Thursday, October 2, 2008

Team Maverick hoists the white flag

They're surrendering Michigan. And Allah is right, Pennsylvania's next. It's over. Get used to saying, "President Obama."

Earlier today, I started to do a poll roundup, then got distracted and didn't finish it. Why bother now? Crazy Cousin John has already given up.

That's why he was so bitter and sarcastic in that Associated Press interview. Last week's idiotic gesture -- "Suspend the campaign! Cancel the debate! Pass the bailout!" -- blew up in his face and destroyed all rational hope that he can win on Nov. 4. So now he's looking around for scapegoats, and any reporter (or columnist) who gets within range will do.

Pathetic. Three weeks ago, McCain led by 3 points in the Real Clear Politics average (and one poll showed him +1 in Michigan). A week later, when the polls started to slip, he freaked out and tried to blame the mortgage meltdown on SEC Chairman Chris Cox. When that didn't work, and with his poll numbers slipping even further, he decided to take ownership of the unpopular $700 billion bailout.

Look, I've been following politics since 1968 when I was (believe it or not) a staunch 9-year-old Hubert Humphrey booster. I know a losing campaign when I see one and, having more than a few friends who are political operatives, I know what goes on inside a losing campaign.

The top people inside a losing campaign know the final score long before it becomes apparent to outsiders. Ask anybody who was involved in the Bob Dole '96 campaign. After Labor Day, they were just going through the motions, playing out the season, collecting a paycheck.

The top folks at Maverick HQ -- who in early September were thinking about what their positions might be in the McCain administration's transition team -- are now on Travelocity, booking their Caribbean vacations for the second week in November. They will furiously deny this of course, but the ability to lie through one's teeth with apparent sincerity is a prerequisite to being a professional political operative.

Do not be deceived, then, by "here's-how-we-can-win" talk coming from Maverick HQ or the Republican talking heads you see on Fox News. Do not get your hopes up by letting Hugh Hewitt or Sean Hannity draw you into their miracle-comeback fantasy talk. Ain't gonna happen.

Alas, I am a sucker for miracle-comeback fantasies. So if, at any point in the next 32 days, it should appear that I'm being sucked into an optimism vortex, please remind me of this post, where I append this time-capsule note to my near-future self:
Hey, idiot, get a grip! That latest tiny bump in Maverick's poll numbers in Ohio and Colorado is a glitch, a statistical anomaly, and is insufficient cause to ignore every previous indicator of the impending Obama landslide. And why the heck should you care, anyway, since you swore a blood oath on Feb. 7 that you were going to vote Libertarian this year? Or did you forget that, too, you moron?
I feel better now. There is peace in pessimism.

3 comments:

  1. Oh Christ Almighty! Will you puhleeeze stop quakin in yer panties.

    Mac is doing ok right now and is still in position to take the election on Nov 4. Here is why:

    1. The Fannie and Freddie debacle is what's hurting Mac and it will be off the front pages in a week, tops. And people are smart enough to realize that this is a Democrat created fiasco.

    2. Mac is about to go negative. Why? Because he has to with his polling numbers so bad right now. Going negative has worked for him before and there is still time to expose Barry as the far leftist that he is.

    3. The polls are already starting to settle down now that the panic has subsided. This crisis isn't over yet, but the sky is falling mentality is no longer the consensus. Polling that came out today has Mac in VA at +3 and CO at -1. Gallup has Mac at -5, a mere 2 points above the margin of error and after some really wild swings.

    4. Pulling out of Michigan, while not the best scenario, is just a reallocation of resources to where the are best used. Michigan was always a long shot, now Mac has decided that the long shot will not pan out and is sending the money to where it can be put to better use.

    5. Mac has 2 more debates to put the blame on the financial crisis where it belongs.

    So please, stop the panic, chill out, have a beer.

    Still love your blog!

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  2. So, we're letting the mainstream media choose our candidates now?
    Then again, given this utterly scatalogical week on Crapitol Hill, one could float the question on whether elections, themselves, are simply an extension of the theater.
    Come soon, Jesus, and pull the plug on the nonsense.

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  3. Denail is a river in Egypt!!.....Why is it so hard for Repubs to fathom that Obama is gaining the support he has earned?

    What is so terrible about defeat, that makes it so hard to admit to?.....

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