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Expect More "Hail Mary" Passes From McCain As Polls Shift
McCain's people are looking at the same poll numbers as we are - or worse. They know he needs a game-changer, especially when you see the distinct shifts in the electoral map towards Obama. McCain saw his troubles earlier this year and decided to turn things over to the Rove thugs (you could argue that his first real "adjustment" came in 2004, when he gambled on lurching towards the conservative base).
When the scorched earth strategy of the Rovians produced little real movement in the polls beyond a mild softening of Obama's favorable ratings, he decided to throw caution and vetting to the wind in favor of Alaska's Miss Petrol Congeniality.
These are a series of calculated gambles, much like "suspending" one's campaign and trying to cancel a debate. The gambles almost always have failed to pay dividends worth the damage inflicted. The one gamble that seems to have to paid off was keeping Palin away from reporters - clearly a better option than putting her near any microphones, while also effectively lowering the bar for Thursday's debate. As Dylan said, though, "there's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all."
Which brings us to last night. As mentioned, McCain at best tied on a night of foreign policy which his team negotiated to put out first in order to position him over Obama going into the next two debates. It's still early, but I'd say that gamble will work out like the rest of them. More importantly, time is growing short and those poll numbers are not looking good.
Keep in mind those Rovian thugs, who are 1) realistic, and 2) completely amoral. While McCain may prefer to fade away like an old soldier, my guess is that his campaign would rather burn out with all guns blazing. We will likely see a few major hail mary passes in the remaining weeks - and some of them may not look pretty. The Obama camp has been pretty savvy to date, and I just hope that they are prepared for this eventuality.
Comments (8)
Remove Palin, add Huckabee? Palin should watch her back - she won't leave by making excuses about needing to take care of her family - more likely, it'll be a plane crash or something. I'm only half kidding.
September 27, 2008 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know where people got McCain asking for foreign policy but it was actually Obama's camp who asked for it. They knew the first debate is the most watched and they knew the this was McCain's percieved strong point. They wanted to show they could hang and he did just that.
September 27, 2008 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
They probably also wanted to avoid letting the FP debate go last, so that McCain could get some sort of last minute bounce from it.
And it worked out beautifully.
The FP debate was an even match, but the best part was that the first 30 minutes were mostly about the economy! Ha!
September 27, 2008 8:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
"While McCain may prefer to fade away like an old soldier, "
Nonsense. Bob Dole refused to play dirty in 1996, and lost with honor. McCain apparently will do anything to win. He's a ruthless slimeball. It's not his campaign that is doing it -- he hired all the sleazeball Rovians. This is who he is.
But your central point is correct: Expect dirtier and sleazier tactics going forward. McCain is losing this, and it won't be pretty.
September 27, 2008 8:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have to say I agree. McCain will not go down in honor. He is throwing away his dignity, honor, and integrity to try to win.
Last night was the nail in the coffin for me. Hey John: Look at Obama for crying out loud.
McCain looked like he was going to burst in a fit of rage at any moment.I despise that man. I never thought I would hate him so much. I won't stand 4 years of his face. But it looks like I won't have to.
September 27, 2008 10:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I mean what else can he do? Unless he managed to.....I don't know. I mean no ad can do much considering he already said Obama was some sort of pedo. Hey, at least it will be entertaining. I think the endorsement of Colin Powell in the coming weeks will be the final nail in the coffin for Mac.
September 27, 2008 8:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't see why Powell would now endorse McCain. But man I wouldn't want to be around McCain when he hears the news that Gen. Powell is endorsing the man he can't even look at.
September 27, 2008 10:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fortunately, we won't have to be around McCain as his campaign further deconstructs. That's the reason for the existence of Tucker Bounds. He's a perfect fit for McCain's boot (and you just know he's already felt it more than once - and liked it)!
September 28, 2008 12:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
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