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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Debate thoughts and predictions

McCain will bring up Ayers, but it will be tepid, and Obama's response (which will be well planned) will likely be better.

McCain will try to attack from his economic plan, but Obama will respond by saying "jobs" and "middle class" 300 times.

From his economic plan, McCain is clearly trying to target "seniors," so watch for code words aimed at that demo.

McCain's goal is to try to make Obama appear "unpresidential." How does he pull that off?

McCain will try some "surprise," maybe economic, maybe some new attack, but it will be delivered awkwardly leaving everyone scratching their heads.

Viewership for this debate will be down significantly.

8 Comments:

  • Mike wrote:
    McCain's goal is to try to make Obama appear "unpresidential."

    I can't think of a way McCain could do this without himself looking even more unpresidential. Not that McCain won't try. Lately that's been all his campaign is about.

    At this point I think McCain should refocus his energies on salvaging his dignity and character rather than winning this elections... if it's not already too late.

    I'm not sure McCain brings up Ayers. He might allude to associations or judgement with regard to who you work with, etc.. But I'm thinking it's 50/50 whether McCain goes head on with this. The polling shows this to be such a loser argument... In fact it's blowing back.

    As usual McCain and his people don't do their homework. They were hoping the media would run the Ayers meme for them, but, of course, it turns out there's no "there" there. Undaunted in their characteristic Republican M.O. that "belief trumps fact," they believed Ayers was a real baddie so they continued to bang the drum.... but only the racists, defectives, and rage-a-holics are marching now.

    By Blogger -epm, at 8:26 AM  

  • The Ayers thing is a non-starter. Anybody who lived through the Sixties will tell you a lot of dumb stuff happened. Most of us have grown up and become grandparents.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:30 AM  

  • EPM, exactly, I don't see how he does it either, but making Obama "unpresidential" is about the only way McCain could win.

    There is definitely a case for McCain to embrace the "respectable loss" scenario to try and help out the downballot races.

    I don't think McCain wins on Ayers either, but the situation is such that he probably has to bring him up in some form. (Expect those CNN dials to shoot down.)

    On Ayers, also, alot of the problem is in the timing. If they'd shot that in July, it would probably have been received very differently. With the economic stuff, and McCain trailing in the polls, and Obama now being well defined, the timing was a horrible choice.

    ....

    Anon, It's also like the "Chicago politician" charge. It only works on those who were old enough for Nixon-Kennedy.

    Recalling the 60's stuff has now has a negative resonance with those of us tired of hearing about it.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 8:43 AM  

  • Well at risk of boring you I must say it was an exciting time. Polarizing. But boy were we naive.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:56 AM  

  • McCain virtually guaranteed this week that he will bring up Ayers. It was in response to Obama's "say it to my face" remark in an interview.

    I hope that McCain does bring up Ayers, because Obama will put it to bed conclusively for all but The Faithful. It's such an incredibly weak smear, with no "payload".

    All Obama has to do is look McCain in the eye and say "John, do you think I am a terrorist?". If yes, McCain looks like a Kool-Aid-drinking loon. If no, then the point of the smear is gone.

    It will also be awkward for McCain to bring Ayers in to the discussion on the economy, since that smear has nothing to with econmomic policies. But McCain will try to make Obama "lose his cool" by making outrageous claims. He can then play off the "young black man disrespecting the old white man" meme. It will fail dismally.

    By Blogger Todd Dugdale , at 9:17 AM  

  • The Republican buzzword I keep hearing on rightwing talkshows is 'ACORN'. I wonder if that's any kind of a starter for McCain?

    It's being used as shorthand for 'dirty tricks', implying that the Liberal Left is intending to win the election by registering cows and chickens and paying them to vote
    Democrat.

    Most people I've talked to agree there's no substance in the argument, but it seems to be playing well with callers. The idea seems to resonate with their view of Progressive/Liberal/Lefties as tricky manipulators.

    By Blogger r8r, at 9:48 AM  

  • Anon, yeah.

    ....

    Todd, That's kinda my sense on the Ayers thing. That Obama now has the stronger hand ready to fire back.

    Plus, I have a feeling that McCain's going to try to thread the needle on just the right level on Ayers, and I don't think, that as a politician, he has that level of subtlety.

    .....

    r8r, They're doing pretty well with the ACORN thing thus far. They've gotten it into the mainstream press, and because most people had never heard of it before, they're able to write the definition/narrative.

    And, there is really nothing substantial there, but, in a political sense, the GOP is winning on this one right now.

    They're writing this script for the most part.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:53 AM  

  • Obama is being lashed to ACORN and Bill Ayers. The FBI have shut down ACORN organizations in 11 states for their flagrant fraud and outright forgery of Voter Registrations by ACORN represenatives.

    Obama tries to downplay his involvement with Ayers as just a neighbor down the street, when his association with Ayers is documented. For 5 yrs. Obama was Ayers attorney for ACORN in Ill.. and launched his first Fund Raiser for his Presidential Bid in Ayers living room.

    Obama denied it during the debate but never offered or provided proof of his denial. All he did was look away and shake his head from left to right.

    There were eyewitnessess at Ayer's fundraiser for Obama that would say otherwise and would back McCain if it came to a showdown.

    Obama is plagued by issues of Trust from a Transparency standpoint as well as a baffeling reason why his past history is off limits.

    If Obama was applying for a job as the CEO of a major corporation, all his records would have to be submitted in the form of a resume which could be scruitinized further if an employer wanted to verify his credentials.

    For him to infer he wants our vote yet refuses to divulge repeated requests for futher infomation of who he is, demonstrating unequivocally, he is qualified for the position he is looking to fill, is unacceptable and beyond the pale.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:48 AM  

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