Reviews of Darth Queeg’s penultimate Big Chance are expectedly mixed. Hugh Hewitt points out the lone bright spot that McCain absolutely had to point out: The critical exchange came early, and McCain won it because he has the truth on his……

Personally, I think McCain/Palin wins this election.
However, if Obama/Biden wins, we will survive (4) years as a country, but I don’t think the Democrat Party will survive. Democrats will rule all (3) houses, and they will mis-read their victory and shove a dose of Socialism/Big Brother down the American throats the likes of which we have never seen before. Americans will rebel, and shit will hit the fan with gusto.

An Obama Presidency will destroy the Democrat Party for 15-20 years minimum. America will suffer under an Obama dictatorship, but will survive to fight on for many years to come.

Keemo on October 8, 2008 at 8:01 PM

I can’t help but think you’ve just finished a fine trout dinner——again! :)

An Obama Presidency will destroy the Democrat Party for 15-20 years minimum. America will suffer under an Obama dictatorship, but will survive to fight on for many years to come.

I’m aware of the line he has to watch, but he needs to find some way to tell the voters they’re being stupid if they can’t see the light.

Yeah, it’s frustrating, but I think he needs to leave that to Palin and some of his peppier surrogates (Rudy, Fred)… and of course the friendly media pundits. The media is so in the tank for O! that any show of emotion by McCain will be used against him.

I really disagree. He cannot afford to lose his temper. The Obama camp have been harping on how McCain is some kind of dangerous, loose cannon. They’ve pulled out guys who supposedly served with McCain and gotten them to say how out of control McCain was. They want people to believe he’s a volatile, grumpy old man.

Y-not on October 8, 2008 at 2:34 PM

.
I’m aware of the line he has to watch, but he needs to find some way to tell the voters they’re being stupid if they can’t see the light. It’s like, “What the hell is it you morons don’t understand??? He hangs out with terrorists, and may as well be considered one himself. Working for a terrorist to delivery money to schools in support of radical education. Teaching kids how and why to hate America. The same teachings of Rev. Wright, but of course we already know that during 20 years of sermons Hussein never heard him express hatred of the country. Kick his ass back to Africa, or better yet, chain him up to a hitch and make him a slave.”
.
Bottom line is that he cannot win going the way he is. He’s dull and needs a spark. If not that take a page out of the liberal’s playbook and start stealing votes in tossup states.

Obama seems to think that his charm, charisma, and being an all ‘round nice guy will make them all heel to his side and make the world into a global Disneyland.

McCain, too, in wanting to “reach across the isle” shows his naiveté because he also wants to negotiate with the Democrat Party, the acknowledged ‘enemy’ of the Republican Party going back to the time when they were called the Wig Party.

What we have here is a difference without a distinction.

In reality, the isle he speaks of is more like a chasm filled with snakes and alligators and using charm, charisma, and being an all ‘round nice guy “T’aint gonna make it happen McGee.”

In last night’s debate, watched by millions, McCain’s base anticipated that he would finally ‘take off the gloves’ as he and Governor Palin have been doing in their stump speeches as they’ve have been pointing out Obama’s many flaws, but to our chagrin his hands remained deeply ensconced in his pockets nary to utter a discouraging word against him.

With only four weeks to go until the election, I must question McCain’s and his ‘handlers’ judgment in not wanting to take advantage of the vast audience watching the debate to further amplify Obama’s lack of substance, as well as refusing to defend several negative assertions made by Obama about McCain.

Senator McCain, it’s time to stop being Mr. Nice Guy, because we know what happens to nice guys – they finish last.

He needed to come out pissed and red in the face

stacman on October 8, 2008 at 1:58 PM

I really disagree. He cannot afford to lose his temper. The Obama camp have been harping on how McCain is some kind of dangerous, loose cannon. They’ve pulled out guys who supposedly served with McCain and gotten them to say how out of control McCain was. They want people to believe he’s a volatile, grumpy old man.

McCaskill was stepping out of her chair at the end of an MSNBC interview, and Romney was up next. She and a staffer unplugged her various wires, and she handed Romney the earpiece the guests use to hear the host.

