MSNBC discussing this a.m. why McCain suddently bolted out of the room..

[Virginia Dare]

I missed it, but apparently his exit was rather abrupt.

Also, the ultimate capper of the evening:

when McCain wandered in front of the camera like a doddering old fool, looking for Cindy to come grab his hand and lead him away....:rofl:

[trudyco]

1. His Depends was full?

[barnabas63]

3. lol..that was my first thought!

:rofl:

had to have his depends changed!

[Eurobabe]

20. I predicted yesterday that he would "double-up"

on the dypies. :rofl:

[goclark]

55. Is that why he didn't sit down and started walking

around the stage?

[Libby2]

40. Why do people find comments like that funny?

I sure as hell don't.

[Debi]

59. Either do I

But Karma will take care of that. :hi:

[bdamomma]

2. rather anti social isn't he?

all the better for Obama, he was there greeting and talking to those who were on stage.

[Epiphany4z]

4. he had to be pissed

I mean who give up 20 min of free tv face time? It cost big bucks to get your face planted on tv...so he left Obama there all alone looking all presidential..meeting undecided voters.......dee da dee....he just had to be to pissed off to stay.....he has been at this a while he knows better.

[LynneSin]

5. This debate was at John McCain's core supporters - a Christian College in a Red State

and yet it was Obama who looked like he was at home.

[Kalyke]

10. They represented my state well.

I didn't even see any McCain supporters.

I kept saying to my husband, "Look at Tweety! He's in a red state at a Christian college and can't find any McCain supporters!! I love it!"

FWIW, there has been NO polling done out of Tennessee since mid-September (there was an MTSU poll, but that's a local monster of a poll that asks far more than "who do you support). We really don't know which way Tennessee's leaning anymore. There's certainly been no polling since the economic debacle. And, with NC and VA heading in Obama's direction, it's certainly fathomable that TN could be moving away from the McCain column, but WE DON'T KNOW!

[TornadoTN]

29. I believe things are much closer here than anyone realizes

We have an abundance of volunteers, money, and enthusiasm. An economy that is collapsing, jobs being lost and quite honestly, a very, very strained relationship with the GOP and McCain. Sure, the fundies are still with them but the rest of the state is either on the fence or has already woken up.

I'm not sure if we can win the state, but things are drawing much closer than anyone will give credit. Tennessee will be the next North Carolina in the next cycle.

[yardwork]

31. Healthcare has been a big issue in TN for a long time, too.

[Kalyke]

36. Where in TN are you?

I'm in the East (Republicanville), but my little neighborhood generally votes straight Dem.

[TornadoTN]

50. Same here - Tri-Cities

Lots of McCain signs about but these are at the usual suspects houses. Off the beaten path, you'll find plenty of Obama stickers, signs, etc. intermixed.

Beyond that - our local Democratic Headquarters can't keep Obama stuff on hand. We have a staggering number of volunteers doing canvassing and phone banking not only in Tennessee, but in NC and VA as well. This is by far the most people I've seen volunteer for a campaign here in East Tennessee.

[tomnjoy]

63. Go Tennessee! :)

I lived in Nashville for 7 years (1995-2002). In fact, I'm an alum of Belmont University. Personally, I loved Belmont! Of course Nashville is blue (even though I lived in a very red county south of Nashville), but I'm glad to hear such good news coming out of other parts of Tennessee. I still vividly remember experiencing the 2000 election nightmare in Nashville.

[yardwork]

30. Interesting! Thanks for letting us know about that.

[earthside]

6. Drugged Up

I figure McCain has got about a two hour window on the effectiveness of whatever drugs they are pumping him up with.

That is why Cindy is always with him; she doesn't campaign on her own because she can't.

Personally, I think the cancer is back and is affecting his nervous system.

[calimary]

53. She did seem like some sort of handler or care-taker last night, didn't she.

Hovered close behind him, didn't put herself out to many others there. Didn't even shake hands that much.

I wrote about that myself:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7365729


She probably doesn't want to stick her neck out too far. And although it wasn't the issue last night, if I were her, knowing his penchant for ogling (and being tempted by) other women, with sarah palin around I wouldn't stray more than a few feet from him, under ANY circumstances. After all, he dumped his first wife to run off with her. As long as he draws breath and can walk on his own, if I were his wife, I'd still be a little paranoid about other women, even at this late date.

[mscuedawg]

7. Too many "plain folk" and "that ones" in the audience for them to be around.... n/t

[krkaufman]

64. Too many chances for direct questions ...

... so I'm sure Rove-acolyte Steve Schmidt wouldn't want McCain in that situation. Especially since people would probably start grilling him on his mortgage renegotiation proposal.

