What role do the Pres. candidates play in the bailout plan?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
We've never had a situation like this before, where a national crisis has intervened six weeks before a presidential election. So far, despite all the grandstanding, Senators Obama and McCain have had little impact on the debate surrounding the Wall Street rescue plan.
Today, McCain said of the failed bailout package: "We didn't do a good enough job. We'll go at it. I'm glad to stay at it. That's what my job is as an American, not as a candidate for president."
He's said he'll return to Washington to help with negotiations. You remember how well that worked last week when he parachuted into Washington to save the day. He was going to cancel last Friday's debate if there wasn't a deal. But there was no deal and he went anyway. His campaign said he was confident enough there would be a deal. But there was no deal. At the end of the day McCain looked a little silly.
Watch: Cafferty: Bailout Role?
But this was a failure on both parties' part. Two-thirds of Republicans and about one-third of Democrats in the House voted against the bailout plan. Barack Obama supported it. In the wake of yesterday's failure, he has urged calm. He doesn't want Congress to start over on the bill. "Given the progress we have made," Obama said, " I believe we are unlikely to succeed if we start from scratch or reopen negotiations about the core elements of the agreement."
Here’s my question to you: When it comes to the bailout package, what's the proper role for the presidential candidates?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should the first presidential debate be postponed?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Senator John McCain suddenly announced this afternoon he is suspending his campaign and returning to Washington to lend a hand in the search for a solution to the nation’s deepening financial crisis.
President Bush is expected to address the nation later this evening and try to convince Americans the situation is so dire that Congress must pass the proposed $700 billion bailout bill. Trouble is, the public isn’t so sure it wants to hand the government another blank check for that much money.
McCain has also called for the postponement of the first presidential debate scheduled for this Friday night in Mississippi.
Watch: Cafferty: Postpone 1st debate?
Barack Obama says the debate should go on as scheduled. It might be helpful, particularly to voters who remain undecided, to hear the two men who want to lead the country for the next four years discuss their ideas for solving what is arguably the worst financial crisis to hit the United States since the Great Depression.
Here’s my question to you: In light of the financial crisis, should the first presidential debate be postponed?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What will you look for at the Presidential debates?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/23/art.debate.split.gi.jpg caption="CNNs most recent polls have Obama at 49% and McCain at 44%."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
With the polls tightening, the stakes for the upcoming presidential debates are getting higher. The first of three debates is set for this Friday in Mississippi. Despite all that is already known about John McCain and Barack Obama, presidential debates are famous for sometimes producing a moment that will change the outcome of the election. The pressure is definitely on.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Obama's advisers are looking for ways for Obama to provoke McCain's anger or to show that he's out of touch with the average American. McCain's advisers are coaching McCain to pounce on certain phrases Obama may say like "as I’ve said before..." A McCain aid told The Journal Obama uses that phrase on occasions where he's actually changed his mind.
The first debate was supposed to cover domestic issues, but both campaigns agreed to change it to foreign policy. McCain's camp feels foreign policy is his strong suit. Obama's advisers want to hold off on a domestic issues debate because they believe Obama will have the upper hand in that discussion.
Here’s my question to you: What will you be looking for when you watch the debates?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Palin is more popular than McCain and Obama
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/17/art.palin.signature.gi.jpg caption="A self-titled 'hockey-mom' is getting all the attention."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Politics is a popularity contest and if you are keeping count on the blogs, V.P. candidate Governor Sarah Palin is the belle of the ball. On a single page of an ABC news blog, Palin's name appears 24 times, McCain's twice, Biden's once and Barack obama's– not at all. It's not scientific, but it's indicative of something bizarre.
And she's a big hit offline too.
When Palin and her running-mate John McCain– he's the one running for president by the way– appear together, people cheer for her. Then when he speaks they begin to file out. Ouch! When they campaign separately, her crowds dwarf his. What's wrong with this picture? He has all the experience and she has very little.
In today's New York Times, columnist Maureen Dowd suggests the Palin phenomenon is like a trip back to junior high school...Where the popular girl gets all the attention.
Here’s my question to you: What does it say about us that Sarah Palin is attracting more attention than the two men who would be president?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Obama: Race a factor?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Race is arguably the biggest issue in this election, and it's one that nobody's talking about.
The differences between Barack Obama and John McCain couldn't be more well-defined. Obama wants to change Washington. McCain is a part of Washington and a part of the Bush legacy. Yet the polls remain close. Doesn't make sense…unless it's race.
Time magazine's Michael Grunwald says race is the elephant in the room. He says Barack Obama needs to tread lightly as he fights back against the McCain-Palin campaign attacks.
Watch: Cafferty: Is race a factor?
He writes, "Over the past 18 months, Obama has been attacked as a naive novice, an empty suit, a tax-and-spend liberal, an arugula-grazing élitist and a corrupt ward heeler, but the only attacks that clearly stung him involved the Rev. Jeremiah Wright – attacks that portrayed him as an angry black man under the influence of an even angrier black man."
The angry black man, he goes on to say, doesn't have broad appeal in White America. And even though the makeup of our population is changing, whites are still the majority in this country. How ironic that the giant step forward of nominating an African American for president may ultimately keep us mired in the past.
Here’s my question to you: Will Barack Obama's race cost him the White House?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Which candidate is better equipped to handle the financial crisis?
Can McCain or Obama better handle the country's financial crisis? (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan is calling it a "once in a century" financial crisis.
