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John the Plumber v. Barry the Crooner
But during the last depression, what did everybody go see to soothe their troubles? Busby Berkeley musicals.
I liked McCain a lot more in this third debate. There was an oldster sturdiness about him planted behind the desk. After two weeks of firing into the air and flying upside down the old fighter pilot at least brought the plane in without bursting into flames. Trouble is, the split screen does him in every time. Haven’t his handlers told him that when he’s not talking, the camera tracks his bottled fury as surely as those two electrocardiograms of an Ohio group’s reactions coursing across the bottom of the screen? His reaction shots became the movie. The mad dog eye blinks, harrumphing indignation, and daftly condescending smile make him into some Kurtwood Smith codger, forever giving Obama the big-Daddy evil eye, as though Barack were the duck-tailed hooligan who dares to date his daughter.
The Democrats who keep hoping to glimpse his inner Bobby Kennedy are never going to get to see it.
The bad luck for McCain is that by now the electorate can see that Obama is anything but a tearaway. In fact the thought did occur to me how very, very bored we are going to be four weeks into an Obama presidency. The Democrats who keep hoping to glimpse his inner Bobby Kennedy are never going to get to see it. When Bob Schieffer asked each candidate, “Why would the country be better off if your running mate became president rather than his running mate?” Obama went off into such waffly euphemistic verbiage (“You know, I think it's—that's going to be up to the American people. I think that, obviously, she's a capable politician who has, I think, excited the blah blah blah)—that an actor I was watching it with at a debate party let out an involuntary yelp of “Oh come on, yah pussy, say it!”
McCain was trying to be deeply ironic when he twice said he admired Obama’s “eloquence”—meaning his failure to answer a fusillade of direct questions. The younger guy doesn’t feel he has to. A trace of smugness glided across his cool, hombre visage. McCain battled on, summoning up Joe the Plumber. But then the worthy Joe took over the debate and McCain couldn’t get rid of the guy just like the goddamn builder you can’t get out of your house.
The new salt-of-the earth star of the political reality show, Joe, even showed up after the debate with Katie Couric on CBS News. “You know, I've always wanted to ask one of these guys a question and really corner them and get them to answer a question for once instead of tap dancing around it,” he told her. "And unfortunately I asked the question, but I still got a tap dance...almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr.” (No doubt we will be told there was a sinister Bradley effect undertow here.)
One of his better moments was on drilling—not the actual proposal but Obama’s apparent inclusion of drilling in his energy program. “Did you get that,” said McCain with that new demonic glint, “We will look at offshore drilling. Did you get that? Look at!” But this was one of the few times his fire clipped a wing on his shrugging opponent who’d landed and gone for a coffee while McCain was still peppering the clouds.
What’s amazing is how the cataclysm we’ve been living in the last four weeks has completely obliterated the resonance of McCain’s personal story. It seems impossible that what once seemed the unbeatable presidential narrative of the ordeal in the Hanoi Hilton now feels like the sepia irrelevance of old clips on the History channel. McCain himself didn’t mention his years of torture once. Instead he tried to distance himself from the more current hell that Americans all too keenly remember: the miseries of the Bush years now lovingly defenestrated in Oliver Stone’s new movie W.
McCain doesn’t just have to separate himself from Bush though. He has to separate himself from the last Republican action hero, Ronald Reagan. In the multitrillion dollar meltdown people don’t buy the tax cut pork barrel flim-flam any more. They’re all taking courses in what a derivative means. When McCain started banging on again about the 3 million dollars for repairing the Adler planetarium in Chicago that his opponent had slipped in as an earmark Obama’s smug look returned: “The old guy doesn’t get it.” What is clear is that in the end, McCain is a soldier not a politician. He is battling on alone at a time when the Republican Party has completely collapsed. So now what are we left with three weeks before the election? My friends, darkness visible.
Check out other opinions on the debate from The Daily Beast team.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Amateur Hour at the White House
Leslie H. Gelb, a former New York Times columnist and senior government official, is author of Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy (HarperCollins 2009), a book that shows how to think about and use power in the 21st century. He is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
Sarah Drops the Act
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
Sarah Palin, the Musical
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
Hillary Finally Doffs Her Burqa
Tina Brown is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast. She is the author of the 2007 New York Times best seller The Diana Chronicles. Brown is the former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazines and host of CNBC's Topic A with Tina Brown.
