John McCain wants to postpone this Friday’s debate on foreign policy, supposedly because he wants to concentrate on the economy. (What McCain would actually do is really kind of hard to say, but hey, that’s his excuse.)
Five ways the Obama campaign can respond without appearing ungentlemanly in a “McCain wants to work to solve the problem and Obama wants to campaign” sort of way:
1.) Offer that the first debate instead be about economic policy.
2.) Agree to cancel the debate, then hold a televised townhall meeting in its place about foreign policy.
3.) Agree to cancel the debate, then hold a televised townhall meeting in its place about the economy.
4.) A combination of 2 and 3.
5.) Go to Washington, use magic powers, solve all economic problems forever via secret words of the Vishanti, then hold original debate as planned.
EDIT TO ADD: Fark’s headline is pretty much the best thing ever.
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My proposed response:
“I’m glad to hear that John McCain finally acknowledges what the rest of the country has known for months or years: that our economy needs to be fixed. We look forward to working with the McCain campaign on a joint proposal. The current crisis emphasizes the importance of electing a President with sound judgment, as well the ability to handle multiple situations in parallel. Problems do not line themselves neatly, to be dealt with one at a time; they have a tendency of all happening at once, and an effective President must be able to function in such situations. With that in mind, I look forward to debating Mr. McCain on Friday.”
I was thinking along those same lines, Darth. “Drop everything” is not always possible. All pieces are in motion at all times, and there’s no such thing as a day off. If John McCain can’t deal with that, he certainly isn’t up to the presidency.
You said it much better, though.
First he wants special rules for Palin, because if it was a fair debate, Biden would walk it. Now he wants to put off his own debate because doing more than one thing at once is too much for his tired old brain. And people STILL want to vote for the pointless fuck. This concerns me.
Sorry for the double post… but
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_el_pr/mccain
OBAMA TOLD MCCAIN THAT HE HAS TO DEAL WITH MORE THAN THING AT ONCE IF HE WAS TO BE PRESIDENT AND TO GET HIS ASS TO THE DEBATE.
WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN.
I may be in love.
I was very fond of the suggestion that, if McCain is too busy finally turning up in the Senate and trying to fix a problem he’s been involved in before, Palin should sub for him for the debate. She’s ready, right? We kept being told so…
I cannot believe that McCain is suggesting this. Suspension, or even just delay, of the political process as usual ought to happen during a time of urgent crisis. I am not suggesting that the meltdown of the American economy is not serious, but it lacks the urgency that would justify delaying the debate. The immediate aftermath of September 11th 2001? The high point of the Cuban Missile Crisis? The days following December 7th 1941? Those are examples of urgent crisis. This? Not so much. The meltdown is happening comparatively slowly. Also, there is little that the Senators could accomplish if they dropped everything and returned to Washington.
Senator McCain cannot stand up to Senator Obama in a debate, and well he knows it. His desperation is naked. That’s also why he is lying so much. The “problem” is that he isn’t very good at it. This is why Karl Rove is calling him out on it. It isn’t the lying, it’s the fact that he is *obviously* lying.
Maybe I should have cross-posted my most recent blog here. Because I’m totally unsurprised by this move; I’ve long thought that, as in the 1960 election, the debates might play a role (even if JFK apparently squeaked by Nixon). Of course Johnny wants to postpone the debate. Consider:
If you looked like John McCain, would you really want to stand next to Barack Obama?
Even I’d look like an uncharismatic dullard standing next to Obama, and I’ve been told I can be a pretty, charming man.
Way to cut and run there, Johnny.
“Even I’d look like an uncharismatic dullard standing next to Obama, and I’ve been told I can be a pretty, charming man.”
Judging from the photograph on your blog, I disagree.
Disagree that you’d look like an uncharismatic dullard, that is.
“Drop everything” is not always possible. All pieces are in motion at all times, and there’s no such thing as a day off.
It’s nice that John McCain is able to drop his entire campaign to go back to Washington… to fix the economy. It seems the irony of doing so has been lost on his campaign, but I’m guessing it won’t be lost on a lot of people who can’t just drop everything on a given Wednesday afternoon… and then yell at their co-workers for not doing the same.
@Andrew: You made me chuckle. Thanks.
And @Adam: oh, if only McCain would drop his entire campaign. That’d be so rad. Can you imagine? “After careful consideration, I’ve come to accept that I’m too old and my running mate is not actually qualified, and so I’m conceding the race to my opponent. I wish incumbent president Obama the best of luck as he takes up the charge to lead our great country toward hope and better days.”
Come that, it would be an excellently graceful exit for McCain. Classy move, certainly.
Don’t forget McCain also used this as an excuse to stand David Letterman up for his interview.
According to CrooksandLiars.com, Senator Obama stated the following in regards to McCain acting like a total chickenshit:
“With respect to the debates, it’s my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess. And I think that it is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once. I think there’s no reason why we can’t be constructive in helping to solve this problem and also tell the American people what we believe and where we stand and where we want to take the country.”
Also, according to CrooksandLiars.com’s comments board in regards to Palin’s pathetic appearance with Katie Couric:
“Hey Alaskans…. seriously… you voted this twit in as your Governor???
I mean, how bad was the Democrat? Was he a serial killer?”
Ohhh.. and Letterman ripped McCain about a dozen new assholes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjkCrfylq-E
A word to the wise for Obama. Do NOT cancel your appearances on Letterman at the last moment.
@Will Entrekin: Don’t chuckle. You’re gorgeous.
Thank God McCain will go and help sort this out. Heaven knows he could teach Paulson and Bernanke a thing or two about our economy.
More likely he’s going to be aiding Bush in his over-the-top fearmongering. Maybe they finally really embraced the idea that (undecided) people vote republican out of fear and vote democratic out of hope.
“I could have cured cancer if I wasn’t always fighting Superman!”
My dad and I actually did a little dance at the television watching the news at 5AM to catch snips from Barack’s response speech.
How awesome would it be if he did send Palin in his place, because he’s so so busy? I also love that news sources were asking the university where they’re holding the debate about any delays, and the university was like, “NOT THAT WE KNOW OF, WE ARE PRETTY BUSY GETTING READY FOR A DEBATE NOW SO PLEASE LEAVE US ALONE”
…I also think it would be funny if a good chunk of the American population fled to Canada were John McCain to win this election. Sorry MGK. (At least you’ll be getting some decent Americans)