[Kalyke]

8. I thought maybe he lied so much that his pants were on fire.

:D

[RoadRage]

9. Why is everyone so damn mean?

Seriously.. you all know that McCain's bedtime is 9:00pm... he was stretching it as it was by staying up until 9:30. Why do you have to bust him for not staying even LATER then 9:30, which is already a full half-hour past nighty-night time for him.

I'm sure that by the time Cindy got him home, got his jammies on, got him some milk and a bedtime snack.. and then read him his favorite bedtime story (why mommy is a conservative) it was well past 10:00pm, and you know what? We're all going to pay for that today. McCain gets grumpy when he doesn't get a full nights sleep.. and he takes it out on the entire country the next day.

:eyes: DUH!

[Cha]

39. It's mccain who's "mean"..

After the debate last night I read Rolling Stone's "Make Believe Maverick" and turns out mccain has had problems his whole life with his temper.

The article said "as a child he often held his breath until he passed out" and there's a baby pic of him looking all pissed. The whole article was brutal.

[11 Bravo]

11. A Metamucil OD can result in what gerontologists call "fecal urgency".

Grandpa REALLY had to go.

[zbdent]

12. "Shouldn't have had those 4 bran muffins in the green room ...

especially with the fiber shake chaser ..."

[SteveM]

13. Lucky it wasn't a bowl of menudo w/ a Lone Star chaser.

[zbdent]

18. a bowl of menudo?

What ... now he's Mark Foley?

[SteveM]

24. A soup of (usually) hog stomach & tripe, served with fresh jalapenos...

onions, hominy, cilantro, etc. Supposed to be a hangover cure. Eaten in finer Mexican cafes, everywhere in Texas. But it can give you a case of the "boom-booms."

[zbdent]

33. that would have been disgusting to watch onstage during the 80s/90s

I thought it was a boy band up there ...

It's amazing what you can do in the studio ...

[SteveM]

38. It's amazing what you can do in the kitchen -- then the bathroom (nt)

[zbdent]

43. "C'mere honey! You gotta see this one!"

[SteveM]

44. Porcelain-cracker, air burst, Beached Whale Diet (nt)

[gauguin57]

35. Oh, good lord. You owe me a keyboard!

Bowl of menudo ... :rofl:

[NotThisTime]

14. At least he had an exit strategy

[vanboggie]

28. Good one!

:rofl:

[Cha]

42. So did bush in TANG. n/t

[Mad_Dem_X]

48. Ba-DUM-bum!

[asdjrocky]

15. I know why he left-

He's a prick.

[shadowknows69]

16. I think probably more people were lining up to talk to Obama

Than him and "Heiress Barbie".

[City Lights]

17. Did anyone hear the "official" reason mcnasty bolted?

I'm still in shock that he made a beeline for the exit. Unless he had to head straight for the ER, what could possibly have been so pressing that he had to leave immediately after it ended? I'm sure there were a few people who would have liked to shake his hand or have their picture taken with him. Instead, he waved the white flag of surrender and retreated! D'oh!

[mwb970]

21. Sounds like Little John cut and ran. /nt

[progressivebydesign]

26. I think he was pissed off. There is no way that man can keep his temper for that long.

I can only imagine he did it to keep from having a hissy fit over the fact that everyone wanted to meet and get pics with the Obamas.

[davsand]

19. I'm not being nasty when I say I think he was feeling ill.

His breathing became more difficult during the course of the debate. I seriously am wondering if McCain is in much worse health than they are admitting. I think he HAD to leave. I think he lacked the energy to work the line and I think he did all he could physically.


Laura

[VWolf]

22. That's as good an argument as any

and seeing as he hasn't released his medical records, we can only speculate.

[JitterbugPerfume]

46. Hi Laura!

I noticed that too . At times he sounded seriously COPD

[davsand]

68. Wow! How good to run across you!

Too wonderful to see you, friend! I hope you are hale and hearty-- more-so than the candidate we are discussing, anyway!



Laura

[hedgehog]

49. I think this may be the first non-nasty but accurate posting in this thread!

[kenny blankenship]

23. colostomy bag overflowing?

[progressivebydesign]

25. Does anyone on DU realize that a MAJOR portion of Dems and some DUers are over 70?

when i go to my local Dem offices, and when I've worked on campaigns, the backbone of the volunteer organization has always been the retired or nearly retired folks. the only people under 30 in the building are usually the paid ones or interns getting credit.

While I'm all for fun and joking about McCain, the dialogue here is bordering on offensive ageism.

