Jen here...
(I keep meaning to do a thorough write-up of all the godawfully depressing news stories I've encountered in the last week, but I don't have it in me today, sorry. Tomorrow, perhaps.)
The title of this post is the reason an acquaintance of mine gave as to why she feels optimistic about the Democrats' chances in the general, no matter which candidate we end up with at the convention. Said acquaintance feels John McCain won't be able to make it to November without displaying some of his rumored instability.
I think hanging any hope on the possibility that a McCain crack-up of some kind will push voters to our candidate is a bit silly. For starters, from what I can tell, the right doesn't care about McCain's mental state. (And to be fair, even I don't think the claims I keep hearing about McCain's allegedly less-than-perfect mental health are credible.) Also, for any McCain outburst, inappropriate comment or other potential embarrassment to resonate with the public, the mainstream media would actually have to cover it. So I'm not too invested in this possibility, or the idea that it would work to our benefit.
Still, as my friend's thoughts intrigued me, I thought I'd pose the question to our audience: do you think McCain's personality is any kind of a "scandal risk" to the Republicans? If he does say or do anything "crazy" or otherwise distasteful, do you think it helps Democrats?
7 comments:
McCain is only one of a large group who now has proven to be a dying breed. Of course while trying to give it one last try for the White House, those who have shown to be “out of control” would be expected to do everything possible to make it happen. Anyone questioning my comment of being “out of control” ought to read the hundreds of articles describing corruption within our Government. And let’s not forget the lies as it’s all part of a typical sick behavior pattern.
Consider this a relationship. We all have them. It’s when we weave a web of deceit over a very long period of time that there ends up being a lot at stake and with this group, it keeps increasing with each day. The other part is that we may only see part of it but there's a whole mountain begging still to surface. And it's this typical behavior pattern that when situations become desperate, they provide the most interesting and laughable entertainment ever. Remember, we were crying about Bush's lies and that went on for more than a year. Now everyone seems to be past that and now we just sit back and laugh at them. When you loose your creditability with someone, there isn’t anything you can do or say to get it back. It’s gone for ever! This may well surface as exposing the true differences between “normal” vs. “out of control” behavior and thus set standards for all to measure those in Public office by.
It’s much like entertainment as we all see what we are given to see by actors/politicians, but those in the know understand there is a lot going on behind the scenes. It may be important to realize that if what we've seen for a decade or more would be repeated (with McCain), we will need to redefine the word insanity.
Marty Didier
Northbrook, IL
I first heard that the unclean Republicans were essentially willing to forfeit this election a couple of weeks ago--can't recall where--in order to fall back and regroup for the future.
It makes sense if you think about it.
Recall that when he became the presumptive front-runner, the right's most vocal mouthpieces (Limbaugh, Coulter, and so on) were accusing McCain of not being conservative. Well, they've fallen into line now as they ALWAYS do, but do you think the knuckle-dragger base is on board? I don't. And when he loses, they can blame the whole thing on him and his shoddy cred. He'll take all the heat.
Will he do something egregiously stupid on the campaign trail which is likely to benefit Dems? I doubt that...but if the rank-and-file GOP voters are as lukewarm on him as I believe them to be, they'll just stay home in November. Keep in mind that judging by caucus turnouts thus far, we're going to win this thing by an AVALANCHE...
It was the Republican Thad Cochran who said the idea of a president McCain sends a cold chill up his spine, that the man is tempermentally unsuited for such a position.
Now, if a Republican is saying that, I presume there is a good reason. However, that reason appears to be shown only in private cloakroom or caucus sessions, not in public so much.
AND, it must be added, that to date, the press corps has not abandoned their apparent love affair with the 'straight talking' 'maverick,' so, IF McCain were to exhibit some of this behavior more publicly, it might never see the light of national media attention cast upon it.
....sofla
I think not, and I HOPE not. Here's why:
You've already touched on why I THINK not: Unless McCain takes off all his clothes and urinates on the panel during a live debate, any allegations or instances of volatile behavior are just not going to get coverage. (They might if the Democratic campaign keeps hammering on it, but that goes to the issue of why I HOPE not.)
I HOPE not, because the strenth and appeal of Obama's campaign has been his focus on HIS MESSAGE, and the audience's role in bringing their shared vision to fruition. On the rare cases that Obama has strayed from that formula in order to focus on his opponent, his support has flagged.
Any Democratic focus on the McCain's personality risks losing focus on the strength of their candidate. Depending on the circumstances, it also risks the prospect of both candidates wallowing in the sewer of less important sideshows than on substantial issues. We've all seen enough of that.
Assuming Obama is the nominee, and knowing the Republican smear machine will be going into hyperdrive, I would love to see Obama's campaign respond to attacks by focusing on the real work to be done, and have the voters respond, no matter what the talking heads tell them they think matters.
That could lead to a desperately needed shift in the quality of political dialogue in the country well beyond this election. I think all responsible citizens would benefit from that, no matter what their personal views might be.
Dave, I agree that coverage of a McCain outburst is unlikely, coming from the mainstream media. And the candidate -- is it too soon to presume Obama? -- will hesitate to draw attention to such a gaffe.
That's why blogs exist. We can't ask Obama/Clinton to do what is rightfully OUR job.
That said -- the MSM did pay attention to Reagan's meandering, doddering performance in his first debate with Mondale. And Jesse Jackson did a hilarious -- and merciless -- job of skewering RR on the next Saturday Night Live.
Of course, his lines were probably written by you-know-who.
Joseph, perhaps you remember how the media covered for Reagan in the SECOND debate?
Remember, he pulled off the scripted one-liner about how he wouldn't make age, and the relative youth and inexperience (?) of his opponent, an issue?
That joke carried the day, and allowed the media to ignore his failed peroration.
They say that openings and closings are the two most important parts of any public speaking engagement.
Reagan used the same story in closing about traveling down Pacific Coast Highway 101 that he had used as his acceptance speech at the nominating convention.
But this time, although his mental competence was the key issue of the second debate, he failed to even complete the speech, getting so lost on the Pacific Highway that he never got to the end, and had to be interrupted by the moderator with a 'times up, President Reagan.'
If Reagan was known for anything, it was his ability to give a set speech. And even this ability utterly failed him, at the most crucial point in his career.
Was it mentioned as proof that the first debate debacle was no one-off bad night, but instead a true picture of his mental acuity?
No. His joke allowed them to say he had won because 'no knock out blows were landed.'
...sofla
I hope you are reading this, sofla. God, I remember that PCH moment! It was humiliating.
But as I recall, the pundits were able to spin it away as an example of an over-zealous moderator being unfair to Reagan.
I always thought the story was BS. At the time RR told that story, he probably had not driven himself down Highway 101 for many, many years. If he had tried to accomplish that task at an advanced age, he probably would have joined what Big Sur locals call the "south of 101" club.
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