News What are the Key Factors for Victory in the 2008 Presidential Election?

[Alfi]

in place of the ideologically popular choices that the current administration has employed.

' popular' may not be the most accurate word here.

'rammed down the throats' may work as a substitute. :)

 

[Astronuc]

Senate sends big spending bill to Bush to sign
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080927/ap_on_go_co/congress_spending

WASHINGTON - Automakers gained $25 billion in taxpayer-subsidized loans and oil companies won elimination of a long-standing ban on drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as the Senate passed a sprawling spending bill Saturday.

The 78-12 vote sent the $634 billion measure to President Bush, who was expected to sign it even though it spends more money and contains more pet projects than he would have liked.

The measure is needed to keep the government operating beyond the current budget year, which ends Tuesday. As a result, the legislation is one of the few bills this election year that simply must pass. Bush's signature would mean Congress could avoid a lame-duck session after the Nov. 4 election.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the bill "stands as a reminder of the failure of the Democratic Congress to fund the government in regular order." But, he said, it "puts the United States one step closer to ending our dependence on foreign sources of energy" by lifting the offshore drilling ban and opening up huge reserves of oil shale in the West.

The Pentagon is in line for a record budget. In addition to $70 billion approved this summer for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department would receive $488 billion, a 6 percent increase. The spending bill also offers aid to victims of flooding in the Midwest and recent hurricanes across the Gulf Coast.

Such a huge bill usually would dominate the end-of-session agenda on Capitol Hill. But it went below the radar screen because attention focused on the congressional bailout of Wall Street.
. . . .

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, discovered 2,322 pet projects totaling $6.6 billion. That included 2,025 in the defense portion alone that cost a total of $4.9 billion. Critics of such "earmarks" promise to scrutinize them in coming weeks and months for links to lobbyists and campaign contributions.

Earmarks dot omnibus spending bill
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/09/26/Earmarks_dot_omnibus_spending_bill/UPI-41981222434637/

Taxpayers for Common Sense said the senator who sought the most pet projects was Alaska Republican Ted Stevens -- on trial for allegedly failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations. Stevens requested 39 projects totaling $238.5 million, The New York Times reported yesterday.

 

[mheslep]

That's what McCain says. Here is what he's really planning.

Adrenaline had originally posted this, she's a doctor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16herbert.html?hp

So she can take out my appendix, not plan the health care economy. Here is what he's 'really planning' according to Bob Herbert of the NYT?

Edit: moved over to
https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=1891120&postcount=8

 

[mheslep]

I agree with this assessment. When McCain talks about tax credits for health insurance, he doesn't seem to get it that those who can't afford health insurance also don't pay much in the way of taxes - because their incomes are too low.

There are about 47 million Americans without health insurance (I wonder if that includes illegal aliens and migrant workers).
http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml

Yes that figure includes: illegal aliens, those that qualify for medicaid but never sign up, twenty somethings that can easily afford coverage but still choose not to buy, and those that that don't qualify for government help but still can't afford insurance (pre-existing/chronic).

Numbers on the breakdown:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=1636972&postcount=37

 

[Evo]

mheslep, do you currently have employer healthcare? Have you ever had to try to get health care insurance in the private market? I have. What experience do you have with getting private health insurance? Do you have a pre-exisiting health condition that prevents you from getting private health insurance (my mother does) and I have had to deal with that financially. Do you understand the difference between group health coverage (relatively inexpenseve) and non-group health coverage (very expensive) offers fewer choices, less coverage, higher deductibles, more out of pocket expenses, no cap on catastrophic medical expenses, and poorer health care options.

I can tell you that McCain's plan is disastrous for the average American.

 

[mheslep]

mheslep, do you currently have employer healthcare?

Yes, heavy PPO family plan w/ dependents. ~$20k/yr, employer pays ~60%.

Have you ever had to try to get health care insurance in the private market. I have. What experience do you have with getting private health insurance?

