Saturday, September 27, 2008

Debate Thoughts (and why McCain is stuck with Palin)

Watching McCain try to convince us that Obama might be as rigidly stubborn as Bush last night was funny (Obama even laughed out loud), but it was also a bit sad, considering how McCain is, like it or not, stuck with his choice of VP, even as conservatives start to turn against her.

Of course, McCain's loyalty to his choice won't exactly be because of his stubbornness, but that is how it will seem if he does stick with her -- and he will. He has no choice. Let's not even bother with the practical considerations -- that's academic. McCain's problem is that he won't be able to bring himself to admit that he screwed up. The selection of the VP is considered to be the first presidential-level decision made by every presidential candidate. And presidential decisions are serious ones -- backsies are generally not allowed. How can McCain admit that he's failed at the one and only presidential decision he's made so far? And if he did, why would anyone vote for him?

So I think the McCain-Palin ticket is safe for the time being, for better or for worse, and we'll all really look forward to the VP debate this coming Thursday. And in the meantime, people will continue to argue about who "won" last night's debate -- but to be honest, I don't think points scored matter all that much. They both tallied some points and they both could have done better at times, so I'm sure it's going to go down as a split decision. At this point, the McCain campaign is in such a shambles, he probably got points from a lot of people just because he showed up. On the other hand, Obama had a higher bar to rise to, and is being criticized for not doing more than he did -- not goading McCain into blowing up, not playing gotcha with any of the plentiful ammunition McCain has been providing lately, and so on. But I think it's important to remember that the goalposts are all the way down the field on November 4th -- and a "victory" scored last night doesn't matter if it doesn't get the campaign closer to victory on Election Day.

And what Barack Obama did last night was to take one step closer to that victory. The punditry, both on the right and on the left, have been telling us for weeks now that the people like Obama, but they just don't know if they want to vote for him -- they're waiting for him to seem presidential. And I think he got there last night. He was commanding, knowledgeable, and comfortable talking about foreign policy. He looked like a guy who can do this job.

Now, if he had spent more time poking McCain with a stick, he might have gotten enough of a rise out of the old man to have the talking heads all now declaring that Obama won the debate. He might have gotten his excited supporters to pump their fists in the air if he had thrown out a few gotchas. But doing so would not have seemed presidential, and it would not have moved his campaign closer to those November goal posts.

Obama and McCain both did fine jobs last night. But I suspect Obama is the only one who may have helped some undecided voters make up their minds. I think he quietly had a very good night.

6 comments:

Ruthrocks said...

After the debate I saw Biden interviewed on a couple of stations. He gave intelligent comments in support of Obama. Where was Palin? Never saw her anywhere! Can't wait until Thursday....

jim said...

I predict Palin will step down citing "not wanting her distractions to affect McCain" and Romney will be inserted, giving McCain instant cred on the economy.

fletch said...

If Palin is replaced, I predict Huckabee. He has to hold the nutcase base and the Christian right or he has no chance at all.

jim said...

true fletch, but I think the Palin pick has succeeded in firing up the Zombie base, and they will not depart now, they are on board. now he has to capture the Indies, and he needs the economic expert in Romney more than another Zombie.

sandy on signal said...

Ruthrocks asks: Where was Palin last night?



Answer: she was in a bar in Philadelphia - I am not joking, either. So she isn't available for questioning, for her newborn special needs son, for her pregnant daughter, for the other kids, for the people of Alaska, for the media, but hey... she made it to an Irish Pub last night.



Cheers. Na zdorovye, Sarah Palin.

Julie L said...

I don't know if you guys have seen this: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/220382.php - but it seems that there is going to be a wedding in the Palin family BETWEEN NOW AND THE ELECTION - they will stop at nothing! I cannot believe that they are using Bristol Palin in such a callous manner, to just have some press coverage - and I predict that the marriage will last, oh, 6 months.