McCain: ‘Stop the debates'

[kpete]

McCain: Stop The Debates, enough with the debates’

By Andrew Jones
Sunday, January 29, 2012 13:46 EST


Former presidential candidate and Mitt Romney supporter John McCain (R-AZ) expressed Sunday morning his fatigue over the number of debates in this Republican nomination cycle.

“We’ve got to stop the debates,” McCain told Meet The Press‘ David Gregory. “Enough with the debates, because they are driving up our candidates’, all of them, unfavorability. We have enough of that. They’ve turned into mud wrestling instead of an exposition of all our candidates views. And it’s time to recognize who the real adversary is, and it’s not each other.”


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/29/mccain-stop-the-debates-enough-with-the-debates/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheRawStory+(The+Raw+Story)&utm_content=FeedBurner

[AsahinaKimi]

1. Maybe

He wishes he was there... Ya think?

[roguevalley]

12. for all the cons that I know the debates have destroyed the candidates for them. :)

[pepperbear]

51. "OMG, Totally! They were, like, sooooooooo cute, but then they, like, started talking."

[karynnj]

56. Excellent

I think McCain correctly identified that with all the current Republicans, the spotlight has simply magnified the flaws. It is interesting that he does not realize that he is pretty much saying that the Republican candidates are not attractive once people actually get to see and hear them.

Calling for the debates to end - rather than, as many have done - for the candidates to stop fighting. Not to mention, ending the debates would NOT end the worst fighting, which is the ad war. I have never seen the intensity of negative ads in a primary in my entire life. Clinton and Obama were in a longer, tighter race, but none of their ads attacked the basic character and integrity of the others.

Think of the toughest Democratic ads - even those not from the candidates themselves. Clinton's most negative ad was the 3 am ad - and it questioned who you wanted to answer the call. Even the Gephardt supporters funded ad that most of Dean's opponents condemned was miles away from this. Both of those questioned how prepared the candidate attacked was to be President. The Romney/Gingrich ads have both made cases that the other was corrupt and contain what look to be documentation to back up the charges.

I wonder if McCain sees that ending the debates means that the race would become a war of ads - and the candidate he is supporting is the one spending 5 times as much as his opponent. I would imagine that if Romney moved to try to end the debates after Florida - which might happen as he was supposedly signalling that before he lost in South Carolina, it might backfire because it would give an angry Gingrich a stick to hit him with.

The real fundamental problem the Republicans have is that they are down to four very flawed candidates.

[freshwest]

23. Exactly, that's it. Besides, no one told him Rush runs the GOP...

[teddy51]

2. McCain was around during the entire time that Gingrich was in the House, and he knows what

a POS Gingrich was. The only thing is, there is no good outcome to the Republican side of the ticket as far as McCain or any other Republican can see. Both Romney and Gingrich are losers as far as most moderate Republicans are concerned.

[russspeakeasy]

29. mccain/gingrich....a rotten lying SOB... you pick...

you won't be wrong.

[2pooped2pop]

47. almost a bumper sticker that is. m/t

[rocktivity]

30. But the Rethugs have decided that Romney is the lessor of the two losers

And given the very history you speak of, it should come as no surprise that McCain feels the same way. He's not looking out for the party in general, he's looking out for Romney in particular!


rocktivity

[harun]

60. Republicans have never been fans of debate or democracy. They like appointed leaders.

[NYC_SKP]

3. "Get off my lawn!!11!!!"

[James48]

4. Code words for...

the more the American public sees the views, policies, and substance of their candidates, the more the American public wants ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THOSE HATERS.

Please, by all means- bring on MORE DEBATES!

[existentialist]

17. I absolutely agree.

McCain wants the debates to stop because they expose all Republicans participating in the debates as the liars, crooks, and hypocrits that they are.

Possible exception of Ron Paul, but Ron Paul is problematic (to put it mildly) for other reasons.

[2pooped2pop]

48. yes but

I'm surprised it's McCain that can see it. He's become such a drooling old fool, that I didn't think he had enough wits left to recognize that their circular jerk off has turned into a circular firing squad.

[karynnj]

57. I think they have exposed Paul just as much

For every rant where people here might agree, there has been at least one rant where he exposes how very extreme he is. He was against the wars, but he is very close to being an extreme John Bircher type politician.

[Fearless]

28. Bingo!! +1

[caseymoz]

58. Not only of the candidates. The audiences.

Cheering executions, calling on death for someone who bets wrong on medical insurance, cheering racism . . . The Rush-Fox crowd is becoming a national disgrace. Repubs are isolating their own constituency from the center, moving it back to the fringe.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. He sees how they are being revealed as

mean, crazy, stupid, and unworthy of the office of county dogcatcher, let alone the Presidency. McCain knows they are an embarrassment to the GOP.

[dimbear]

6. Oh, yeah, John, that's the problem. Too many debates.

You're really tuned in, man.

[DJ13]

7. “We’ve got to stop the debates,”

"They make our party look bad! Have you seen the idiots running this time?!"

[beac]

26. And this from the man who put the Winky Twinkie on his ticket!

[2pooped2pop]

49. Winky Twinkie! Had not heard that one b4

Love it.

[McCamy Taylor]

8. No! More debates! Tell your local news station you want more! More!

Make that advertising time hot, hot, hot!

[2pooped2pop]

50. Let's all call and write the stations

We will tell them "but what do they want?", and "but I don't understand what they want, we need more debates so we can understand them"

[47of74]

9. I'd tell John to keep his counsel to himself

I'm still sore at him for inflicting Ex-Governor and Grifter Palin upon this country.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

10. Are there a lot more this time around? Seems like it.

Or is it just that we aren't used to "let him DIE" etc. getting shouted by a bunch of rubes?

[karynnj]

63. Slightly more

In 2004, the Democrats had at least 16 primary debates . Yes, I know the Washinginton Post said there were just 2, but I suspect that they got that from looking at this site that is archiving debates - http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/debates.php However, that simply means their archive is very incomplete for 2004. Here is a list of 15 debates - ( http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/primdeb/primdebmain.html) I suspected it was incomplete because I remembered a debate with just Kerry, Edwards, Sharpton, and Kuchinich - and the last one listed at GWU included Dean. Here is to a February 26 debate, not included in the list - http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/180783-1

In 2008, The Democrats had 26 primary debates ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_debates,_2008 ) and the Republicans had 21 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_debates,_2008 ) .

So, the current number for 2012 is not way out of line. Kerry won the nomination very early. McCain was the Republican nominee months before Obama won.

[Tx4obama]

11. They've had 19 debates so far. There are only FOUR more left to watch.

I want to see the last four!

[Ter]

18. Is that a record?

Or have there been more in past elections?

[Tx4obama]

20. Here ya go ...

The Democrats had 26 debates during the 2008 primary campaign.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_democratic_debates

The GOP had 21 debates during the 2008 primary campaign.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_republican_debates

This time around The GOP will have a total of 23 during the 2012 primary campaign
LIST of all scheduled Republican Party 2012 presidential debates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_republican_debates

[Historic NY]

67. Me too, I haven't quite decided on the crazy clown award yet....its too close to call.

[tanyev]

13. And I can just hear what they'd say if Democrats had hardly any debates in 2016:

"WHAT ARE THE DEMOCRATS TRYING TO HIDE??????"

[BadGimp]

14. Really Granpa?

The hubris of this vertical political corpse.

[MichiganVote]

15. He's right. They all look like asshats.

[paulkienitz]

16. good luck getting Newt to listen to that

[Tx4obama]

41. And didn't Newt say he wants 'seven' 3-hour debates with President Obama?

Newt seems to like to TALK ABOUT debates, debate questions, debate moderators, and debate audiences more than any thing else

[Politicalboi]

46. Newt's a Masterdebator.

[waddirum]

54. and a cunning linguist

nt

[Still Blue in PDX]

68. Yes, I have heard that about him. nt

[Lifelong Protester]

19. Keep the mud-wrestling going, I say

let 'em drag each other down, and burn millions of dollars doing so.

[unkachuck]

21. c'mon gramps....

"...driving up our candidates’, all of them, unfavorability."....???

....everyone knows, to flush-out a Republican and determine their position and views, is to dislike them....in an 'unfavorable' way....

....johnny, johnny, the food-fight has just begun....stop interfering....it's like you're trying to turn-off Animal House at the beginning of the cafeteria scene....

[NRaleighLiberal]

22. Let's have daily debates! One can never have enough meaningless self destructive idiocy!

[NAO]

24. McCain got nominated very swiftly and easily in 2008

I was really surprised how fast it happened. Maybe there should have been more debates then.

As to this cycle, I'm enjoying the circus.

[cstanleytech]

43. It didnt surprise me because McCain does appeal to

alot of the independents, in fact McCain might well have won the election if it hadnt been for Palin.

[karynnj]

65. They had 21 debates

This is not dissimilar to this year - and I suspect the difference in the 21 versus the scheduled 23 this year is that any scheduled in advance are cancelled when someone wins the nomination.

I suspect that the reason it seems less to us is that we were watching a different set of debates. Not to mention, even political reporters seem to forget debates in the past - as the Washington Post spoke of there being just two Democratic debates in 2004 - when there were at least 16, the last of which was a month and a half after the Iowa caucus. This means that it can be compared to the current 19 for the Republicans. This shows that there are slightly more this year.

[Kalidurga]

25. Well looks like McInsane isn't as crazy as I thought..

He is quite accurate in his assessment of the debates driving down the Republican brand. They are all unlikable and it is coming out in the debates. However, he shouldn't fear the debates because there is a hard core group of Republicans probably around 25% that will vote Republican no matter what in fact the loonier the better. For example they could sing bomb bomb Iran on stage and their ratings with their base would go up. Then there are those that don't pay attention at all, but still vote and vote Republican just because that is what they have always done, that is probably 15%, so no matter what they are looking at getting at least 40% of the vote.

[rocktivity]

33. DING DING DING! Kalidurga, you're our grand prize winner!

Last edited Mon Jan 30, 2012, 01:06 AM - Edit history (1)

...They are all unlikable and it is coming out in the debates...

The debates aren't hurting the GOP brand -- the DEBATERS are.

They're attacking each other mainly because they have nothing positive or hopeful to say about themselves.

If you truly care about the future welfare of your party, put the blame where it REALLY belongs, McCrazed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=10582


rocktivity

[rocktivity]

27. TRANSLATION: "Stop The Debates Now that Romney Is Ahead"

Rocktivity to McCain: 'Start Taking Your Aricept Again'


rocktivity

[Zambero]

31. Didn't he say the same thing back in '08?

McCain had suggested that he and Obama cancel campaign and debate events so they could focus on the economic meltdown. Obama's swift reply was that as events unfold within a given timeframe, a POTUS should be able to focus on more than one critical issue at a time. End of argument. Of course, McCain's real excuse was that diminished returns from Palin had begun to set it, and his own poll numbers were dipping. In any event, the take home messages0 from McCain seem to suggest that, if voters don't like your message, stop repeating it, and better yet just go away for a while and hopefully the electorate will somehow forget you ever put your foot in your mouth one too many times.

[patrice]

32. Trying to drive down audience size for whoever ends up debating Obama.

Possibly someone who isn't even on the slate yet.

[emulatorloo]

34. Hey, McCain : Your "candidates views" are what is driving up their unfavorable numbers.

Not the " mud wrestling."

[RKP5637]

35. So their incompetences, irrationalities and bizarre behaviors/beliefs are not

displayed to ignorant voters ... who just might catch on that the R's have nothing to offer. Yep, John, keep them in the dark so they'll blindly vote as led.

I love it, "They’ve turned into mud wrestling ..."

[groundloop]

36. The guy who doesn't know how many Swiss bank accounts he has is being protected....

by the guy who couldn't remember how many houses he owns.

[Skittles]

37. LOL

he admits the more you see and hear of repukes, the less popular they become

[Javaman]

38. aka stop putting our stupidity and hypocrisy on display!!! now get off my lawn!!! Grrrr!! nt

[IndyJones]

39. As usual, I disagree with McCain.

Maybe if there had been more debates last time, he wouldn't have been chosen and we wouldn't have to listen to the walking talking point, Sarah Palin, now. Let's face it, without the McCain nomination, there would not have been Palin in the media.

[LadyInAZ]

40. kick.

[Firebrand Gary]

42. K&R Lmao

That is all.

[Rex]

44. So is John trying to outcrazy Ron Paul?

"We must stop our party from exposing themselves as selfish assholes." Is what he meant, I think. Hey McCain your own party fucked you over, I have to give you props on the loyalty, too bad you are going to be sold for a hot cup of coffee the next time the GOP needs to fuck over one of their own. Some idiots never learn, but the few that do recognize how stupid their party really is.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

45. A campaign is like dating, the debates are like living with someone

Campaign appearances are carefully scripted to present the candidate only in his or her most favorite light; early dating is similar, with each participant in "promo" mode.

If you move in with someone you get to see them as they truly are. They leave their clothes on the floor, never cook or clean up, take too much time in the bathroom. It doesn't negate the positive qualities, it just shows them to be as they are -- human.

Likewise, the candidates were able to "keep it together" during the first few debates, but as the debates wore on their real character and points of view showed up. Santorum believes his daughter should be forced to carry a child to term, even if she's been impregnated by rape or incest. He would encourage the daughters to see the pregnancy as "a gift of human life." Romney will say whatever he thinks the occasion requires, just so long as it may move him closer to the White House. Newt Gingrich -- well, we all know how he was when he was Speaker of the House, but a lot of younger voters don't, and their only impression of them is the one he carefully crafted before the campaign -- that of the wise, impartial college professor. With each debate the true Newt appears -- a mean, petty and nasty excuse for a human being, who seeks only power for himself. He wants to be the one who tells others to sit in the back of Air Force One.

And that's why McCain wants the debates to end. Besides showing the candidates for who they really are, the debates are creating lots of sound bites for the campaign against Obama.

Keep those debates coming, boys; throw me into that Briar Patch!

[99th_Monkey]

52. McCain, the Peace Maker enters, stage right. ~nt

[Guy Montag]

53. McCain is so on it......

or on something, take your pick.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

55. "Cheap fabric(ations) and dim lighting. That's how you move merchandise."

[olegramps]

59. They are exposing themselves as being the greatest single threat to the Republic.

The represent 1% of the population with the intent of buying the election so they can bankrupt the working class. They want to establish a tyranny of the Plutocrats. This is not hyperbole, it is a fact that far too many Americans are unable to comprehend as they unwittingly cooperate in their own financial destruction.

[yellowcanine]

61. So what does McCain think of Newt's talk of Lincoln Douglas debates with Obama?

If these little snippets of debates are driving up the negatives of the Republican candidates, what does he think having Newt pontificate for a couple of hours would do to his negatives?

[LynneSin]

62. But then we don't get candid classic photos from the debates, like this memorable one....

[PassingFair]

66. That never gets old! LOL

[ecstatic]

64. I love it! Can we get this in an ad?

McCain demanding that we stop the debates, juxtaposed with clips of the repug candidate's greatest hits?

[tabatha]

69. McCain "You can't handle the truth" for all voters to see.

[Zoeisright]

70. Typical repuke. Lie, cover up, lie some more, than refuse to talk about it.

Gee, exposure and some truth reveals that they're all criminal pigs. WHAT a surprise.



I hate those assholes.

[brooklynite]

71. How about this instead...

The moderator could ask serious policy questions...

The candidates could answer them.

[kemah]

72. More Cowbells, what we need is more cowbells

From the SNL more cowbells that's what the GOP audience wants.

[EC]

73. He really doesn't like

when repubs show their true colors to the people. They are saying things they normally say in those private townhalls they have. (supposed to be public, but they kick out anyone not a repub and hold them in secret now.)

They are showing the agenda that Dems have accused them of having and the people are seeing we told the truth to them. Just like with Walker, the Dems warned that Walker and his cronies want to dismantle the unions. But Walker never said it to the general public and when Dems mentioned it, a lot of people didn't believe them, saying that Walker never said that. Well, of course he did, but it was at private meetings not to the general public. But these debates are showing all we said about them to be true.

[TNLib]

74. LOL Debates make republicans look bad

at least he admits it.

[CrispyQ]

75. The media wants, this, though. They are feeding it.

More Citizens United money for ads.

The American political system, & all that feeds it, is a fucking cesspool.

[mother earth]

76. The only good thing about these debates is that they are eating their own, and they are showing

themselves for what they are, fools with self-interest only.

[Blue Owl]

77. Fuck that shit -- the GOP debates are AWESOME!!!1!

[deacon]

78. Hide the candidates!!! Thats the solution! Hide the candidates!!! This guy is nuts too. n/t

[MADem]

79. MORE debates, I say! MORE! The more the merrier! nt