Yes. Years ago was self employed, used a small business group plan, and more recently I stay on top of quotes for high deductible HSAs. Same exact plan, same insurer as my PPO above but ~half the cost including the cost of the deductible. Just ran it again: $2870/yr + $7500 deductible = $10370, same exact coverage/insurer. As you can see, the HSA plan is much preferable IF I could get my employer to pay me the benefit directly as salary rather than as health care. This point comes up often in my company as there are many that have prior experience as self-employed.
https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ehi/individual-health-insurance.fs

Do you have a pre-exisiting health condition that prevents you from getting private health insurance (my mother does) and I have had to deal with that financially.

Well I hope your mother gets all the care she needs. If your mother is retired, I assume we're not talking about employer based plans in this case? If so, how is that relevant to McCain's plan and this discussion? Doesn't Medicare help out?

...

I can tell you that McCain's plan is disastrous for the average American

Yes I know, he's 'insane', 'clueless', etc.

 

[Gokul43201]

I could see 55% of the popular vote for Obama and 45% for McCain, but I would not be surprised if it went 60/40 Obama/McCain.

I would be shocked if Obama won by 10%. And if nothing disastrous happens over the next month, I will not believe the numbers if they say Obama won by 20%.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I would be shocked if Obama won by 10%. And if nothing disastrous happens over the next month, I will not believe the numbers if they say Obama won by 20%.

I'm looking for a 60/40 split in the electoral map. 10% in the popular vote wouldn't surprise me at all, but I'm not counting on it.

 

[Astronuc]

Bush binges; Obama or McCain will pay
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/14027.html

The focus right now – and probably for many months to come – is the bailout binge aimed at saving our financial system. All told, the government will likely put more than $1 trillion on the line (with hope the money will be recouped down the road).

Then there are the two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan. The combined cost is fast approaching $1 trillion, too – and both will eat up the time and budgets of the next president.

Then there is also the prescription drug benefit Bush added to Medicare. It carries a projected price tag of nearly $700 billion over ten years and serves as a powerful reminder of how big – untenably big, many experts say – our entitlement programs have grown.

None of that spending was cooked into the federal budget when Bush took office eight years ago, leaving a budgetary hole almost too deep to comprehend. It will tie the hands of President McCain or President Obama in ways neither candidate has reckoned with yet on the campaign trail.

“It’s really a federal fiscal catastrophe in coming years,” says Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute, a libertarian-oriented think tank. “With all this stuff coming up now, it’s massive, big decisions the next president is going to have to make.”
. . .
How can you cut taxes when the government is so deep in the red? The budget deficit is projected to top $400 billion – and that was before the bailout.

How can you expand health care coverage when the country is broke? The federal debt is now expected to top $11 trillion by 2010.

How can you focus on “earmarks” and “waste” when everyone knows they make up a meaningless fraction of the federal budget?

. . . .

What about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - another $500 billion during the next 4 years?

 

[LowlyPion]

Interesting piece discussing who the real John McCain is.
http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/09/29/mccain/index.html

 

[LowlyPion]

Index of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/press092808.shtml

 

[Alfi]

SEC. 122. INCREASE IN STATUTORY LIMIT ON THE PUBLIC
4 DEBT.
5 Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United
6 States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limita7
tion contained in such subsection and inserting
8 ‘‘$11,315,000,000,000’’.

wow. Pretty soon it adds up to real money.

 

[Astronuc]

wow. Pretty soon it adds up to real money.

So that's where they snuck that in. I guess that covers the $700 billion and another $400+ billion deficit for FY2009.

I wonder if they hope that no one actually reads the entire document or if they do, they don't notice the details.

 

[Evo]

Interesting, almost everyone (except the young Earth creationist) in my office is voting for Obama, and these people are from Missouri and Kansas. Even my boss, who is Hispanic, is voting for Obama. He even has a personally autographed photo of Obama in his office. All of these people are highly religious, they grab you and start praying over you in the office, one is a minister. They *LOVE* Obama. Doesn't this go against the grain of who is supposed to be pro-Obama? Maybe there is more support for Obama than is reflected in the polls. In my office alone there are over 100 people, so I would say that it is a pretty good sampling.

