McCain Suspends Campaign; Congress Should Postpone Adjournment; Debate Should Be Modified
While I was volunteering at a local winery today, John McCain announced a suspension of his campaign to work on a Congressional financial package to bailout the ailing economy. (tip) McCain has also called for Friday's Democratic and Republican presidential debate to be postponed and has asked Barack Obama to join him in temporarily putting presidential politics aside.
I think that all of Congress should join McCain and announce that they will stay in D.C. until a proper package -- one that has as much respect for Main Street as it has handouts for Wall Street -- is developed ... and postpone all electioneering until it's done. What do you think?
Update: I'm doubly certain that I think Congress should postpone its planned adjournment, set for Friday. That's because I just reviewed Congressional calendars back to 1971, checking to see when Congress normally adjourns in an election year.
Back in 1976 (also a presidential election year), Congress adjourned on 1 October; both chambers were controlled by Democrats. In 1996 (also a presidential election year), Congress adjourned on 4 October; both chambers were controlled by Republicans. So this Congress, which planned to adjourn on Friday until Wall Street blew up in their faces, was proposing to adjourn a week earlier than those two Presidential elections -- the earliest Congressional adjournment in more than 30 years.
I don't think that's the kind of "change" that voters had in mind in 2006 when they kicked the Republicans out and put Democrats in charge of Congress.
If the "debate" goes forward on Friday, I propose that the League of Women Voters be allowed to take over; that all major candidates be allowed to participate, not just the big two; and that the topic be shifted to the economy. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures: it's past time to wrest control of the debates from the duopoly that is American political parties.
The last time that there was this sort of controversy over the debates was in 1980, when President Jimmy Carter refused to take the stage if the debate -- then sponsored by the League of Women Voters -- included third party candidate John Anderson. Ronald Reagan, the Republican nominee, pushed to have Anderson included. (I confess I don't understand Reagan's strategy, other than to do something in opposition to the Carter campaign.)
More from Justin Quinn, About.com's guide to conservative politics and Kimberly Amadeo, About.com's guide to the US economy.
Update 1: 19:05 Eastern
Update 2: 20.32 Eastern, added link
Comments
Obama is refusing to delay the debate to discuss “foreign affairs” no less. McCain challenged Obama to ten debates and he refused them all. Now he’s ready. Its seems that for Obama a debate is more important than country. Perhaps Obama should debate himself in a Senate stall. People want action out of Washington not more talk. There is a stalemate in Washington and Obama and the media want to play politics instead of dealing with a very serious situation that will affect the future of every American. That is why McCain has suspended his campaign. You can debate anytime but this is a very serious situation for the American people that requires action now, not six months from now.
Why would McCain choose this point to suspend his campaign so close to the debate? Why not last week? It doesn’t make any sense. And now he wants to suspend the V.P. debate too? It’s all appears incredibly suspicious.
Hi, Campbell:
I didn’t know McCain had called for 10 debates.
It may be political posturing, but I wish more “leaders” had taken the opportunity offered by this crisis to rethink electioneering.
So, JT, I agree that McCain’s call would have had more “umph” had it come sooner … and would have more credibility if he served on the committee overseeing the financial sector.
Yes! Originally, McCain had wanted to do a whistlestop tour around the country, the way Barry Goldwater and John F. Kennedy had planned to do before Kennedy was shot and killed. It was an old-timey type of campaign that emphasizes respect and civil discourse.
It would have been awesome, but Obama said “no.”
Thanks, Justin. Did you write about that? If so, would you add a link in a comment?
Yes, of course, what else could we expect from the McCain campaign? The only thing they are consistent at is changing their political strategy every single day. Now that the country is finally realizing that when actual issues are being discussed (and not ridiculous themes like “is Barack sexist?” that McCain has been spitting out) Barack Obama’s popularity goes up and John McCain’s plummets as people realize he’s not fit to run our economy. And now John McCain doesn’t want to have a debate while Obama’s popularity is prominently showing so he has to once again has to “shake things up.” Unfortunately for him this entire plan of suspending his campaign WILL backfire because at a time when the American people need to know who will help them through these rough times, John McCain is choosing not to deliver.
