With W on the tube last night telling his fellow Amurikens that they have much to fear (this time from the economy), it seemed odd that Cheney would use his 27%-poularity sidekick to convince the public of the need to give Paulsen unlimited power. But, of course, Bush the Wizard of Oz was only there to say “ignore that dog, pay attention to me!” The dog being Congress which is having serious misgivings about the Paulsen plan. Further, his call for Obama and McCain to huddle with him on the bailout dropped several other pieces into place. Follow me, please . . .
We now know that Paulsen and friends have had this bailout plan in the wings for several months. It didn’t make any sense to release it until the Democrats had settled on a candidate. And they didn’t want to release it before the Olympics, because then Bush couldn’t have enjoyed himself in Beijing. They didn’t want to spoil the Republican convention, although pre-empting the Democratic convention probably crossed their minds. Once, they got the Palin bounce, they rode that for as long as it lasted. Now, McCain is starting to lag; Palin veneer has worn off, and Rove/Cheney had nothing else in their bag (binLaden most likely raised his price for a new video).
So, the Wizard’s team releases the Paulsen plan and demands an immediate surrender. Unfortunately for them, the netroots and others start picking apart the plan and feeding questions to Congress. This delays their schedule and threatens key points in the plan. So, they put the Wizard before the public as an attention-getting device.
Most of us accept that McCain’s Hail Mary to suspend his campaign was a ploy to avoid/defer the first presidential debate which couldn’t have ignored the “economic crisis”. Having spent all of his time preparing for a duel with Obama on foreign relations, McCain certainly wasn’t prepared to also study Economics before Friday.
It also is becoming clear, from the Couric interview, that Palin is not ready for the big leagues let alone the vice presidential debate. So the campaign suspension was also aimed at deferring or cancelling the VP debate scheduled for nine days out.
However, Bush’s call for a White House pow-wow with Obama and McCain changes the economic debate in several ways and I think this is the main storyline. This pow-wow serves a number of purposes for the Wizard’s team:
• draws further attention from the dog (Congress). In some ways it is an end run around Congress - something Cheney has always admired.
• defines the debate talking points. When the first debate occurs, McCain will be able merely to parrot the script that Bush has already written as the outcome of the pow-wow. This puts McCain on an even level with Obama.
• having been included, Obama won’t be able to claim McCain is just channelling Bush.
Bottom line - the White House pow-wow (with the Wizard of Oz intro) is intended to nullify any advantage Obama has in the bailout discussion.
Some might suspect the Bush is using his office to support McCain’s candidacy, but I would never accuse the Wizard of Oz of anything so lacking in integrity.
What I don't understand, is why haven't McCain and Palin started using those ear implants that worked so well for Bush during his debates (and press conferences)?