican presidential candidate will most likely be attending the debate tonight. Yesterday, when McCain addressed the country and said that he would put his campaign on hold in favor of solving the nation’s economic crisis, I, along with most of America, wondered whether the move had political or moral motives.
I’m thinking political and here’s why.
If McCain honestly thought that he could provide some kind of genuine support in the Senate, he wouldn’t be considering this debate. He would stay in Washington and lead the way on a bipartisan bill that could later act as a cornerstone of his campaign. To be able to say, “When the nation was in trouble, I put politics aside and led the way to reform,” would be invaluable to a candidate who largely comes across not as the ‘maverick’ but as grandpa.
Instead, McCain is now entertaining the idea of attending the debate. Had Obama not pushed for the debate and gone to Washington with McCain, McCain would have come across as the leader to the majority of the public, as he was the first to publicly propose the campaign hold. But now that Obama has said he still wants to verbally spar, McCain has to comply.
If McCain declines to debate and doesn’t personally accomplish something impressive in the capitol building, he will look like a lame duck – particularly if the bailout bill isn’t passed in very short order.
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1 comment:
I agree that McCain did seem like a "lame duck." but the issue at hand doesn't really revolve around politicians being politicians its about who in the debate came across as more capable, and more compelling. To most people, the attempt by John McCain to curry cheap support by returning to the house has already faded, in no small way thanks to sarah palin. Could this have actually been a clever politically move, probably not, but still McCain is no weaker now than before.
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