Take it (for what it’s worth) from a guy who helped direct Hillary Clinton’s presidential run, and therefore should know something about a campaign being over before it’s admitted as much publicly:

Perpetually fretting Democrats will not want to accept it. The campaigns themselves can’t afford to believe it. Many journalists know it but can’t say it. And there will certainly be some twists and turns along the way. But take it to a well capitalized bank: Bill Ayers isn’t going to save John McCain. The race is over.

Eli Sanders was The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won...

20 replies on “Howard Wolfson on McCain: “It’s over.””

  1. Gee, just a few days ago when we had all that news of the bailout I said the same thing. I reassured the couple few nervous Obama supporters who had written in saying they dared not hope for victory, etc., saying it’s in the bag now, if even I say it take it to the bank, this is perhaps a first me being more optimmistic on Obama than others on Slog, etc. I said this economic tsunami is a gamechanger (for the next 5-6 weels) and ensures Obama will stay at a nice lead in the polls and not the ever so slim razor thin lead he had before; because this economic subject will rear its ugly head and be a topic that again we also we are moving towards (shit even I’m starting to sound like Palin! Great article on her diction in NYT yesterday btw.).

    Because it’s now all about economics, all the time.

    Which btw is good ol’-style politics, not this fairy tale dream of a new style of politics & appealing to a new spirit of bipartisan transcendence blah blah blah. Swing voters don’t give a shit about that–they give a shit about what Obama’s been talking about lately:
    1. jobs
    2. homes
    3. college
    4.health care

    Also welcome:
    Obama kicking the shit out of McCain over that Keating 5 thing. Another old syle poticial move a/k/a “speaking truth about the bad shit your opponent has done.” A/k/a defining the debate. A/k/a going on o-f-f-e-n-s-e instead of just saying “well gee I do too love America, I am not a traitor, I am not a weird exotic.”

    It’s about fucking time. McCain and the GOP have wrecked our economy with their laissez faire fairy tales to enrish those selling credit swaps.

    Now WE own the finance sector. I hope Obama uses the Keating 5 to reframe the whole debate andhelp build support for the sweeping changes needed to further resuce the economy and as Friedman says move on to greening it and reforming health care etc. KEating 5 = dereg = what’s been going on now = whole GOP philosphy = anti American treason taking away liberty & opportunity for all = McCain, Lord Basil & John Bailo and their ilk are yellow bellied traitors.

    Just sayin’.

    Unity y’all (but not them)–

  2. I’m sure when Obama decided to run he had no idea his first job as President would be dealing with GD2. I pray he is up to the challenge.

  3. 40% of the early voters in Georgia so far are black – they make up 29% of the total population but only 25% of the voters in 2004.

    I’m not saying Obama will win Georgia but if I was Saxby Chambliss I’d start to worry.

  4. now is not the time to take the boot off mccain’s neck. he must thoroughly beaten, in public, in both the remaining debates. the incompetent criminal bush administration & its GOP enablers must be utterly rejected by the voters.

  7. McCain has to pray that the economy in the near term turns around in about 2 weeks otherwise he’s fucked. You can’t undo the situation in less than 2 weeks and we only have 4 weeks left.

  8. I’m waiting for an established, nationally-syndicated conservative columnist (I’m looking at you, Kristol) to explicitly pronounce that it would be irresponsible of McCain not to press on (or of voters not to withhold judgment) until we’ve heard from bin Laden via his vlog.

  10. Oh, well. Since it’s over, I guess we can all just turn off our TVs and skip the election. November 4th doesn’t really count for anything.

    Good to know.

  11. I am willing to believe it in a factual kind of way, but I will not believe it in my heart until all the votes are cast and counted. My heart will not admit premature belief, for it has not, and probably will never, forget its grief for John Kerry and Al Gore.

  12. Howard Wolfson … not the FOX News guy, surely? You mean there’s someone who works for Fox News who has something to say worth listening to? Shock horror!

  14. George Bush may not even know this, but Dick Cheney and his co-conspirators have committed capital crimes. The idea that they will release their hold on the levers of power following free and fair elections is not now credible.

    It may still be possible to save our republic, but just waiting for the election results will not be enough to do it.

    I’ve started a discussion about this on the Stranger Forums, here: http://forums.thestranger.com/showthread.php?p=85978#post85978

    You can help. Spread the information. Creating the political will to confront the coup is our only hope.

  15. Is it me, or is John Bailo, Lord Basil and ecce homo (RIP) all the same troll? You never see them commenting on the same slog post at the same time. Kinda like Clark Kent and superman! Only, you know, not superhero material. Just sayin’…

  16. I’ve held a firm belief all along, fueled by what remains of my faith in humanity, that Obama would win. I’m confident that he will.

    But this dark little corner of my brain keeps thinking about electronic voting machines and black folks being turned away from polls in huge numbers. . . so . . . I still wanna see.

  19. Complacency hasn’t been an issue since 2000. Other factors played a part in 2004: a fear of changing horses in the middle of a war, a fear of rocking the boat in a decent but fragile economic climate, the typical inertia of an incumbent, and a wholly irrational (but completely understandable) loathing of John Kerry. At the time, most people still weren’t fully aware that the administration had wholly fabricated the WMD intelligence that got us into the war in the first place. None of these conditions apply today.

    At some point, fretting ceases being useful and actually becomes a hindrance. It wouldn’t hurt Obama supporters to finally start showing a little confidence. Confident people look like winners and leaders.

  20. It ain’t over until the US Supreme Court says it’s over after the reprogrammed Diebold (name changed to protect the guilty) machines deliver the fake vote counts.

    Keep it together for 30 days and make sure each and every one of your relatives, friends, and classmates/coworkers VOTES.

    Actions. Not trusting words.

Comments are closed.