The McCain of the Week: Like the Incredible Hulk, "turnaround in the scope of a few hours"

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: The McCain of the Week
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: September 17, 2008

VIENNA, Ohio

“The people of Ohio are the most productive in the world!” yelled John McCain at a rally outside of Youngstown on Tuesday. Present company perhaps excluded, since the crowd was made up entirely of people who were at liberty in the middle of a workday. Folks were wildly enthusiastic as the event began. That was partly because Sarah Palin was also on the bill. (With Todd!) And when McCain took the center stage, they were itching to cheer the war hero and boo all references to pork-barrel spenders.

Nobody had warned them that he had just morphed into a new persona — a raging populist demanding more regulation of the nation’s financial system. And since McCain’s willingness to make speeches that have nothing to do with his actual beliefs is not matched by an ability to give them, he wound up sounding like Bob Dole impersonating Huey Long.

Really, if McCain is going to keep changing into new people, the campaign should send out notices. (Come to a rally for the next president of the United States. Today he’s a vegetarian!)...The whole transformation was fascinating in a cheap-thrills kind of way. It’s not every day, outside of “Incredible Hulk” movies, that you see somebody make this kind of turnaround in the scope of a few hours....

***

Now in an election like this, you expect a certain amount of tactical reimagining....

***

This new tactic is different. McCain has always, genuinely, believed in dismantling government regulations, and there he was, vowing to create new “comprehensive regulations that will apply the rules and enforce them to the fullest.” It makes you think that he’s trying to impersonate something he’s not. Or wasn’t. Or might not be. The image is getting fuzzy....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/opinion/18collins.html

[clear eye]

1. Ha-hah!!

"Bob Dole impersonating Huey Long" :rofl:

[teknomanzer]

2. Pure desperation....

The financial news of late has spelled out the end to McCain's campaign and deep down in places he won't look he knows it. This is the most desperate move since the selection of Palin as VP. This guy wants to be president so bad he is willing to scrap every bit of integrity he could possibly make claim to. Sad and pathetic.

McCain's campaign is about finished... his legs are getting wobbly. There is no need to go the full nine rounds the Obama campaign should just go for the KO now. Drop him to the canvas with an uppercut before the bell rings.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Well said! I have been thinking, too, as I post articles, about the inner McCain --

especially as so many articles have referenced his "selling his soul."

[teknomanzer]

4. The idea that Mcain is a populist...

and pro-regulation is so absurd it should cause even the most ardent true believer to "blink" or at the very least raise an eyebrow. Given the nature of the news with the financial markets I think now would be an excellent time to reexamine McCain's involvement in the Keating scandal and see how that jives with his new found regulatory stance.