Lehman Brothers– one of the oldest investment banks on wall street– has filed for bankruptcy after it failed to find a buyer. Another financial institution, Merrill Lynch is being bought by Bank of America. And insurance giant AIG– the largest insurer in the country– is desperately trying to raise cash in order to stay in business. The stock market took a huge hit today...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are already under federal takeover-their stock is worthless...And Wilbur Ross-a billionaire investor-predicts we could see 1,000 bank failures in the months ahead.
"Change" and "reform" are two words we hear a lot of on the campaign trail. When it comes to our financial system, we need both. And it seems clear that things are going to get worse before they start to get better.
Here’s my question to you: Which candidate is better able to handle a "once in a century" financial crisis?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
95% white Iowa keeps backing Obama
Barack Obama spoke at a campaign event at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, Iowa.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Seems like a long time ago. January 3, 2008. That night, in the dead of winter, the earth moved in Iowa.
In freezing temperatures, Iowans gathered all across the state for their caucuses. Nobody was looking for any big surprises. Hillary Clinton figured she'd win in a walk. She didn't even bother to campaign there much. But a political unknown had worked his tail off in the Hawkeye state. And when the votes were counted, an improbable journey began.
Barack Obama was on his way, given a huge tailwind by a state that is 95% white. In fact, that night on CNN I remarked that "the only place whiter than Iowa is the North Pole." And Iowans' love for the man from Illinois has remained as rock solid as their principles.
Once again Iowa is at the forefront in this presidential campaign. In the latest CNN/Time Magazine/ Opinion Research Corporation poll out yesterday, Obama has surged to a commanding 15 point lead over John McCain. 55% Obama to 40% for John McCain. Iowa was rated a toss-up until yesterday, and with the way the electoral map is shaping up these new numbers are huge for Obama.
On CNN's electoral map, both Iowa and Minnesota have now been changed from toss-up to leaning Obama, putting the most unlikely candidate for president in our nation's history tantalizingly close to the magic electoral 270 votes needed for election. There are still eight weeks to go, but make no mistake. If Obama goes all the way, white people in Iowa will be a big part of the reason why.
Here’s my question to you: How important is it that Iowa, which is 95% white, remains firmly behind Barack Obama?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
67 days to go, what should Obama do to win?
Obama's campaign is encouraging his supporters to reach out to unregistered voters.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
"We are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight."
And with that, Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination in front of 84,000 people in Denver, Colorado. It was the climax to a political convention unlike anything anyone's ever seen before.
To the relief of many Democrats, Obama ripped into his rival John McCain, painting him as out of touch with ordinary Americans, "It's not because John McCain doesn't care... it's because John McCain doesn't get it." Obama described his own upbringing by a single mother and grandmother, food stamps, student loans, etc. – saying "I don't know what kind of lives McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine."
He referenced McCain's famous temper, saying he's ready to debate McCain on who has the temperament, and judgment, to be commander in chief. The crowd ate it up.
But the Democratic convention is now over and Obama and Joe Biden have just 67 days to close the deal with voters. They started today with a bus tour of the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.
Obama's campaign encouraged his supporters to text message friends and call thousands of unregistered voters. The campaign says it's identified 55 million unregistered voters across the country – including about 8 million blacks, 8 million Hispanics, and 7.5 million people between the ages of 18 to 24. These Americans could elect our first African-American president.
Here’s my question to you: In the final 67 days, what does Barack Obama have to do to win the White House?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What can Obama say to get your vote?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Even for a guy who's used to delivering impressive speeches, tonight is big.
Barack Obama will address 80,000 people at Denver's Invesco Field as the first African-American nominee ever for a major political party, on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. No pressure.
Millions more will watch him on TV – and to many of them, Obama is still an unknown. The Democratic nominee has said there are two things he wants to accomplish tonight – to make the choice between himself and John McCain as clear as possible and to tell America what he stands for.
Obama wrote a first draft of his speech longhand last week, and then worked on it with his speechwriters. He looked to previous convention speeches from people like John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton for inspiration.
Friends say Obama has become sensitive to criticism that his speeches lack content. So look for specifics on how he'll fix the country's problems tonight. But he also must connect with his audience on an emotional level. There will be lots of time for policy. Tonight he's got to make people want to vote for him. To do that, he's got to touch their feelings.
Here’s my question to you: What can Barack Obama say tonight to convince you to vote for him?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Did Clintons deliver for Obama?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It was pretty easy to see last night why Bill Clinton was elected president. When he's on, there's nobody better.
The former president came out swinging, declaring that Obama is "ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world." He rather cleverly pointed out that when he was running in 1992, critics said the same things about him as they say about Obama. "Too young, too inexperienced." Clinton said those criticisms didn't work against him then, and they won't work against Obama now because "he is on the right side of history".
Like his wife, Clinton called on Hillary's 18 million supporters to vote for Obama. But he went even further than Hillary had, praising Obama's ability to inspire people, his intelligence and curiosity, his "clear grasp" of foreign policy, the strength he gained from the long primary season and his good judgment in choosing Joe Biden as his number two. And he did it all with a straight face.
Watch: Cafferty: Clintons deliver?
Bill Clinton ripped into John McCain, saying that after two terms of President Bush, "in this case, the third time is not the charm." Clinton cited a laundry list of Republican failures of the last 8 years, particularly the sinking image of America abroad: "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of power".
With thousands of delegates waving American flags, it seems like party unity may have finally arrived. Hillary Clinton also made the symbolic move yesterday of stepping forward during the roll call to propose that Obama be declared the nominee by acclamation. So after months and months of bitterness and division…
Here’s my question to you: Did the Clintons deliver for Barack Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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