 

[LowlyPion]

Interesting, almost everyone (except the young Earth creationist) in my office is voting for Obama, and these people are from Missouri and Kansas. Even my boss, who is Hispanic, is voting for Obama. He even has a personally autographed photo of Obama in his office. All of these people are highly religious, they grab you and start praying over you in the office, one is a minister. They *LOVE* Obama. Doesn't this go against the grain of who is supposed to be pro-Obama? Maybe there is more support for Obama than is reflected in the polls. In my office alone there are over 100 people, so I would say that it is a pretty good sampling.

It's not that surprising really. Obama is a religious man after all. Though he does not wear it on his sleeves or take policy positions that pander to the far right faith agendas. It's not exactly like he is a heathen that Catholics or Baptists can't relate to.

 

[Evo]

It's not that surprising really. Obama is a religious man after all. Though he does not wear it on his sleeves or take policy positions that pander to the far right faith agendas. It's not exactly like he is a heathen that Catholics or Baptists can't relate to.

It's funnier that these people think Palin is crazy. They are the people she is supposed to attract.

 

[LowlyPion]

It's been reported that Palin was asked to name an important Supreme Court ruling besides Roe v. Wade and she couldn't come up with one.

Apparently it will air tomorrow in a Katy Couric interview excerpt.

Yikes.

Of course besides Roe v. Wade others like Brown V Board, or Miranda, or US v Nixon, or Bush v. Gore, Dred Scott have had little to do with the course of US affairs and the basis of our laws. Heck who needs to know stuff like that anyway? It's only our HISTORY.

 

[LowlyPion]

It's funnier that these people think Palin is crazy.

You can't say they aren't paying attention then.

 

[Defennder]

I just saw this. It's a clip of how a Faux News reporter can't even spin the results of a live poll properly. Apparently a Fox reporter decided to poll some customers in a small town PA diner to see who they'll vote for:

KTkqosRiyYo[/youtube] Hilarious.

 

[Gokul43201]

The swingman cometh?

Electoral maps (Obama/McCain):

                     AGGREGATES OF CURRENT POLLS                 |     PROJECTIONS
                                                                 |
Date      RCP1     RCP2     CNN   Elec-Vote  USAtlas-A  Pollster | Elec-Proj  USAtlas-P   
                                                                      
06/21   238/163  289/249  211/194  317/194    271/191            |  349/189    298/240
06/26   238/163  317/221  211/194  317/194    288/180            |  338/200    298/240 
07/01   238/163  304/234  231/194  317/221    268/180            |  338/200    293/245 
07/06   238/163  304/234  231/194  320/218    268/177            |  338/200    293/245
07/11   238/163  304/234  231/194  320/215    268/188            |  306/232    293/245
07/16   255/163  304/234  231/194  320/204    268/177            |  311/227    293/245
07/21   255/163  322/216  231/194  312/199    268/172   293/214  |  298/240    293/245
07/26   238/163  322/216  221/189  292/195    264/175   284/147  |  338/200    298/240
08/11   238/163  322/216  221/189  289/236    264/202   284/157  |  298/240    293/245
08/21   228/174  264/274  221/189  264/261    264/210   260/191  |  264/274    293/245
08/26   228/174  273/265  221/189  273/252    259/210   260/176  |  273/265    293/245
09/06   238/174  273/265  243/189  301/224    259/194   260/179  |  278/260    293/245                                                                           
09/16   207/227  286/252  233/189  247/257    216/246   243/219  |  273/265    273/265
09/26   228/163  286/252  240/200  286/252    264/185   229/174  |  273/265    273/265
10/01   249/163  348/190  250/189  286/190    264/185   250/174  |  273/265    273/265

 

[Gokul43201]

Apparently a Fox reporter decided to poll some customers in a small town PA diner to see who they'll vote for:

That's not just any "small town". That was Scranton, PA - home to Hillary and Biden.

