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McCain paddles on « Previous | |Next »
October 6, 2008

McCain now faces an uphill task, despite Palin being the bright, shiny object of Republican male desire and family values. America is becoming a different nation: the economy is on the skids , the empire in retreat and Wall Street tanks. Will McCain and Palin play the role of the attractive bully and retain the hope of Republican Main Street and Fox News?

BromleyFT.jpg Bromely

The Guardian reports that the economic crisis has led to a haemorrhaging of Republican support over the last two weeks. Polls and reports from Democratic and Republican campaign staff on the ground suggest that a seismic shift is taking place in the electoral map in favour of the Democrats. Obama is making inroads into states once regarded as safe Republican areas, while the number of states in which McCain is competitive is narrowing, mainly because of the Wall Street collapse.

I'm not so sure that it is that cut and dried. McCain can still win narrowly--like Bush did. And even if Obama wins we can expect little more than the restoration of Clintonian neoliberalism behind all that rhetoric of change. Still, that is better than the 4-8 years of the Bush Republicans.

So what then for McCain? A turn in tactics? To negative adverts? A smear campaign? To shift the campaign discussion away from substantive issues, such as the economy or health care? McCain needs to try and divert attention from the economy as Obama is riding the electoral wave

There isn't a single 2004 Democratic state in play now -- New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota are all showing double digit leads for Obama. Of the 2004 Red states,Obama leads in Iowa, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia are all clear of 5% for Obama as an average across all polls, and second tier gains such as North Carolina and Missouri are showing a tie-2% lead.

| Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at 4:47 PM | | Comments (7)
Comments

Comments

It looks like sh*t creak, but the canoe doesn't look like it's made from barb wire. Perhaps they still have hope.

McCain appears to have pulled out of marginal states. Familiar?

If American news coverage of economic problems is anything like here, it will be impossible to divert attention from the economy. Events beyond McCain's control are just not working in his favour.

Lyn,
Obama leads in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina.Rove says that

What we're seeing here is a result of the focus of the American people, voters, on the economic problems that have dominated the news the last several weeks. What's happened then is a shift to Obama.

Things could change--as Rove points out.

Palin's mudslinging is sign that they have reached the give-up stage.
Like a sports event when the one team falls too far behind and shows it has conceded by contenting itself with head- high "get even" tackles rather than winning the ball.
Did anyone get to see "Compass" on Sunday nght, about the pentecostalist Patrick Henry college, where the far right trains up up its shocktroops for the Culture Wars?
Anyone recognise the same empty, Stepford glean in Palin's eyes that is so similar to the Henry robots?

Nan,
What won't change is the meaning of the word combo Bush, McCain, Republican.

Lyn,
McCain is weighed down by his association with an unpopular president (approval rate now down to 24%) in the midst of an economic crisis that is causing anxiety amongst the American public. McCain failed to undercut Obama's front running status in the latest presidential debate. No surge there for an increasingly embattled McCain.

McCain is proposing is a straight-out government bailout of homeowners stuck with mortgages that they can no longer afford. The plan is for the federal government to buy up $300 billion of distressed mortgages not at current market value but at full face value. This would amount to a $100 billion handout to the bankers who made the original loans.

What will the business class free market Republicans and the classical liberals make of that bailout of house mortgages --it sure smells like populism and socialism.