What the country thinks of McCain quitting because he's losing.

[Dos Equis]

"Better to be thought a fool, then show up at a debate and remove all doubt."

From today's papers around the nation:

    Can McCain pull this off - persuading the public to forget how he and his fellow Reagan Republicans changed the nation's economic rules in ways that allowed Wall Street to run amok, and refocusing its attention on his decisiveness at this moment of crisis? I doubt it. McCain's ploy was transparent. - Washington Post

    Democrats accused Mr. McCain of pulling a stunt to halt a slide in the polls. They also tweaked him for declaring the economic situation so dire it requires suspension of his campaign, a week after he declared the fundamentals of the economy are sound. Some independent analysts agreed. "It is a stunt. It is a ploy," said David S. Birdsell, dean of the school of public affairs at Baruch College in New York, an expert on presidential debates. He called it a "very high-risk strategy" for Mr. McCain to take responsibility for brokering a solution to the economic crisis. "He's not president yet," Dr. Birdsell said, adding that pulling out of a debate is unprecedented. "That notion that we take one of the most sacred obligations and rituals of American politics and suspend it because there's an urgent national question is highly problematic." - Dallas Morning News

I like this one, you OC wingnuts should get your panties wadded with this one:

If Winston Churchill could leave London in December 1941 and travel to America to address a joint session of Congress even as British troops in the Far East were reeling under Japanese attacks, somehow we think John McCain can make his way down to Oxford, Miss., for a debate Friday evening without imperiling the future of America. In this case, Barack Obama is right. -Rocky Mountain News

Still, there's an old saying in politics: Think political, but never look political. Given McCain's timing, this seems more political than altruistic. "It looks like a desperate stunt," said another GOP political consultant who worked for a McCain primary opponent. "McCain could have bailed out of the debate a week ago if this was really about the merits." -New York Daily News

And if the wingnuts here want to dismiss all these as too lefty, because they aren't Faux News, then how about the Wall Street Freakin Journal for ya?

    Last we checked, the President of the United States was still George W. Bush, the Secretary of the Treasury was still Henry Paulson, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve was still Ben Bernanke, and Congress still had 533 members not running for President who are at least nominally competent to debate and pass legislation. So count us as mystified by Senator John McCain's decision yesterday to suspend his campaign and call for a postponement in Friday's first Presidential debate so that he and Barack Obama can work out a consensus bill to stabilize the financial system. This is supposed to be evidence of leadership? - WSJ

Looks like Dago is the only one who thinks McCain is showing leadership.

All the rest of us think he's a coward unfit to face the people he wishes to lead.

[Denholm]

I don't like McCain. Yet I'm choosing the lesser of two evils in this election.

I don't think Obama is any good if he values a debate over the country's economic issue at hand. For weeks he's been raving on about a, "failing economy." And now... Well, he doesn't seem to care.

[crockett]

The one about Winston Churchill and that last one were actually pretty good points.

[Elfie]

I don't like McCain. Yet I'm choosing the lesser of two evils in this election.

I don't think Obama is any good if he values a debate over the country's economic issue at hand. For weeks he's been raving on about a, "failing economy." And now... Well, he doesn't seem to care.

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

[Elfie]

Who says McCain is quitting? Certainly not any of your sources. I personally don't believe he is quitting either.

I think it takes an act of selflessness to do what McCain has done.

[Bodhi]

Looks like Dago is the only one who thinks McCain is showing leadership.

All the rest of us think he's a coward unfit to face the people he wishes to lead.

That's is beyond low.  John McCain may be many things, but he is no coward.  

You are beyond a doubt one of the biggest POS for even suggesting that McCain is a coward.

[Bodhi]

The one about Winston Churchill and that last one were actually pretty good points.

You liberals would, because you are grasping for straws.

If Winston Churchill could leave London in December 1941 and travel to America to address a joint session of Congress even as British troops in the Far East were reeling under Japanese attacks, somehow we think John McCain can make his way down to Oxford, Miss., for a debate Friday evening without imperiling the future of America. In this case, Barack Obama is right.  -Rocky Mountain News

Considering that Churchill was the leader of the UK, and the US had just entering the war less that three weeks earlier, Churchill was there to inspire the US Congress into realizing that the Germans and Japanese had underestimated the allies.  Evidenced by the famous quote "What kind of people do they think we are?" 

McCain is not President yet.  He is a US Senator.  The US Senate is debating and drafting key legislation to address the financial crisis.  He needs to be a part of that, especially considering the role he is seeking.

[Dago]

Either this is a troll, or the originator of this thread is really stupid.   Which is it?

[Kaw1000]

That's is beyond low.  John McCain may be many things, but he is no coward.  