"In fact the thought did occur to me how very, very bored we are going to be four weeks into an Obama presidency"
unlike the mind boggling excitement we are going to feel four weeks into a Mccain/Palin presidency, I guess
btw Mrs Brown if you keep on this semi conservative path I m afraid that the daily beast is going to be another talk
Don't the Chinese have and old curse, "May you live in interesting times."? Right about now I think we could all go for some competent 'boredom' instead of the 'excitement' of the mediocre and incompetent in our federal government..
I read through all of the articles posted here about the debate and found the coverage disappointing. The body language one was sadly the best.
If the point is to give a snaphot of the outcome of the debate, youve failed.
If its to give cheat sheet talking points from a variety of people then you failed there too.
In fact what was the point?
Most of the commentators here seem to say we used to like John McCain - where is the one we liked before he started running. Thats not a snapshot - its a view and one that you have expressed in a big section elsewhere on the site. Basically repeating the meme.
If your web voice is going to be a slightly conservative one then fine, but I suspect your real reason is you haven't actually found your voice yet. Hence the almost hesitant postings and comments.They scream "please like us."
I'm still trying you out but this was bad day for you when it should have been a good one. Collating the views of many different people, providing a snapshot, giving me the talking points on everything from style to issues should have been your bread and butter.
The site is a good idea, the design good but please make it crisper*, give me clarity and a collection of the news and views I can actually use - not the fuzzy hotchpotch of todays postings.
(*Says the guy who just wrote 1000 word comment!)
Semi conservative??? How about cheer leader for a flailing, failing, rudderless campaign. What I saw on the split screen was less harrumphing indignation and more an old man desperately trying to dredge up his prepared talking points (hence the tedious reliance on Joe the Plumber - his wife wouldn't be a hockey mom by any chance?), in stark contrast with a young, intelligent politician in full command of the facts and his positions based on those facts.
If smart, thoughtful leadership is boring bring on eight years of unalloyed torpor and ennui.
Any conservative columnist or talk-show host in America could have done a better job of casting doubt on Obama's character and ideology than McCain did.
Adolescent contrarianism. Transparent.
@simonbilling
"Semi conservative??? How about cheer leader for a flailing, failing,rudderless campaign"
your description is more accurate than mine i have to admit
...
Well, what did you expect! Three weeks to go, Obama is up in almost every poll. His plane is flying smoothly, no mechanical problems. The McCain aircraft has a couple of engines on fire, leaking vital fluids and he is not sure the landing gear is down and locked. Of course he is going to appear anxious and angry. Any capable pilot would struggle with that. Even if he is able to get the gear locked the other problems will still create a problematic landing. He should have really implemented a better maintenance program before take off to ensure a better landing. I think I will fly Obama Airlines this time.
I just wish all the pundits would stop blaming the economy 100% for McCains poll numbers. It is clear to me that after Palins interviews that the numbers were heading for a downward spiral. The woman is clearly way out of her league! Which is clear from all the conservatives that have come out against her. While the state of the economy doesn't help, it isn't the only factor in McCains failing campaign.
I completely disagree with criticism of your semi conservative path. Being a liberal, and especially a New York liberal, I'm tired of listening to and debating with only those who utterly agree with me. Some smart opposing views are refreshing. I'll come back looking for more.
I can't wait to be "bored" - the last 8 years have been exceedingly interesting.
Sorry to get off subject, but I could have sworn (rewound it 5 times) that at the McCain rally today a supporter yelled out "Kill Obama", then people cheered and McCain continued on as if nothing happened. Does McCain not know that the Networks are going to pick up on that, and that he should have done the right thing and reprimanded that supporter??
you got me going....that blah blah, come on an say it ya pussy just keeps me laughing out loud most of the morning...
nice piece!
I'm reading articles and commentary on this site for the first time today.
My compliments to the contributors for the for the wit, humor, and imagery of the content.
