McCain campaign says it's saving the best for last (UPDATED)

Marc Ambinder has been talking with contacts he maintains in the Republican campaign.  Apparently, as we might have anticipated if we gave it thought, there is a game plan for the last 10 days:

McCain advisers say they're saving their best material for the last ten days of  the race, when, the campaign hopes, three quarters of the remaining undecided voters will make up their minds, and their minds will be concentrating on Barack Obama. When the urgency of the presidential election impresses itself, the hope is that these voters will swing back to the familiar, rather than the unknown.  The last ten days, according to a McCain aide, are when the "imponderables" come into play.

Obviously, they do not plan to go quietly into that good night; they're going to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at Obama during the final days of the campaign.  

I trust that John McCain is not the only candidate who plans to propose "imponderables" during the campaign's last 10 days.

Update: David Plouffe confirms they see this coming:



Display:


What does this entail? (2.00 / 4)

What else do they have? Throwing national security into the mix? Suddenly deciding Wright is fair game?

...I was actually going to name three things, but I can't think of any other ace McCain could have up his sleeve. He literally has no publicly seen advantage on any other issue.


"Hey, check it out. You just had yourself a glue OD. So you're learning another lesson. Don't do too much glue, or your night sucks."
by vcalzone on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 08:11:07 AM EST

Re: What does this entail? (2.00 / 4)

Governor Palin is going to order the Alaska National Guard to attack Iran?


by Shaun Appleby on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 08:37:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I'm stalking you today (2.00 / 1)

Hai!

<B</p>

I'm flitting off to find good poetry, please state your preferred era ;)


by figgy on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 08:40:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I'm stalking you today (2.00 / 1)

OK I have no idea what all those whosgits were about. I'm not actually crazy


by figgy on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 08:41:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Catch 22 (2.00 / 1)


by Trey Rentz on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 09:24:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Catch 22 (2.00 / 2)

I don't know why, OK I sort of do know why, but that scares me.

I forgot why, we're talking and I'd like to know what you had to say. I remember waxing which is remarkably less painful than you would think. Hair ripped out by the roots sounds bad but it's really not. It's more of a stinging sensation.

Oh HAI!


by figgy on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 09:33:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The BIGGEST EMPTY PROMISES.. (none / 0)

The MOST OUTRAGEOUS LIES...


Health Care: WHY do we pay MORE and GET LESS?
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/con tent/full/hlthaff.28.1.w1/DC1
by architek on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 04:26:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Catch 22 (none / 0)

I actually heard a guy scream like a girl when he got waxed (okay, it was a party, the women were talking about bikini waxing, the guy said it couldn't hurt that much, well, you know the rest of the story).
It was pretty funny.
"Who are you for? That is the wrong question. It should be who is for you?" HRC
by skohayes on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:51:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Interesting (2.00 / 1)

I take Marc Ambinder with a grain of salt, if only because Andrew Sullivan takes no seasoning when it comes to his Ambers.

Sometimes he's right sometimes he's wrong. He does always have the non-salacious scoop. I'm just not quite sure yet whether he's better than Halperin or not.

He's no Drudge, so cheers!


by figgy on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 08:44:12 AM EST

Return of Beyond the Kitchen Sink... (2.00 / 3)

Rezko

Drugs

MORE Ayers

Rev Wright, but not till the very end of
next week.

A campaign of ideas, honor and dignity...

NOT!


On Nov 4th, Barack Obama officially ends the Southern Strategy....
by WashStateBlue on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 09:06:27 AM EST

I'd agree with you but (2.00 / 2)

He's sent out a trial balloon. The least racially charged attack he could think of. Covertly pushed by unbelievably racially charged language by his VP and other surrogates. It killed him.

I'd actually be surprised by Wright at this stage, why would McCain gain more now? Wright didn't destroy Obama after 3 solid weeks of coverage in the spring, why on earth would he not think...after the Ayers thing...that it would be greeted with anger and distaste aimed towards himself.

If they have anything, it will be fresh.

If they have anything really really good, they would've sprung it already.


by figgy on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 09:22:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I'd agree with you but (2.00 / 1)

It's a down ticket strategy.

To try to save ANY congress critter they can, get the base out, flip any votes.

It's NOT going probably save McCain, but it might save one of them.

The RNC and his advisors are more then willing to make McCain an ethical sacrificial lamb.


