Yesterday I wrote that I couldn't imagine John McCain NOT attending the debate -- what, was he going to give Barack Obama two hours of TV all to himself? -- but I also couldn't imagine what face-saving move he could possibly come up with to justify a complete 180.
Turns out the McCain campaign had a hard time coming up with one too. This is all they got:
Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.
In other words, as ex-McCain advisor Craig Shirley remarked today:
"It just proves his campaign is governed by tactics and not ideology," said Republican consultant Craig Shirley, who advised McCain earlier in this cycle. "In the end, he blinked and Obama did not. The 'steady hand in a storm' argument looks now to more favor Obama, not McCain."
I can picture Sarah Palin: Umm, Senator, I thought it was we don't blink, did I have that wrong?
Thinking back over the last month, I have to wonder, are McCain's advisors in the tank for Obama? I mean, McCain had three distinct strengths going into this general election campaign in the minds of many voters: experienced, honorable/guided by principle, best to handle a crisis. In the course of exactly 28 days, the McCain campaign has managed to undermine each and every one of them.
First, by picking Palin, they did away with any advantage McCain had on experience. Sure, in a change election, experience isn't as valuable as it would otherwise be, but I still think it was one of the more effective arrows in the McCain quiver against Obama. In the weeks following Palin's pick, even as she sent them to new heights in the polls, the McCain campaign launched dishonest attack ad after dishonest attack ad and engaged in some truly bizarre transparent political maneuvers, thus completely undermining any pretense that McCain stood on principle or had an honorable bone in his body. And then this past 10 days hit and we saw how John McCain reacts in a time of crisis: he crazy.
Look, we've seen how quickly things can change, so I won't pretend that I know with 100% certainty that John McCain will never recover from the downward spiral he currently finds himself in. But if he can't, and the current polls that show Barack Obama with a clear lead in the popular vote and the electoral college come to pass on November 4th, it will have been because of these past 28 days during which John McCain and his advisors ran what's got to be the most self-sabotaging campaign ever seen.
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