dcpolitico's Blog

    Well, that $700 billion dollar financial bailout package has really saved the day. It was so critical for lawmakers to rush to the Capitol and pass the rescue plan as soon as possible. In hindsight, they should have left town at the earliest sign of this crisis.
    I can’t conceive that the economy would be in any worse shape if the administration and Congress had approached this in a thoughtful, calm manner and refused to be swayed by the panic. Honestly, would things have looked any different?
    The political fallout continues. Obviously, John McCain has taken it on the chin because everyone wants to blame the Bush administration. The economy is its own beast. History tells us that in reality, a president takes far too much credit in booming economic times, and far too much blame when the bottom drops out. 
    How long can the Democrats deflect any blame for this mess? They’ve been in bed with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for some time. Yes, the blame does go around, but how could any person now vote for a candidate who supports aggressive government action on the economy? If $700 billion of taxpayer funds cannot stop the bleeding, how can anyone have confidence that government is capable of doing anything?
    Raising taxes will crush any chance of economic growth. The candidates need to be straight with the American people. It may get worse. It will take time. This must run its course. Unfortunately, during a presidential election year, cooler heads do not prevail.

 Tom DiBacco

    It always amazes me that every four years, some in the media express feigned shock when the presidential campaign goes negative. They take it more personally than their candidate of choice. Please. The final weeks before the election are when each campaign throws the kitchen sink at each other. It’s a time-honored tradition.
   Which brings me to my next point. This has been a fascinating campaign from day one. The landscape has favored the Democrats throughout the year. The war in Iraq and an unpopular President dramatically tilted the odds toward the Dems for the first time in many years. But nominating a candidate with very little experience leveled the playing field. Senator John McCain rode the wave after the RNC and was actually in the lead in early September. Then the bottom dropped out of the economy and the landscape has begun to resemble what we saw most of the year.
    That does not mean all is lost for McCain, although time is running out. The GOP has finally taken the gloves off and begun to attack the character of Barack Obama. While some may portray this as “going negative,” character is an important issue to voters. Some of the ads may go over the line, but like it or not, they do have an impact. There is always the chance that pursuing this path will backfire. But both candidates have questionable associations in their past, and it is all fair game. 
    This is a debate about the issues, and the issue of character should be of utmost importance to voters.

Tom DiBacco

    To say that the John McCain campaign needed a shot in the arm is an understatement. The Arizona Senator had lost whatever momentum he had gained from the RNC amidst a flurry of bad economic news. The media onslaught had reached critical mass to the point that several talking heads declared the presidential race over. 
    Enter Sarah Palin. Yes, the same Sarah Palin who has been mishandled by campaign managers through two painful network television interviews. An unlikely savoir, Palin demonstrated in the vice-presidential debate why U.S. Senators have a fairly dismal record in getting elected to the highest office in the land.
    As a journalist for nearly two decades in the nation’s capital, I viewed our elected representatives in Congress through a narrow vision. I admit I was a card carrying member of the media elite.  Ten years ago, I would have cringed when listening to Sarah Palin. How could someone who didn’t possess the same mind-numbing prose of most Washington politicians have the audacity to think she could occupy the vice-presidency?
    Well, thankfully, Washington, D.C. is unlike the rest of the nation. For myself, wisdom sometimes accompanies age. Sarah Palin speaks like many Americans, and speaks to many Americans. Joe Biden has a wealth of knowledge, and didn’t commit any major gaffes in the VP debate. But the Delaware Senator recites his lines as if he’s talking to his fellow colleagues or members of a Washington think-tank. It may endear him to members of the inside-the-beltway media, but as evident through his failed presidential campaigns, it has yet to extend beyond those groups.
    A senator running for office will always have the political liability of defending every vote of his career.  Both Barack Obama and John McCain faced the same difficulty in their debate, which at times translated into some very boring television. Sarah Palin was free to attack Joe Biden on vote after vote, putting him on the defensive much of the night. 
    If the McCain camp lets Palin be Palin, Sarah the Barracuda may be their best hope at victory.