 

[LowlyPion]

I just saw this. It's a clip of how a Faux News reporter can't even spin the results of a live poll properly. Apparently a Fox reporter decided to poll some customers in a small town PA diner to see who they'll vote for:

KTkqosRiyYo[/youtube] Hilarious....voters and viewers they apparently appeal to.

 

[Gokul43201]

Market Update:

               INTRADE       IOWA ELECTRONIC MARKET

           Obama    McCain      Dem     Rep
June 26    $64.1    $32.4      0.622   0.378
July 11    $65.0    $31.2      0.643   0.358
July 26    $63.2    $32.2      0.688   0.355
Aug  11    $59.2    $37.2      0.621   0.377
Oct 01     $64.8    $34.6      0.651   0.322

 

[Defennder]

Your market update doesn't include the period for early September when McCain got his post convention bump. I'd like to know what the numbers were then.

 

[Defennder]

Well all the Fox people behind the camera were raising their hands.

I think to work at Fox you have to be certified as dummie. Even Hannity's token liberal foil Coombs, is a dummie because Hannity can't compete with anything warmer than a corpse.

This is apparently why they like McCain (at the bottom of the Naval Academy class), and Palin a shallow thinker par excellance that just reads what's put in front of her. These are the kinds of voters and viewers they apparently appeal to.

If I recall correctly, Fox preferred Giuliani in the GOP primaries. Don't think they had a good opinion of McCain then.

 

[LowlyPion]

Obama was brilliant today.

Perfectly staged address, standing from his seat in the Senate, he could have been Jimmy Stewart, delivering his speech in support of the Senate version to economic recovery.

In one brilliant image he makes all this McCain nonsense about being in the Arena into desperate rhetoric of a failing campaign. McCain can soon start making his retirement plans.

Maybe he and Bush can go on a fishing trip?
(I personally wouldn't recommend going hunting with ol' 2nd Amendment Chaney, however.)

 

[Gokul43201]

Your market update doesn't include the period for early September when McCain got his post convention bump. I'd like to know what the numbers were then.

Updated upon request - the bump you are looking for is visible in the Sep 11 numbers.

Market Update:

               INTRADE       IOWA ELECTRONIC MARKET

           Obama    McCain      Dem     Rep
Jun 26     $64.1    $32.4      0.622   0.378
Jul 11     $65.0    $31.2      0.643   0.358
Jul 26     $63.2    $32.2      0.688   0.355
Aug 11     $59.9    $37.2      0.621   0.377
Aug 21     $59.0    $38.7      0.607   0.394
Sep 01     $61.1    $39.2      0.602   0.395
Sep 11     $49.0    $49.9      0.540   0.462
Sep 21     $51.3    $47.7      0.601   0.392
Oct 01     $64.8    $34.6      0.651   0.322

Note: day-to-day fluctuations are about $1 in the Intrade markets and about 0.01 points in the IEM.

 

[LowlyPion]

Des Moines Straight Talk Express:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoHSLrnjdCI

 

[lisab]

Des Moines Straight Talk Express:

The guy looks like he's seething...he looks like he's ready to blow up! No way McCain has the temperment needed to be President. No way, no how...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Woohoo! CNN shows Obama leading in both Ohio and Florida. Yipppeeee!

They also show Obama gaining ground with women, and in particular married women. He is also leading in Florida with people over 50 year of age. THAT is huge! Finally, he now has a higher favorability rating than McCain, which is a first.

 

[LowlyPion]

The guy looks like he's seething...he looks like he's ready to blow up! No way McCain has the temperment needed to be President. No way, no how...

What I find disturbing is his stubborn clinging to the idea that Obama had any intent to distribute condoms to kindergartners. The bill he has signed referred to "age appropriate" education. I think the thing that Conservatives are really not wanting to discuss is that the bill mentioned discussion of same sex heads of households, wanting instead I suppose to instill ignorance among school children that are already in many cases witness to such arrangements, either in their families or their classmates. Just another thing that encourages divisiveness in society.

 

[Gokul43201]

Finally, he now has a higher favorability rating than McCain, which is a first.