Having said all that... I think that McCain is either very ill OR he was pissed off. The rumors of this failing health could be true, he has looked more and more infirm. BUT.. his temper is legendary, and he kNEW he got owned and was getting out of sight so he could find something to kick.

[jberryhill]

27. How many of them are running for president?

I don't have anything against teenage girls who have their arms amputated, but I'm not going to suggest putting one on the gymnastic team, okay? There is not a thing wrong with them as people, but good golly they are not going to do the parallel bars.

I wouldn't subject any of the wonderfully more experienced and wise volunteers in the local office to the rigors of actually running as the candidate.

And it's not even a generalized thing. There are septuagenarians who could kick my ass in a contest of any kind (I'm 45). John McCain is not in that kind of shape, does not have that kind of stamina, and has ongoing issues with cancer.

[appleannie1]

47. Thank you

I know our County Dem offices are usually manned by retired folk, many even older than I am.
What I have noticed lately is how white his complexion has gotten. Plus, he looks like he has lost weight and his left eye is more droopy each week. Having said that, MOO is he was angry he was not getting the most attention or someone in the crowd might have said something to him that angered him.

[Javaman]

32. His depends failed. nt

[L0oniX]

34. The Geritol was kicking in.

[quakerboy]

37. I can only imagine how much

Xanax it takes to keep him from physically attacking this "impudent boy" they letting challenge him out loud on stages. Imagine what would happen if he ever realized that this was the same person that Palin keeps saying "palls around with terrorists".

[TexasObserver]

41. Well, he was walking like a baby with a load in his diaper ....

[invictus]

45. McCain is an angry man. It takes a lot of discipline for him to hold it back in public.

I think he wanted to run out before he embarrassed himself.

[spinbaby]

51. Oh, for heaven's sake

He's old. Don't you watch those ads for prostate problems where guys are always running to the bathroom?

[BklynChick]

52. Chris Matthews: "get out of Dodge!"

[imax2268]

54. i do believe...

that there is a Matlock marathon going on...so he had to catch some of those...

[Blue Diadem]

56. I think he left because he saw the warm reception Obama

was getting. Michelle immediately began interacting with the crowd and her reception was just as warm and welcoming. I didn't see that with McCain. He and Cindy were standoffish and in some of the pictures I've seen, looked like they just didn't fit in.

[BklynChick]

58. I agree. He and Michelle were posing for photographs and McCain and Cindy ran out.

[fencesitter]

57. He's 72, he had to pee.

when you gotta go, you gotta go.

[LibertyLover]

60. It was the darnedest thing

one minute he and Cindy were walking around talking, well, at least John was. Cindy on the other hand was walking with her hands firmly behind her back and a good 3 feet from any human contact - I guess she was afraid ickies might jump off regular people onto her pristine, expensive outfit. And the next he and Cindy were out of there and no where to be seen, leaving the Obamas to talk, shake hands and give people photo opportunities. My husband's comment was "The star always leaves the stage last - McCain just conceded the election."

[trudyco]

61. To old DUers - my apologies if saying his Depends were full

offended you.

I think it is Hubris for someone of McCain's age to run for president and it is even worse that he picked someone so unqualified for VP when the actuarial tables (and family history and POW abuse) makes the chance of his VP pick being President scarily high. It is beyond Hubris - it seems like a gimmick. Anything to win. He obviously doesn't put country first.

I have family members who use Depends and have had accidents. I have family members who are diabetic and have to frequently "go" (thanks to their medicine) at the most inopportune time. I love them very much and would not ridicule them for this.

However, none of them are running for president. They are quite aware that for some jobs it IS a good idea to not apply. So I won't ridicule McCain for his infirmities due to being a POW but I will ridicule him for being too old for President. He's just a wrinkly, old, white haired dude to me. One who is a threat to my children's future.

[aquart]

65. The age jokes are not appreciated.

[XOKCowboy]

70. Gimme a break...

I hope that you were kidding. Everyone has birthdays. It's not like a disability.

[Kukesa]

66. I'm old and you didn't offend me. n/t

[XOKCowboy]

69. Why you little whippersnapper!

GET THE HELL OFF OF MY LAWN!

[Spritz57]

62. Actually, in all honesty. . .

I think he is not physically well. I've watched the debate twice. He started off with energy but slowly and steadily went down hill. Look at his coloring (even through make up). He ran out of gas. I think the bigger story here is his health and stamina!

[Danger Mouse]

67. Cindy wanted to get the stench of the' common man' off of her as quickly as possible.

[RagAss]

72. she has an amazing attitude for a druggie....

[RagAss]

71. had to go wee wee I bet.