Why Hurricane Gustav is good for McCain
September 1st, 2008 at 8:00 pm by David FarrarThanks to the hurricance, both Bush and Cheney miss the convention, and have an unassailable reason for doing so.
20 Responses to “Why Hurricane Gustav is good for McCain”
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September 1st, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Yep, Can easily see that.
Bush is a total liability, and Cheny has made far too much money from the re-construction of Iraq.
This is indeed Mannah from Heaven!
Vote:September 1st, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Yeh nothing like the spectre of Bush’s total incompetence 3 years ago rearing its ugly head and smearing the new candidate by association. Shame he didn’t act like a capable President in the first place, but then what did anyone who’s studied him expect?
McCain’s staying away too.
Vote:September 1st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
They seem really lucky that they have a reason to basically call off most of the convention – the speeches (McCain/Palin) were among the lamest I have heard. I was waiting for her speech before passing judgment – pretty stink. Pitiful crowds. The whole convention seems like a flop. Barack doesn’t seem to have picked up any post convention bounce either.
Vote:September 1st, 2008 at 8:18 pm
How could it possibly be good for McCain to have these two great and competent American leaders miss the convention? I’m totally confused.
Vote:September 1st, 2008 at 8:26 pm
radar, Republicans are desparate to avoid association of any kind with the worst President in history. Cheney is polling around 14% approval, Bush is 30%
For reasons that apparently escape some of the commenters on this blog, those two are and always have been, poison. They’re not just incompetent, they’re much much worse.
Even though the American people have behaved like sheep thanks to being sucked in by the compliant media which protects those political figures who do Israel’s bidding, American’s aren’t stupid, and they hate these guys.
Wait for the history to be written.
Would you want to be associated with people like that if you’re standing for Pres?
Vote:September 1st, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Reid, radar, ernesto, et al – you should really, at some point, spend time in America without your ridiculous little Kiwi beer goggles on.
Vote:September 1st, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Reid, amongst all the stupidity there was only one half line of sense.
Wait for the history to be written.
Vote:September 1st, 2008 at 8:43 pm
It may just be possible that Obama didnt get a lift because he has exhausted his efforts already. If you werent going to vote for him after all the speechs and media publicity he has received then how is the convention going to make people vote for him. Im sorry for going off the subject of the orginal thread.
Vote:September 1st, 2008 at 11:36 pm
So Bush and Cheney will be cruising around New Orleans in AirForce One watching the poor people squirm, like last time? Yes McCain would do well not to be seen in Dubya’s company…
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 12:04 am
John McCain can’t lose no matter what happens. It’s looking good for John McCain to win the presidency.
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 7:18 am
Indeed it is OECD, but I’d hardly call it good. Both candidates are real shockers.
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 7:33 am
John McCain can’t lose no matter what happens. It’s looking good for John McCain to win the presidency.
It’s ironic that if you pop over to a Left wing blog they’re absolutely confident that Obama will win. The reality is both candidates are neck to neck.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=75460¤tpage=29
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 8:21 am
On the contrary Reb, it’s not ironic – it’s exactly what we expect!
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 10:45 am
Bush’s Gustav duties have robbed the Dems of one of their primary attack lines against McCain – that he’s a 3rd Bush term. Bush’s presence at essentially McCain’s convention would’ve underscored that point. Obama ended his convention with essentially zero bounce. Rasmussen’s tracking poll is of LIKELY voters (a more accurate predictor than the Gallup REGISTERED voters tracking poll which tends to favour the Dems by 3-4 on average because Republicans are more likely to vote than Democrats historically) had Obama beganing his convention at +3 and is now back in the same spot. CNN now has McCain in the lead whilst Gallup still has Obama +6 (and falling). After the predictable fawning and worshipful media coverage of Obama’s Greek temple speech you’d expect at least 10-12 point bounce. The Palin announcement stole all the political oxygen from Obama’s speech and owned the news cycle until today.
Gustav has come ashore and is now only Category 1 and so the RNC will likely recommence in full swing tomorrow. Insiders I know who are veterans of many GOP conventions have never seen so much excitement from a VP announcement in their memory. McCain raised $10m in one week and has raised 2 x in August what he raised in July. Remember he will not have to spend hardly anytime fundraising from now until 4 Nov as his $85m of public funding kicks in after the RNC. What he lacks in comparison with Obama can be made up by the Republican National Campaign Committee (who have been outraising the DNCC by 5 to 1). Obama is still a potent fundraiser but he must spend precious time through the fall campaign fundraising. His campaign is also very top heavy with its staffing overheads alone costing 4 x as much as McCain’s. The Obama campaign wasted $25m through the summer spending big in traditional GOP states with no poll movement in Obama’s favour to show for it.
For the GOP to be even stevens in the polls AFTER the DNC and after Obama’s wall to wall earned media in a cycle that is supposed to be so hostile to the party is a testament to the weakness of the Obama/Biden ticket.