On Nov 4th, Barack Obama officially ends the Southern Strategy....
by WashStateBlue on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 11:20:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The math does not add up (2.00 / 2)

See, even if they were to win 3/4th of undecideds, they still will be stuck with around 47% of the vote.


by ann0nymous on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 09:54:02 AM EST

Re: McCain campaign says it's saving the best for (2.00 / 3)

It's too late for the kitchen sink to work now.  Obama has been thoroughly vetted, and people are comfortable with him.  And more "kitchen sinkery" will only serve to drive more independents to McCain and will kill the GOP in downticket races as well.

So bring it on, Grumpypants.  You've got three weeks until you're completely irrelevant politically, so let's see what you've got.


by JK47 on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 10:00:21 AM EST

Re: McCain campaign says it's saving the best for (2.00 / 1)

Oops, I meant "drive more independents to Obama."  


by JK47 on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 10:01:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Knowing McSame, it'll probably be (2.00 / 5)

something or other about Obama having underaged, drug-addled gay sex with Frank Davis in a church pew purchased by Tony Rezko during a Rev. Wright sermon as Bill Ayers plays the piano and Osama bin Laden directs a gospel choir fraudulently assembled by ACORN. Everyone piles in the Prius after the service and jets off for lattes and arugula.


John McCain: The kids aren't alright, my friends.
by differance on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 10:08:30 AM EST

oh, and (2.00 / 2)

Odinga passes the collection plate, which is fashioned from the hollowed-out skull of a born-alive infant that was denied health care.


John McCain: The kids aren't alright, my friends.
by differance on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 10:10:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This may not be as far-fetched as you think. (none / 0)

We already know from the swiftboating of Kerry, even unsubstantiated lies can do irreparable harm.  

I bet McCain will try something new and fresh and insidious.  


by half nelson on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 06:00:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain campaign says it's saving the (2.00 / 4)

Yeah, they have a plan for the last 10 days...it was just the hundreds of days preceding them for which they didn't have a plan.

McCain's done.  The RNC is beginning to leave him and his campaign has diminished funds.  He will go out with a whimper, the only question is how much of his dignity remains intact, if any.


by rfahey22 on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 10:41:46 AM EST

Re: McCain campaign says it's saving the (2.00 / 2)

And more importantly, it's the 1461 days after the election for which they don't have a plan (or at least one differently from: Whatever Bush did, let's do more of that, unless we can be even more bellicose and "mavericky").

But those 10 days -- got a plan for that, yup yup yup.


No Way. No How. No McCain-Palin!
by Texas Gray Wolf on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 03:55:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain saving the best for last (2.00 / 5)

If true, just the leaking of that information ahead of time smacks of a reliance on yet more gimmicks. It fits the McCain campaign pattern. Saving the best for last in their dreams.


by phoenixdreamz on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 10:51:11 AM EST

Re: McCain' last (2.00 / 0)

 A life guard friend of mine says that just before a swimmer goes down for the last time, things can get real .... 'splashy'.


"But not me personally were those cheers for"
by QTG on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:23:01 PM EST

Cheap gimmick (2.00 / 1)

Let's just say for a minute, I'm an undecided voter, and I hear that McCain has this great idea, but he's not going to let me know about it until the end of the election cycle.

If its such a great idea, why not let everyone know about it as soon as you thought of it?  Aren't you proud of it?

If its so great, surely it could stand up to scrutiny by even to most dedicated opponent.  Is it solid?

Why can't I hear about it now, so I can evaluate it for myself?  Is it good for me?

What?  As an independent, I'm not worthy of hearing your great idea?  Am I chopped liver?

This is a cynical ploy, with the intent of driving a news cycle by saying you have something, but not telling anyone what it is.  We're not children, stop treating us as such.


I might be crazy... but are you seeing what I'm seeing?
by mydailydrunk on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:47:44 PM EST

Re: Cheap gimmick (2.00 / 1)

Well, Nixon had a 'secret plan' that he refused to reveal until after the 1972 election.

It worked for Nixon, McCain figures it will work for him as well.

I guess McCain thinks he can fix history?


by wblynch on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 01:42:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Cheap gimmick (2.00 / 1)

That's because his "great ideas" don't look so great after you look at them for a few days.

The hope here is two-fold:

1) Policy proposals that can maybe pass for "great ideas" for a week or so.

2) Negative attacks that'll grab the spotlight for a week.

The big problems are:

1) I don't think the McCain campaign has ever really understood the concept of Internet Time. People are dismantling his policy proposes in minutes; the rejection can start within the same news cycle. Similarly, the negative attacks are being refuted nearly instantly.

