Not A Game Changer
October 16th, 2008 by 
Kevin
McCain (aka Senator Blinky) had to win a stunning victory tonite, quite simply that didn\’t happen. Obama (aka Senator Government), on the other hand, merely had to not set his podium on fire or try to catch an imaginary rabbit. He did that. McCain might have won this battle but he\’s very clearly losing the war.
According to snap polls and focus groups it\’s not even clear they considered McCain the victor in this debate. Personally I think McCain scored a victory here, but not an clear victory, much less an overwhelming victory. He made a lot of good points and hit Obama a few times, but Obama very ably parried many of McCain\’s attack and McCain never seemed willing or able to close in for the kill even when Obama was vulnerable. Simply put, McCain did not have the fire in the belly he needed, instead conservatives were left with heartburn.
If there was a clear victor it was Joe the Plumber. His name was mentioned at least 15 times during the debate. His story is definitely a sore spot for Obama, and it was the one time he was visibly rattled. McCain tried to make him an issue and I think he might have, it remains to be seen how his story resonates with the voters. I think several weeks ago he would have been a game changer, now I think it\’s too late.
Regardless, despite McCain\’s many attempts at scoring points invoking Joe\’s name, it\’s clearly that the Joe himself does a much better job on McCain\’s behalf than McCain does on Joe\’s.
Hell, I never really liked McCain anyway, I think I\’ll vote for Joe the Plumber.
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5 Comments »
October 16th, 2008 at 9:54 am
The “Joe the Plumber” thing puts the tax-and-spend issue front and center in a way that people can identify with. That’s a huge win for Republicans.
When Obama cab simply tax the “richest 5%” it sounds like the other guy. When that “richest 5%” becomes a small business owner with a high taxable income due to S-corp or LLC status, it really hits home to people.
I think “spread the wealth around” is something that falls easily out of the mouth of a liberal’s liberal like Obama, but really resonantes negatively with the American people. It’s kind of like John Jerry’s “Global Test” comment, but I hope on a bigger scale.
This is a gift from the political gods for McCain, he now needs to run with it.
He needs to hammer this again, and again, and again. In doing so, he may actually earn the support of Joe W., and those like him.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Apoologoze fpr my typps & loisy splling in previs connemt.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I was going to respond to your comment, but my response got so long it’s gonna turn into it’s own post later tonite.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:08 am
[...] Not A Game Changer [...]
October 16th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
To frame the whole “argument” we’re having, I think we’re both reflecting on the fact that it’s taken McCain until three weeks before the election to decide to campaign as a Republican on economic issues, and it took a “from the mouths of plumbers” comment to do it.
Obama is a disciplined fellow campaign-wise, but how much earlier would this have come out had it been more vigously pressed by McCain.
I honestly think that McCain beleives the Republican economic message but doesn’t articulate it naturally, or well. I’m sure through knowledge of his wife’s companyt, etc, he sees the impact taxation has on small business, and thus job creation, but he doesn’t live it day to day like a plumber that hopes to buy the company he works for.
That said, the plumber never edited Harvard Law Review, so he clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about.