“I spit on this before I put it in,” she said to Romney, with a sweet smile.

UPDATE: Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom emails: “You should have seen what she did to the chair.”

UPDATE: McCaskill spokeswoman Maria Speiser says the exchange began when Romney said, “You don’t have an ear infection, do you?” and that McCaskill was joking back in response.

Think of the bailout money as the payment. Or, think of it as payment to mercenaries to fight on our side (vote) against a worse candidate.

Vashta.Nerada on October 8, 2008 at 1:32 PM

Good metaphor.

Speaking of “payments,” is Obama’s push on health care his attempt to buy back Hillary supporters? It’s not really a big issue right now — no more so than Iraq — so why push it?

‘Seems to me the PUMAs will not be won over by that — they fundamentally despise Obama and his followers. Are there really very many non-PUMA Hillary supporters who aren’t already tipping to Obama because he’s the Democrat nominee?

So here’s the deal. I’ll forget my plan to have YOU give ME your taxes if YOU forget subsidizing those who don’t deserve it with MY TAXES. Which BTW was my point in my original post which seems to have gone over your head.

You want to send someone your own money, fine. But DON’T COMMIT MY MONEY! LET THE FREE MARKET WORK! DON’T INTERFERE USING MY TAXES!

Mr_Magoo on October 8, 2008 at 11:49 AM

Like I said in another thread, this is our cost for voting in idiots, and allowing congress to screw up the housing market. Think of the bailout money as the payment. Or, think of it as payment to mercenaries to fight on our side (vote) against a worse candidate.

I have no doubts that McCain would be better for this country than Obama. He may be too cozy with “populists” and Democrats, but he did pick Palin. I do not think that was a stunt — he is capable of listening to conservatives.

Chins up, people! Nothing is accomplished by being defeatist in the home stretch.

Y-not on October 8, 2008 at 11:58 AM

Agreed. Mrs. Magoo has been an undecided. Her perception of the Obamas was the People Magazine perception because it was too early for her to really pay attention. But after actually watching and listening, she has picked up on:

McCain = keeping the country safe from our enemies
Obama = universal health care (if not immediately, eventually)

Two big issues with the Mrs. So I think I won’t have to cancel out her vote. Hey we’re in AZ – it’s not like her vote counted, right?

petunia on October 8, 2008 at 11:48 AM

I give up. No one is ever going to take responsibility but responsible homeowners get the shaft yet again.

Free market is free market, regardless. It can’t be free market unless we get scared or things get bad and then the govt helps manipulate the market.

I thought the bailout rescue plan was going to free up credit and get things going. Now we have to rescue individual mortgages by reducing their balances with my tax money? Where does the interference end and is it ever given back? I think FDR and history has proven it never goes back to where it was.

It would have been disastrous if McCain had been too aggressive last night and wandered too far off topic to take swings at Obama. The MSM would use that to echo the meme that McCain is too “angry” to be president.

It’s clear that Obama will lie his way through these debates or claim that he agrees with McCain on issues where he has no plan. Obama is trying to pretend to be a moderate. McCain needs to rattle Obama, get him to lose his cool, and come up with a couple of more surprises of bold ideas that Obama will not have a counter idea for. In that sense, the home mortgage buyout plan Mac proposed last night was effective (purely as a campaign stunt, not on its merits). McCain’s proposal eems to be the one “new idea” from either candidate that actually sifted through the media filter to this morning’s coverage. McCain needs a couple of more things like that. I would like to see him propose a comprehensive energy plan (including ANWR drilling), for one thing.

In terms of the attacks, they should be done by Palin, surrogates (like Rudy and Fred!), campaign ads, and the 527 ads. “Bitter gun clingers” still has a lot of legs to it, imho. And, even if McCain will not drop the Wright bomb, the 527s should. I wouldn’t mind seeing a non-denominational religious group do an ad comparing the church that Obama attended all those years with the ones (churches, synagogues) most Americans attend.

