Talk Versus Action
mccain, obama 8:10 AM
Yesterday, John McCain announced that he would suspend his campaign and return to Washington to help find a fair, smart, and swift solution to our nation's dire and immediate need for help.
If you need a concrete example of what this election is fundamentally about, this is it.
Between now and November 4th, we're not likely to get a more clear example of the differences between John McCain and Barack Obama. It's not about some obscure vote some-odd years back, it's not about a great zinger on a late nite tv show, and it's not about who can outmaneuver the other guy in an ad.
This election is about talk versus action. This is the 3 a.m. phone call, and one guy is ready to lead.
This is not an obscure problem. Look down your street. Talk to your neighbors. The guy two doors down just lost his job in the factory. Across the street from him, there is a family that just lost their employer-provided healthcare due to budget cutbacks at the office. The guy you wave good morning to is supposed to retire in two years. His 401k just lost 50% of it's value, and he doesn't know what he's going to do to make up for the loss. And as you look down the street, you see the for sale signs that have been hanging for months with no buyers. Some families just couldn't wait to unload their homes anymore, and foreclosure notices already adorn them. This is the problem of main street America today. Not in some fantasy land, and not in the distant future. I'm talking about right here, right now, in your neighborhood.
So what do we do? Consider this: As the crisis reached a breaking point yesterday, both candidates knew something must be done. But what did they propose to do? Barack Obama wanted to put out a joint statement. John McCain asked Barack Obama to accompany him back to Washington to sit down with people and hash out solutions. This is what we're talking about. This is the real deal - raw, no spin.
Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, it couldn't matter less right now. Your paycheck doesn't know left from right. When your job is in jeopardy, you don't care if your employer is liberal or conservative. So politics aside, we need to send a strong leader to the White House. We need the guy (or gal) who will do something when the phone rings in the middle of the night. We don't need a speech. We need hands on, in-your-face action by someone who will do what's necessary, popular or not. We need help NOW - by consensus is possible, by force if necessary.
One man is talking about doing something. The other man is doing something.
Talk vs action applies to us voters too. Please please please engage your undecided friends and family sitting on the fence. Go out there and change hearts and minds. Tell them how important and obvious the difference is between the two paths before us. The election comes down to this. It's 3 am, and the phone is ringing.
If you need a concrete example of what this election is fundamentally about, this is it.
Between now and November 4th, we're not likely to get a more clear example of the differences between John McCain and Barack Obama. It's not about some obscure vote some-odd years back, it's not about a great zinger on a late nite tv show, and it's not about who can outmaneuver the other guy in an ad.
This election is about talk versus action. This is the 3 a.m. phone call, and one guy is ready to lead.
This is not an obscure problem. Look down your street. Talk to your neighbors. The guy two doors down just lost his job in the factory. Across the street from him, there is a family that just lost their employer-provided healthcare due to budget cutbacks at the office. The guy you wave good morning to is supposed to retire in two years. His 401k just lost 50% of it's value, and he doesn't know what he's going to do to make up for the loss. And as you look down the street, you see the for sale signs that have been hanging for months with no buyers. Some families just couldn't wait to unload their homes anymore, and foreclosure notices already adorn them. This is the problem of main street America today. Not in some fantasy land, and not in the distant future. I'm talking about right here, right now, in your neighborhood.
So what do we do? Consider this: As the crisis reached a breaking point yesterday, both candidates knew something must be done. But what did they propose to do? Barack Obama wanted to put out a joint statement. John McCain asked Barack Obama to accompany him back to Washington to sit down with people and hash out solutions. This is what we're talking about. This is the real deal - raw, no spin.
Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, it couldn't matter less right now. Your paycheck doesn't know left from right. When your job is in jeopardy, you don't care if your employer is liberal or conservative. So politics aside, we need to send a strong leader to the White House. We need the guy (or gal) who will do something when the phone rings in the middle of the night. We don't need a speech. We need hands on, in-your-face action by someone who will do what's necessary, popular or not. We need help NOW - by consensus is possible, by force if necessary.
One man is talking about doing something. The other man is doing something.
Talk vs action applies to us voters too. Please please please engage your undecided friends and family sitting on the fence. Go out there and change hearts and minds. Tell them how important and obvious the difference is between the two paths before us. The election comes down to this. It's 3 am, and the phone is ringing.
Posted by Nick Stone
on 8:10 AM.
Filed under
Posts
This affects us all! Im a mom who runs a household on my husbands paycheck for a family of 5! We cant afford gas, groceries, and Im freaking about Christmas already! We had 100 bucks in the bank one day before payday. Living paycheck to paycheck! We have NO savings anymore. Dont know what we are going to do!
My neighbor has health problems and is almost 70 and she cant afford gas, groceries or her Rxs for her heart problems and is about to have surgery. She has no idea what she will do!
