Richard WarnickAnother Election Based on Fear, With a Twist
Irrational fear of terrorist attacks has been replaced with real fear. From a CBS interview with a Republican economic expert and apprentice witch-hunter:
Katie Couric: If this doesn’t pass, do you think there’s a risk of another Great Depression?
Sarah Palin: Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on. Not necessarily this, as it’s been proposed, has to pass or we’re gonna find ourselves in another Great Depression. But there has to be action taken, bipartisan effort – Congress not pointing fingers at this point at … one another, but finding the solution to this, taking action and being serious about the reforms on Wall Street that are needed.
Sadly for the GOP, economic fear-mongering doesn’t work for them because by a 2-to-1 ratio, Americans blame Republicans for wrecking the economy.
More polling information here: Obama shoots past McCain in polls amid economic fears.
UPDATE: The McCain campaign has officially panicked, asking to suspend the presidential campaign and postpone Friday’s debate with Senator Obama. McCain also took his ads off the air and canceled an appearance on David Letterman’s show.
Someone needs to tell McCain that a presidential campaign is not like a jet fighter. If it’s going down, there is no ejection system to save you. Maybe he’s confused because everybody is yelling “bailout.”
On HuffPo, Jed Lewison writes:
It’s taken him exactly ten days to go from the economy is strong to we’re heading into the Great Depression and must stop the campaign.
Josh Marshall: “This isn’t a reaction to the national financial crisis but to the McCain polling crisis.”
Senator Obama declared the debate is now more important than ever, and said he would go ahead with his debate preparations. “I think that it is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once,” Obama said.
UPDATE: The snarkfest is just getting started. From Ezra Klein:
THIS IS NO TIME FOR DEMOCRACY.
If neither the economy nor John McCain’s poll numbers approve, I just can’t imagine that this country will be ready for something as divisive and crudely political as a vote in early November. So here’s the question: Will Barack Obama put his country first and agree to delay the election until the stock market lifts and John McCain has a better chance? Or is this all about Obama?
UPDATE: Eric Rauchway points out that the Great Depression did not prompt Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt to suspend their presidential campaigns in 1932.
UPDATE: President Bush makes his first prime-time TV appearance in more than a year, says everybody panic, “our entire economy is in danger.” Yeah, thanks to the Republicans.
UPDATE: This morning on MSNBC, Senator Dodd wryly observed that what’s going on today looks more like a rescue plan for John McCain than a rescue for the economy.
UPDATE: Surprise! McCain lied about suspending his campaign. Two of McCain’s surrogates went on TV smearing Obama this morning, and McCain’s attack ads are still on the air.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
At first, I thought the republicans were unlucky that Bailoutgate was happening just before an election, but the more I think about it, It seems likely they wanted to make sure they could gut the economy before it’s too late and make sure FDR’s America dies as planned. Please, if there is a God, make this the backfire-heard-round-the-world, and make it the cornerstone of Obama’s victory.
Complicit Democratic congressmen and senators: don’t even dare write a blank check unless it’s for single payer health care!
September 24th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
McCain is turning the campaign into a joke. First, he picks an unqualified person for VP who requires a shield be erected between she and the press to avoid confirming what everyone already knows - she’s unqualified to be VP, let alone P of the US. Second, he pronounces that the economy is fundamentally strong, then changes his mind a few days later and says we’re in a crisis. Now, he comes out and says he can only do one thing at a time. Single patents all over the country must be getting a laugh out of a man who cannot multi-task, yet wants to be president of the United States.
September 25th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Surely this talk about cancelling the debates, even suspending the election is about more than addressing a mythical, money ‘crisis’.
Haven’t we batted around just such a cancellation when we wrote of Chimpy’s last days before? Recall the Context? The motivation?
It is possible that the administration really doesn’t want debates, which are certain to show how very lame (I’m being generous here) their cantidates really are. I would suggest that ANY reason those associated with the lame-duck-liar-in-chief are going to be giving out over the media (remember fear-festing WMD) are going to dodge the real reasons, real story behind this sham patriotic cover for fascist dictatorship. It’s just how they are.
I have absolutely NO trust in them. None.
September 25th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Re: canceling the debates. I am always concerned when people want to change the rules in the middle of a game, particularly when they are losing. But this is more than a game. This is a democracy. The crisis is not a natural disaster. It is not a foreign attack. It is a man-made disaster we have brought on ourselves. We need open democracy and respectful debate more than ever.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Richard
It doesn’t help your case by citing a poll that has been resoundingly discredited. The internals of this “poll” show that they way over sampled Democrats. This “poll” was designed to shape opinion, not track it.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Ken:
Do you have any substantive points for discussion re the McCain campaign tactics of late? Attacking polls has become so ho-hum these days. What do you think about the decision to forgo the debate this Friday, or the continuing stream of noise that exits Palin’s mouth every time it opens?
September 25th, 2008 at 11:09 am
That would be the first time I am aware of anyone claiming ABC or The Washington Post are biased toward Republicans.
I’d be interested to see some references about that poll being biased toward Obama.
All the information we’ve seen so far suggest those 2 corporate media groups are biased toward McCain
Example
Since the spread between self identified republicans vs dems is around 10% , a democrats, a national poll would have to poll more dems than pubs.
Make sense?