John McCain: A victory in 2008

The Second Presidential Debate
On October 7th, the Presidential candidates met for the second Presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and was the only debate that was in town hall format. The first question that was asked was about the economy. Senator Obama correctly stated that the economic crisis was the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and that people were worried about their jobs, their pensions, retirement accounts and their ability to send their child or grandchild to college. He said that the crisis “is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years, strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Senator McCain, that essentially said that we should strip away regulations, consumer protections, let the market run wild, and prosperity would rain down on all of us. It hasn't worked out that way. And so now we've got to take some decisive action.” He went on to say that “Now, step one was a rescue package that was passed last week. We've got to make sure that works properly. And that means strong oversight, making sure that investors, taxpayers are getting their money back and treated as investors.

It means that we are cracking down on CEOs and making sure that they're not getting bonuses or golden parachutes as a consequence of this package. And, in fact, we just found out that AIG, a company that got a bailout, just a week after they got help went on a $400,000 junket.

And I'll tell you what, the Treasury should demand that money back and those executives should be fired. But that's only step one. The middle-class need a rescue package. And that means tax cuts for the middle-class.

It means help for homeowners so that they can stay in their homes. It means that we are helping state and local governments set up road projects and bridge projects that keep people in their jobs.

And then long-term we've got to fix our health care system, we've got to fix our energy system that is putting such an enormous burden on families. You need somebody working for you and you've got to have somebody in Washington who is thinking about the middle class and not just those who can afford to hire lobbyists.”

Senator McCain answered the question by saying that
“I have a plan to fix this problem and it has got to do with energy independence. We've got to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't want us very -- like us very much. We have to keep Americans' taxes low. All Americans' taxes low. Let's not raise taxes on anybody today.

We obviously have to stop this spending spree that's going on in Washington. Do you know that we've laid a $10 trillion debt on these young Americans who are here with us tonight, $500 billion of it we owe to China? We've got to have a package of reforms and it has got to lead to reform prosperity and peace in the world. And I think that this problem has become so severe, as you know, that we're going to have to do something about home values.

You know that home values of retirees continues to decline and people are no longer able to afford their mortgage payments.
I agree with Senator Obama that we need to help homeowners stay in their homes. I agree, but he hasn’t told us how he was going to do that yet.
As president of the United States, Alan, I would order the secretary of the treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes -- at the diminished value of those homes and let people be able to make those -- be able to make those payments and stay in their homes.

Is it expensive? Yes. But we all know, my friends, until we stabilize home values in America, we're never going to start turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy. And we've got to give some trust and confidence back to America.”

More questions about the economy and domestic policy were asked, which involved the bailout package, health care, entitlements, the environment, and energy. Senator Obama spent a lot of time comparing Senator McCain to President Bush and McCain responded by saying that “Senator Obama continuously compares me to President Bush, but there was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney.

You know who voted for it? You might never know. Senator Obama. You know who voted against it? Me.” This was one of the most remembered moments of the debate. Sometime was designated for questions about foreign policy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before the candidates gave their closing statements, Senator Obama was asked about Senator Edwards and why he chose him. Obama answered by saying that he chose the former Senator because “He got elected to the Senate in a red state, and a state my advisors are convinced we can win and we felt having him on the ticket would increase our chances there. In 2004, I felt Senator Kerry made the right decision choosing Senator Edwards, and I too wanted to make the right choice, so I chose John, and I’m glad I did and think he’ll be one of the best Vice Presidents.”


Senator McCain was then asked about why he chose his running mate. McCain said that “I chose Governor Pawlenty because this is a man who won the governorship not once, but twice in a Democratic state and a governor who could work with Democrats in the legislature to get things done. Prior to serving as Governor, Tim served as a congressman in the Minnesota state house, and eventually became majority leader. I wanted someone with experience, someone who could be was qualified and ready to be President if necessary.
Senator Obama chose John Edwards. A man who only served one term in the senate, where he didn’t have much of a record, and then chose not to seek reelection in order to run for President because he knew he wouldn’t be reelected to the Senate, and since the Kerry/Edwards ticket was defeated four years ago, Mr. Edwards has not done anything of significance. Given this and the recent revelations, I don’t think Senator Obama exercised good judgment in picking the former Senator, nor do I think he’s exercising good judgment by letting him stay on the ticket.”
2nd-debate-obama-sits-mccain-talks.jpg


A CNN poll taken after the debate showed that 40% said the debate was a tie, 30% said McCain won, 30% said Obama won. A CBS poll taken showed similar results. Analysts and commentators had said that Senator Obama did well on the economy and domestic policy, although he didn’t do as well as he did in the first debate, and they also said he still somewhat under performed on foreign policy compared to Senator McCain. They also felt that Obama really fumbled when asked about his selection of John Edwards. They said Senator McCain did much better than expected and that his best moment was when he answered the question about why he picked Governor Pawlenty to be his running mate.




Italicized font= quotes from the actual debate.



 
About the timeline...

I have finals this week, so the timeline is going to have to be put on hold for a couple of days. Feel free to leave me any ideas, suggestions or thoughts on how to continue this timeline.:D

Thanks.
 
Everyone makes mistakes and Obama is no exception, and to answer your comment about the affair being covered up for so long, Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky had been going on for two years before anyone found out about it. As to whether there is pressure for Edwards to quit the ticket, there is, it's just that Obama won't drop him and Edwards won't quit. The final nail in the coffin for the Obama campaign is coming soon.

