Erratic McCain Parachutes into Temperament Narrative

McCain has used the financial bail-out to try to bail out of his nose-diving campaign. But he doesn't seem to realize that he has landed behind enemy territory.

The most dangerous storyline for McCain is that he is an erratic hothead, a fighter jock who lacks the temperament to be president. This is a far more dangerous narrative than the "serial liar" frame because the latter is inherently a tough sell to the public while the former is not.

The public believes, not without cause, that all politicians are liars -- so I doubt that character flaw is ultimately disqualifying. But they don't expect their leaders to be erratic, untethered, unhinged, reckless, impulsive, rash, impetuous, unstable, unsteady, inconstant, hot-headed, intemperate gamblers.

Of that list, "erratic" is probably the best for Obama surrogates because it is a three-fer: Erratic goes to the issue of temperament and it brings up the issue of flip-flops and it connects to the issue of McCain being out of touch and too mentally old for the job. A surrogate can go anywhere he or she wants after calling McCain "erratic."

Don't get me wrong. Jonathan Chait is certainly correct in his new must-read New Republic piece that "McCain's untruths, in their frequency and their audacity, defy any modern historical precedent."

Indeed, exploiting the serial liar narrative is the key to Obama's Can't-Lose Debate Strategy. But that strategy for winning the post-debate new cycle mostly depends on the media accepting that the McCain campaign has crossed the line on lying -- not the public. If the media reports that McCain has told some lies or made some out-of-touch gaffes in the debate, that should be enough to ensure the debate is not a game changer, and it might even give Obama an outright win. But I seriously doubt the public is going to come to see McCain as the dishonorable, pathological liar he has become. His heroic narrative is too firmly entrenched absent a much bigger push by team Obama than is probably warranted now.

The whisper campaign about McCain's temperament is, however, decades old. And his recent actions -- such as the last-minute largely unvetted pick of Sarah Palin or his absurd call to fire SEC chair Chris Cox -- have fit the narrative to a tee. McCain's character and temperament are obviously fair game once the country's leading conservative editorial page and its most famous conservative pundit join together to shoot it down. As George Will put it:

Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama.

Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated. This childish reflex provoked The Wall Street Journal to editorialize that "McCain untethered" -- disconnected from knowledge and principle -- had made a "false and deeply unfair" attack on Cox that was "unpresidential" and demonstrated that McCain "doesn't understand what's happening on Wall Street any better than Barack Obama does."

... the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.

It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?

McCain's move to suspend his campaign probably looked to many independent observers like a desperation move even before David Letterman pulled back the curtain to show how fraudulent the whole effort was. The Today show this morning actually broadcast Letterman ridiculing McCain's erratic and hypocritical behavior twice in the first twenty minutes of the show, giving the lie to McCain's claim he couldn't show up because he was suspending his campaign and rushing to Washington to solve the crisis when in fact Mccain was getting interviewed by Katie Couric at the same time instead and then staying in town to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative the next day. As Letterman said:

"You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."

"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sarah Palin. Where is she?"

"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"

The framing of this by the Washington Post this morning underscores the danger for McCain of the emerging narrative. One of their headlines blared:

Selfless or Reckless? McCain Gambles On Voters' Verdict

John McCain is a gambler by nature...

What he risks, if things don't go as he hopes, is a judgment by voters that his move was a reckless act by an impetuous and struggling politician.

You can't undo the word "reckless" once you are tagged with it. And who really wants an impetuous, compulsive gambler for president? The post "McCain's Financial Crisis Timeline" would be the basis for an excellent campaign ad that starts with McCain's original claim that the fundamentals of the economy are strong, to the rapid flip-flop on the AIG bailout, to the impetuous call to fire Cox, to the bizarre recklessness of the past day.

Really, the only question for Obama, his surrogates, and their ad team is how best to push this extended metaphor. I wouldn't focus to much on it for a few days, since the narrative continues to play out in the media.

