David Corn: The Last Debate: McCain's Irrelevant Attack

[babylonsister]

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/davidcorn/2008/10/the-last-debate-mccains-irrele.html

The Last Debate: McCain's Irrelevant Attack

By David Corn | October 16, 2008 1:08 AM

Here's my take on the final McCain-Obama duel, first posted at MotherJones.com....


A political campaign can be like a rock slide. At some point, it's just going to continue in the direction it's heading--and not much can stop it. After the final debate between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, it may well be that the 2008 presidential contest has reached not the tipping point, but that rock slide point. This is not a prediction of a pro-Obama avalanche on November 4--though that's a possibility. It's merely an observation that the campaign may be done in the sense that there are no major inputs to come (barring a bolt-from-the-blue event) that will affect the final tally. Polls will show that there are still some undecided voters out there. (Who are these people?) But whatever's going to determine this election--economic concerns, a desire for change, racism, you name it--is probably already in place, and the candidates may not be able to alter this, at least not in a proactive manner. Certainly, at any time, either can turn the race upside down by saying or doing something particularly dopey.

snip//

Though television pundits initially praised McCain's feisty performance, the quickie polls, once more, indicated viewers scored the debate a win for Obama. (CNN: 58-to-31; CBS: 53-to-32.) That was no surprise. The issue is not whether McCain's attacks this time around were slightly more focused or assertive; it's what he's selling. And in the midst of an economic maelstrom, how many voters want a fellow at the helm who says government is the problem. There's also a significant measure of cognitive dissonance within McCain's pitch: one moment, he's assailing Obama's addiction to government solutions; the next he's calling for the government to buy up all those bad mortgages.

Which brings us back to the rock slide. The forces that will dictate the final outcome may well be set by now. And there was not much McCain could have done in this last debate to change the movement of the tectonic plates of this election. There could be last-minute bombshells. And it's likely that independent outfits on the right are preparing a final blitzkrieg of negative ads against Obama (that secret Muslim/Black Panther socialist who hangs out with domestic terrorists who want to kill you and your family). But the race might be over but for the remaining shouting and the actual voting--though early voting has begun in many states, with already 540,000 people having voted in the state of Georgia.

It sure is not an encouraging sign for a candidate when he does his best in a debate and the insta-polls indicate that he was crushed. Following this debate, Obama will continue to stride along--being reassuring, if even boring. And for McCain, there does not appear to be any obvious path. After all, he's not behind the wheel. For the next three weeks, he's stuck in the passenger seat. And see that sign? Caution: falling rocks.