That's not true. McCain held a higher favorability rating than Obama only for a brief period of a week or two following the Palin announcement. Before that (since at least as long ago as June), as well as over this last week, Obama has had McCain beat, in terms of favorability.

See, for instance: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/favorable.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Hmmm, are you sure? I thought McCain was always leading in this category... [ah, didn't see the link]

Holding my breath: Based on the current map, Florida alone puts Obama over the top. And I saw one poll that gives Obama an additional 4 point spread [in Florida] when third-party candidates are included.

 

[BobG]

Woohoo! CNN shows Obama leading in both Ohio and Florida. Yipppeeee!

They also show Obama gaining ground with women, and in particular married women. He is also leading in Florida with people over 50 year of age. THAT is huge! Finally, he now has a higher favorability rating than McCain, which is a first.

The age thing is pretty big.

The most amazing thing in the polls has been Virginia and North Carolina being so close while Obama hasn't been able to seal the deal in Michigan and Ohio. This has a lot to do with the age gap in voter preference. States from the rust belt with declining populations are older - the young people move somewhere with a better future. States with a growing economy attract more young people, so states like Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Virginia aren't as solidly Republican as they used to.

If Obama breaks that age gap, then he can probably seal up the election. Depending on young voters is a risky way to go since they aren't as dependable in showing up at the voting booth.

 

[Gokul43201]

Hmmm, are you sure?

Positive.

See for example: https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=1786910&postcount=71

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I think that in part, the older folks have been impressed with his performance in regards to the financial crisis. McCain looked a bit clownish.


...and I can't believe that the average older voter will fall for this Palin crap; not for long.

 

[Astronuc]

McCain pulling out of Michigan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081002/pl_politico/22895

John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play.

McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin went for Kerry in 2004, Ohio and Florida for Bush.

McCain's campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republicans had been bullish on Michigan, hopeful that McCain's past success in the state in the 2000 primary combined with voter dissatisfaction with Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and skepticism among blue-collar voters about Barack Obama could make it competitive.
. . .
But recent polls there have shown Obama extending what had been a small lead, with the economic crisis damaging an already sagging GOP brand in a state whose economy is in tatters.

 

[turbo]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081002/pl_politico/22895;_ylt=AnlBno6_MUMuwo5ld1VIPlOs0NUE

McCain has pulled out of Michigan. (Michigan said he really wasn't that good, anyway.) No more TV, no mailings.

Leap-frogged by Astronuc!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Sarah Silverman and The Great Schlep [profanity]

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Not that I normally care what he has to say, but Glenn Beck is predicting that McCain's vote for the bailout will cost him the election.

Beck definitely has a following of like-minded viewers.

 

[LowlyPion]

Campaign officials confirm John McCain shifting resources away from Michigan
by Ted Roelofs | The Grand Rapids Press
Thursday October 02, 2008, 4:29 PM

http://www.mlive.com/grpress/news/index.ssf/2008/10/campaign_officials_confirm_joh.html

 

[BobG]

Not that I normally care what he has to say, but Glenn Beck is predicting that McCain's vote for the bailout will cost him the election.

Beck definitely has a following of like-minded viewers.

Because Republican voters hate the bailout more than Democratic voters? Both voted for it. Was McCain outraged by having to vote for it or did he feel ill when he voted for it? Maybe that's the difference.

The hullabaloo prior to the vote probably hurt him some. That was kind of strange.

 

[Evo]

Because Republican voters hate the bailout more than Democratic voters? Both voted for it. Was McCain outraged by having to vote for it or did he feel ill when he voted for it? Maybe that's the difference.

I don't see how him voting for the bailout will hurt McCain either. Obama also voted for it.

The hullabaloo prior to the vote probably hurt him some. That was kind of strange.

Now that hurt him.

 

[cristo]

What does 'pulling out' of a state mean? He won't be on the ballot sheet, or he just won't bother trying to campaign there anymore?

 

[Evo]

What does 'pulling out' of a state mean? He won't be on the ballot sheet, or he just won't bother trying to campaign there anymore?