My in laws are freaking cause they just lost half of their retirement and arent sure what they are gonna do!
This is affecting everyone I know...it is a crisis and Obama hasnt got a clue. The fact that he came out like a 3rd grader and said "I called him first!" "It was my idea not his!" THis is not acting like a president...
I could care less to see a debate now...John McCain has asked him to do town hall meetings this whole time and Obama has refused...debate time is over and work should begin!
Way to go McCain!
Independent Mom,
Thanks for the comment! Yours is almost EXACTLY the story I'm talking about, and you are who McCain will fight for - not San Francisco fat cats. We're all hurting, and we need all hands on deck to find a solution to these problems before us.
Thanks again!
I work in the mortgage industry, and have for the last 3 years. With the sudden downfall of the securities market, I may soon be standing in the unemployment line or forced to take a very low paying job just to make ends meet.
It's pretty bad when I'm thinking about going back to school, but I don't even know if I will be able to get a job when I get out.
You're right, John McCain did show action by suspending his campaign. Obama wanted to release a joint statement. And then of course his "Well I called him first" is like me and my sister fighting when we were 5.
I'm really hoping that ALL Democrats and Republicans can come up with a good bipartisan solution to this problem. But, I am worried that you can't just solve a problem by throwing money at it. This is a big mess that is going to take years to clean up, and my only concern is who is going to make sure that the source of the problem is found and that we never have to be here again.
-J-RAY-
I hear that. This is so critical. PLEASE talk with your friends and family about why we need real change, not soundbites and political triangulation.
Are you kidding me? These discussions have been going on for over a week. McCain is on NONE of the appropriate committees and his showing up is likely to solve nothing. McCain hasn't even bothered to READ the 3-page legislation. "I have not had a chance to see it in writing," said the Senator. "I have to examine it."
"I'm delighted that John is expressing himself on this issue," said Chris Dodd. "I have heard form Obama numerous occasions these last couple days. I have never heard from John McCain on the issue... I'm just worried a little bit that sort of politicizing this problem, sort of flying in here, I'm beginning to think this is more of a rescue plan for John McCain and not a rescue plan for the economy."
Also, how is it possible that you think Obama's call to unity to issue a joint statement was anything but honorable?
Even McCain's actions on Wednesday seemed calculated. It was, as you mentioned, Obama who first proposed to form a unity front in addressing the issue, calling McCain at 8:30 in the morning to discuss the issuance of a joint statement. The call went UNRETURNED for six hours. McCain's campaign would later claim he was huddling with economic advisers. But during that time he made a scheduled stop with Lady Lynn de Rothschild, a British high society woman who now lives in New York, that recently endorsed his campaign.
And then, after McCain told Letterman that he could not make his scheduled appearance because of urgency of the situation (he was going back to Washington RIGHT AWAY), he still managed to make time to swing by CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. That interview, had been arranged shortly after McCain had temporary halted his campaign - a curious move for a candidate who was asking his opposition to drop EVERYTHING and get back to Washington with him.
For you to think that McCain's sudden stopping of the campaign and flight to Washington (he isn't even there yet), is anything but a cheap political ploy to hopefully give him a couple extra points when the poll numbers were going the wrong direction, is just absolutely inane.
Anonymous,
Thank you sincerely for the thoughtful comment.
Though I don't agree with you, you make a valid point - if the point is that he did Katie Couric right after canceling on Letterman. I don't quite grasp the mentality behind the choice, except that I know his campaign has said that it would be inappropriate to be doing a comedy show when we're on the brink of financial meltdown. There's nothing funny about running for president while laughing about people getting kicked out of their houses. Still, a last minute ditch is weird. Granted.
Let's keep in mind though - if we're going to quote Chris Dodd - that he is in fact a partisan Democrat who is endorsing Barack Obama. So OF COURSE he's not going to give an objective opinion. I wouldn't quote - let's say - Kay Bailey Hutchinson and expect an objective opinion on something Barack did.
As for whether or not McCain would be any help in Washington at this moment, let me say this: he may not be on the 'right committees' but he's the Republican nominee for president of the United States. There's like a 49% chance that congress is going to have to call him "Mr. President" and deal with him starting in January, and most of Congress will retain their seats. So, i'll go out on a limb and say they will listen to him regardless of his committee assignments.
Also - and this is important - he is, in fact, a US Senator, and I am just proud of him for acting like one. I can't in good faith fault him for going to Washington to help. If he can add ANYTHING AT ALL to the situation over there instead of making a speech in front of undecideds, I'm all for that. Since when do we berate legislators for having a hands-on approach and trying to find a solution?
Either way, Barack Obama is missing in action on this one. He's asleep at the wheel because he'd rather comment on situations from the outside than actually go help. That's the fact of the matter... and no, I'm NOT kidding you.