Tom DiBacco

    Friday’s debate between John McCain and Barack Obama is just a memory. Even if McCain had delivered a knockout punch on his opponent, I don’t believe it would have been reflected in the polls. The economy is weighing down McCain’s candidacy like a pair of cement shoes.
    There is plenty of blame to go around for this economic mess. Could the party in control of Congress suffer? Yes, the Dems have made this a highly partisan battle, right down to Speaker Nancy’s Pelosi speech before the vote on the bailout plan. This will not add to their anemic job approval ratings. But House members on both sides of the aisle are petrified that voting for any plan will leave them in the unemployment line.
    The party in control of the White House will obviously suffer the consequences. Just rewind Friday’s debate to see the effects. McCain’s comments on the economy were sound: cut government spending, do not raise taxes, hold people accountable in the government and private sector. His words fell on deaf ears. McCain has done a delicate balancing act since the RNC of distancing himself from George W. Bush. But the economy has now become the only issue in this campaign. The Dems and the media have finally succeeded in linking McCain to Bush.
    Are voters convinced that Obama can right the economic ship? Not necessarily. But they are looking for leadership on this issue. McCain has tried. He desperately needs to show that he can bring the warring legislators together to agree on some sort of package. But in this poisoned political climate, it is unlikely that we will see any common ground between those in office or those seeking the highest office in the land.

Tom DiBacco

    John McCain took a gamble and appears to have lost. His decision earlier this week to suspend his campaign, and delay the presidential debate was designed to prove to voters that he puts “his country first.”
    At the time of his announcement, I thought it was a positive move. The economy is teetering and both candidates should have been in the nation’s capital fulfilling their duties as senators.  McCain seized the opportunity to look presidential. 
    But this is an election year, and there was little doubt that politics would rear its ugly head, on both sides of the aisle. Congressional Democratic leaders were not going to permit McCain to grab any credit if the bailout plan was approved.  Adding insult to injury, House Republicans objected to the bailout plan, putting McCain in a further bind. The situation deteriorated into a familiar Washington activity: the blame game. This was not the “change” that neither McCain or Barack Obama envisioned.
    So now the debate will go on as scheduled, despite McCain’s earlier statement to delay the event until action was taken to address the financial crisis. McCain put himself in the middle of a storm and has emerged bruised and battered.
    In retrospect, I now believe that both candidates should have stayed as far away from D.C. as possible. They may have been able to capitalize on the “politics as usual” actions of a do-nothing Congress.

Tom DiBacco

    All eyes will be on the first in a series of presidential debates Friday at the University of Mississippi. Some have predicted a television audience of more than 70 million. In an election contest that many view as too close to call, supporters of each candidate are hoping for a game-changing moment.
    But let’s manage the expectations. With a few exceptions, presidential debates have merely reinforced or solidified a candidate’s support among his key constituencies. More often than not, the debate is a draw, not a rout. John McCain and Barack Obama will be careful to stick to the script while trying not to add their names to those candidates who tripped up under the bright lights. This is not 1960, when Richard Nixon looked weary and nervous while John Kennedy appeared youthful and energetic. Nor it is the golden age of television. Neither candidate is unaware of the subtle gestures that could possibly turn off potential voters.
    Case in point: in 2000, Al Gore looked like a petulant child in his debate with George W. Bush. Gore, the ultimate policy wonk, shrugged and sighed while Bush responded to questions. In a debate in which Gore should have won easily, he turned off many voters with his obvious poor taste.
    I expect McCain and Obama to be respectful of each other, with few attempts at a knockout punch. It will look downright friendly compared to some of the primary debates of both parties.
    I think the wild card of Friday’s debate will be whether the media can temper their obvious bias in this campaign. They should be scrutinized as closely as the candidates.