I don't think Obama will be a boring candidate. I think he will be refreshing. At least we won't have to listen to the mangled sentences of Bush. Have you heard some of the things he's said..its doesn't even quality for third grade english! Obama is so eloquent and I like that. He's been a straight shooter so far, lets hope he doesn't let us all down if he wins.
Well, Tina, I wish I could disagree... but I was quite dissapointed with Obama's answer about that Phyllis Shlafly/pin-up girl that McCain chose for a VP. As if it is the Democrat's job to defend that!
I am not sure about your Bobby Kennedy point... I think we have to take into consideration the massive double-standard there is about how a white Republican and a black Democrat can show anger or disgust. A large part of the reason Obama has to keep his emotions/higher aspirations for the presidency under wraps is that the media would eviscerate him if he came off as an angry or radical black man.
At any rate, your criticism is provacative and important in the current media climate. If only Topic A had lasted... sigh.
Boredom appears to be winning in the polls.
Obama seemed to coasting during the last debate, taking forever to get to the point (which wasn't always the case). After 20 months, he's probably bored himself.
I'm sad to say that Obama is not being treated like the duck tailed hooligan. He is being treated like the black boy at the door. Having lived through "you pick her up, then we meet at the dance," I know what that sounds like.
Say what you will, but when you have people in northern climes lamenting that with an Obama presidency, "the blacks will take over," it is time to get real about the deep-seated difficulties facing that aspect of our country.
Brown had an opportunity to challenge McCain's grandstanding on drilling but let McCain's bamboozle go unchallenged.
The Department of Energy has stated it will take at least five to ten years before any newly drilled oil reaches the market. Another source says it will be 2030 before the new oil arrives. The DOE also says energy prices are set by the global economy. The increased production will have little affect on the price of gas at the pump.
America has about 4% of the oil reserves and uses about 25% of the oil produced. Developing countries like China, India and Brazil are consuming more oil meaning there will be less available for US consumption. During the height of the price increase for gas, Americans cut back on miles traveled. Other oil importers took up the slack. The price of gas still rose.
With record profits big oil has little incentive to change. In fact, big oil substantially increased oil exports and ran at 85% of refining capacity during the precipitous rise in gas prices.
Big oil is receiving huge tax breaks and other subsidies. The Cato Institute did a study on the subject.They calculated that the US spent between $30 to $60 billion (with a 'b') a year safeguarding oil supplies in the Middle East during the 1990s, even though its imports from that region totaled only about $10 billion a year during that period.
When Democrats tried to roll back some of the tax breaks given to big oil to fund research and development of alternative energy, the free traders voted the bill down.
Carl Sagan had the drill, baby, drill people in mind when he said: "One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous.".
How well you put it. I missed your flair. You see the big picture where others slobber adoringly the Obama guy and miss everything.
Thank you, Tina....I love it! I am so happy you went on The Colbert Report or I wouldn't know about this site.
Finally, a balanced view with legit comments about both sides. I could not believe McCain's sizzling anger level during the debate. If it wasn't for his insane pick of Palin I would kind of feel sorry for the old guy. Does McCain really think that Obama's ads criticizing his health care approach are the same kind of "negative" like his running-mate saying Obama "pals around with terrorists"? His repeating of Joe the Plumber (at least he only said "my friends" once) was on the verge of nauseating -- boy did that example backfire today!
I can't wait to be 'bored' by the economy slowly recovering during the Obama administration! Maybe my house will actually sell!
The weakness of McCain's campaign organization is revealed yet again in their failure to vet "Joe the Plumber". His name's not Joe, he's not a licensed plumber, he doesn't make anywhere near $250,000, and he owes the IRS $1,200 in back taxes.
Watched "The Colbert Report" tonight and decided to check out the site. Bravo!!
I am an instant fan!
Thank you!
we're looking for stability, intelligence and leadership. We've had enough laughs and excitelment from Alfred E. Neuman for the past 8 years. Give us some reasoned boredom.
Nice essay overall. One point, Joe the Plumber says the answer he got was "tap-dancing" when it was a very clear answer about the tax implications of his purchase (which means he's not very bright or he was spinning it) and his "Sammy Davis Jr." slam was not "undertow" but overt racism.
Thank you.
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