I am speechless. She cannot possibly be this uninformed. You absolutely have to see these for yourself to believe them. These are self-mocking; they could be SNL appearances. Tina Fey couldn't possibly improve on this. THIS is the woman you want to be one heartbeat away from the presidency?
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4478156n
She WHO?! This article IS NOT about Sarah Palin. But thanks.
The National Review hears something HMM: “One side effect of McCain’s debate gambit is, I’m told, that everyone at Ole Miss now hates him. It will make for a very hostile audience tonight among those students and faculty attending. He might have to apologize for creating the uncertainty or make some explanation up front, which is never ideal.” Ah but Rich Lowry, a Maverick thrives on hatred! (Besides, they don’t like BLACK PEOPLE either in Mississippi so it balances out). As John McWalnuts has told us countless times this campaign, he’s been on Capitol Hill for decades and has made no friends there. It’s his “thing.” What a man! A couple of other analyses of how McCain blew nuts with this weird debate gag, below.
Chris Cillizza gives us “The Fix,”:
But, over the intervening 24 hours, McCain saw what at first looked like a brilliant political gambit turn into a nightmare, as an apparent done deal to save the financial industry devolved into a partisan shouting match at the White House that left congressional negotiators back at square one.
[...]
Spin aside, McCain blinked in what had become a high stakes staring contest between he and Obama.
IN THE TANK. Where’s a Republican? Here’s some Republican. Tell us, random hobo Republican, did John McCain blink or are you in the tank also?:
“It just proves his campaign is governed by tactics and not ideology,” said Republican consultant Craig Shirley, who advised McCain earlier in this cycle. “In the end, he blinked and Obama did not. The ’steady hand in a storm’ argument looks now to more favor Obama, not McCain.”
Shirley added, “My guess is that plasma units are rushing to the McCain campaign as we speak to replace the blood flowing there from the fights among the staff.”
Gross! A tank of blood, and he is in it.
*Ahem*
FAIL.
Jon Stewart always frames it just right:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=186055&title=mccain-returns-to-washington
Not only did McCain spend late night Sunday dining at an expensive Washington Eatery, not working with legislators, the bill he claimed credit for has tanked. From Politico:
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his top aides took credit for building a winning bailout coalition – hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked.
Shortly before the vote, McCain had bragged about his involvement and mocked Sen. Barack Obama for staying on the sidelines.
“I've never been afraid of stepping in to solve problems for the American people, and I'm not going to stop now,” McCain told a rally in Columbus, Ohio. “Sen. Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn't want to get involved. Then he was monitoring the situation.”
McCain, grinning, flashed a sarcastic thumbs up.
“That's not leadership. That's watching from the sidelines,” he added to cheers and applause.
Doug Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior policy adviser, told reporters on a conference call that McCain "dedicated the past week" to addressing the problem but made "a conscious decision not to attract attention to John McCain."
"He's made dozens of calls," Holtz-Eakin said.
Asked if McCain bears any responsibility for the bill's failure, Holtz-Eakin said McCain "improved it greatly — took the lead in the need for taxpayer protections."
Making a similar point earlier on MSNBC, Holtz-Eakin said McCain deliberately "kept a low profile."
"John McCain understands that had he looked like he was going to be the key to the success, that Democrats would attack him and kill the deal," Holtz-Eakin said. "That's what you saw today. They were not going to let John McCain do the job that he was trying to do: deliver a bill that would help the American people."
"John McCain understood that had he kept a low profile, talked with members of Congress as he did, asked them where they were in their votes, called those members who were reluctant. He was doing his job, and doing it with a low profile [that was] necessary," Holtz-Eakin added.
Holtz-Eakin told MSNBC that Obama was "phoning it in" instead of working hard on a rescue. "Where was Barack Obama for today?" Holtz-Eakin said. "He's phoning it in — phoning it in — one more time."
McCain initially had been modest about his role. On Sunday, he said on ABC’s “This Week” that congressional negotiators deserve “great credit” for the bipartisan deal. “"It wasn’t because of me,” McCain said. “They did it themselves.”
But at almost the same time, McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt was saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: “What Sen. McCain was able to do … was to help get all of the parties to the table. There had been announcements by Senate leaders saying that a deal had been reached earlier in the week. There were no votes for that deal.
“Sen. McCain knew time was short and he came back, he listened and he helped put together the framework of getting everybody to the table, which was necessary to produce a package to avoid a financial catastrophe for this country.”
On Monday morning, McCain campaign communications director Jill Hazelbaker said on Fox News that the deal would not have happened “without Sen. McCain.”
“Sen. McCain interrupted his campaign, suspended his campaign activity to come back to Washington to get Republicans around a table,” Hazelbaker said. “Without Sen. McCain, House Republicans would not have appointed a negotiator, which would not have moved this bill forward.