As noted above, however, I would immediately start introducing one word into the vocabulary of my surrogates -- "erratic." I tend to think that is the best word because it is hard to argue that McCain has not been erratic, given the events of the last ten days, whereas a word like "reckless" allows the comeback that this issue demands bold action.

That said, any words put on the table by the Wall Street Journal or George Will are certainly fair game, especially for TV ads. So it would make sense for the team Obama to point out that conservatives have already raised the question of McCain's "dismaying temperament," of his "behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high," of "McCain untethered."

As with the Palin pick, McCain has made another desperate gamble that is likely to do him no good and may even go bad. More important, he has introduced a major opening into his character and temperament for the Obama campaign to exploit.

Comments

[rbloom]

I'm not chalking this all up to "temperame­nt."
I have no medical or psychiatric training -- so you can blast me for not knowing what I'm talking about if you want -- but I think McCain may be clinical. He's acting very erratically, he was apparently "checked out" during the White House meeting yesterday, he has a droopy left eye of late, and he's been saying things that are obviously untrue and almost delusional.
I'd like to see him undergo a complete neuro-psychological test battery before the election. I strongly suspect the results would not be negative.

[bodo]

A fool rushes in where angels fear to tread. Never has that bit of wisdom been more true than with McCain's disruption of the crucial Washington negotiations for his personal political gain. He did not put "country first" when he picked Palin, and he certainly did not do so now. It is incomprehensible that any patriotic Republican voter could still support this pathetic elderly fool who thinks he is a cowboy shooting wildly from the hip, while in reality he is merely an erratic, seriously disturbed senior flailing about desperately in a losing campaign. This man is becoming a serious danger to our national security as his choice of Palin has proven.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

Hail Mary this and Hail Mary that, here a Hail Mary, there a Hail Mary, everywhere a Hail Mary.

What does it say about the state of your campaign when your slogan is: Hail Mary, full of grace. Pray for us now and at the hour of our death?

[justsomeguywhocameby]

Just saw "erratic" referring to McCain in the Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/25/AR2008092503603.html

[S1m0n]

He's done. How can a campaign recover from that, less than a week from October? It's be bad enough, but recoverable, if that had happened in march, or even june. It's late september, and John really should be back at school. Stealing daddy's cue and making a living out of playing fool just isn't going to work for anyone.

[Indie2008]

If you were CEO of a large corporation, would you hire John McCain for a top management position?

[PepperzMom]

Only if it were top manager of the janitor's closet!

[Jellyfisheater]

John, the debate is TOMORROW NIGHT. Comb your hair, splash some cold water on your face, pull yourself together. There's no getting out of it, sort yourself out or you're gonna be BarackRoll'd yet again.


OBAMA/BIDEN 08

[hudsuckerproxy]

"So it would make sense for the team Obama to point out that conservatives have already raised the question of McCain's 'dismaying temperament,' of his 'behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high,' of 'McCain untethered­.' "

Another conservative who thinks McCain is unfit for the presidency:

http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2008/09/24/great-leadership/

[CaptainStormfield]

Great point. I like amconmag, but Im not sure how many of the current Republicans read it ;)

[hudsuckerproxy]

Not many I'm sure. Rational, old-school Republicans are in short supply these days.

[CaptainStormfield]

There certainly is a lot of history of McCain's grandstanding and erratic behaivor.

[CaptainStormfield]

Yea. the grunts carry the can.. the flyboys get the glory... Unknown WWII GI..

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2007/05/mccain_cornyn_cursing_showdown.html
This strategy of becoming engaged in Senate business at the last minute is not new for McCain. In May 2007, McCain had gone five straight weeks without casting a single vote on the Senate floor. On May 17, he returned to the Senate to participate in the immigration debate. At a bipartisan negotiating meeting, McCain began complaining that Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was “raising petty objections” to a compromise immigration plan.
Cornyn responded by bristling that McCain was swooping in at the last minute and trying to take over:
Things got really heated when Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy campaigning for president to take part in the negotiations, which have gone on for months behind closed doors. “Wait a second here,” Cornyn said to McCain. “I’ve been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You’re out of line.” […]
“[Expletive] you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room,” shouted McCain at Cornyn.

