It cannot be a surprise that an old cliché seems to run true through this year’s campaign. “What comes up, must come down!” Just as we were getting accustomed to the resurgence of the McCain/Palin ticket; their luck began to slide. While much of this decline can be attributed to a financial crisis that is overwhelming in its magnitude; some of the ticket’s political decline can be attributed to what is hopefully a matter of unfortunate wording. For example, McCain: “The economy is fundamentally strong”. Add to the mix the sound bites from Governor Palin’s interview with Katie Curic and a downward spiral is all but assured.

The key question then is short and sweet: What now? The “what now” answer for McCain was to cancel plans for the scheduled debate and then to reschedule it on the day of the debate- Friday, September 26. Was this really part of a political strategy to paint himself as the nation’s financial savior? Was he able to portray himself as above politics and to confirm his position as a maverick? Was this effort successful not only in redirecting attention away from Senator Obama but, reminding the Palin fan club that he (Senator McCain) is indeed still in charge?

And what about Senator Obama?  What cards should he play now that he can’t capitalize on a 
no show by Senator McCain? Oh, and by the way- who has Joe Bidden and where is he hiding?

One thing is sure. If you wait a hot minute, the strategy is certain to change. Unfortunately, the public’s confidence in one or both of the candidates is likely to change as well. We will see.
Here comes another cliché — Tomorrow is another day.

Carol J. Pretlow
Associate professor
Department of Political Science
Norfolk State University