Mark Halperin Somehow Concludes McCain Won The Week

Okay. I was alive this past week, and I couldn't help but notice that the following things occurred:

• The economy collapsed, putting McCain's party at a distinct disadvantage.
• McCain, nevertheless, said the "fundamentals of our economy are strong."
• Then he said they weren't.
• Then he said that by "economic fundamentals" he meant "workers," a definition no one else in the world uses.
• McCain's response initially was a big government approach to fighting greed.
• Followed by a small government approach to fighting regulation.
• Prominent conservatives like David Brooks, Chuck Hagel and Charles Krauthammer, threw a big wet blanket on McCain for his choice to put Sarah Palin on the ticket.
• As did incoherent McCain enthusiast Richard Cohen.
• Karl Rove warned that the Palin frenzy was going to cool down.
• Which is wise, because it is.
• Meanwhile, McCain's surrogates are getting worked like speedbags all over the media.
• Including a chorus of the piss and moan blues after the rough treatment the McCains received on that perennially hard-hitting news show, The View.
• One prominent surrogate said that Tina Fey, of all people, was "sexist."
• The same surrogate said that John McCain and Sarah Palin didn't have the acumen to run a company.
• Those remarks forced the McCain campaign to "disappear" her.
• Not so for the idiot who went in front of reporters to claim that John McCain invented the BlackBerry.
• And then John McCain decided, "Heck, why not ramp up some pointless diplomatic conflict with Spain?"

After that sort of week, one might expect that the negative poll trends that bedeviled Obama in the run out from the Republican National Convention would begin to reverse themselves. And, you know what? They have.

BUT FORGET ALL THAT. Because Mark Halperin, over at his Kooky Komic Book Of Politics, sees it differently: "Obama Closes Strong, But McCain Wins The Week." Which raises one question. Why is Mark Halperin TOTALLY BOGARTING THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS HE'S SMOKING?

Comments

[TribunusPlebis]

Wolfgang Puck was restauranteur to the stars, and Mark Halperin is pundit-of-choice among the political class -- so he won't stray far from the conventional wisdom. And the political class can't make sense of Obama, because he's not a disingenuous egomaniac but a rational person who has sensible plans for governing. That's incomprehensible to pundits, who'd rather have a president hankering to bomb Iran, with a comic strip heroine VP threatening to radically Christianize gays by making them shoot wolves from helicopters. What great material for the Sunday talk shows!

Get a load of what Halperin said yesterday on his blog: that the economy is less important than 12 other factors, including the percentage of voters who think Obama has a Muslim background and "The Palin Factor". Halperin did concede that voters’ views of who would be better for the economy is relevant. In other words, perceptions about the economy will weigh more than what's happening to the economy. That's the kind of analysis that gives credence to McCain's bottomless coal mine of made-up facts.

Of course the fact that the Bush Administration wants to give dictatorial economic powers to itself, to match its national-security powers, to solve a crisis that might wipe out Americans' livelihood -- no, that couldn't possibly bother Americans more than "he's-a-Muslim" emails.

Let's face it: the political class can't comprehend how Obama can win with simple reason, solid organizing, and good character -- all factors that don't appear on Halperin's list.

[Eternal]

To top if off Halprin went on TV this morning Monday 9/22 and tried to explain how this economic crisis was good for....for ...drum roll.............. John McCain ...

Mark is in full swing on the "tire swing"

I love when these guys make complete fools of themselves, next he will be asking Ron Fouriner to comment.

[emncaity]

Halperin has done this before. It's truly staggering. If terrorists attacked us in five cities simulaneously and exploded a nuke in one of them, he'd call it a win for the Bush administration's presumably "exclusive" view of terrorists as dangerous--despite yet another terrorist attack on Bush's watch.

[FirstShirt]

Lets make it so simple even you can understand it. It's called the theory of small wins. don't know whose idea it was but it makes sense.

If you win or stay ahead in those areas you should, and break even in those areas you shouldn't, you have won. Time will tell, but the democrats should be ahead. McCain has made this a dead heat. On balance, McCain is winning.

[gerrysue]

Maybe Mark Halperin meant to say McCain ends weak. Not Wins the Week.

[RaiderGreg]

Just more proof that the mainstream media is so out of touch with the people in 'real America'.

McCain looked and sounded old and befuddled last week--to anybody paying attention.

He even blamed Obama for the Wall Street mess, as if he'd forgotten that he'd previously said that his opponent had accomplished nothing in his life.

Pundits just follow a script--that's what they're paid for-- and are the last ones to catch up with reality.

[ses190e]

When I saw it, I thought Haleprin must have been watching a different week than me - the one on Bizzaro world, maybe

[alvdh1]

He is on the side of taxpayers who earn above $250,000. He doesn't want a tax hike under the Obama Plan.

[alvdh1]

McCain bought lifetime sunscriptions to Time Magazine for his 9 houses, his senate office, all of his crony lobbyists, the entire lot of CEO's in the banking, mortgages, oil industry, nuclear industry, coal minning companies and electric utility industry. Halperin is forever indebted to McCain, therefore he has to subscribe to the line of bunk McCain has been spewing during his campaign. Or, McCain has promised him the slot as Press Secretary.

[prettypony]

Mark Halperin is one of the most politically tone deaf political commentators there is.

[cminri]

If by "won the week" he mean "made a damned fool of himself"..then yes...he did do that..

[naijaman]

Mark Halperin is a joke. I caught him on Morning Blow two days after McCain forgot how many homes he owns, and to the shock of everyone else on the panel, he said that the whole "McCain-doesn't-know-how-many-homes-he-owns" meme would hurt OBAMA, and not McCain. I was like "huh"???

[LaFilleEnRose]

You get the same crap at Hardball. Before conventions, Obama was ahead by 6 or so points. But was that good? Nooooo. He wasn't ahead anywhere near enough considering the mood of the country. After conventions and Palin massive coverage and the polls evened with McCain ahead a point or two once or twice...well McCain was running away with it. And Obama had failed. Note: when Obama's ahead, he's not doing well enough and it's not McCain's failture. Sickening. Oh yes and when Obama was ahead in the daily tracking polls they didn't count. When McCain was, they did. Now they don't count again b/c McCain's doing a bit better than before in the state match ups so that's where we should be focused. You can't make this stuff up. As Obama says: DO THEY THINK WE'RE STUPID?

[gnorrfa]

mark halprin seriously reminds me of a ferrett with his rapidly shifting eyes and that mona lisa smerk. sarah palin validates the old saw that anyone can run for any office in the u.s. is it against the law to note racism is taking an awful lot of points away from obama, but it is never mentioned? i was so optimistic and so enthusiastic. now i'm pessimistic but still enthusiastic. if obama was of european descent he'd be a shoo-in. palin is so dumb, george w. has even noticed.

[TMacChicago]

I was in the right position to read Halperin's page - on the throne as Archie Bunker would say. All I had to do was rip his column out of the magazine, wipe and flush. Although some might argue that I granted his crap more honor than it merited.

[Martee]

I would imagine he's now lost all credibility -- if he ever had any. RIght?

[IEFrontPorch]

Halperin's red boxing gloves- now one more set than the blue ones- outnumbering the Dems is annoying as all gets out. The MSM, lock-in-step, keeps this race tight but really the blue gloves should have a title belt by now. Screw it- I'll go KO a red gloved boxer mii on Wii to work out my frustration and then cancel Time for some periodical a little more truth telling like Mother Jones.