I’d also like to see a McCain ad that specifically counters Obama’s “centrist” ad on the economy (the one with the two-headed arrow showing Obama’s logo in the middle, implying that Obama is a centrist).

I would have preferred Fred! or Mitt or even Giuliani over McCain, but I have no doubts that McCain would be better for this country than Obama. He may be too cozy with “populists” and Democrats, but he did pick Palin. I do not think that was a stunt — he is capable of listening to conservatives.

Chins up, people! Nothing is accomplished by being defeatist in the home stretch.

platypus on October 8, 2008 at 11:34 AM

I stand corrected.

You do understand that by ‘government’, you mean me. In other words, I have to give you money under threat of jail, because the value of your house went down.

I’m willing to subsidize people who want to try and stay in their house, because we need to slowly pull out of the housing mess, which will allow other markets to pull out. I’m not willing to hand over money to you because you want to bail.

Vashta.Nerada on October 8, 2008 at 11:05 AM

No, I’m stupid. I don’t realize that the goverment uses OUR tax money to do thse things. Give me a break.

So why should these “people” benefit from poor choices by having the value of their mortgages renegotiated? If they want to renegotiate the terms (say, ARM to FIXED) directly with the bank that’s fine with me. But NOT REDUCE the balance of their mortgage with MY TAXES! That is wrong and unconstitutional!

That is totally unfair to me who suffered and cannot sell my home and buy a new one (that is not bailing BTW) because the value of my home is half what it should be because of the very same people you wish to subsidize. Will the govt renegotiate MY mortgage!? If so, where do I sign up!?

“Just because the value of my house went down?” How do you think it went down!? Because of the people you want to subsidize! They are not ALL victims, believe me. There was just as much predatory borrowing as their was lending, if not down right fraud. Not to mention the millions of mortgages fraudulently obtained by illegals.

“Slowly pull out of the housing mess.” Put these losers back in apts where they belong. Let me sell my house so I can buy another house and fill it with durable goods. I sell my house to someone else who has good credit and actually DESERVES fair value for their home, and so on. The houses left over will be reasonably-priced and the apt dwellers can get back into the market by buying homes they can actually afford. THAT will pull us out of the housing mess. The economy heats up over a wide range of areas. If the govt were to give me that money, at least it would be spent wisely.

The majority of Americans should start small and spend their lifetimes building up the value of their homes by buying and selling better and better homes and building the equity in it. And then if they wish, empty nesters can then start to downsize and build up their savings for retirement. We need to get back to doing things the way (and I can’t believe I’m typing this) our parents used to do it! It worked for a reason.

But no, you want to subsidize people who screwed up so they can stay in their homes, pay less than I am paying and go skipping back to Starbucks and their cafe lattes, denying the fact that they made a mistake in the first place.

So here’s the deal. I’ll forget my plan to have YOU give ME your taxes if YOU forget subsidizing those who don’t deserve it with MY TAXES. Which BTW was my point in my original post which seems to have gone over your head.

You want to send someone your own money, fine. But DON’T COMMIT MY MONEY! LET THE FREE MARKET WORK! DON’T INTERFERE USING MY TAXES!

Granted, these “seat-of-the-pants” numbers might be off, the devil might be in the details, and McCain’s got some ’splainin’ to do here. But on a preliminary analysis, this plan could be a huge improvement on the current bailout plan, and contain something for the millions of VICTIMS of this crisis–those who risk losing their homes. From a purely political point of view, McCain offered millions of debate viewers a concrete plan to help debt-troubled homeowners, and people will be talking about it. What was Obama’s plan?

Steve Z on October 8, 2008 at 9:07 AM

I actually was making a similar if less refined arguement last night. I think the McCain plan is what has to happen.

But the down side: McCain needs to get this financial mess and his association with it to a back burner. As long as people connect him with this in anyway he loses the election.

So I hope by all means this gets through congress but McCain is likely to get more blame and less credit the more he tries to help. And he risks alienateing many freemarketers who refuse to see the disaster looming. They only see the fix as disaster, which it is but a lessor one.