Sweet Jesus this was a bad day for McCain (4.00 / 3)

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by: Matt H @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:34:54 AM UTC

You mean he didn't "win the day"? (4.00 / 2)

But...but...that's what Mark Halperin told me!

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by: Haggai @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:39:44 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Make it Viral! distribute to your friends! (4.00 / 2)

From the HTML source,

http://www.youtube.com/v/XjkCr...

Could it even swing Indiana?

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by: tietack @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:37:47 AM UTC

I'm waiting (0.00 / 1)

to hear people start bitching about how Letterman is a loser or something because he called McCain a "hero" based on his POW status.

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by: taylormattd @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:40:40 AM UTC

Dave still has it. Sometimes. (4.00 / 1)

I wish he wouldn't phone it in as often as he does.  He really can be great when something grabs his attention.  Like that interview he did with Paris Hilton.

This is really harsh stuff. I like it.

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by: Reece @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 03:47:51 AM UTC

I checked this out, as I'm in Denver (0.00 / 0)

and Letterman is broadcast 2 hours later.  I stayed on for Craig Ferguson, because, hey, why not.

He delivered a second scathing monologue that should be posted on here as soon as it hits the Internet. I'll check back tomorrow if I find it.

Ferguson begins his monologue by saying that suspending a campaign sounds like creeping toward suspending the election, adding that people have done that before (he names Castro, Napoleon, and Julius Caesar).  Then he angrily yelled that in America we don't subvert the democratic process for crisis, and he listed a bunch of examples.

A quote (this was originally peppered with impish jokes that don't really add to the context for these purposes):

"...$700 Billion.  That works out to every American taxpayer, we all pay $3,600 each.  To the banks.  Really....You, know, I don't know how I feel about this, the taxpayers bailing out the people on Wall Street.  Let me think about it for a second, I HATE THIS!  This is the biggest robbery in American history!...But I won't editorialize here. I'll stay neutral. Here are the facts, remaining objective about the financial crisis.  Basically what happened is that (1) Wall Street are EVIL (2) They got really stupid and (3) They got drunk on greed.  What happened is they crashed their Ferrari, now they're crying like little bitches and they want their Uncle Sam to buy them a new one.  NO!  That's not how it works here!  Uncle Sam would be better off using the money to build them a nice prison."

Indeed.

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by: Jay Hazen @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 06:16:27 AM UTC

I'll be honest... (0.00 / 0)

Maybe I'm just weird, but this is actually LESS devastating than I expected, mostly because everyone talked about how devastating it was.

Here's why: Most of Letterman's complaints basically stems from being blown off by McCain.  While this is certainly annoying and rude, most people probably don't care about this... It's just David Letterman, after all... an entertainment show.

He got a few hits in there, but for the most part, he mostly refrained from totally ridiculing the concept of "suspending" his campaign.  He just seemed mostly pissed off that McCain blew him off.

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by: leshrac55 @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 07:45:26 AM UTC

My impressions (0.00 / 0)

I hear your point, but I think that the "I have to rush back to Washington" vs. "I have to an interview with Katie Couric" juxtaposition is pretty strong in suggesting it's a politically motivated stunt.

Not to mention, it never looks good when you see footage of a politician having make-up applied.  Although of course this is a standard part of TV, the visuals serve to trivialize McCain's actions.

Republicans can't fix our country; they're too busy saddlebacking.

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by: Ms Bluezone @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 10:11:14 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

McCain's brand has just been destroyed. Game, set, match? (0.00 / 0)

Just watched it the second time - And I'm wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.  Viral?  Oh yeah, from where I'm sitting it's spreading around the workplace.

If you're thinking "this isn't that bad" - this is a full-bore slap-down.  McCain has developed his brand as Honor/Character - the facts, the policies, the details don't matter, because we should vote for the Man of Honor and Character.  Because the Man of Honor and Character will do the right thing.

Whatever was left of that brand after Wednesday's debate debacle has been destroyed. A Very Bad Day For McCain.

 

War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength; McCain/Palin 2008

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by: cheesehead @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 12:59:01 PM UTC

An Explanation for Why McCain Dissed Dave and Went on Couric (0.00 / 0)

is offered by Anonymous Liberal
http://www.anonymousliberal.co...

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by: Frances Madeson @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 14:06:28 PM UTC

That seems like a somewhat plausible theory (0.00 / 0)

Certainly for explaining why McCain blew off Letterman for Couric, as you say.

But as an explanation for the debate stunt, I'm not sure.  Trying to mess with the schedule of the debates is a REALLY risky move.  If McCain has to cave in and show up tomorrow night anyway, which seems likely at this point, he's going to look plenty stupid, and it could be more damaging to him than the Palin interview would have been.

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by: Haggai @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 14:12:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

if they were going to lie to Dave about why they cancelled they could have lied better (0.00 / 0)

Obviously Dave was going to find out McCain was on CBS a few blocks away when he was supposed be taping his show. So instead of telling him he had to rush back to Washington he should have been semi-honest and said he thought it more important to talk to Couric about the bailout on the evening news than yuck it up with Dave on late night TV. Also, he could have cancelled a day or two earlier since this crisis has been going for days now.

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by: tremayne @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 14:37:53 PM UTC

[ Parent ]