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 10:55 am
Another delusional Kiwi in America. How pathetic that the GOP should be hiding behing Gustav and politicising it for all it’s worth. Aint gonna save their sorry arse of course. The Palin debacle is making Obama look more Presidential than need be.
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 11:04 am
Nicely done, KIA.
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 11:14 am
lloydois
The Palin debacle – cancelled Obama’s bounce completely, energised the GOP base, record fundraising, commentators comparing her record to Obama and he’s No 1 on the ticket and she’s No 2. Boy if that’s a debacle I’ll take it. Some history for you lloyd – Dukakis post 88 DNC +17, Clinton in 92 +12 in 96 +10, Gore in 2000 +7 and Kerry in 04 +6. Obama in 08 – zip, all thanks to Palin.
Oh and I guess you haven’t seen the clip of former chairman of the Democrat National Committee Fowler bragging that God must be on the Dems side because Gustov was going to rain on the RNC – but of course that’s not politicising a hurricane at all is it.
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Reid (1079) Add karma Subtract karma –1 Says:
September 1st, 2008 at 8:11 pm
“Yeh nothing like the spectre of Bush’s total incompetence 3 years ago rearing its ugly head and smearing the new candidate by association…..”
Just so we’re clear about where BUSH’s “incompetence” over New Orleans starts and finishes, Reid:
From THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR
“Accountable Al”
By R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.
Published 9/15/2005
(Al Gore) “……….urged that “the leaders of our country be held accountable” for the flooding of New Orleans. Unfortunately he was addressing the Sierra Club, which was not the best place to bring up the flooding of New Orleans.
The very day he spoke a congressional task force reported that the levees that failed in New Orleans would have been raised higher and strengthened in 1996 by the Army Corps of Engineers were it not for a lawsuit filed by environmentalists led by who else but the Sierra Club. Among those “leaders of our country” to “be held accountable” for the flooding of New Orleans, would Al include the Sierra Club? How about the Save the Wetlands stalwarts? According to a recent report in the Los Angeles Times, a 1977 lawsuit filed by Save the Wetlands stopped a congressionally funded plan to protect New Orleans with a “massive hurricane barrier.” A judge found that New Orleans’ hurricane barrier would have to wait until the Army Corps of Engineers filed a better environmental-impact statement.
Now, because those who would have improved hurricane protection in New Orleans were prevented by the environmentalist rigorists, the wetlands are polluted and imperiled and New Orleans has suffered the damage that practical minds have been trying to prevent for three decades. What has thwarted them are the Al Gores of the environmental movement and a well-intentioned piece of legislation that has become a major stumbling block to improving the nation’s infrastructure and energy production, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA). The legislation might have been sensible at the time, but it has grown like a bureaucratic cancer. Environmentalist lawyers have expanded its reach until it now entoils practically any construction done by the federal government in red tape that stops projects large and small, some mere pork barrel expense, some critical to the safety of the citizenry.
The congressional task force that exposed the Sierra Club’s mischief in New Orleans was convened in April to study the costs of NEPA and suggest means to reform it. Doubtless members of the task force — it includes 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats — will find some valuable contributions to the environment that it has made. But the task force and Hurricane Katrina have already revealed that it is in need of serious reform……”
Vote:September 2nd, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Believe what you want Phil, wait for the history to be written.
Vote:September 4th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
A piece of writing that mirrors my thinking 125% for all the right reasons.
Especially justice for the American people.
‘
Thursday August 28 2008
REPORTS that support for the two US presidential candidates has narrowed to a barely definable gap is not encouraging.While I’m a confirmed realist regarding Barack Obama’s capabilities, declared policies, and his capacity to effect any real change, I firmly believe the Republican Party needs to be punished for their transgressions under current President George Bush’s disastrously disreputable tenure; and the only way to inflict this punishment is to confine them to a spell on the sidelines.
Illegal acts such as extraordinary rendition, the continuing affront to human rights that is Guantanamo Bay, and the grossly misguided Iraq “adventure” have no place in any society with pretensions towards civilised behaviour.
Other examples of Bush’s behaviour which should be remembered are his administration’s reckless and profligate overspending; his inefficient response when Hurricane Katrina destroyed a large portion of New Orleans; failure in Afghanistan; total inaction in the face of climate change; and the couldn’t-care-less attitude displayed by him and his moronic sidekicks like Cheney and Rumsfeld to international disapproval.
When one considers these offences, and the clearly tangible problems facing ordinary Americans on a daily basis, such as an economy in recession alongside spiralling oil prices, it’s absolutely extraordinary that they could even consider the option of a continuation of the status quo which a McCain presidency would offer.
All the more inexplicable in the light of Bush’s recent unprecedented low approval rating among Americans.’
DAVID MARLBOROUGH
KENILWORTH PARK, DUBLIN 6W
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