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September 25, 2008
In the current financial crisis, only John McCain is indispensible
Topics: Political News and commentariesBill Dyer's must read Townhall piece this morning rang home several important points that I believe to be truisms and that are essential to understanding the importance of John McCain's decisions yesterday. Chief among them is that when immediate action is essential, John McCain will act, and others will follow, and thus in the present financial crisis in September of 2008, now that everyone agrees that immediate action is essential, John McCain is simply the one indispensable man in Washington, that Barack Obama has failed to lead, and except for the sole purpose of maintaining his campaign's dignity, Barack Obama is today the single most dispensable member of Congress:
[...] A politician can declare that he is a leader. His political party can declare that he's a leader. And hundreds of thousands of acolytes around the world can swoon devotedly at his feet, and he can rack up all the trappings of leadership. But none of that in fact makes him into a leader if he actually isn't one.Please take the time to read Dyer's entire piece here.Crises reveal, make, and define leaders. When the crisis is over, it's easy to recognize in hindsight who the leader was, even if there was some doubt as to that during the crisis itself. Looking back, we can recognize a leader because he's the one who the other potential actors and decision-makers actually followed.
[...] A politician can declare that he is a leader. His political party can declare that he's a leader. And hundreds of thousands of acolytes around the world can swoon devotedly at his feet, and he can rack up all the trappings of leadership. But none of that in fact makes him into a leader if he actually isn't one.
Crises reveal, make, and define leaders. When the crisis is over, it's easy to recognize in hindsight who the leader was, even if there was some doubt as to that during the crisis itself. Looking back, we can recognize a leader because he's the one who the other potential actors and decision-makers actually followed.
[...] What's already abundantly clear in this crisis, however, without the need for any hindsight, is that Barack Obama has failed to lead.
Indeed, when the crisis engulfed them, those who've had the best first-hand opportunity since January 2005 to watch him try to do his job -- his fellow senators, even the leaders of his own party who mouth the words about him being "the next President of the United States" and the hope of a new generation -- didn't call a halt to everything and send out a plea for his personal presence in Washington. Their actions and in particular, this inaction, shows that they know in their hearts that Obama is no real leader. They know he's simply a well-cut, slick, but empty suit onto which the trappings of leadership have been projected. And when it comes to putting their own careers, their own modest places in history, on the line, they certainly didn't look to him for guidance.
The only reason for Obama's abrupt 180-degree pivot today was to provide his campaign and his party with a fig leaf: Now they can pretend that both his and McCain's presence and participation in Washington were essential to the striking of any deal. To do otherwise would be to cede the election to McCain outright.
Nevertheless: Except for the sole purpose of maintaining his campaign's dignity, Barack Obama is today the single most dispensable member of Congress.
That doesn't mean McCain will win in November. But it means that he should.
As for the importance of John McCain's decision to return to Washington and address the financial crisis (and Harry Reid's sudden reversal of his position that he needed John McCain in Washington - before Obama was caught flat-footed by McCain's decision and needed cover), this video makes perfectly clear that McCain did exactly what was needed of him, and only him, Obama being little more than spare baggage in what is needed to solving the crisis (HT - RedState):
Related:
Obama Follows
Reid's Reversal (He needed McCain, no he doesn't when Obama needs a way out)
Posted by Richard at September 25, 2008 5:11 AM
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