Tom DiBacco

    I’ve never been a big fan of Joe Biden, but the panic among left-wing bloggers is unfairly turning the Delaware Senator into a scapegoat. 
    True, a few weeks ago I called Biden an uninspired choice for VP. Obama’s refusal to even consider Hillary Clinton for the post led to John McCain’s stunning choice of Sarah Palin. The resulting media firestorm has not only damaged the credibility of the Fourth estate, but has exposed an elitism that is prevalent in the mainstream media.
    Buy why are some liberal bloggers calling on Obama to pull an October surprise and dump Biden for Hillary Clinton? They call it “pulling an Eagleton.” In 1972, Senator George McGovern dropped Senator Thomas Eagleton as his running mate after it was revealed Eagleton had received shock treatments for an unspecified mental illness. McGovern was going to lose in a landslide either way. In hindsight, loyalty and judgment were not McGovern’s strong suits. 
   The comparisons are outrageous. Joe Biden is no Tom Eagleton. He hasn’t even debated Sarah Palin yet. He’s committed no major gaffes (although give him time). He’s not dragging down the Dems. The lack of direction is coming from the top of the Democratic ticket.
    Sacrificing Biden would do immeasurable damage to the image of the Obama campaign. In football, there is a reason they call it a Hail Mary pass. It’s basically a prayer. It’s not Hillary Clinton’s responsibility to answer the prayers of a flailing campaign. 

Tom DiBacco 

    With the Dow losing more than 500 points on Monday after news of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the economy has once again grabbed the spotlight in the 2008 Presidential election. 
    How it impacts the minds of nervous voters is uncertain. Or rather, now that both candidates have attempted to grab the mantel of change, who will the undecided lean toward during this volatile economic period?
    Just a few months ago, John McCain was trailing Barack Obama badly on the issue of who best to handle the economy. That gap has now been narrowed significantly. Obama and his campaign are more to blame for this development than the “bounce” that McCain received from both the RNC and the Sarah Palin effect. 
    There had to be a point in this campaign when the Democratic nominee had to go beyond the broad, sweeping visions of change and enunciate the meat and potatoes of his economic revitalization of America. Obama has proposed cutting taxes for 95 percent of Americans. Sounds like a winning plan. But, in uncertain economic times, it is just too good to be true.  The plan had all the makings of a Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.
    That being said, John McCain has succeeded in distancing himself from the Bush administration in the eyes of voters since the convention. But how long he can keep his finger in the dike is anybody’s guess. The McCain team brilliantly seized upon the theme of change with their choice of Palin. They may now dust off the experience argument and see how it plays during these tumultuous financial times.

Tom DiBacco

    Seven years ago, I was working in Washington, DC, just a stone’s throw from the U.S. Capitol. The events of September 11 were chilling, and for one of the few times in my life, I, like many others, felt helpless and powerless.
    The events that unfolded that day were relayed to many of us in a frantic fashion. It boggled the mind. How could this be happening on our own soil? In my own hometown? The supervisors of the building in which I worked urged everyone to leave and return to their homes. A massive traffic jam resulted on the streets of our nation’s capital. I chose to remain at the office until the traffic dissipated.
    Phone calls and emails came in from friends and loved ones across the country. Yes, our family was fine, but as the rising smoke became visible from the Pentagon, the terrifying thought was, “what could possibly happen next?”
    Driving home that night, the streets of Washington resembled a city under siege. My city would survive, but it would never be the same.
    The anthrax attacks soon grabbed the headlines, followed by the notorious sniper attacks one year later. The stress of living in the nation’s capital could be unbearable at times, but we survived, and became acutely aware of what mattered most in our lives.
    Life does go on. But we must never forget those who lost their lives on September 11, nor those who continue to sacrifice their lives to protect us from future attacks.  Our nation must never again take for granted the freedoms we all enjoy.

Tom DiBacco

    I needed a little time to sit back and digest John McCain’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. I also needed to catch up on some sleep after a whirlwind four days.
     At the conclusion of his address, I sat in the Xcel Energy Center and wondered why it didn’t strike more of a chord with me. Perhaps, I was exhausted, or maybe Sarah Palin was a tough act to follow.
    But I watched the speech again and then read the text over and over again. McCain may not be the most dynamic speaker, but his remarks had powerful meaning. He lived up to his image of a political maverick by distancing himself from the business as usual politics in Washington, but not enough to alienate his party. Sarah Palin served up red meat to the party’s conservative base. McCain marched to his own drum when he told the crowd, “I don’t work for a party. I work for you.”
    When McCain spoke of his days as a POW in Vietnam, it was easily the most powerful moment of the night. McCain endured unspeakable horrors during his years in captivity. But yet his love of America only grew during this time. He told the crowd, “I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.”
    The Democrats will be hard pressed to talk about service and sacrifice in this campaign. They are not in the same league as John McCain.

