John McCain, Cliff Jumper
The thing about a political stunt, I told my son last night, is that if you get away with it, it’s no longer a stunt. It’s bold leadership…keeping in mind that the first mark of a leader is that she or he has followers.
John McCain suspended his campaign yesterday, attempting to at least project an image of leadership, if not enacting its substance. Is anybody following?
Before giving the obvious answer to that question, it should be said that there is a kind of sense to John McCain and, for that matter, Barack Obama, suspending their presidential campaigns, going back to Washington and fulfilling their duties as United States Senators voting on proposed legislation dealing with the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
And, I should add that I always thought that the ideal presidential candidate was a former governor or senator who could hit the campaign trail, not having, in effect, to call in sick every day, missing important votes while still drawing a government paycheck.
On top of that, once Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke laid out the grim circumstances of America’s financial markets, it was clear that politically, to avoid what is now likely to be a landslide loss to Barack Obama in November, John McCain had to do something to dramatize his acknowledgment of the gravity of the crisis, to demonstrate that even though he’s a Republican and when economic crises arise, Americans tend to vote Democratic, he was their guy, and to indicate that he was going to be part of building a non-partisan consensus to resolve things.
The problem is that few are buying it. Few, after hearing McCain’s announcement yesterday thought, “There’s a leader I’m going to follow.”
John McCain’s “suspension” of his campaign is seen as a stunt and because he hasn’t gotten away with it, he adds certainty to my belief that this campaign is, effectively, over.
McCain and Obama have been campaigning non-stop now for nearly two years and the Senate has had dozens of roll-call votes and numerous hearings without their presence. Even if they both had been chained to their desks in Washington all this time, neither would likely have played a major role in creating legislation or shepherding it through the Senate right now. Both are little more than presumptive leaders at this time, Obama more than McCain.
So now, I expect the debate to happen in Mississippi tomorrow night, McCain implausibly crowing that since the Congress and the White House have reached some accommodation on a rescue or bailout plan in which he had played a crucial role, that he can in good conscience resume his campaign.
But for a campaign that was going nowhere, McCain’s dramatic–and silly–”suspension” will stand as a serviceable symbol for an effort bound for defeat in November.
For the first two weeks after McCain announced Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, a McCain victory seemed plausible. Palin was a demographically-brilliant pick, but one which has proven, along with McCain’s campaign “suspension,” that, while he may be a bold gambler and even a good person, John McCain isn’t always wise.
That’s the sort of thing that ill-advised stunts communicate to people. I hate seeing this happen to John McCain. I think that he probably is the kind of person that people follow. But not when he pulls a stunt that’s so transparently and cynically political.
Some will no doubt defend McCain, saying, “He got bad political advice.” But when I was a kid and got into trouble for some stunt I let a friend talk me into doing, my dad and mom had the definitive and discussion-ending response: “If your friends said, ‘Let’s jump off a cliff,’ would you do it?”
John McCain has taken his campaign off a cliff and nobody seems to be following.
[You can read more scintillating stuff on my personal blog.]
11 Responses to “John McCain, Cliff Jumper”
Right on!
The McCain campaign has been nothing but absurd since right before the conventions. He ran dishonest ad after dishonest ad. He picked Sarah Palin who seems less versed in national affairs than just about every commenter and writer on this site. He got into a manufactured frenzy about “lipstick on a pig.” And now he's pulling this debate-postponing stunt to help revise a 3 page proposal by Paulson he hasn't even read.
It'd be funny if he didn't have a chance of winning.
Mark,
You should know better.
Republicans have been making noises like they will block the deal from going through. When the deal is completed (at about 5pm tomorrow), a line of these senators and congressmen will be at the microphone.
Just like the idiots who call CSpan constantly saying they are life-long Republicans, but are now voting for Obama, these conservative legislators will swear that there was no way they were going to vote for this package until John McCain led them to the correct decision.
Paulson has already been quoted as begging McCain to come back to Washington to save the deal. Bernake will be right by his side testifying how it was dead in the water until McCain single-handedly saved the entire financial system of the U.S.
Amazingly, this will be completed just in time for the evening news on the day that 100 million people are expected to tune into the debates.
I think they may forgo carrying McCain on their shoulders through the halls of congress (as that might be a bit too much theater), but it will be close.
Perception is reality. The pool of people that follow the back stories of these moves is tiny and we’re not the target audience anyways. However, those undecided voters who are just starting to pay attention will eat this up.
Politics – you’ve got to love it.
If the Dems think McCain not showing up to the debate (or forcing him to break his word and show up anyways) would be a good thing, then they can delay the legislation as long as they like.
The main thing is to resolve this bailout (or reduced-bailout) issue, which is more important the debates, as McCain already knows, but many childish people do not.
Chris:
Neither candidate's ads or campaigns have particularly elevating. Each have, in David Brooks' wonderful and accurate phrase, their “favorite lies,” demonstrable untruths they tell about the opposition that they like to palm off as the truth. Each have been negative in their ad campaigns, an independent monitoring group concluding last week that Obama has had more attack ads than McCain has. But I also agree that McCain's “favorite lies” have been slightly more egregious than Obama's.
I must say that I feel like a dolt. I naively thought that McCain and Obama would run more lofty, substantive campaigns. My Christian faith should have held that enthusiasm in check; not only are all of us imperfect, sometimes forgiven, sinners, political ambition is like candy to a baby or speedballing to an addict. These guys want to win so badly, they're bound to behave badly.
Mark
I think many of us at least believed we wouldn't have such a sleazy campaign. But I think the primaries showed us what we were in for.
As for what McCain can do; I think his only option right now is to try to galvanize the Repubs to vote against this bailout. The public is highly skeptical and they are going to be demanding answers when congress adjourns. McCain's newest talking point would be that he voted against “Bush's Bailout” while the Dems voted for it. I really doubt this happening, but then again, I don't think anyone really expected McCain to suspend his campaign either.
Well, let's see… do you want a president who is tempermental, impulsive and takes risks with the country or do you want a president who is calm, methodical, and thoughtful before taking actions? Hmmm… what to do, what to do…
[...] John McCain, Cliff Jumper By MARK DANIELS Before giving the obvious answer to that question, it should be said that there is a kind of sense to John McCain and, for that matter, Barack Obama, suspending their presidential campaigns, going back to Washington and fulfilling their … The Moderate Voice – http://themoderatevoice.com [...]
This is truly bizarre. McCain rushed back to Washington because the financial crisis was so grave, and he…torpedoed the bill?
This is mavericky?
This is bipartisan?
Democrats in Washington have made it abundantly clear that McCain is a hindrance to any bailout solution. His ego is so massive and his willingness to scuttle America's economic future so bold that we are all held hostage.
As somebody who always saw John McCain as a cynical and self-righteous jerk, I find myself hoping more than ever that he gets blamed for whatever fallout follows.
Elrod — Did he torpedo it? I haven't seen that yet. Where do I go???? (Must…get…more…news….oh god, maybe I need a break…)
jwest said: “Republicans have been making noises like they will block the deal from going through. When the deal is completed (at about 5pm tomorrow), a line of these senators and congressmen will be at the microphone.” and “Amazingly, this will be completed just in time for the evening news on the day that 100 million people are expected to tune into the debates.”
How funny! If I'd read this comments thread before I posted a little while ago, I might have included your words there, jwest. Because that's exactly what I suspect might happen.