In OTL, as early as "August 2006, several staffers—including Josh Brumberger, Kim Rubey, and David Ginsberg—had strong suspicions about the affair and left the campaign over concerns about Hunter. Rubey and Ginsberg later discussed their obligation to the party to come forward with what they knew, after finding Young's paternity claim unconvincing." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards_extramarital_affair See http://nymag.com/news/politics/63045/index3.html for how Edwards was being questioned by his staff about his relationship with Hunter in the summer of 2006, and despite his reassurances "If anything, Edwards’s behavior became even more brazen..."

There is just no way this could be kept secret (if by secrecy we mean absence of suspicion as well as absence of conclusive proof) through August 2008. And if it was covered up that long yet somehow just happened to first come to light in October, Edwards would be dropped from the ticket instantly. This is not like Monicagate--not only has a child been born (Edwards could at first deny the paternity but he would have lost all credibility) but all this happened while Elizabeth Edwards was battling cancer! The idea that Obama or any other presidential candidate could dismiss this with "oh well, so he made a mistake" is, to say the leat, unrealistic.

There are incidentally all sorts of other reasons why Obama would not have chosen Edwards and McCain would not have chosen Pawlenty. For one thing, both Edwards and Pawlenty had been unconvincing as presidential candidates in 2008, Edwards finishing a poor third in South Carolina, and Pawlenty not even making it to the primaries. Pawlenty is the sort of running mate you pick when you are comfortably ahead in the polls, which McCain was not--except for a brief surge following the GOP convention, he trailed Obama all along. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html
 
In OTL, as early as "August 2006, several staffers—including Josh Brumberger, Kim Rubey, and David Ginsberg—had strong suspicions about the affair and left the campaign over concerns about Hunter. Rubey and Ginsberg later discussed their obligation to the party to come forward with what they knew, after finding Young's paternity claim unconvincing." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards_extramarital_affair See http://nymag.com/news/politics/63045/index3.html for how Edwards was being questioned by his staff about his relationship with Hunter in the summer of 2006, and despite his reassurances "If anything, Edwards’s behavior became even more brazen..."

There is just no way this could be kept secret (if by secrecy we mean absence of suspicion as well as absence of conclusive proof) through August 2008. And if it was covered up that long yet somehow just happened to first come to light in October, Edwards would be dropped from the ticket instantly. This is not like Monicagate--not only has a child been born (Edwards could at first deny the paternity but he would have lost all credibility) but all this happened while Elizabeth Edwards was battling cancer! The idea that Obama or any other presidential candidate could dismiss this with "oh well, so he made a mistake" is, to say the leat, unrealistic.

There are incidentally all sorts of other reasons why Obama would not have chosen Edwards and McCain would not have chosen Pawlenty. For one thing, both Edwards and Pawlenty had been unconvincing as presidential candidates in 2008, Edwards finishing a poor third in South Carolina, and Pawlenty not even making it to the primaries. Pawlenty is the sort of running mate you pick when you are comfortably ahead in the polls, which McCain was not--except for a brief surge following the GOP convention, he trailed Obama all along. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html

Sorry, but I can only echo the above and then underline it all. Obama would never have chosen Edwards and besides, the affair with Hunter was carried out with such stupidity on the part of Edwards that it would never have remained secret until October/November 2008. The man was a prat and his staffers were debating leaking the affair to save the Democratic Party from Edwards being anywhere near the ticket in the Spring of 2008. Now, if he hadn't been having an affair with Hunter then he might have been in Obama's cabinet for his first term and IIRC he wanted to be Attorney General. I doubt that would have happened, but Edwards had a massive ego.
 
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In OTL, as early as "August 2006, several staffers—including Josh Brumberger, Kim Rubey, and David Ginsberg—had strong suspicions about the affair and left the campaign over concerns about Hunter. Rubey and Ginsberg later discussed their obligation to the party to come forward with what they knew, after finding Young's paternity claim unconvincing." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards_extramarital_affair See http://nymag.com/news/politics/63045/index3.html for how Edwards was being questioned by his staff about his relationship with Hunter in the summer of 2006, and despite his reassurances "If anything, Edwards’s behavior became even more brazen..."

There is just no way this could be kept secret (if by secrecy we mean absence of suspicion as well as absence of conclusive proof) through August 2008. And if it was covered up that long yet somehow just happened to first come to light in October, Edwards would be dropped from the ticket instantly. This is not like Monicagate--not only has a child been born (Edwards could at first deny the paternity but he would have lost all credibility) but all this happened while Elizabeth Edwards was battling cancer! The idea that Obama or any other presidential candidate could dismiss this with "oh well, so he made a mistake" is, to say the leat, unrealistic.

There are incidentally all sorts of other reasons why Obama would not have chosen Edwards and McCain would not have chosen Pawlenty. For one thing, both Edwards and Pawlenty had been unconvincing as presidential candidates in 2008, Edwards finishing a poor third in South Carolina, and Pawlenty not even making it to the primaries. Pawlenty is the sort of running mate you pick when you are comfortably ahead in the polls, which McCain was not--except for a brief surge following the GOP convention, he trailed Obama all along. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html

Yeah, I have to third these comments. There are ways that you can make Obama lose in 2008, but him picking Edwards, who somehow manages to cover up both an affair and a secret child, is not the way to do it.
 
I give up on this Timeline. After, reading all the comments and thinking it over the last few months, I agree that this isn't the way to make McCain win in 2008. For my first thread though, I got more responses than I thought I would initially.
 
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