-
Key Soros Ally Provides Race-Rhetoric Training Session for House Democrats
May 13, 2012 | 11 comments
-
Washington Post Quotes the Dead to Defame Romney
May 11, 2012 | 20 comments
-
Chronicle Editors Pander to Academic Lynch Mob, Fire Naomi Schaefer Riley
May 8, 2012 | 39 comments
-
NBC News and the Death of Truth
April 26, 2012 | 24 comments
-
Geithner Says Obama Policies 'Incredibly Effective,' Calls Romney Claims 'Ridiculous'
April 15, 2012 | 38 comments
The Spectacle Blog
Finally admitting the obvious:
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy adviser to McCain's failed campaign, said Nov. 19 that McCain's support for the $700 billion bailout of the financial sector was the "key strategic policy error of the entire campaign."
"We also make mistakes," Holtz-Eakin told a group of conservatives at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. "There's no doubt about it--20/20 hindsight. I think the key strategic policy error of the entire campaign, that is mine, is believing that the bailout bill would help."
Both McCain and President-elect Barack Obama voted for the bill, which has taken on a different role since being promoted as a measure that would have given the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to purchase the troubled assets thought to be behind the current financial crisis.
Holtz-Eakin said it was a move of desperation because the campaign was taking a lot of criticism for not being more proactive at the time. . . .
"That was the key strategic error that we really made," Holtz-Eakin added. "Had we stayed away from Washington, stayed away from being identified with that bill - which was ultimately against the John McCain brand-- that's not a bill he normally would support-- we would have been better served in the long run, I believe. But, that financial market meltdown combined with bad strategic decisions, I think, was a real crippling combination of events."
Told you so. Where do Republicans find these "senior policy advisers" who give such disastrous advice? Is there some Institute for Expert Ineptitude where GOP candidates hire people to tell them to do the wrong things for the wrong reasons?
View all comments (10) | Leave a comment
Leave a Comment
More Blog Posts by Robert Stacy McCain
http://spectator.org/blog/2008/11/20/the-truith-too-late
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- Medicaid Freedom of Choice
- A Case of Intracoastal Blues
- …And a Young Child Will Lead
SPONSORED LINKS
Special Feature
Better that we become a nation of choosers rather than beggars. Our symposium on choice from the May, 2012 issue:
FLASHBACK TO: 1984
-
The Fairness Delusion
The speech our President should make.
-
Media Smears: One Man’s Experiences
A noted economist fires back.
-
Chuck Colson vs. The Fundamentalists
How political can you get?
-
The Reagan Doctrine
You might have missed it, but it was boomed in January.
-
The Woman Problem
Farcical feminism is a decades-old phenomenon, as George Will's essay from 1970 reminds us.
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
james23| 11.20.08 @ 1:21PM
On the other hand, Bill McInturf recently blamed the House Republicans for their opposition to the bailout, saying it made McCain look bad--which is probably true, as if that was their first priority.
The GOP's Washington establishment, including its mouthpieces in the press, still largely believes that supporting the bailout was the right call. For example, the allegedly brilliant Krauthammer, only last week, attempting to build a rhetorical firewall between the Paulson bailout, which he still supports, and the big 3 auto bailout, which he opposes, haughtily dismissed the House opponents of Paulson's folly as "Know Nothings."
If I were Krauthammer, for the sake of my reputation, I'd say nothing at all about the bailout for the next few months.
Agent Orange Peel| 11.20.08 @ 3:10PM
Is there some Institute for Expert Ineptitude where GOP candidates hire people to tell them to do the wrong things for the wrong reasons?
Yes there is:
GOP Institute for Expert Ineptitude
It was founded in 1958, one year after the last balanced budget produced by a Republican president, 1957 and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Emporer Palpatine| 11.20.08 @ 6:35PM
hey, add in the self induced flat tire of announcing via conference call that you were pulling out of Michigan, you know like right after the convention when you were starting to gain some momentum.
McLame threw the fight.
Emporer Palpatine| 11.20.08 @ 6:35PM
hey, add in the self induced flat tire of announcing via conference call that you were pulling out of Michigan, you know like right after the convention when you were starting to gain some momentum.
McLame threw the fight.
Jason| 11.21.08 @ 1:34AM
It wasn't just the decision to vote for the bailout that hurt McCain, it was how he handled the situation. His economic ignorance was on display for all to see.
ruth| 11.21.08 @ 2:12AM
Sometimes I thought he seemed erratic, and it made me feel uncomfortable. Strange campaign.
Monica Wolf| 11.21.08 @ 3:22AM
McCain ran against his own brand pretty much from the get-go, not just on this issue but just about anything you can think of.
On another point, it's not entirely surprising that a political party that has had a very good run over the last 30 years by running against government would have some problems fielding "senior policy advisors" who have any advice worth listening to.
Bob| 11.21.08 @ 5:01AM
Most Republican campaigns are about tactics and not strategy -- that's what coalitions require since, by their very nature, they require a balancing act. It certainly points out why no one should have voted for McCain. He was the one responsible for the campaign and obviously didn't understand the difference. Neither did Sarah "Barbie" Palin.
WendyG| 11.21.08 @ 9:04AM
Bob, "the Republican" stops by to hurl more insults.
I'd rather Sarah than the plagiarist Biden. But theft never bothers liberals, just look at the scam Al Franken and his band of thieves are trying to pull.
Obama hid in the tall grass during the bailout fiasco, aided by a press that gave him cover. As usual, when the going got tough, he voted "Present." That's not leadership. No wonder he's gathering around him all the Clinton hacks. I have a feeling that we are all going to find out eventually, that with Obama, there is no there, there. He is an appealing idea to liberals, he feeds their desire for a messiah to save all the "po people" and he's not Bush.
At least McCain didn't hide during the bailout.
McCain is a thousand times a better man. Does anyone here think Obama would fight for his country, let alone endure what McCain did in Vietnam?
J David| 11.21.08 @ 9:36AM
Emporer Palpatine: "McLame threw the fight"
Right! He has been owned by George Soros since about 2001. He was chosen to do what he(throw the fight)did long ago, and it was done with the explicit and implicit complicity of RINOs at the top.