Kasz216 said:
That's actually why I think Obama will when. He's been running the Bush 2000 campaign pretty effectivly so far. Right down to dodging as many debates as possible so he can try an add spam the vote. John McCains plan for 10 town hall debates would make sure the campaign was really about the issues. |
Most political analysts would tell you that McCain started it, but it doesn't really matter, as I think it has hurt both of them:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/08/mccain_tries_to_make_popularit.html
Remember St. John the Reformer, who promised a high-minded campaign and said he wouldn't question his opponent's patriotism? Clearly, he's been replaced by an evil twin. The switch seems to have taken place during his opponent's world tour, when Obama's prescriptions for Iraq and Afghanistan began to look prescient -- and McCain's began to look irrelevant.
It would have been very interesting to see ten joint appearances, but I just don't see that could happen the way campaigning works. Each candidates' schedules are pretty rigorous, and they like to have a lot of flexibility in case things change. It is very untraditional too, though I think it would be a step in the right direction. Unfortunately McCain denied Obama's counter offer, which still included more joint appearances than any other election season in the modern era.
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/mccain_five_joint_appearances.php
"Barack Obama offered to meet John McCain at five joint appearances between now and Election Day -- the three traditional debates plus a joint town hall on the economy in July and an in-depth debate on foreign policy in August. That package of five engagements would have been the most of any Presidential campaign in the modern era -- offering a broad range of formats -- and representing a historic commitment to openness and transparency.
"It's disappointing that Senator McCain and his campaign decided to decline this proposal. Apparently they would rather contrive a political issue than foster a genuine discussion about the future of our country.
"Senator Obama believes that the American people deserve an open and accessible debate as they choose between real change and four more years of failed Bush policies, and he welcomed McCain's invitation to offer voters 'the rare opportunity of witnessing candidates for the highest office in the land discuss civilly and extensively the great issues at stake in the election.'"
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke
It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...." Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson
