Fox News Suck Ass Dick Morris has an Op-Ed piece for Rasmussen Reports which is a nice piece of revisionist history.
Mac's Shot at a Late-Game Win
A Commentary by Dick Morris
Friday, October 17, 2008
The short term impact of the third debate will be to help Barack Obama. But the long term implications may give John McCain a needed boost. (Long term? It's 2 weeks away. I'm sure McCain will be thrilled to know he's winning in the polls on December 23rd)Obama looked good, but McCain opened the tax-and-spend issue in a way that might prevail.
Obama took the worst that McCain could hand out and came out looking good. (A dead fish could look good next to McCain. He looks like a cadaver) McCain was the more aggressive debater,(ie whiney and petulant) but Obama looked like the better president. (Yet McCain won a PRESIDENTIAL debate?)The constants of the debate remained. Obama is smoother, prettier, younger and more presidential. But McCain had a feisty appeal, a Trumanesque approach that may resonate in these times of anger and unrest. (That won in 1948)
Obama seemed to rise above the charges and show his reasonableness and his ability to inspire confidence. McCain was like a trial lawyer, hammering out his points, but Obama came across with dignity. (Dignity and poise..what a loser)
Finally, John McCain came out swinging. (Feistyness = good. Is this Phil Rogers ?) In his feisty, aggressive style, he scored key points on spending and taxes. (he didn't say anything different than the first 2 debates. He just said them in a more exasperated tone) Coherent in a way that he has not been in previous debates, (i.e angrier) McCain repeatedly turned Obama's spending plans against the Democratic candidate. (by telling us about his gigantic spending plans)The continued invocation of Joe the Plumber brought a populist edge to the tax issue that it has lacked since Ronald Reagan. (and made 60% of the population want to throw a shoe at the tv)
Strategically, every debate is a chance to ratify the issues that will dominate the weeks that follow. McCain and Obama both made taxes and spending the key issues of the future. With Obama opposing a spending freeze and billing it as a hatchet as opposed to a scalpel, McCain was able to push the Democrat into an uncomfortable position. (Umm...were you watching the same debate as me, Dick?)
McCain has now established the tax issue in a way he has not been able to do so far in the contest. (Louder)Now he can widen the gap between the campaigns on this key issue. (Widen? Obama's leading, Dick. If McCain is widening, he's in trouble.)If the Republicans concentrate their campaign on the key issue of taxes and abandon the other lines of attack, they can use the lines developed in this debate to do better and better as Election Day nears. (and maybe carry North Dakota. Shoot for the stars!)
There was no knockout in this debate. (So, when is it coming?)Obama emerged with class and charisma from a slugfest. He seemed to be the kind of man we want as president. But McCain was able to set up the tax issue in a way that could eventually close the gap. (A man I want as President vs. a guy still trumpeting words like "voucher" and "Tax and spend)
Remember 1992. Clinton had a big lead over George Bush Sr. with three weeks to go. But then Bush and Quayle hammered him over the tax issue and his big spending plans. Day after day, the Republicans gained, and Clinton fell back. (What?) By the Thursday before the Tuesday election, Bush had gained the lead. (This is complete fiction. No poll before the election had Bush in the lead. Not one.)Ultimately Clinton was saved at the bell by the announcement by Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh that he was going to indict Bush's Defense Secretary Cap Weinberger. (and the fact the economy was in the tank)That restored the Clinton lead and delivered the victory to him. (Man, Republicans never actually lose an election do they? It's always some last minute bamboozle the media throws at them)
McCain is not as good on television as Obama is. So the immediate impact of the debate was to help Obama. (2 weeks to go)
But the tax-and-spend issue is the one that Republicans want at the center of the race, and McCain put it there. (if it was 1984)
So this may turn out to have been a turning point for McCain, after all. (Slaps forehead)
Views expressed in this column are those of the author, not those of Rasmussen Reports.
Mac's Shot at a Late-Game Win
A Commentary by Dick Morris
Friday, October 17, 2008
The short term impact of the third debate will be to help Barack Obama. But the long term implications may give John McCain a needed boost. (Long term? It's 2 weeks away. I'm sure McCain will be thrilled to know he's winning in the polls on December 23rd)Obama looked good, but McCain opened the tax-and-spend issue in a way that might prevail.
Obama took the worst that McCain could hand out and came out looking good. (A dead fish could look good next to McCain. He looks like a cadaver) McCain was the more aggressive debater,(ie whiney and petulant) but Obama looked like the better president. (Yet McCain won a PRESIDENTIAL debate?)The constants of the debate remained. Obama is smoother, prettier, younger and more presidential. But McCain had a feisty appeal, a Trumanesque approach that may resonate in these times of anger and unrest. (That won in 1948)
Obama seemed to rise above the charges and show his reasonableness and his ability to inspire confidence. McCain was like a trial lawyer, hammering out his points, but Obama came across with dignity. (Dignity and poise..what a loser)
Finally, John McCain came out swinging. (Feistyness = good. Is this Phil Rogers ?) In his feisty, aggressive style, he scored key points on spending and taxes. (he didn't say anything different than the first 2 debates. He just said them in a more exasperated tone) Coherent in a way that he has not been in previous debates, (i.e angrier) McCain repeatedly turned Obama's spending plans against the Democratic candidate. (by telling us about his gigantic spending plans)The continued invocation of Joe the Plumber brought a populist edge to the tax issue that it has lacked since Ronald Reagan. (and made 60% of the population want to throw a shoe at the tv)
Strategically, every debate is a chance to ratify the issues that will dominate the weeks that follow. McCain and Obama both made taxes and spending the key issues of the future. With Obama opposing a spending freeze and billing it as a hatchet as opposed to a scalpel, McCain was able to push the Democrat into an uncomfortable position. (Umm...were you watching the same debate as me, Dick?)
McCain has now established the tax issue in a way he has not been able to do so far in the contest. (Louder)Now he can widen the gap between the campaigns on this key issue. (Widen? Obama's leading, Dick. If McCain is widening, he's in trouble.)If the Republicans concentrate their campaign on the key issue of taxes and abandon the other lines of attack, they can use the lines developed in this debate to do better and better as Election Day nears. (and maybe carry North Dakota. Shoot for the stars!)
There was no knockout in this debate. (So, when is it coming?)Obama emerged with class and charisma from a slugfest. He seemed to be the kind of man we want as president. But McCain was able to set up the tax issue in a way that could eventually close the gap. (A man I want as President vs. a guy still trumpeting words like "voucher" and "Tax and spend)
Remember 1992. Clinton had a big lead over George Bush Sr. with three weeks to go. But then Bush and Quayle hammered him over the tax issue and his big spending plans. Day after day, the Republicans gained, and Clinton fell back. (What?) By the Thursday before the Tuesday election, Bush had gained the lead. (This is complete fiction. No poll before the election had Bush in the lead. Not one.)Ultimately Clinton was saved at the bell by the announcement by Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh that he was going to indict Bush's Defense Secretary Cap Weinberger. (and the fact the economy was in the tank)That restored the Clinton lead and delivered the victory to him. (Man, Republicans never actually lose an election do they? It's always some last minute bamboozle the media throws at them)
McCain is not as good on television as Obama is. So the immediate impact of the debate was to help Obama. (2 weeks to go)
But the tax-and-spend issue is the one that Republicans want at the center of the race, and McCain put it there. (if it was 1984)
So this may turn out to have been a turning point for McCain, after all. (Slaps forehead)
Views expressed in this column are those of the author, not those of Rasmussen Reports.
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