McCain Suspends Campaign
 

http://drudgereport.com/flash1.htm

MCCAIN SUSPENDS CAMPAIGN TO FOCUS ON ECONOMY; WANTS DEBATE DELAY
Wed Sept 24 2008 14:58:02 ET

MCCAIN: America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has expressed his priorities and concerns.This morning, I met with a group of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the steps that we should take going forward.I have also spoken with members of Congress to hear their perspective.

It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration' proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.

Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.

If he wants to suspend his campaign that's fine but he owes it to the American people to do the debate. Now is not the time for hiding out. Sarah musn't be that quick of a study.

I see this as a political move, just as the choice of Palin, to gain votes rather than because he honestly thinks this is what is important. But, if he does think that, why did it take him so long? Maybe we will get lucky and he will not resume his campaign:laugh::laugh:.

It's a gimmick. He wasn't getting enough attention with his muddled responses to the crisis so far, so he had to make a bold move. I guess he noticed the polling that showed Obama leading 52 to 43.

Maybe he's hoping that "postponing" the debate and putting on this big show will allow him to gain enough ground to avoid debating altogether.

The thing that sucks is that this will look to people like he's not afraid to take bold action to lead and will make Obama's response, whatever it is, look late and weak. I wish Obama would call this what it is--a ploy. And then present a real, passable Bill that he has already negotiated with a bipartisan group of smart and reasonable lawmakers and economists. David Plouffe, do you hear me?????? Get to work, and on the double!

Anyone catch Obama's very feckless and weak-kneed response to this? McCain threw down to go lead and Obama is so invested in his own personal interests he refuses to lead in a national crisis. The rest of the Senate is going to debate over the weekend to solve the biggest financial crisis in our lifetimes and he wants to go debate foreign policy. He said crap during the press conference like, "talk to my staff" and other dodgy things. If you support this guy, go watch that press conference and tell me what the attraction is, beside the guy isn't Bush?! PUHLEEEEZZZEEE!!!!!! He also claimed to have spoken to McCain, and McCain's camp said Obama is lying about it. What a disgusting display of cowardice and self-interest! Why this race is even close, I'll never know.

BTW THE DEBATE ON FRIDAY IS ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY, NOT ECONOMICS. HE WON'T BE "TELLING US WHAT HE'LL DO" THEN.

One poll with a bad track history, yes. The rest they are statistically tied within the margin of error, for the most part. One of the biggest contributors to the Obama campaign, BTW, is the former chairman of Fannie Mae, who left in disgrace. Maybe that'll be who Obama listens to, right?! The guy who pays him who caused a great deal of this mess. :nod:

Obama was on about an hour ago, addressed it swiftly and handily. McCain is acting like he's missed his afternoon nap.

Gimmick, Disgusting display of cowardice and self intrest? Why did you have to bring McCain picking Palin into this?:]

If you want to bring up advisors and blame for this mess, consider that McCain's campaign doesn't exactly have clean hands either. I'm sure you've heard about the McCain Campaign Manager's no work contract with Freddie Mac (see article below).

In addition, look at McCain's top campaign contributors:
From http://www.opensecrets.org/politicia...?cid=N00006424

Merrill Lynch $306,813
Citigroup Inc $277,251
Goldman Sachs $234,345
Morgan Stanley $234,272
AT&T Inc $192,557

From the Wall Street Journal:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...57B9F6771E5%7D

McCain aide's firm was paid by Freddie Mac: NYT

By MarketWatch
Last update: 3:02 a.m. EDT Sept. 24, 2008Comments: 109SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Freddie Mac, one of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis, paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through August to a firm owned by Sen. John McCain's campaign manager, according to a media report Tuesday night.
The disclosure undercuts McCain's remark on Sunday that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with Freddie Mac
for the past several years, the New York Times reported in its online edition.
Davis's firm received the payments from Freddie Mac until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the Times reported, citing two unnamed people it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The Times said it sources didn't recall Davis doing much substantive work for Freddie Mac other than to speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections.
Davis's firm, Davis Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of his close ties to McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House, the Times said. No one at Davis Manafort other than Davis was involved in efforts on Freddie Mac's behalf, the Times said.
Davis took a leave from Davis Manafort for the presidential campaign, but as an equity holder continues to benefit from its income, according to the report.
A Freddie Mac spokeswoman said the company would not comment, according to the report.
Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for the McCain campaign, did not dispute the payments to Davis's firm but said that Davis had stopped taking a salary by the end of 2006 and that his work did not affect McCain, the Times said.
The disclosure comes at a time when McCain and his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama are sparring over ties to lobbyists and special interests, the Times noted.
McCain's campaign has been attacking Obama for ties to former officials of the mortgage giants, both of which have a long history of cultivating Democratic and Republican allies alike to fend off efforts to restrict their activities, the Times said.
Freddie Mac's payments of roughly $500,000 to Davis Manafort, the people familiar with the arrangement said, began in late 2005, immediately after Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae disbanded an advocacy coalition that they had set up and hired Davis to run, the Times said.
From 2000 to the end of 2005, Davis received nearly $2 million as president of the coalition, the Homeownership Alliance, which the companies created to help them oppose new regulations and protect their status as federally chartered companies with implicit government backing, according to the report.
The payments that Davis received for leading the Homeownership Alliance were reported Monday by the Times.
On Sunday, in an interview with CNBC and the Times, McCain responded to a question about that tie between Davis and the mortgage companies by saying Davis "has had nothing to do with it since, and I'll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it."

The poll I cited was the Washington Post/ABC news poll, widely regarded as the most reliable of the nationally known surveys. Check out the front page of the Post today if you're interested.

:laugh: Oh snap. Why did I take the bait again? Thank you and gldstwmn for a good laugh.

I agree he should just suspend his campaign period go to a rest home and send the crazy b*tch back to Alaska where she belongs ..McCain is a mess ..so desperate that when he sees his comvention and snowbilly picking lead evaporate and Obama steadily rise in the polls he resorts to this ploy..true he is probably also afraid to debate Barack ..one of the most eloquent speakers of our time in comparison to his geezer in dotage style of speaking.If he ,not Obama were pulling ahead in the swing states he would not have done this.

What a snake. It's a total ploy, and it's pathetic. He's just a little behind in the polls, and he's trying to make himself look like an admirable man for being so concerned. The man's never been involved in things like this before, but now he's suddenly THIS into it? He's such an idiot, and I don't understand how anybody can vote for him. I just don't get it.

Don't really know you yet but here goes anyway.:xoxo: