This has been a crazy week, even by the already insane standards of a Presidential election. Starting with the financial crisis, moving to John McCain ditching David Letterman, and ending with the debates, there was enough drama this week to launch a thousand online videos. Around mid-week Paul Cibis and Liz Shannon Miller sat down to discuss the state of the campaign and whether or not McCain was even going to make it to Ole Miss.
Liz: So, Paul, as we speak today, on the day before the first pseudo-scheduled Presidential debate, how are you feeling?
Paul: I’m terrified.
Liz: Terrified that it won’t happen, because McCain is too busy keeping the country from exploding?
Paul: Not exactly, but as long as we’re talking about that: You know sometimes Presidents have to do more than one thing at a time.
Liz: Well, debating does involve both talking and standing. Or talking AND sitting. It’s also good if you listen, too.
Paul: Yes. David Letterman seems to agree with me.
Liz: David Letterman is pretty wise.
Paul: He makes some very pointed (and yet respectful) arguments. Bailing out just because things are getting hectic isn’t very presidential. Maybe “bailing out” isn’t the best choice of words given the situation, but Presidents are busy. Sometimes they have to handle multiple crises at once. Sometimes you have to suck it up and do Letterman via satellite from the War Room.
Liz: Or send Sarah Palin.
Paul: Yes. Otherwise Letterman will just get Keith Olberman to come on and make fun of the both of you. This is the disadvantage of selecting a running mate that is barely media ready.
Liz: But all that said, do you feel like John McCain has real reason to worry about the debates? Or, to rephrase that — what, specifically, does John McCain have to fear from the debates? He’s not as compelling a speaker as Obama, but his talking points are pretty well-groomed
Paul: He usually does well in debate settings. I don’t know what he has to fear. Possibly being questioned about his record on deregulation, but he’s not going to be able to avoid that for the next five weeks.
Paul: Sarah Palin certainly wasn’t able to answer those questions. Katie Couric doesn’t exactly have a rep as a pitbull journalist and Palin still couldn’t answer to her. So maybe McCain was smart not sending her to Letterman. He wouldn’t have been half has polite.
Liz: Perhaps, also, McCain heard about how the SNL writing staff plans to stay up all night Friday after the debates working on their debate parody sketch. Because that’s what’s going to be the top video on Monday morning. And the Fey/Poehler sketch was already a bit of a blow.
Paul: How do you see the Fey/Poehler sketch as being a blow?
Liz: Well, it’s undeniable that it portrayed the candidate in a negative fashion, and after getting over 5 million views, I’d argue that it definitely contributed to the post-RNC convention focus on Palin’s lack of experience.
Paul: Do you think that sketch also contributed to Obama’s recent jump in the polls?
Liz: I think the sketch couldn’t have hurt.
Paul: Backing up to Palin not covering for McCain… This on air rant from Campbell Brown is interesting. Is is sexist that the McCain campaign is keeping Palin away from the press?
Liz: See, I don’t think so. I mean, I agree they’re keeping her locked up, but I think it’s for the exact reasons we’ve been discussing. Specifically, that she has been struggling with speaking to the press. I think any male candidate who was also unproven in this fashion would receive the same treatment.
I wonder if Dan Quayle was handled in a similar fashion. There was no online video then, though, so I can’t prove it for sure.
Paul: I’m pretty sure Quayle was not. But then I was 9 so my understanding of these things was a little fuzzy. Though Quayle certainly seems to think there are some similarities between Palin and himself.
Liz: We need to get down to the central issue, which is: how concerned should the Republicans be about image? Clearly, the public motive for trying to cancel the debates is that McCain is trying to push his Country First platform — a platform I think did connected well with the GOP audiences. But canceling the debate does also spare him one more opportunity for videos of him being mashed up and parodied.
Paul: Yeah, but debating also gives him the opportunity to face down his opponent in a format in which he’s relatively confident. Doing anything in politics these days is just asking to have a goofy video of you posted online. That comes with the territory in the 21st century. If the candidate is worried about that, they probably shouldn’t run.
Plus I think not debating would give SNL some pretty great sketch fodder. And between the national TV broadcast and online replays, more people would see that than some random YouTube video of the debates.
Liz: Good point. So what we’re saying, come hither, John McCain. Be not afraid.
Paul: Yes. You spent five years in a Vietnamese prison camp. Being tortured. You can spend two hours in an air conditioned theater answering questions about the economy.
Liz: At least, I certainly hope he can. But what if he doesn’t? What will you do with your Friday night?
Paul: Drink. I was going to do that anyway. I see no reason to change course. Unlike John McCain, apparently, I can honor my commitments.