Tom DiBacco

    Postponing the Republican National Convention was the only thing the party could do in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. Unfortunately, the thousands of protestors who showed up in St. Paul failed to follow suit.
    It had been a number of years since I was tear gassed during a demonstration. The behavior of the so-called “anarchists” left the police with little choice. The officers showed great restraint throughout the protest. Hats off to them.
    When the main group of anti-war protestors arrived at the Xcel Energy Center, they were met by a small group of counter-protestors holding signs, “Victory OverTerrorism: Support Our Troops.” These were folks whose sons and daughters were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. People who admit that our country is far from perfect, but love it nonetheless. Citizens who recognize the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform.
    Many of the anti-war protestors were an absolute disgrace. The vile venom and vulgarity they spewed at the counter-protestors within an inch of their faces was despicable. It made my blood boil. These were not the dreaded anarchists screaming profanities, but members of the so-called mainstream protest.
    Sometimes freedom of speech is horribly abused in this country. But you’ll hear little about that on the news. You’ll only hear about the growing anti- war movement.
    It was an absolute disgrace.

Tom DiBacco 

    Wow. I didn’t even have time to write an entry debating the VP candidates for John McCain. If I had, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would not have made my short list.
    When I woke up Friday with the Obama speech fresh on my mind, I expected the McCain announcement to be relatively lite fare. I expected his choice to be closely watched by Republicans, but predicted mild interest from the news media after the flair and drama at Invesco Field.
    But in a bold political move, McCain’s choice served to deflate any expected bounce from Obama’s acceptance speech. It was a masterful media stroke. Choosing a woman, an outsider with a reputation as a political reformer, left the Dems scrambling. It also reminded Obama campaign officials that the McCain team is a worthy adversary.
    When McCain talked about changing Washington, his rhetoric was hampered by decades in the U.S. Senate. It’s difficult to be viewed as a political maverick when you are also part of the Washington establishment.
    While Sarah Palin has an impressive record, she is obviously a political novice. But she is about as far away from the Washington establishment as you can get. The Obama team will obviously attack her “inexperience,” which may be a welcome change for a campaign staff trying to defend their own candidate’s thin resume.
    It promises to be an exciting 66 days.

Tom DiBacco

    There’s no getting around the fact that this country is deeply divided. 
    Despite our political differences, anyone who watched Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention should feel a sense of pride and recognize the historical significance of the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party.
    To say that Obama is a charismatic speaker is an understatement. He delivered his speech with exceptional skill before a crowd of nearly 85,000.
    There was little doubt the Democratic nominee had that crowd in the palm of his hand. But the burning question is: How will the speech resonate beyond Invesco Field? Only time will tell.
    The expectations for Obama Thursday night were exceptionally high. The Democratic Party did not help the situation with the move to an outdoor stadium. The stage that was supposed to resemble the Lincoln Memorial reminded me of a gaudy Vegas hotel. It was rather pretentious, something that should have been fairly obvious to party officials.
    The speech was a typical Democratic stump speech that we have witnessed in many past conventions. A laundry list of ills created by the Republicans with a wish list of solutions by the Dems. Grand ideas that carry a high price tag. Change is not cheap.
     Although the address was light on new ideas, Obama had to go in this direction. He needs to appeal to working class Democrats, the Hillary Clinton supporters who are on the fence. This strategy worked for the Dems in the 2006 mid-term elections.
     After 3 days of a rather disjointed convention, it was up to Barack Obama to define himself to the American people. It’s up to the American people to decide whether it was a great speech or great theater.

Tom DiBacco