I am in complete agreement and could not have said it better myself:
“I propose that the League of Women Voters be allowed to take over; that all major candidates be allowed to participate, not just the big two; and that the topic be shifted to the economy. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures: it’s past time to wrest control of the debates from the duopoly that is American political parties.”
Thanks, Urbain! It’s not going to happen, though, you know …
This sudden problem that must be dealt with immediately,of course I’m referring to the current market situation, the failure of multiple large financial coporations and the current idea that the government should purchase and inject approx.700 billion dollars, which I belive is roughly 1/4 of the gross national product(someone correct me if I’m way off on that, poses many interesting questions. First of all remember that this money will be paid for by the american tax payer, mostlikely for a generation or more, and the plan is too bail out businesses that have profited on mortgages for years.
My thoughts on this are many, including why are we considering spurring on the economy by bailing out businesses when the whole free market system works on the concept that a healthy business should support itself and if it can’t it should fail and the market share it held gets absorbed by more efficiently run ones.
The whole tactic of suddenly coming up with this solution to a ongoing problem that may largely be because of poor speculation and business choices made by a relatively few people in context to the number of American citizens that have been suffering and losing their retirement and homes and opportunities for the future for much of our generation as the American model has changed from a healthy middle class who essentually pay for all American endevours of a national scope is suspect, especially at this time in a election year.
In thinking this I recall how the current administration used a crisis started by the
terrible tragedy of 9-11 to alarm the citizens and even our representatives in both the house and senate to make what many of us still believe too be a totally arbitrary direction in attacking Iraq due too the imminent threat pose by them and their theoretical weapons of mass destruction. The begining of this whole thing required tieing together Biladin and the whole terrorist threat with Iraq, both the implied tying together of events and the weapons threat
both turned out later to be either due too poor intelligence, manufactured intelligence or outright deception.
It seems here we go again. I truly hope our representatives in both the house and senate are checking the facts, reality, reasons for this carefully and understand the consequences fully of whatever choice they make in a bipartisan gesture. We all should realize that politicians in general, regardless of their party affiliation are aware that all Americans, whether democrat,
republican or other have significantly less confidence in our political system than previously.
The American people are losing their homes and savings in record numbers,some of these very companies that need bailed out have lost or stole American retirees pensions.
Considering all this perhaps a bailout at some level is necessary but remember the American people and for many families they have spent generations trying too develop some family successand wealth and are losing their version of the American dream in record numbers. So what about bailing them Out too some extent as well?
As too the matter of the debates, can’t they vote and conduct the debate as well? We need more information about what is going on not the generalities we get from news bytes etc. these days.
The Bush administration has kept us in the dark on too many things too many times.
We need our next President to be frank, honest and forthright and not stamp every issue they don’t wish to be noticed on as a national security issue.
I was glad to see Pres. Bush get on tv and talk too us about it in slighly more detail,but remember our government is there to deal with problems and at least be aware of the tendancy towards the important ones, hmmm what have they been doing for this too jump on us all suddenly???
(comments about this by House Financial Services Committee chairman))
“We’re going to have to interrupt a negotiating session tomorrow between the Democrats and Republicans on a bill where I think we are getting pretty close, and troop down to the White House for their photo op,” said Frank, the House Financial Services Committee chairman. “I wish they’d checked with us.”
“On the executive compensation thing, it went to the core of their (the Bush administration’s) being,” said Frank. “It was like asking the chief rabbi of Jerusalem to eat bacon on Yom Kippur. It was the most unthinkable thing they could think of.”
McCain is realizing that with a two to five point difference in the poll, he has nothing to win in the debates. He knows Bidden will crush Palin and Obama will trounce him. He is just chickening out and using the poor state of the economy as an excuse. The USA need competing propositions to chose from, not bipartisan swampy and emotional show of unity. To do what anyway? Sign off what Bernanke will tell them? For god’s sake, Obama is a lawyer and McCain an ex-pilot. What do they know about international finances?