You are beyond a doubt one of the biggest POS for even suggesting that McCain is a coward.

Agreed!!!!  Well said!!  more liberal crap...it just never ends...these liberals
on this forum sure make a@@  out of themselves...I think they do it for attention
like a little kid wanting attention from their Mommy.

[AKIron]

Both McCain and Obama are likely to have more influence over this critical legislation than the average senator due to the upcoming election. Personally I'll be disappointed if the debates are delayed and I'd like to see McCain go through with it if Obama won't budge.

[Kaw1000]

Either this is a troll, or the originator of this thread is really stupid.   Which is it?

Both!!! and more. Stupid people vote Dems...because they believe this crapola.

[Charon]

I thought Obama was set to lose because he's black? At least that's what the papers have been saying. You mean McCain might lose?

And this guy shows his total ignorance of history, while trying to impress:

If Winston Churchill could leave London in December 1941 and travel to America to address a joint session of Congress even as British troops in the Far East were reeling under Japanese attacks, somehow we think John McCain can make his way down to Oxford, Miss., for a debate Friday evening without imperiling the future of America. In this case, Barack Obama is right. -Rocky Mountain News

It was absolutely critical that Churchill firm up a US war effort to make sure that it was fully committed to the fight. Bringing the US into the war was seen by Churchill as the crucial element to ultimate victory, and it was time to firmly establish a resolve in the US (as he had in Britain) to see it through against both Japan, and Germany:

The broad flow of munitions in Great Britain has already begun. Immense strides have been made in the conversion of American industry to military purposes, and now that the United States are at war it is possible for orders to be given every day which a year or eighteen months hence will produce results in war power beyond anything that has yet been seen or foreseen in the dictator States. Provided that every effort is made, that nothing is kept back, that the whole man-power, brain power, virility, valour and civic virtue of the English-speaking world with all its galaxy of loyal, friendly, associated communities and States - provided all that is bent unremittingly to the simple and supreme task, I think it would be reasonable to hope that the end of 1942 will see us quite definitely in a better position than we are now, and that the year 1943 will enable us to assume the initiative upon an ample scale.

Churchill, IMO, was additionally setting the groundwork that would place Europe as the primary theater of war, over Japan that had just attacked America directly. Churchill and Roosevelt had already agreed on this in principal at the Atlantic Conference. Dec. 7 added an emotional twist, however. You'll note how the Japanese are portrayed as weaker and stupid by Churchill, in spite of their initial victories:

When we consider the resources of the United States and the British Empire compared to those of Japan, when we remember those of China, which has so long and valiantly withstood invasion and when also we observe the Russian menace which hangs over Japan, it becomes still more difficult to reconcile Japanese action with prudence or even with sanity. What kind of a people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realise that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?

So, if anything this analogy shows that working through an appropriate solution in the American legislature is very important if you wish to proceed with a policy and that it trumps many other, important concerns and requires a hands-on presence.

By contrast, having a hands on influence in the bailout negotiations one would think would be far more important for an acting president -- either one -- than another political debate especially one on a topic seen as McCain's strong suit. The president will have to deal with this for the next 4-8 (and others to 30 years). There is simply nothing more pressing politically right now, not that both sides won't politicize the event regardless.

[alskahawk]

I don't like McCain. Yet I'm choosing the lesser of two evils in this election.

I don't think Obama is any good if he values a debate over the country's economic issue at hand. For weeks he's been raving on about a, "failing economy." And now... Well, he doesn't seem to care.

 Bear in mind that we had debates and an election in 1944, 1864. I think the participants were a little busy then too.

[Charon]

Bear in mind that we had debates and an election in 1944, 1864. I think the participants were a little busy then too.

Unfortunately, this issue will not go on another year or so like the wars you mentioned. Come Monday it will likely all be said and done, for better or for worse. Every dammed politician in Washington had better be devoting 100 percent of his or her time, and that of the staff, making sure we avoid 1929 if we can, or that we avoid a bailout that doesn't work or isn't needed. A better analogy would be expecting a debate between Generals Meade and Lee on the eve of Gettysburg.

Both parties could e-mail their position papers on foreign relations and you would have as much "new" content as you will get out of these controlled debates. The only excitement is looking for a "gotcha" moment from either.

Charon

[Twister2]

Much more interesting and to the point. You posted articles of several papers. Much better then Crockets lame attempts. However I do disagree with the articles. While it may be somewhat true that this a political move on McCains part. I do not believe it was an attempt to avoid the debate. I also believe that McCains heart is in the right place. I am sure there will be a debate rescheduled soon. Now wait for Crocket and Skyrocks comedy act to start.