[WmC]

As I recall, "erratic" is how John Kerry referred to McCain's judgement when Kerry first heard of the Palin pick. So the foundation has already been laid.

[ajabu]

It's all out there and has been for the length of this campaign and years before. McSame hasn't changed since his goofy days as an incompetent flyboy. Erratic is mild (but accurate.)
As a young musician I acted just as crazy but didn't have family and wealth to cover me so I had to finally grow up. It's evident McSame has grown old while missing the grow up part.

Obama/Biden to restore long absent sanity to our country.

[hopeless277]

John McCain is a war hero and a patriot. When the going gets tough, he rolls up his sleeves and dives into the action. His presence no doubt encouraged all sides to reach a deal to provide assistance to the most needy of our population. His courage alone provided the guidence for this accord to be reached. Working tirelessly for days on end John McCain single handedly beat out the deal that will save the country. If not the whole country then at least the top 1%. He should be hailed as the hero he is. To do any less would be treason. John McCain IS America.

[apduncan1]

What a crock? What is so heroic about being shot down?

The man doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground!

[Eoin45]

It's sarcasm. Relax.

[indc]

Yes, there were 725 POW in the VN war, hundreds of thousands in earlier wars...

McCain has spread the notion that somehow he is America's POW like Guillani is America's mayor... what a disgrace to all the others who suffered as POW and even more so to all those others who lost their lives, the limbs, or their minds... country first, yea right McCain... go get a job stop living off the taxpayer and telling us how much better you are then the rest of us and how much you hate government­... have you had a none govenment job every? Yes, I know you worked for your father in law for a year or two, but I mean a real job, something that was not layed in your lap because you had some connection? I think the anwer is no... how heroic is that?

I think the real story of McCain POW is still to be told and it may not be the protrait that he has promoted.

[BillZBubb]

In the same spirit as your message, it should be pointed out that the REAL HERO here is George W. Bush. Without his tireless effort to reform our economic system into a model of the third world, none of John McCain's heroism would have been possible.

[OkieIntellectual]

Amen to that, brother. Without GW, we would never be in the position of prosperity and happiness that we are now! I hear he also poops "warm fuzzies"..­. is there anything that a little GWB can't fix? :)

[veggiequeenmo]

A war hero does not a president make. There are thousands and thousands of war heros. Are they all, then, presidential material? I doubt it. Not to diminish his service to the country, but that was a long time ago and things have changed. Apparently he can't let go of the past long enough to see the present - not to mention the future.

[fishgirl26]

No, he dove right to the media to try to shore up his campaign. When the going got tough, he called a T-O.

[Gib]

You have to be alert for irony. ;-)

[GLS350]

Ah sarcasm how I love thee.... This IS sarcasm right? RIGHT?

[SEQUOIABISON]

Joseph I think your right, Erratic best describes the undependable inconsistency of McCain’s personality.

His grandstanding with transparent novelty politics is very troubling and very revealing.

It shows me an unreliable candidate surrounded by a conniving manipulative staff that conjures up all sorts of pathetic gimmicks in a desperate attempt to stop their downward spiral in the polls.

In politics anything can happen from week to week but I think this latest stunt is the beginning of the end for the Palin/McCain ticket.

Obama/Biden

[Glenn1441]

I realize that as many bloggers have pointed out: Most voters cast their votes long ago based on factors of identity, such as party, race, or gender affiliation. McCain's erratic nature has been on full display for some time now. Polls indicate that the majority of Americans, or voters, believe the country is on 'the wrong track' (which is putting it mildely). And so it is very difficult to accept that there are nonetheless those who will vote for the McCain/Palin ticket due to those very factors of identity -- American be damned.

[one4obama]

To be able to comprehend those that will continue to back McCain, you really need to read

Bennet Kelley's piece - Why I'm Voting for John McCain & Sarah Palin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bennet-kelley/why-im-voting-for-john-mc_b_129135.html

He truly has capture the mindset of McCain/Palin believers.