“It’s really Sen. McCain who got all parties around a table to hammer out a deal that hopefully is in the best interests of the American taxpayer.”
Whether you're happy that the Wall Street bailout was rejected by the House, or disappointed, one thing is abundantly clear - McCain went "all in" on the bailout, made it the single real-time test of his leadership. He quote-unquote "suspended" his campaign, so he could get down and dirty in the negotiations, and show how John McCain brings people together to get things done.
In fact, in a premature victory dance, this morning:
In a hard-hitting speech here before several thousand very enthusiastic supporters, McCain bragged about having played a leading role in the congressional agreement on a $700 billion financial sector bailout package.
"I went to Washington last week to make sure that the taxpayers of Ohio and across this great country were not left footing the bill for mistakes made on Wall Street and evil and greed in Washington," he said
.
It was a massive, massive fail.
Democrats delivered the votes they promised in the House. House Republicans bolted. The same House Republicans that John McCain took full credit for bringing into the fold. In fact, he was so confident that he thought he had enough in tow to pass a bill, he blustered about it all morning.
But, this wasn't just a failure in his self-created leadership test, it was a failure to even keep his finger on the pulse of his own party's caucus, showing himself to be utterly clueless as to where his House members stood, as late as this morning.
McCain likes to paint himself as the guy who can reach out his arms and bring people from all sides in for a big group embrace. This vote was when he was going to prove it.
Yet, instead, all he showed is that he's the lost, erratic, out-of-touch, flailing, impulsive gambler that the public is coming to believe he is.
From the chief strategist of your candidate, Mark Penn (not that I didn't like her a lot):
One-time Hillary Clinton chief strategist Mark Penn acknowledged -- sort of -- that Barack Obama had passed the infamous 3 A.M. test that Penn and his aides had artificially created as a criteria to be elected president.
Appearing at the Time Warner Summit conference on the 2008 election, Penn proclaimed that the state of the presidential race had broken down along the lines of which candidate voters assumed was best able to handle that late-night crisis moment.
"McCain really faltered in terms of answering the call, being contradictory and he blew a lot of electoral points that had been building up to that," he said. "The dynamic of this election is about who will be able to handle the economic crisis. They have looked to the response so far and voters have said this is the type of crisis that Obama can handle," and they don't see that with the McCain campaign.
The remark represents a full-circle moment of sorts for Penn, who throughout the Democratic primary was highly critical of Obama's experience and ability. The famous 3 A.M. ad that he engineered before the Ohio and Texas primary -- which questioned which candidate could handle a unexpected terrorism scare -- was, Penn said, the most discussed spot of the cycle.
Moreover, since the Democratic primary ended Penn has remained hostile towards Obama. On Monday he did not offer anything that could be interpreted as a measure of endorsement or support. But he did seem bullish on the Illinois Democrat's chances (at this point, who isn't)?
Penn had harsh words to say about Gov. Sarah Palin, who he said had wilted under press criticism.
"I don't think you will see her in politics again unless she goes back and gets the experience that she doesn't have right now," he said.
In addition, he admonished the media for -- among many things -- being too easy on John McCain.
"No one has really gone back on McCain and gone through the Keating Five and whether or not it is fair or unfair," he said, "which will be particularly relevant considering we have a banking crisis. And yet the background stories on that, whether favorable or unfavorable, have been zero."
Well, I have pretty mixed feelings about Mark Penn, though I will say he probably did more good than harm overall for Senator Clinton's campaign.
It also needs to be said that the concept that Mark Penn and aides manufactured the 3a.m. ad concept is factually inaccurate. It was a revived idea from a decades old ad (I think for LBJ maybe?) and they just recreated and built upon the concept. It's splitting hairs I know, but the point is that it wasn't an original idea.
Now to the important point.
The Keating 5 wasn't reinvestigated because we've already been through this and it's already been investigated. After thorough and intense scrutiny, it was found that McCain did have some involvement but much less so than other members of Congress. He admitted fault, swore to do better in the future, and then did. After the Keating 5 investigation, the state of Arizona has continued to send him to the senate time and time again. They know what they're getting, and they still choose him to represent them. Doesn't that say anything?
We're just learning about Obama's associations. Since learning about Wright and Ayers and Rezko and ACORN, Obama has faced only this current election. And don't forget these associations HAVE raised doubts about his history and decision-making. Looks like people will make up their own minds on that one too. After we know the truth, then I'm comfortable putting that baby to bed too.
Finally, anybody who thinks the media is being too soft on McCain should think again. Of course you have a handfull of conservative pundits, but the news organizations in general have been blatantly and brazenly cheerleading for Obama since IOWA... and it's sickening.