Are we getting played again...?

[regnaD kciN]

Remember the buildup to Palin's speech at the convention? How we had several days of "babygate," rumors that McCain was going to dump her and name a new running mate, etc., etc.? All it did was lower expectations to the point that all she had to do was read a prepared speech off a teleprompter in front of the most partisan audience imaginable, and she suddenly became (for a time) the biggest political star in America.

Think we're seeing it again?

The fact is, this first debate topic is McCain's strong point, and his best (and maybe last) chance to turn the current electoral climate around. Plus, he's a tough, feisty debater who has the ability to steamroller his opponents into defeat, even when he doesn't have the facts or logic on his side.

So, might this whole "suspend the campaign" ploy merely be meant to make people think he wants to duck this debate, is afraid he can't compete with Obama, and is on the verge of dropping off the radar screen as a competitive candidate...and then, when he "grudgingly" goes ahead with the debate anyway, turns it into the predicted 90-minute Surge-O-Thon and makes the narrative "John McCain gets up off the canvas and scores a knockout victory!"

I'm not saying this is the case for sure, but there's something eerily familiar from the days after Palin's selection to make me suspicious. The Republicans have been great at minimizing expectations in the past (look at how Bush blew 6 out of 6 debates to Gore and Kerry, and still came off as the "winner" in the conventional wisdom) -- what's to think they're not doing it again now?

[book_worm]

1. Nope, McCain jumped the shark today.

[demwing]

2. This is McCain's Perot moment

I'm just stunned. Stunned I tell ya...

[BlooInBloo]

3. YES!!!! ITSAROVIANPLOY!!!! WEREDOOOMED!!!! DOOOOOMED!!!!!

[endthewar]

7. OH NOES!!!!!

:rofl:

[KT2000]

4. Did you see the Palin/Couric

interview? He had to do something. He selected a valley girl to be his vp and is grasping at straws.

[casus belli]

5. Maybe he should have "blinked" before acting impulsively. n/t

[anonymous171]

6. IT'S A TRAP!!! AGAIN!

[BuyingThyme]

8. This is the run-up to the Iraq Holocaust.

And there still ain't no WMD.