2) I don't think they really understand counterpunching or how it works. Suppose McCain trots out Wright in the last week of the campaign. Wright grabs center state, and we hear crazy preacher crazy preacher crazy preacher.

Two days later, Obama rolls out the combined crazy preacher ensemble for McCain. Or maybe it's not them, maybe it's Keating 5 (which, remember, has never been in ads, just a quiet web campaign). Or maybe it's G. Gordon Liddy et al. In any case, media attention jumps to whatever the big new thing is; Wright becomes old hat.

Plus, at the spending levels expected in the last 10 days, McCain's going to be shouting into a very strong headwind. Obama can simply ramp up the advertising to the point where voters will just tune out all campaign ads, if necessary.

Finally, to the extent that McCain's just planning a slime dump, remember that slime campaigns almost always harm the candidate with poorer favorability ratings more, regardless of which candidate is the ostensible target. McCain's favorability hasn't been looking good recently...


No Way. No How. No McCain-Palin!
by Texas Gray Wolf on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 04:06:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Cheap gimmick (none / 0)

Remember at the debate, when McCain said "I know how to get Osama Bin Laden, I know where he is..."
and I thought, well, why wait- tell us now?
It did remind me of Nixon and his "secret plan" to end the war, as someone already mentioned.
"Who are you for? That is the wrong question. It should be who is for you?" HRC
by skohayes on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 06:00:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain campaign says it's saving the best (2.00 / 0)

Right -- sure he is!  And he's got us right where he wants us, too.


by writerswrite on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 01:02:17 PM EST

Baghdad Bob, Redux (2.00 / 3)

"We've got them where we want them!"


It is not because I cannot explain that you won't understand. It is because you won't understand that I cannot explain. - Elie Wiesel
by Sumo Vita on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 01:32:27 PM EST

Re: McCain campaign says it's saving (none / 0)

With early voting in so many key states, this is a blunder if they have anything.  They're losing votes as we speak.


by Drummond on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:15:10 PM EST

Re: McCain campaign says it's saving the best (2.00 / 1)

There's an old Mad Magazine comic where John Paul Jones says "I have not yet begun to fight," and one of his crew responds, "well don't you think it's about time you started?  The blooming ship's about had it!"


by Drummond on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:16:54 PM EST

It's hard to be afraid of the Keystone Kops (none / 0)

I would worry, and I do a bit. But the sheer mindboggling incompetence of his campaign makes it hard to take seriously.

I mean, now McCain links himself to SADDAM HUSSEIN:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14 /mccain-transition-chief-a_n_134595.html

Wow. I half expect his 10-day surprise to backfire.


by Neef on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 06:03:05 PM EST

NQ, anyone? (none / 0)

Maybe Crazy Larry and his sidekick Looney Sue over at NQ finally found themselves a copy of the mysterious "whitey" tape.


by emptythreatsfarm on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 06:04:33 PM EST

I kind of assume that's why Obama bought (2.00 / 1)

the 30-minute spots on all the network right before the election.  He can wait and see what McCain throws out there and debunk it all in prime time plus lay out his positive vision at the same time.


That One is the Right One for 2008.
by GFORD on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 06:45:26 PM EST

I'm really hoping Obama goes for the kill there (2.00 / 2)

I'm thinking, calling for a committee of financial, business, labor, environment, and other big wigs to lay out a a REAL financial recover jobs program.

Name names, get VERY specific.

Talk about his transition team, what he plans to go in the first 100 days of his admin.

Just BLOW The next weeks news cycles all to hell.

Make the McCain campaign have to answer about 20,000 questions, everytime they bring up ACORN or AYERS?


On Nov 4th, Barack Obama officially ends the Southern Strategy....
by WashStateBlue on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 06:52:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: McCain campaign says it's saving the best for (none / 0)

They got nothing. There is nothing. If there was Hillary would have used it and McCain would not be waiting.. every day that passes Obama is stretching his lead and its looking worse for McCain...

They got nothing but even though they have nothing they will try to make something out of it just as they have been doing as of late..

I had not seen those ads Plouffe showed and they really are beyond the pale...


by obama4presidente on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 08:26:22 PM EST

What they're really saying is (none / 0)

that they have Joementum.


It is not because I cannot explain that you won't understand. It is because you won't understand that I cannot explain. - Elie Wiesel
by Sumo Vita on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 11:14:25 PM EST

Preemptive action must be taken. (none / 0)

On the 11th day before the election, Team Obama should start preemptive attacks.

Put them on the defensive before they can get their shots off.


by Bush Bites on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 11:26:37 PM EST


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