2008 USP(G)ET pt. II: counting the days to 2012 primary thread 1

I can't believe I've now seen the words "Campaign Suspended" in the headline about a major party presidential candidate in September.

Funny how Lincoln managed to run for election during the Civil War, FDR during WWII, Bush in 2004, etc...

wow I was not expecting this McCain flameout to be quite so ... abrupt?

major major lols

is this a flameout? Or is this the sort of thing that will convince people that he's Serious about the economy? I have no fucking idea.

will it look like a flameout to Americans? Won't it be, "See? McCain puts politics before America," etc?

haha xpost

this looks pathetic, I don't see anybody giving McCain points for this. What, old man can't run a campaign and cast a vote at the same time? Its not like he's got a committee he should be chairing.

I think dodging the debates is going to look cheap, esp. when he's down.

i dunno maybe to the 30% of hardcore republican voters shoring up bush's approval ratings this is another awesome play from the original maverick but i feel like undecideds will see this as desperate flailing like everything else jsm has done in the last 3 months

i think everyones going to see it as really transparent--when youre on top in the campaign its a good move to "suspend" it id think, but when youre losing it seems like youre calling a time out to nurse your wounds

― Mohammed Butt (max), Wednesday, September 24, 2008 3:11 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Love the Washington Post photo:

http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/homepage/hp9-24-08g.jpg

of course this gives an excuse to hide palin for another week so it's win-win there

ethan OTM

this is like ben roethlisburger on sunday

yeah but will be the media be like they were about Favre on Monday? "the original gunslinger" etc.?

"John McCain is having fun"

nah cause theyre all so pissed at him and this is coming out of nowhere

SYKES: Well, you know, I watched the convention. you know, watching the Democratic Convention, it felt like America. You know, it looked like America. It was hopeful and it was positive and, you know, everybody holding hands. And then I watched the Republican Convention. It was like watching a meeting in Dr. Evil's lair.

LENO: Wow.

SYKES: It was like all of the evil people got together, and they were having an evil board meeting.

LENO: Really?

SYKES: And each of them, you know, at the board meeting all got up, and each one would tell their plan of how they're gonna, what they're going to do with the evil. and it was just so tense and scary. 'Cause you know those Dr. Evil board meetings, somebody gets it. You know, they usually --

LENO: Oh, they press the button and --

LENO: Go through the floor.

SYKES: You go into a pile of alligators or something.

LENO: Right, right.

SYKES: And I was tense. and it's usually the weakest one. And I figured that's why Bush didn't show up. he was -- Bush is, like, "I'm doing this via satellite," 'cause, you know, he was scared. He was like, next thing you know, Giuliani runs up behind him with a baseball bat.

LENO: Wow, wow.

SYKES: He walks out on the -- you know, walks out on that stage, and he's like, "Why is this plastic on the floor? what's going on?" Like the scene from Goodfellas.

im not a political strategist but theres a few things i would have done difftly--i wouldnt have called a press conference, id have leaked it to someone major so the headline is "mccain campaign quietly slows down so mccain can help economy" and i wouldnt have called for obama to suspend his campaign... if youre looking for the media storyline to be "mccain cares about america," you cant make it this obvious a stunt you know? the press is already pissed at him and frankly i bet theyre hungry for the opportunity to "redeem" him--and if he did this properly theyd eat it up.

Office reaction to this news: incredulity and mockery, mostly.

Tomorrow: McCain sells half of his houses and cars, rents Williamsburg flat to invigorate the economy while reaching out to untapped metrosexual voters.

So long as they put it on camera.

I'm sure Tha Pumpsta would eat it up.

Kill Whitie with DJ McCain

Anyway, I suggest the Friday debate go on with Palin standing in for McCain. Hooray!

Obama: "So, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"

wtf are you talking about

it's an airplane ref

it's not meant to be mean anything. which is kinda where mccain's campaign is heading.

i've seen airplane homie i just meant wtf are you talking about

good sum up with great typo from josh marshall:

What's changed today in the financial crisis other than John McCain's poll numbers tanking? Isn't this the campaign equivalent of faking an injury when you're down late in the 4th quarter? Note too that McCain was in the mist of debate prep when he made this decision.

Look at what appears to have happened. Obama reached out to McCain privately to agree to a shared set of bailout principles. McCain went off the handle again and tried to use the crisis as a way to call off the debates.

McCain deserves a red card for simulation

but what will Americans think?

american-americans?

Or Jonah Goldberg Americans?

i'm an American and I think it's a lame publicity stunt

that jonah, always good for a laugh

"As a matter of civics, I am at a loss to understand what the argument against this could possibly be."

you tell em, Jonah!

demanding limited edition Jonah Goldberg "I am at a loss to understand" tshirts

guardian:
But she is doing occasional interviews and faces a debate with her opposite number, Joe Biden, next week, both of which offer a chance for witchcraft to be raised.

BIDEN CASTS POWER OF HEMLOCK

someone needs to hide Jonah's crackpipe

the "american-americans" I work with are filled with incredulity and mockery. it's a ridiculous stunt. everyone sees it as that.
"what's that, I have a paper due, I suddenly feel a stomachache coming on..."

http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/amg/games/drg000/g082/g08263and7z.jpg
only sarah palin understands that witches are the transcendental threat of our time

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/mccain-not-comm.html

Obama campaign paraphased: The debate is on. We can handle both.

heights of candidates from last 50 years
Kerry - 6'4
LBJ - 6'3.5
Clinton - 6'2.5
GHWB - 6'2
Obama - 6'1.5
Reagan - 6'1
McGovern - 6'1
Gore - 6'0.5-1
JFK - 6'0
Dole - 6'0
Ford - 6'0
Goldwater - 6'0
Nixon - 5'11.5
Bush - 5'11-11.5
Humphrey - 5'11
Mondale - 5'10.75
Carter - 5'9
McCain - 5'6-7
Dukakis - 5'6

biggest height-difference elections in the last 50 years, removing those during wars or after big events (Watergate, assassination):
'88 - GHWB was 8 inches taller than Dukakis, won by 8 points
'80 - Reagan was 4 inches taller than Carter, won by 10 points
'96 - incumbent Clinton was 2.5 inches taller than Dole, won by 9 points
'84 - incumbent Reagan was 2.25 inches taller than Mondale, won by 18 points
'00 - Gore was 1-1.5 inches taller than Bush, won by half a point
'60 - JFK was .5 inches taller than Nixon, won by less than a quarter of a point

what will "suspension" even mean? no ad buys? no surrogates on cable? (continue) not talking to the press?

gabbneb how can you be focusing on presidential height at a time of nation crisis

McCain with Obama

http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2008/06/large_obamaMccain.jpg http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070112/070112_congress_climate_hmed_5a.hmedium.jpg http://dailyrepublic.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/19/obama_ready_to_ko_mccain.jpg

McCain with Obama-debate-prep-stand-in Michael Steele

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0g9Vasu0io0g7/610x.jpg

is that a bucket of onion dip? what the fuck

hahahahaha