He's just not going to spend any money on ads or other forms of campaign activity.

 

[LowlyPion]

What does 'pulling out' of a state mean? He won't be on the ballot sheet, or he just won't bother trying to campaign there anymore?

He won't bother campaigning there any more unless the polls get better for him, but as we know, McCain doesn't always stop campaigning when he says he stops.

 

[Astronuc]

A few weeks ago, Obama was only 5 points ahead of McCain in NY. This afternoon, I heard that Obama is looking at 58% of the vote vs 36% for McCain.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I don't see how him voting for the bailout will hurt McCain either. Obama also voted for it.

It violates the essential conservative philosophy [the one that caused all of this] and offends the core of his base. Obama has no philosophical contradiction to defend. Also, McCain promised that he wouldn't sign the deal if it had additional spending attached. The original plan has expanded from 3 pages, to 450 pages.

 

[Astronuc]

This is where two critical national issues converge.

The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War
on Terror Operations Since 9/11

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf

Summary

With enactment of the FY2008 Supplemental and FY2009 Bridge Fund(H.R.
2642/P.L. 110-252) on June 30, 2008, Congress has approved a total of about $859
billion for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy
costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the 9/11
attacks: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Afghanistan and other counter terror
operations; Operation Noble Eagle (ONE), providing enhanced security at military
bases; and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

This $859 billion total covers all war-related appropriations from FY2001
through part of FY2009 in supplementals, regular appropriations, and continuing
resolutions. Of that total, CRS estimates that Iraq will receive about $653 billion
(76%), OEF about $172 billion (20%), and enhanced base security about $28 billion
(3%), with about $5 billion that CRS cannot allocate (1%). About 94% of the funds
are for DOD, 6% for foreign aid programs and embassy operations, and less than 1%
for medical care for veterans. As of April 2008, DOD’s monthly obligations for
contracts and pay averaged about $12.1 billion, including $9.8 billion for Iraq, and
$2.3 billion for Afghanistan.

The recently enacted FY2008 Supplemental (H.R. 2642/P.L. 110-252) includes
a total of about $160 billion for war costs for the Department of Defense (DOD),
State/USAID and Veterans Administration medical programs for the rest of FY2008
and part of FY2009. Funds are expected to last until June or July 2009 well into a
new Administration. The Administration did not submit a request to cover all of
FY2009.

While Congress provided a total of $182 billion for war costs in FY2008 — $11
billion more than the prior year — this represented a cut of almost $14 billion from
the Administration’s request. This cut included both reductions in DOD’s
investment accounts and a substitution of almost $6 billion in non-war funding that
is not included in the CRS figures above.

Congress also cut funding for foreign aid and diplomatic operations for Iraq and
Afghanistan by $1.4 billion, providing a total of $4.5 billion. For FY2009, Congress
provided $67 billion, close to the request. Earlier, to tide DOD over until passage of
the supplemental, the House and Senate appropriations committees approved part of
a DOD request to transfer funds from its regular accounts.

In February 2008, the Congressional Budget Office projected that additional war
costs from FY2009 through FY2018 could range from $440 billion, if troop levels
fell to 30,000 by 2010, to $1.0 trillion, if troop levels fell to 75,000 by about 2013.
Under these scenarios, CBO projects that funding for Iraq, Afghanistan and the
GWOT could reach from about $1.1 trillion to about $1.7 trillion for FY2001-
FY2018. This report will be updated as warranted.

From where is all this money going to come?

And how will it be spent if -
The United States
Lacks Comprehensive
Plan to Destroy the
Terrorist Threat and
Close the Safe Haven
in Pakistan’s Federally
Administered Tribal Areas

http://hcfa.house.gov/110/GAO041708.pdf

 

[Ivan Seeking]

In fact, based on what David Gergen just said, McCain may be damned if he does and damned if he doesn't: If this doesn't pass in the House, it will be seen by Wall Street conservatives as a huge failure of leadership for McCain. But since he supports the bill, he loses the Glenn Becks and Lou Dobbs of the world.