The 2008 Republican Convention...

First day of convention canceled.

Cycloptichorn

Senator McCain has just announced that all activities of the convention will be suspended other than the bare bones necessary activities that must be conducted to officially nominate their candidate and approve the platform. No speeches. No parties. No hooplah. This is a certainty for tomorrow, Monday, and they will decided day by day thereafter whether it is appropriate to do anything other. Otherwise all will be focused on the impending disaster re the approaching hurricane and everybody's time, talent, and ability will be focused on doing whatever can be done to help there.

I'm curious, as to what exactly the Conservatives think they can do to help, exactly? The presence of big-name politicians inevitably requires police and other resources to be drawn away from relief efforts; what will their presence accomplish?

I think that they are going to try and play this for maximum advantage, and make it seem as if they are some sort of leaders for going down there. I predict that this tactic will not be a successful one.

Still, it's not as if they had much other choice...

Cycloptichorn

And yet had the hurricane arrived a week earlier, I just bet you would be applauding the noble Democrats making the people more important than having a party.

Like I said, I don't think they had much of a choice in the matter; I just wonder what McCain and Palin traveling to the region will accomplish.

An interesting point: no matter how the response to the hurricane goes, if the convention continues to be disrupted, this represents a gigantic loss for the Republicans, for we all know that a big part of the convention lies in defining your opponent for the public who is watching. I think we all know that there were plenty of attacks on Obama's experience and associations lined up, and we've been hearing for months that the RNC was going to use them to the best effect they could.

Now, that's all gone. All those millions of people who would have tuned in to hear Obama's problem, won't hear them. Even if it reflects well upon McCain, the attack on Obama will not be given out. It will represent wasted money and time on their part. It gives Obama the ability to draw his convention 'bounce' out much further then it otherwise would.

No matter how you slice it, it represents a real turn of bad luck for McCain and the Republicans. They will have the ability to try and pivot it for advantage, but it isn't going to be a net positive.

My guess is there will be a lot of whining about this bad luck in the next two months by the Republican party.

Cycloptichorn

I think it might help McCain if the Republicans can look competent and cool now. So far they've muted Bush and Cheney's involvement at the convention, and McCain went on national TV and sounded like a guy in control of the situation. They are off to a good start.

There are two backstories to this historic absence of a sitting president at his party's convention. There is no love lost between Bush and McCain--because of the alleged use of McCain's adopted daughter in a personal insinuation during the South Carolina primary in 2000. Further, McCain is persona non grata in the GOP, because of his habit of knifing them when his opinion differed from theirs. The party is stepping away from him in degrees.... letting him swing in the wind a bit. The popular consensus among party insiders is that a toothache could have kept Bush and Cheney away.....

This surreal environment...a hurricane providing a legitimate reason for things not to be as they should be....will camouflage the otherworldy goings on at the convention.

Yeah, I get what they are going for. I'm just unsure where it's headed. At the end of the day, I wonder what they are going to be able to show for their efforts and activity? If there's nothing really tangible, they won't receive much credit for anything.

I think that an unspoken possibility is that the hurricane turns out to be not that bad when it lands, and then there's just not that much for anyone to do... but the convention time is still lost.

We'll have to wait and see. But I stick by my earlier point: the Republicans have one chance to win this Fall, and that's to make Obama Untouchable by sliming him. That hasn't changed one bit; even if McCain's support goes up somewhat due to his hurricane actions, he loses the opportunity to properly trash Obama.

Cycloptichorn

We wish. I don't think so.

Yup, I agree with this. They would have had Bush/Cheney on day 1, Labor day, when almost nobody would have seen them anyways; now, that's not a worry.

Cycloptichorn

I don't thnk you're right about this. One of the biggest points McC earned was his wonderful "kudo commercial" to Obama. Here, he shows a man in action, taking care of business....being compassionate, responding in a disaster...and we have Georgia in the offing....Russia.... I'm telling you--he doesn't have to hurt Obama...he just has to do the right thing---in front of everyone..and show he's not Bush...and Katrina wasn't on his watch...the metaphorical connections to Iraq will be automatic.

You are 100% incorrect. McCain can't win without sliming Obama into the dirt. He just doesn't have the popular support. And he won't gain it by trying to use a national disaster for his benefit.

The commercial he cut congratulating Obama was cute, but did it change anyone's mind about him? I think we both know the answer is no.

Let me ask you, what is the 'right thing?' What is McCain going to do? I maintain that if he can't show actual, positive actions that he took, he will be unable to capitalize on his presence in any meaningful way, and your team will have lost a major opportunity.

The Georgia point you raise is ridiculous; McCain's response has been universally panned as reactionary and hot-headed.

Cycloptichorn

This hurricane is God's punishment on the Republican Party for having nominated John McCain. Oh and also for allowing gays in the military, lemme see have I forgotten anything, ... jeeze it's hot here, can't somebody turn the heat down a little bit, hey, hey what's a guy got to do to get a drink of water around here, Beelzebub?

Jerry Falwell [from his next life]

GW Bush: "Where's Brownie? Somebody get me Brownie on the phone. We need action here. Nothing bad's gonna happen ta 'Merica on my watch. How's the work on them levees comin' along?

I hope Sen Obama has the good sense to suspend his campaign for a few days.

I appreciate the vote of confidence, squinney, and I will try to not let you down.

Of course, "suspending the campaign" is campaigning. Just as "putting politics aside" is politics...

duly noted, oe.

He's only postponed the convention for one day....the first day, no less. Even the Dems didn't gear up to begin "sliming" McCain until the third day of their convention. There is plenty of time to slime Obama into the dirt later this week.

And the contrast between McCain selflessly foregoing his nomination at the Convention vice Obama's glorious stadium event will be very, very stark.

They just told of McCain in a factual manner. Virtually everything he does is self-sliming.



That's oxymoronic.